Posts from chester7777 in thread „Ebay What Do You Think“

This isn't a warning about ebay, but folks who try to be ebay knock-offs in email. I've only been caught once, but here's what happened.

I got an email regarding something I'd supposedly sold on ebay, for a couple of hundred bucks. I was quite confused, certain I hadn't sold anything like that. I don't sell very much, so I figured they had made some kind of mistake. MY mistake was clicking on a link in the email to sign into ebay, and of course they asked for my password to sign in. Almost as soon as I did it, I realized my error. I closed the window, opened another one and signed into ebay the usual way, and immediately changed my password. Then I went back to the email and forwarded it to ebay ([email protected]). They confirmed that it was NOT a legitimate email from ebay. But I've got to tell you, it was GOOD. It suckered me, and I'm not easily suckered.

I have received emails, supposedly from ebay and Paypal, indicating there is "a problem with my account" which I summarily forward to the appropriate department within each
entity. In fact, I have the addresses to which to report suspicious emails in my address book, for easy forwarding.

Along similar lines, I've been seeing in my Bulk Mail folder (where anything suspected of being spam is sent), and I've seen a lot lately, along the lines of "You have a received a [postcard/e-card/greeting card] from a [Friend, Neighbor, Classmate, Worshipper, Colleague, Relative, you name it]. I've never received an e-card from a friend that didn't identify the friend in the subject. But I wonder how many people click on those and cause themselves problems. Anyway, I just wanted to give you a heads-up.

Mrs. C

Quote from DukePilgrim

Remember Charile Varrick!!Mike

Now, that was a great movie.

Chester

Quote from DakotaSurfer

He was difficult also... just kept buying stuff... :teeth_smile:

And that's a problem?

I am thankful that my experiences on ebay are such that currently I have no names to which to give a bad report.

Stumpy does make a good point, however, about emails that look very "official" and as if they come from ebay. Only once did I get suckered, and as soon as it happened, I signed onto ebay (the REAL one) and immediately changed my password. Anytime I get what I consider a suspicious email, supposedly from ebay, I immediately forward it to [email protected]. Every one I have forwarded has NOT been a legit email from ebay.

DS, I think you have a good idea to share our experiences here, regarding particular sellers and buyers. I know I usually think to check feedback before I bid.

Mrs. C

I think the really important thing with ebay is to read each auction CAREFULLY, everything. Do read the feedback. I have noticed that most of the time, negative feedback is from relative newbies (low feedback numbers themselves), so I take that with a grain of salt. However, if folks with feedback in the hundreds are leaving negative feedback for a seller, I pay more attention to that.

GSP offers some good tips as well. Research, research, research - what an item is worth, and how available it is.

It is all a learning process, but hopefully some of this advice will help.

Chester

Keith and Stumpy, you make good points. Whether one buys or sells, or just accesses the Internet, it is certainly imperative to have anti-virus software (some bad stuff can come via e-mail), and a good anti-spyware program as well. Adware is another thing to be diligent about, if for no other reason than it can really bog down your computer.

I know there are PC experts on both sides of this issue, some who never do financial dealings on the Internet, and those who feel it is quite secure, providing you have taken proper precautions. For sure, you want to be sure you are connected to a secure server (usually indicated by https, where the "s" means it is secure). Depending on your browser, there is often a little icon in the status bar at the bottom, in the bottom right on mine, where there is a little closed padlock, which also indicates a secure server. I would never do any financial dealings without those two indicators.

Mrs. C

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Originally posted by Stumpy@Oct 12 2006, 10:23 AM
When I finally submitted a formal complaint to ebay, they informed me that they would arbitrate the dispute between the seller and me but that it would cost me another $25. in addition to the money I had already sent to the thieving seller. Made me so mad I said forget it and haven't bought anything at ebay since then.

My attitude was that if they (ebay) would enforce the rules by barring sellers who rip off the buyers, they wouldn't have such problems to begin with.

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Stumpy,

WOW! That would make me mad , too! I can understand your feelings. Fortunately, our good experiences have far outweighed the bad.

Our daughter used to go to the thrift store and pick up things and turn around and sell them on ebay. You definitely have to know what kinds of things to look for. Her best deal was a little sofa (the kind some folks buy for their pampered pets, or collectors buy for displaying dolls). She paid a dollar for it, and sold it for $45! Some profit!

It's an interesting phenomenon, to be sure.

Speaking of ebay, have you guys heard Weird Al's "Ebay Song"? It's a take-off of an N'Sync song, and for anybody who's had any dealings on ebay, it's pretty funny.

In fact . . . here it is - You Tube - ebay song - enjoy!!

Mrs. C

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Originally posted by Senta@Oct 8 2006, 08:38 PM
But around Christmas and New Year some strange thing started either with our post, either with e-bay. I didn't receive my last purchases. I was so dissapointed that quited the whole bisuness there.
May be I was wrong.
Anyway it was always difficalt to me because I can't use PayPal.

Regards,
Senta

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Vera,

That is so disappointing, and I can see why you would be hesitant to try again.

Did you use ebay's complaint process? We have had similar problems as a buyer (not often, thankfully). One item in particular was a high price, and after almost 90 days we still had not received it. We emailed the seller, and said we would contact ebay if we did not have notification of actual shipping of the item before the 90 days (you have 90 days to file a complaint). On the 89th day, we filed the complaint, because we didn't want to miss our time limit. It would be easy enough to retract the complaint, which we did, since we got a call a few hours later from the shipper, to confirm the delivery address.

If possible, request insurance and some form of tracking. I know from experience shipping items overseas, that US Postal Service Global Priority does NOT allow for insurance, but is the most economical way to ship. So I have to contact the buyer and see if he/she wants to pay more for shipping that can include insurance. Most of the time, they choose the cheaper shipping, and thankfully, I have never had any overseas shipments get lost. In fact, in all the shipments I have made, only two have been "lost". One was insured, one wasn't. The value of the one that wasn't insured was small enough that I could afford to send another one (insured the second time, at the buyer's expense).

As to your inability to use Paypal, that should not be a problem. It takes longer to complete a transaction, but otherwise it's no big deal.

I strongly recommend that you check the feedback BEFORE bidding. If there are negative feedback comments, read them and see if it is a continuing issue (also, how recent are the complaints? Old? Maybe not to worry.).

I could go on here, but I won't . . . .

Mrs. C

We've had some experience selling on ebay. I had some old Cadillac shop manuals, still new in the box, that I did well with. The Mrs. has had some good dealings selling home schooling materials, and our daughter had some collectible coins that she sold. All in all, we probably sold most of what we posted.

One thing I would recommend, if you are thinking of selling something, is to do a search on the item you want to sell, then look at "Completed Items" to see how that item has sold. It gives you an idea how successful you might be - if an item is selling at all, and how much you might expect to sell it for.

Chester