Non Existant Goods!!

sandy_smith_2

Hi I am new to this forum and also to ebay and have a few questions which i hope may be answered here:-

Im looking to buy myself some new toys (ipod, camcorder etc) and have found that price wise, ebay seems to be the cheapest.

Now the items i am interested are being sold by people who have like 5/10 +ve feedback and this concerns me.

I mean obviosuly all sellers started from o however after reading stories of fraudsters auctioning non existant goods is it safe to deal with such people.

And if anything does go wrong i understand i can do a chargeback with paypal? Is this simple to do?

One final thing I have heard horror stories of people on ebay being taken for thousands by people who advertise an item but then dont post anything. Now i read somewhere that this is a civil matter hence the law cant get involved?? IS this true??-Surely Not!! If this is the case then i presume if i do lose my money then theres little chance of getting it back (except the paypal chargeback)

I knw im probably being very paranoid here but Id appreicite it if any body could answer some of my questions to put my mind at ease before i take the plunge and give my hard earned cash over to someone!

Regards
Sandy

LR-O

Do you mind me asking the name of the ebayer?

wirm

as I'm a seller not a buyer i can only give u some advice.

1. Always pay with paypal - as far as I know paypal charge-back is easy to do

2. Always read a sellers feedback, if they have lots of -ve feedback forget about them! Aim for sellers with 95% + feedback!

Hope this helps! Sorry I can't b any more help! But as I said, I'm a seller not a buyer!

soolin

as I'm a seller not a buyer i can only give u some advice.

1. Always pay with paypal - as far as I know paypal charge-back is easy to do

2. Always read a sellers feedback, if they have lots of -ve feedback forget about them! Aim for sellers with 95% + feedback!

Hope this helps! Sorry I can't b any more help! But as I said, I'm a seller not a buyer!

Wirm you are a lot more trusting than me. I wouldn't deal with a seller that had less than 99% positive if I was looking for high end goods, but then I'm a suspicious old so and so

Also although I use paypal almost exclusively, chargebacks are not foolproof, if a person is out to scam they can deal with the paypal side of things as well.

I would suggest that the OP only deal with sellers with very high positive feedback, nothing less than 30 sales of high price goods. Check the feedback carefully, if a buyer has good feedback for selling 99p items and then suddenly lists a dozen laptops for sale give the auction a wide berth. Ask the seller a question beforehand to make sure the email address works and goes to the right person, again this is a way of making sure that a scammer hasn't hijacked an account.

Pay by paypal and only to the registered email address, if a seller wants payment to a different account then don't do it.

Finally makes sure you are happy with the post and packing charges before you bid.

Soo

wirm

just remember though that some users who sell low price items may decide to sell something that is high priced.

Keep your wits about you when bidding! Before bidding on an item do a search on the page for the word link! That way if its hidden you can find it without reading loads of text....

And finally: Don't always assume the worst! Not all sellers are out there to get ya!

I for one have a 100% feedback score!

You have to remember that for every bad seller there is a bad bidder! Bids on an item pretends not 2 have got it, leaves negative feedback!

Don't be too quick on leaving negative feedback, you have 90 days! So if something goes wrong, wait and see what happens! :-/

System

For pricey goods, email the seller and ask if you can collect if you win the auction, even if you have no intention of doing so as you live at the other end of the country (I am sure you can thik of a reason why you would be passing).

If the seller is genuine, they will probably agree (you can always change your mind later).

If they are fraudulent, they will refuse.

soolin

not really......any items I sell I refuse collection.

Its easier to post something when it suits you rather than waiting on someone to lift it......

I agree with you Wirm, I have been asked about collection a few times now. Only twice have I agreed after speaking on the phone with the buyer as they both have really valid reasons for wanting to collect and both had very high positive feedback. The rest of the time I refuse outright, as a female seller I don't want someone turning up after work at my home to buy something, that's why I sell on ebay and not in the local small ads.

Soo

System

any items I sell I refuse collection.

I understand refusing collection for items selling for a few quid, but would you buy an expensive camcorder or Ipod (as in the scenario to OP asked about) from a +5 seller advertising who refused collection? There are too many fraudsters around 'selling' that kind of stuff for me to take that kind of risk with my hard-earned.

If I am considering buying anything expensive on ebay, either the seller has to have a good track record, or be able to demonstrate that they are not going to rip me off.