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Ways to get ripped off on Ebay

Yeah I always click US Seller and BIN too for the everyday necessity stuff. But for discontinued and/or rare stuff (mostly knives) I have no problem doing auctions.
 
Another eBay word that is meaningless: "nice."

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I haven't had a bad transaction on ebay yet. People are always leery of car parts on ebay, but there are good deals to be had. Just bought a full set of brakes and front control arms for my wifes car and paid under $200 bucks. Fun fact is, the control arms are the same as some parts stores just rebranded and the brake parts are the same. Pads are the same as some house brands, just unmarked (Bendix, which are decent economy pads) and the rotors are easily traced and are good quality. Even the cheap starters are worth it. Paid $40 for a starter for her car, only thing I had to do was to put the connector from the old starter solenoid onto the new one. No big deal. Been working fine and I'd do it again.

Also got my Blade HQ Shaman on the Bay, and it wasn't ridiculously overpriced (although it was a little more than I wanted to pay). Seller had it up for auction or best offer, and we haggled until we were both satisfied.

Did have one mix up. I wanted a Kershaw Injection 3.5, found one and ordered it. I got a Kershaw Starter with the playing cards. Contacted the seller and they refunded me and told me to keep the knife. Ordered an Injection from someone else and it was a great transaction. Still haven't opened that Starter knife...LOL

Just have to be careful, but I can see how problems can happen. I've either been lucky or just diligent.
 
From Mexico. New but slightly old stock (circa 2000) of currently available model. Priced at $250 - a few $dollars over 200% of current factory price($87.50) + $25 shipping.


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Just have to be careful out in the Wild West. Gee, what if this was not a 100% feedback seller? You might get hosed - spelled" E B A Y E D"
 
"jacques garcia Vietnam Era Survival Knife, Excelent!! Hackman Finland"

As some may know the Garcia version made in Brazil is a significantly lighter-weight and far inferior product to the Hackman and is not made by Hackman in Finland. The seller, rhon6358 (338 ) 100% Positive feedback, compares the Brazil knock off to the original Hackman and even to the Randall Attack 14.
 
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I have been burned once on eBay. Bought a G-SHOCK watch. When it arrived I found out it was a baby g-shock. Thought well for the price I can live with it. Then wore it while working on my sprinkler system. The watch filled up with water and would no longer charge. Took it to my watch repair shop and they showed me where the gasket was actually cut and the rechargeable battery was damaged. Seller would not respond to me. When I filled my claim based on false description they said the description that the crystal was scratched meant that I knew the watch was damaged so I was stuck. The seller did have 99% positive feed back. My review never made a difference.
 
Pay with MasterCard or VISA. Know how to dispute a charge with the issuing institution.

Why not Discover? I had one dispute when I was paying PayPal with Discover. Discover told me I was not their customer; only the seller was their customer. And they accepted the seller's position that the "length" of a knife was the circumference of the knife. :rolleyes: I went to the Federal Reserve, and they forced Discover to reverse the change. That was then. Now, the only agency with jurisdiction over large financial institutions, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, set up in 2010, takes the position that it does not investigate complaints against large banks; it only records them. So they take no position on a dispute. Some "protection"! Therefore, I, at least, do not use Discover.
 
Haven't had to do this with a knife yet but one way to secure instant negative feedback from me on eBay is to use Amazon to gift me whatever it was I bought. If I wanted to buy from Amazon I'd go to Amazon myself and not pay you to mark it up and do it for me.
 
Look at this clown. On all his CRK listings he states they are new but on both of them he "can't seem to find the polishing cloth". And here he's selling a Knife Art Inkosi insingo, which is still in production and in stock at KA mind you, for $25 over cost plus shipping and minus the cloth.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chris-Reeve-Small-Inkosi-Carbon-Fiber-Insingo-Pocket-Knife/264886021081

People mark up stuff all the time, even on here it happens quite frequently especially if it's stuff that is sold out or a long wait list, discontinued you name it.

Looking into his seller history he deals in high end goods, I would say probably second hand or knock offs.

Not sure though.
 
People mark up stuff all the time, even on here it happens quite frequently especially if it's stuff that is sold out or a long wait list, discontinued you name it.

Looking into his seller history he deals in high end goods, I would say probably second hand or knock offs.

Not sure though.
The sad thing is someone already bought it. I thought for sure that thing would sit. If someone just cross checked Knife Art they could've saved $32.85 and got the polishing cloth. I would've thought the kind of people buying CRK's would know better but I guess not.
 
The sad thing is someone already bought it. I thought for sure that thing would sit. If someone just cross checked Knife Art they could've saved $32.85 and got the polishing cloth. I would've thought the kind of people buying CRK's would know better but I guess not.

You would think if you're throwing that kinda cheddar down you would do research .
 
What I do not understand about eBay is why people rip themselves off?!

I have watched several auctions recently where there were several identical items for sale, one an auction, and one or two Buy It Now. The auctioned item sold for substantially more than the two BIN items - why would someone lodge a bid higher than the exact same item with a lower BIN
price?! It is insanity.
 
What I do not understand about eBay is why people rip themselves off?!

I have watched several auctions recently where there were several identical items for sale, one an auction, and one or two Buy It Now. The auctioned item sold for substantially more than the two BIN items - why would someone lodge a bid higher than the exact same item with a lower BIN
price?! It is insanity.

The easy explanation for this is that auctions are very much a form of gambling. It is entirely common on Ebay for two or more people to get into a bidding war on a desirable item, where the money spent becomes entirely secondary to the main goal of winning over the other guy. Also, as has been mentioned, it's also fairly common to find knives posted up that are still available from the maker or dealers except they are priced through the roof.
 
I've picked up a few used Buck and Case knives on eBay and all my experiences were reasonable. Okay, there was one seller who wasn't fully honest about the condition of the knife, but all the others played a straight game.
I wonder if you're the guy that bought the Case knife from me and then gave me negative feedback and said my description wasn't honest? :D
I have sold hundreds and hundreds of knives over the years on the bay and treat any sales there just like I do here on the exchange. Full disclosure and the max number of pics allowed, especially pics of any issues with the knife.
Then I had a guy buy a kydex sheath from me and claim it was too tight. I agreed to pay to have it shipped back and adjust the retention for him since I stand behind what I build. I did that and he still wasn't happy. We went through the exercise again. Too loose this time. I refunded his money AND built and shipped a new sheath for FREE. Never heard from him until he left negative feedback a few weeks later.
In the beginning of my addiction I bought a new Spyderco PM 2. It was clearly fake. Even to a noob like me. Contacted the bay and they helped me get a refund and send the fake back. The seller disappeared shortly after that.
 
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