Why do you hate ebay?

bassteban · #1 03-16-2005, 04:57 PM

I've lost out on a couple of items, but always found someting better down the road- so I'm just curious- why bash(evil-bay, etc)?

cecile · #2 03-16-2005, 05:10 PM

all my experiences with ebay has been positive. you just have to be careful

bassteban · #3 03-16-2005, 05:20 PM

I've bought & sold & never had a bad experience(maybe my mom didn't raise a complete dummy)- hence my curiosity.

jenderfazz · #4 03-16-2005, 05:22 PM

I think for a lot of people it's the usual problems that come with buying online - untrustworthy buyers/sellers, damaged items, items not as advertised, etc. Talkbass is usually considered better around here since it's generally safe and most members here are very trustworthy. Personally I don't like buying anything on the internet.

cecile · #5 03-16-2005, 05:24 PM

i forgot, one thing i dislike about ebay is the fee increase

Hurley · #6 03-16-2005, 08:34 PM

I hate it 'cause it gives me wicked GAS. There's always something on there that I want.

reiver1 · #7 03-16-2005, 09:00 PM

I don't.

bassteban · #8 03-16-2005, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reiver1

I don't.

We could all learn something from this.

BurningSkies · #9 03-16-2005, 10:48 PM

I've had all good experiences...even when buying bigger stuff, like my stock 1973 Precision a bunch of years back...Go into it with your eyes open and do yer homework and you'll do ok. I've also worked for 2 businesses which both had very active ebay services...without any serious bad mojo.

Bruce Lindfield · #10 03-17-2005, 02:19 AM

Where to start ....?

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US :

"Internet auction fraud was the most common online-only complaint, accounting for 13% of complaints received.

This was followed by online retailers that did not deliver what they promised. "

News Story from January :

eBay users face fake e-mails risk

eBay has confirmed that the email problem does exist
Online auction house eBay has confirmed reports that some of its users have been hit by spam e-mails that may be able to gain their account details.

The scam targets eBay users with infected spam or mail-shot e-mails.

If the e-mails are opened, they can record what keys the user types and send the details back to the criminals behind the spam mail shots.

How the scam works

The method, known as 'key logging', allows the fraudsters to find the eBay user's exact password, the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) has confirmed.

A spokeswoman for the NHTCU said the agency would not be making any further comment.

Once they have gained access to users' accounts, the criminals can steal from them in a number of ways.

Firstly, they can pretend to be a seller and inform the eBay users that one of their specific recent failed bids has, after all, been successful, and ask for payment.

The goods in question obviously never appear. "

Boy's eBay con nets £45,000 (double for $!!)

Police have issued a warning to users of internet auction sites after a teenage fraudster conned eBay customers to fund a luxury lifestyle.
The 17-year-old from Pontypool, south Wales, built up £45,000 in various bank accounts by offering goods for sale that did not exist.

He treated himself to weekends in New York, and hired stretch limousines for nights out with friends.

He also bought designer clothes, expensive gadgets, and a quad bike.

Cwmbran youth court heard that, when police raided his home, they found top-of-the-range computers, hi-fi equipment, and flat-screen TVs. "
----------

Judge's warning over eBay fraud

A judge has warned internet shoppers to be wary after sentencing a woman who sold £3,000 of fake tickets on the popular auction site eBay.
Sara Hambridge, 28, from Leicester, sold tickets to Glastonbury, and then said they were lost in the post.

The judge at Leicester Crown Court said it appeared to be "extremely easy" to commit fraud on the internet.

Hambridge, who had previous convictions, got a nine-month suspended sentence because of ill health.

Sentencing Hambridge, judge Richard Bray told her she had taken advantage of a system which made life easy for fraudsters.

etc. etc. ........

Rick Blanc · #11 03-17-2005, 05:26 AM

I wonder if that kid got his stuff on Ebay.

I've never had a problem. I bought a motorcycle and some gear to go along with it, my current pre amp and a bunch of other stuff.

**IvanMike** · #12 03-17-2005, 05:42 AM

i like e-bay, it's a great place to find and sell some rather esoteric stuff. for bass guitar purposes, it's OK. I'd much rather buy something off of TB - (great experiences here buying and selling). I'd almost never buy a bass off of e-bay, rarely a cab (due to shipping cost), but other items i would consider and have purchased. other than the concerns about the condition of stuff, etc, the biggest drawback to e-bay are items within the up to three or four hundred dollar range. these tend to get overbid on. A long time ago i was considering getting a furman PL-plus and a korg DTR-2. consistently i watched these item sell for close to the full retail price when used as buyers got "bid happy". rediculous. However, it's very cool to be able to set up a search for a particular item (say an SWR grand prix preamp), and get an e-mail every time one gets posted for sale on e-bay. that's a great feature of the site.

RLT · #13 03-17-2005, 06:14 AM

Not only the above. I have also been seeing increasing numbers of bass scams on ebay. I almost was caught in one of the stolen account ones. Fortunately it was pulled before it ended.
So be very carefull.
Oh yeah the one that almost got me was from a ebay account for a "jazzbo".

Rusty

Figjam · #14 03-17-2005, 06:15 AM

I love ebay.

Brad Johnson · #15 03-17-2005, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IvanMike

i like e-bay, it's a great place to find and sell some rather esoteric stuff. for bass guitar purposes, it's OK. I'd much rather buy something off of TB - (great experiences here buying and selling). I'd almost never buy a bass off of e-bay, rarely a cab (due to shipping cost), but other items i would consider and have purchased. other than the concerns about the condition of stuff, etc, the biggest drawback to e-bay are items within the up to three or four hundred dollar range. these tend to get overbid on. A long time ago i was considering getting a furman PL-plus and a korg DTR-2. consistently i watched these item sell for close to the full retail price when used as buyers got "bid happy". rediculous. However, it's very cool to be able to set up a search for a particular item (say an SWR grand prix preamp), and get an e-mail every time one gets posted for sale on e-bay. that's a great feature of the site.

I've never gotten screwed on an eBay deal. OTOH I'm in the middle of getting screwed by a TBer. I think I'll start a new thread.

As far as eBay goes there's no substitute for common sense. Getting screwed on eBay has less to do with eBay than the person who's doing the screwing. Of course the easy thing to do is blame the medium, as some do over and over again. By that mindset, I should be blaming TB for the drama I'm dealing with now.

Does that make sense?

bassteban · #16 03-17-2005, 09:29 AM

Makes perfect sense to me.

Indi86 · #17 03-17-2005, 09:38 AM

It just annoys me how variable and unpredictable ebay can be at times. You can have two of the exact same item, and one will go for 2-300 dollars more.

Bruce Lindfield · #18 03-17-2005, 10:20 AM

Of course people with bad experiences are very unlikely to come along and say so here, as it will make them look stoopid, after everybody keeps saying how it's only common sense etc ..... so you will only get people with good or reasonable experiences owning up to them!!

Nobody wants anybody else to think they've been fooled or scammed - but there's no doubt it's happening!!

silent method · #19 03-17-2005, 10:23 AM

someone tried to scam me once and totally would have got away with it if my local post office wasnt so dumb lol

i bought a bike wheel from a guy from a similar forum to this, the wheel was costing me about $150 CAD shipped so anyway i go down to the post office to pick it up and as im signing the form for it the clerk says, wait you cant take this, there is supposed to be another form attached to it we are going to have to send it back, lol i have no idea why they couldnt just fax the form or somthing so anyway they send it back to the guy that sent it long story short he never picked it up from them and now its just sitting in a warehouse somewhere and he never answered any of my emails so i doubt the wheel was actually in the box

or he thinks i scamed him lol

**baba** · #20 03-17-2005, 10:35 AM

Ebay rocks! You just need to be careful and smart with your purchases and sales. I've saved untold dollars by either buying there or leveraging "buy it now" prices in deals with other online sellers.