E-Bay Virgin - Buying Tips

Albert_32

I about to make a purhase on e-bay for the first time, any tips on :-

[*] Bidding at the last minute - winning the bid
[*] How to make sure the seller is not a rogue
[*] Any other tips to make sure I don't get nailed

Hopefully you can help ::)

Cat72

Hi
After a year of buying and selling ive been ok.
I NEVER bid on stock photos. I only bid on photos of the actual item I am wanting to buy, I like to get an idea of what im getting & to make sure the seller has actually got it ! ( cameras,phones etc are terrible items for having no proper photos & being scammed on).
I READ the feedback, it does not need to be 100% good ,because some people leave negs for the silliest things, but someone who has good comments and above 90% feedback should be ok. You will get a good idea by reading thru .if they have negatives or neutrals read the comments & judge yourself.
I also never bid on someone who does not accept PAYPAL. This is not entirely fair of me but it means thay have had to register their details plus you can sometimes get a chargeback from paypal if things go wrong. I do say sometimes!
If in doubt email the buyer to ask a question to get an idea if they are genuine or not. If they dont reply I dont bid.( again a bit harsh but better safe than sorry). I sometimes get really nice replys and then I feel a lot better about buying.
Lastly I never bid on anything really expensive.

soolin

I agree with previous post except that I would never bid on seller with 90% feedback, that means 1 in 10 of their buyers have been disgruntled enough to leave a neg. For me about 98% is the minimum feedback percentage I would consider buying from.

One other thing, if you are buying high cost items make sure that the seller has sold that kind of thing before. If a seller has been selling £5 items and suddenly lists half a dozen plasma televisions it might mean that the account has been hacked.

Soo

Hintza

I agree with the above.

But as soo knows I have taken a few negative feedback hits and my feedback is at 94.5% arghhhh!!

So read the coments and get a feel for your seller.

If something doesn't feel right leave it alone.

A couple of other points:-

Research your market check it is not cheaper elsewhere.
Leave bids till the last moment and then bid as high as you are willing to go otherwise the snipers will get it cheap.

If you reckon an item might be pulled if there are no bids it sometimes might be a good idea to get an early low bid in.

Do not get competitive in the biddingthat makes it easy to shill bid against you.

If you can't be around for the end stick your maximum bid in and leave it.

Albert_32

Thank-you for your comprehensive tips, hopefully this will limit the possibility of me getting caught short ;D

I have a bit more nouse than before - well just a little. :P


Cheers CAT72, Hinta and Soolin for your taking time out to reply!

Albert

soolin

ALbert, good luck with ebay. I warn you though it is addictive!

One other thing, reading through this group you would think that everyone on ebay is out to scam you, this isn't the case. Most of the ebay users are good genuine people but you don't hear about all the good sales you only get to hear the complaints and problems. I've been on ebay for years and my combined feedback is well over 1000 + all positive. Yes I've had a few problems but resolved them all eventually. I've also met some great people, one lady I sold something to lives on a remote Island in Scotland and we have become friendly and I even got a Christmas card and small gift from her this year.

Look at the other threads as well, you will see that Hintza has had some problems but ended up sending his buyers extra items at no extra cost., what shop would bother doing that?

Soo

VH

But as soo knows I have taken a few negative feedback hits and my feedback is at 94.5% arghhhh!!

Unfortunately you only need one joker to spoil a 100% feedback. My very first buyer happened to be a non-payer and the buyer from hell! So I only had 100% feedback for a few weeks before it was spoiled by a retaliatory neg!

I'll never get 100% now but never mind, that's EBay for you!

Cat72

HI
Yeah good luck with ebay. I agree I have meant some really wonderful people on ebay and even recieve presents ! The community boards on it can be quite good -especially the Round table who are a friendly bunch. They help keep you right .So it can be really good. Have fun !
ps. dont bid on anything from HONG KONG !! - and remeber the photos tip. ;D

Hintza

I have bought a few things from Hong Kong no problems!!

and

Loads from Singapore where I find the service excellent.

have also bought from Shanghai without a problem.

robowen

The advice given is good.  :)
If you intend to spend a large ammount of money, I would definitely ask the seller a question or two before the auction ends.

You can guage a lot about the service you are going to get, by the time taken to reply to your questions.
If you don't get answers to your questions within 2 days, steer clear - they don't deserve your business.  :-/

imagine phoning a high st store to ask a question.....to be told, we will answer your question in a few days time :-/
I wouldn't shop there :-/

Albert_32

Thanks for the continued info on buying advice on e-bay, only one problem !

I was buying a digitial camera, however some numb-nut put a bid £15 over the odd's from the rrp (pixmania) and won a x-display

I will e-mail the successful bidder and point him to your comments which might make him think twice. The seller must have been laughing all the way to the bank.

Their are some blunt pencils about!!

Cheers,


Albert