Ebay buyers and sellers, Safe?

[Mark4583]

Ive yet to buy from Ebay but Ive read where many have without any problem.
How safe is it?
How can you protect yourself from a seller saying he sent the item but he really didnt or a buyer saying he never recieved it when he did?
And if you can prove other wise, are there steps you can take to recover your lost or are you basicly just SOL?
I have a Paypal account that I have used before but not on Ebay.
Any info from those who have purchased/sold on ebay would be appriciated.
Thanks

 

[gerryr]

eBay and PayPal(I think) both have buyer protection plans now. If you're the seller, you send it in such a way that delivery is confirmed. I've bought and sold quite a few things on eBay over the past 10+ years and have only had one problem and if I had done enough research, I wouldn't have had that one. I don't buy from anyone with less than 99% favorable feedback and if it's less than 100%, I look at how recent it was and what the problem was. I've purchased things like a Nikon N90s body, Nikon lenses, trumpets, electronics, skiis and recently quite a bit of wood. The sellers you should probably avoid are those that have never bought or sold anything before.

 

[wdcav1952]

Mark,

I have bought fairly regularly from PoeticSoul2 on Ebay and have always been very satisfied. You may also choose to buy from members here, another source of wonderful wood and acrylics.

 

[arioux]

Hi,

I am dealing on Ebay for at least 6 years, primarely in stamps collecting. I've been buyin and selling, got over 700 transaction as a buyer and a little more as seller. Transaction ranged from few cents to hundreds of $. If you pay with paypal, you might be allowed to the buyer protection program. Read carefully their terms of service. As a seller, the best way to protect yourself is sending item with tracking number and delivery confirmation. You just add the cost to your final shipping and handling charge. In all those transaction, i only had 2 really bad experience with seller and 1 with buyer. Check the number of feedback of the person you are dealing with, it is usually a goos indication of their standing. As a seller you can refuse to sell to a perdon with negative feedback. Unfortunately, what i heard is that there is a tendency to the dark side lately.(sorry, it was star wars week-end at home with the kid []). Don't rely on Ebay dispute resolution servce, it stinks.

Home i was helpun in my comment .

Alfred

 

[mick]

I second William's comment about Poetic soul, I've bought some very nice wood from them as well as Ipopperwoods and Dwayne Coates. They have always delivered in a timely manner and all items were packaged very well.
In addition Ipopperwoods sells many of his woods by the blank, so you can try 2 or 3 and not invest in a bunch of blanks and then find out you don't like them or something.
I think as long as you look at feedback and stick with reliable sellers you will do well! As for Selling things on eBay alway ship things in a timely manner and pay for delievery confirmation...you'll do ok!

 

[clewless]

I'm in agreement with Bill and Al. Haven't had any problems...so far...in a few hundred deals...but I always check for 100% feedback or see why it's less than that.

Beware of delivery confirmation, even though Beartooth, Woodturningz, Az. Sil. and the others use it, I regularly find their packages in a plastic bag dangling by a rubberband from my mailbox flag.

I don't know how the PO in good conscience can "confirm" a delivery at that level...I'm sure there are alot of disputes in urban areas...and even here in the backwaters there's nothing to prevent a jerk from stealing it just to see what's inside...even though it's a federal offense their chances of being caught are slim to none.

 

[thetalbott4]

I have been selling blanks on ebay as well as buying some wood for several years, and it is very easy and safe if you use your head. The feedback is everything. No reputable seller wants, or can afford, negative feedback. Look at the sellers feedbacks, even going back a ways. If they have no negatives or only have a few issues (versus a lot of positives) such as slow shipping or a miscommunication you are probably ok. Ebay and Paypal are great tools for us if you use your head and research a little bit.

 

[Randy_]

I don't do a lot of business on eBay; but have never had a major problem. In the two cases where there was a hiccup in the transaction, I went back and looked at the feedback comments and discovered there were clues I should have picked up on.

I have a friend who is on eBay as a business. Her advice to sellers is always get delivery confirmation on any item that you cannot afford to replace or refund.....whether that is a $10 item or a $100 item is your decision.

For buyers, the first line of defense is, again, feed-back. Check it carefully and look for patterns that will suggest a problem. Buy PayPal insurance on larger purchases and pay with a credit card if you can. If you pay with a credit card you can always get your money back if there is a problem.

One final tip. Watch out for sellers who offer $25 items for $3 and want $22 for shipping. I did that one time and got a defective product. They would not do an exchange; but honored their money-back guarantee. I got $3 back. And even if they had done an exchange, they most probably would have wanted another $22 for shipping.

On the whole, my eBay experience has been very favorable and i have found a lot of good deals.....a few of which I almost felt guilty about doing. the few transactions that were troublesome could probably have been avoided by a little more caution on my part.

Good luck and happy shopping as some of the eBayers say.[][]