EBAY Horror Stories.

RyanMalpiede

RyanMalpiede

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Oct 5, 1998
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Does Ebay have any form of Code of Honor with it's Sellers? Just got burned by a seller & going through the process of trying to get my money back the hard way.

Can I hear some of your horror stories from the land of defective, mismarked, mispriced, and mis-sold.

Thanks,

Ryan
 
E-bay really doesn't do enough to ban the thieves.Instead their to worried about someone selling butterfly knives.My wife has had a few bad experiences on e-bay and unless the amount is more than 20.00 I think e-bay does not get involved.MY wife got ripped off for 10.00 and this guy has over 700 negatives now,but is still able to run his auctions.Think about it 5-10 bucks per auction times 700 =alot of money.This guys negatives are for all the same complaint, paid for item but did not receive.E-bay allows these criminals to continue ripping people off because e-bay cares about one thing =collecting the fees.
 
Good idea -- but let's not limit the invitation to horror stories. If anybody has a story of Ebay helping them when a seller tried to cheat them, post that too!

(I have a hidden agenda ... if nobody responds to that invitation that will be significant too.)

Maybe I'm prejudiced, maybe I have a conflict of interest that makes me want to run down other places to trade in knives because of my connection with Bladeforums. All I know is I see a lot of clearly fraudulent ads on Ebay that would not be allowed here -- fake Confederate bowies, pushdaggers, that kind of thing, advertised as genuine with varying degrees of weaseling. Anybody who tried that here would be banned instantly.
 
I have had mosty good experiences on Ebay. The one bad transaction was when I was contacted outside of Ebay about a knife similar to one I lost the bid on, see the thread on Ted Wood. I took the bait and Ebay warns against this. Mostly because they don't get a cut on the transaction, but also they won't help you if you get burned.

The feedback system is there to be used. I would be hesitant to bid on a seller if he has over a handful of negative comments. (700?!)

I think Ebay has insurance up to $200 with a $25 deductible if you do get burned.
 
Oh look what I got from my seller once I posted a bad feedback, NOW I REALLY FEEL ALL WARM AND FUZZY!!!!!

"You are clearly a moron. You sent me 3 emails and failed to wait for a response even though you knew I was moving from one state to another. **** off and never bid on my items again. If you had simply waited for a response you would have gotten a replacement. Now you can just go ***** yourself!"

I waited 5 days with no motion on his behalf to offer me a refund, what can I say!?!
 
I think Ebay has insurance up to $200 with a $25 deductible if you do get burned.
Click to expand...

According to rumor you can only collect that if the seller sends you nothing at all. If you paid for a 19th century bowie and he sent you a Pakistani knife-like object, Ebay doesn't seem to have any interest in that transaction....
 
I've never had a problem with people on ebay. But i am cautious. Use the feedback to guide you. Read what the negatives were for and how they were handled by both the sellar and buyer.
If you have a question or need a better pic of an item ask! If it's a real high dollar item resquest a phone # so you can communicate even better.
Learn who the buyers and sellers are. Some top makers move their stuff there occasionally. R.W.Clark, B. Caffery, Gary Bradburn to name just a few.
Learn to use the seach function to your advantage. There is a bucket load of junk on ebay.
Remember that ebay only provides the auction site. Buyer beware.
 
Ryan, post his ebay user name here so we can avoid him.
I have only had good experiences on ebay but I am very cautious. When selling, I never mail the item before receiving payment, and if I'm buying I use USPS money orders and make sure they have to sign for their mail.
Read descriptions very carefully.
 
Ryan:46 negatives.Would not buy a dollar item from the clown.It is very obvious in what he deals in on what kind of person he is.Looked at his feedback and,no way.
 
Ryan,, sorry to hear about your bad experience. I actually was able to get a seller banned for fraud (his seller name OZZ39). It took about 3 months and lots of emails to ebay but it can happen. Since that happened I have changed my payment habits, I only pay with credit card, then if I get ripped :mad: , I get my money back :) ,
and if I feel like going to the trouble, I get them banned :D
 
I have had over 40 deals on Ebay both as a buyer(mostly) and as a seller(occasionally). I have never been burned but will only use a Postal Money Order or credit card to pay for merchandise so I have the Postal inspectors and the credit card company to back me up. Whenever I have sold something I use the US Postal Service exclusively with delivery confirmation, again for the protection and never mail anything until the funds are received. Mail fraud is a federal offense and most people know it.

I will not buy anything from anyone with more than 1 negative feedback in the previous six months, or more than several negatives over their Ebay lifetime. Your best protection ultimately is always your good judgment and gut feelings.

For anyone that would like to check my feedback rating on Ebay my handle is "mynickel".
 
because of my previous life as an outlaw of sorts.............I dont trust anyone. When I do a trade here I want to have references that we BOTH KNOW!! Would never go near EBAY with a ten foot pole.
That being said..........most of the people over here are pretty cool.
 
I've had reasonable success on eBay and even bought my '64 GTO there and it was a great deal. Ebay sellers seem more interested in ripping off eBay than they do the buyers. I've been high bidder several times on knife auctions where reserve was not met, and was later contacted with the opportunity to purchase offline at a price near the reserve. Never bit on it.

The only fraud experience I've had was when I purchased an item that I could pick up locally, and got the sellers only to find that they "already sold it" and wanted to replace it with far substandard goods. Now that got ugly.

Other than that and a few lazy folks who take too long to ship, it's been OK.
 
Ebay is not really bad but "buyer beware" should reign supreme.I have had over 375 deals and had only 2 minor baddies.One a guy sent me the wrong doctor pattern and has not reimbursed for the return postage,and the other a non paying bidder.No big.
Ryan, don't give up on it .I think it has a place.
 
I've bought 4 knives on ebay, from 3 dealers, all at lower prices than any dealer I could find elsewhere. (The one with the least feedback there, Bob and Winnie Wolf, I was able to check out here.) I would expect that dealing with any well-known and established dealer, whether through their own website or ebay, would have the same low level of risk, but you can see from posts here that most dealers get at least a small number of complaints.

I would be more cautious of individuals. I have had a couple of transactions where certain facts about the items (not knives) were omitted, although not actively misrepresented.
 
When my wife bid he didn't have 700 negatives at that time,but she did bid before looking at his past history.Her bad,but the point being e-bay allows this guy to continue with a record like his?E-bay wants his listings fees plain and simple,and they don't really care if you get ripped off,otherwise he would have been banned long ago.
 
I've done quite a few transactions on E-bay and have had two bad ones which were concerning watches, (totally misrepresented). You really have to do your homework if you're going to deal over there. Check the sellers feedback. Stay AWAY from anyone with more than ONE negative. Inquire with a couple folks that have done business with them before you bid. It's a hassle but it's worth it in the long run. Most people there are decent though.

I've been involved in ten times more transactions with people HERE than on E-bay and I'm pleased to say I've never even had ONE bad experience! Says something about you people! :)
 
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