The eBay experience thread

[Pillock]

There is ebid http://uk.ebid.net/, but it doesn't seem to have been very popular. I kind of hope it blows ebay out of the water though. I doubt it, however.

 

If it was to become popular (probability of this: 0.0005%) then eBay will just buy it out and disappear it.

 

We used to have QXL which became Ricardo but they just closed the UK operation when eBay took off.

[Pete-M]

My ebay experiences have been pretty normal really.

 

I've always done the right thing and if I've bid on something I've been prepared to pay the bid. If I've sold something and it has hit its reserve (or the start price) then that is what I've let it go for, if the buyer has actually bothered to turn up.

 

The 635 Chris bought from me had loads of European response, tons of it, but I just got messed around by loads of dickwads and sold it to Chris instead. The Escort van I flogged a couple of years ago had loads of muppetry action with people letting me down twice.

 

The A6 I sold a couple of years ago took a couple of goes to shift as well. Mainly idiots and dreamers. Eventually two lads from Sheffield turned up, paid the price and left, happy.

 

I've had a few easy sells on there as well. I offer to collect 'em from the station and they've always been more than happy.

 

Ebay fees are mental.

[Negative Creep]

Just make sure NEVER to accept paypal for a car. I sold a golf once, a few weeks later paypal sent me an email saying the payment had bounced so they removed the funds from my account.

 

Luckily the buyer was honest and sent thr money again, otherwise id have been properly screwed with no cash and no car.

[retrogeezer]

Surely you don't mean ebays trusted and secure paypal payment system?? The one you MUST offer??

 

It's not just a car you can lose a lot of money on, it could be anything and as a seller there is fook all you can do about it.

[Rod/b]

I refuse to sell stuff on eBay any more. The odds are so far stacked against you as a seller, what with being unable to leave the feedback you want, mandatory gaypal who can then claim cash back, idiot buyers and ridiculous fees, that it's just not worth the hassle.

 

Incidentally, the first time I ever heard of Mr_Bo** (the artist formerly known as Boll) was when somebody emailed me a link to his feedback page...

[254575]

I refuse to sell stuff on eBay any more. The odds are so far stacked against you as a seller, what with being unable to leave the feedback you want, mandatory gaypal who can then claim cash back, idiot buyers and ridiculous fees, that it's just not worth the hassle.

 

Incidentally, the first time I ever heard of Mr_Bo** (the artist formerly known as Boll) was when somebody emailed me a link to his feedback page...

 

ditto, my mate was so excited when mr. b bought my ital.

[Negative Creep]

Surely you don't mean ebays trusted and secure paypal payment system?? The one you MUST offer??

 

It's not just a car you can lose a lot of money on, it could be anything and as a seller there is fook all you can do about it.

 

 

You dont have to offer paypal when selling a car

[504GL]

My thoughts on ebay are mixed.

 

As some people have said it certainly makes getting parts easier. I'm just about to get a couple of doors for the Subaru and no one around here seems to wreck Subaru's. So that's been easy. I also got a couple of new suspension arms off ebay very cheaply. I also got some steelies for the Fiat for not much when breakers around here were wanting much more. The feedback system also helps buyers, our local Subaru specialist is an absolute twunt and majorly dishonest, but my wife didn't know that until she used his services multiple times and got burnt. With ebay you can have a look at the feedback and you've got a good idea of whether you're getting what they're promising.

 

As a seller I feel differently. Back in 2008 I wasn't working and was selling Wii Fit's on ebay for a tidy profit because as soon as they were available online, people like me were buying the stock up. Buy out of an end price of maybe £120 including shipping with £20 of that being for a next day courier, ebay were taking about 10 or 15 pounds for doing what? Being a middleman for the money and doing very little else other than displaying the product for a few days on the site which will cost them all of 2p.

 

I have at times thought of starting up a business and selling PC's on ebay but the amoung of stuff on there that is made out of crap components means that if you were to make something decent it would be 10-15% more expensive than the other chod.

[Father Ted]

As a buyer, I cant say I have had many problems.

 

As a seller - well, you get dicked about something rotten. I have spates of selling things then get invariably pished off by the mouth breathers that inhabit eBay and wind up cancelling auctions because I think "why do I bother".

 

The sad fact is though, audience wise eBay has the lions share, and you are far more likely to get a good price on evil bay than any other selling medium for cheap to mid price items. But boy do you pay for this - with a FVF of nearly 10%, plus VAT, plus paypal fees taking a cut you do have to wonder if its worth it.

Amazon isnt bad for flogging small electricals through as an alternative to eVilbay.

 

I do miss Yahoo! Auctions though - they (at the time) were a serious contender to eBay.

[coalnotdole]

Ebay drives me nuts too I've lost out as a seller and as a buyer,

 

Having been done by a couple of chargeback scams ( someone pays up by paypal and cancels the card transaction once the item is sent) I no longer sell on there. I've nearly been tempted back a couple of times but I've resisted so far.

 

I still buy on there but its mostly car spares now. Generally parts dealers / breakers seem to be a bit better to deal with than the average pleb.

[Des]

I doubt there will ever be a viable alternative to ebay, or at least nothing will ever match ebay when at it's best. I used it a huge amount for just over a decade, and endured the constant little changes for the worse, all motivated by pure obsessive greed. The feedback disgrace thing about 4 years ago was the last straw, and although I swallowed my pride recently and tried again I wish I hadn't. Seems strange now to think that originally feedback could be left for anyone regardless of whether any transaction had been made.

When the petty, grubby bastards rolled out the charge for setting a reserve, the obvious thing to do was open a second account and place a bid to set a reserve that way, which was the natural path to mass shill bidding. Ebay was fantastic, ruined now. I sourced all manner of 'rocking horse shit' parts the like of which don't turn up there anymore, game over.

[TimothyClaypole]

Feedback through fear was much better and did work.

 

You leave me a neg then you'll get one back.

 

Someone left me two neutrals the other week with no prior contact because they'd broke the items I sold them...

[Father Ted]

Someone left me two neutrals the other week with no prior contact because they'd broke the items I sold them...

Yup, got one last week - sold a ring as scrap, said I had no fecking clue what size it was and they neuted me because it wouldnt fit their fat chav finger.

[Polystratus]

When the petty, grubby bastards rolled out the charge for setting a reserve, the obvious thing to do was open a second account and place a bid to set a reserve that way, which was the natural path to mass shill bidding. Ebay was fantastic, ruined now. I sourced all manner of 'rocking horse shit' parts the like of which don't turn up there anymore, game over.

 

 

It's the shill bidding that killed it for the auction side of Ebay for me, I now buy items with just BIN, in the auctions stuff that you pick up for a fiver was bidding well over £100, then it was a Vauxhall Nova that was on there that was final straw, nice low milage one day to go no bids (had a start of £300) - went out to have a look, seller said they had no-one come to have a viewing, so came back logged on and all of a sudden there had been umpteen bids on the thing that pushed the price well over £2000

[Station]

I sold an electric aerial and got negged because the buyer broke it somehow. He also wanted a REFUND without sending the thing back. I had 100% feedback which I was in a way 'proud' of because I've been honest and reliable throughout. I haven't had much problems with selling to be honest, just ebay itself is a bit of a no man's land when selling. The fees are also a bit excessive, and confusing.

The removal of negative feedback for sellers isn't fair and a bit odd. Also ebay has terrible customer support which only supports the buyer in whatever circumstance.

[RedSparrow]

All I'll say is that the majority of car listings seem to say something along the lines of 're-listed due to timewasters'. I for one really don't understand why a seller can't neg a buyer anymore. Unless it's a cunning ploy to make money from sellers re-listing of course...

[Negative Creep]

Problem with th feedback system is that it relies on honesty. In the old days you could turn up, find the car was a complete dog and not as described but know you end up with a -ve

[Guest]

I've bought cars from eBay before - never had a problem with the transaction; had a problem with an Alfa I purchased but that's clearly not eBay's fault.

 

Had a long list of issues with idiots buying stuff - which makes me reluctant to sell on there in the future, despite it being a great way to get rid of stuff without standing in a muddy field and being accosted by crazies asking if I'm selling medals.

[Pete-M]

IF floggaging cars on ebay, I find it much easier to put a classified ad and ignore the numptoids as they can't bid.

 

Or use Auto Trader, which seems to be making a strong comeback.

[Mr Lobster]

Interesting reading this.

 

As quite a few around here know, our business sells partly on eBay. Yes the fees are relatively dear but there is absolutely no way of reaching the same size audience for anything like a similar cost. Amazon is far more expensive and (for sellers at least) the customer service is terrible.

 

Theres no denying that eBay would like to be more like Amazon though, the forthcoming changes are evidence enough of that but from my point of view are (I think) a good thing. Gotta say, I don't have a problem with Paypal either - we also have card processing through our bank - the fees are similar but there is A LOT more paperwork and it takes longer before we see the money as well. If you make sure everything is sent tracked / signed for with PayPal then you won't really have any issues tbh.

 

So from a business perspective, I like ebay.

 

Personally, for none business stuff I use it a lot - though it tends to be ebay.fr for finding old Renault tat really. No problems there either. Sold a couple of cars with no problems although I think I may have been lucky tbh.

[gtd2000]

 

But you know what?

Even that probably didn't piss me off as much as when some penniless, timewasting little bastard wona listing for some old car I had. Bit of an e-mail exchange and phone calls, all is well. Twatty McTawatson agrees to meet me at thr railway station so off I pop with my daughter (who was about four at the time) and stodd for about 1.5-2 hours mostly in the pissing rain for this absolute wanker not to show up. I wouldn't mind but he was sending me text messages saying he'd be there soon and the train was delayed etc and didn't of course ever actually arrive.

I cannot beging to describe how much this annoyed me, I went absolutely fucking mental, found his home number and got through to his dad who couldn't apologise enough. I swear to God for weeks afterwards I was holding myself back from going to his house, kidnapping him, taking him to Delamere Forest and tying him up before going back each morning and evening to stab him with blunt rusty darts, force feed him excrement then hammering 6 inch nails through his eyes and kicking the living shit out of him. Breaking his knuckles with industrial strength pliers and hacksawing his toes off were also a considered option at the time.

If he'd survived I was going to run him home a few weeks later and spray 'don't ever fuck with me again you bastard' in six foot letters down his house walls.

I'm over it now but I still occasionally have the urge to seriously hurt him one day. Anyhow it taught me a valuable lesson more than ever: nothing is sold until the money is in your hand and also that I won't ever wait in or meet someone if the time isn't right for me.

 

So, you're saying you were a wee bit miffed then?

[Lord Sterling]

in the auctions stuff that you pick up for a fiver was bidding well over £100, then it was a Vauxhall Nova that was on there that was final straw, nice low milage one day to go no bids (had a start of £300) - went out to have a look, seller said they had no-one come to have a viewing, so came back logged on and all of a sudden there had been umpteen bids on the thing that pushed the price well over £2000

 

It also seems to be a race on who is willing to pay the stupidest amount of money for an otherwise cheap item. Take some K11 Micra mats I bidding on, started at 99p I bid a little over what I was prepared to pay for it, no sooner had I done that some bidding war breaks out, byt the end of the auction the mats went for someting like £50 + £12 P+P. I 'get' thats its an auction and that its won by those who bid the most amount of money but some items just go for stupid money, then most sellers will cotton on and start selling them at inflated prices.

 

A few years back I was bidding on a 'LA Raiders' hat from ebay US, the 1st auction I was outbid on ended at something like $120, the next page I bid on an identical hat and won it for £7 + P+P from Florida, couldnt believe my luck!

[autofive]

in the auctions stuff that you pick up for a fiver was bidding well over £100, then it was a Vauxhall Nova that was on there that was final straw, nice low milage one day to go no bids (had a start of £300) - went out to have a look, seller said they had no-one come to have a viewing, so came back logged on and all of a sudden there had been umpteen bids on the thing that pushed the price well over £2000

 

It also seems to be a race on who is willing to pay the stupidest amount of money for an otherwise cheap item. Take some K11 Micra mats I bidding on, started at 99p I bid a little over what I was prepared to pay for it, no sooner had I done that some bidding war breaks out, byt the end of the auction the mats went for someting like £50 + £12 P+P. I 'get' thats its an auction and that its won by those who bid the most amount of money but some items just go for stupid money, then most sellers will cotton on and start selling them at inflated prices.

 

A few years back I was bidding on a 'LA Raiders' hat from ebay US, the 1st auction I was outbid on ended at something like $120, the next page I bid on an identical hat and won it for £7 + P+P from Florida, couldnt believe my luck!

 

that sounds like the old Rupert Annuals scam from 20 odd years ago. Book dealer buys a rareish 1941 rupert, puts in auction and sells to his mate for 4 times its worth, word gets around and within 3 months all Rupert annuals jump in price, even today i see overpriced rupert annuals that have obviously been on the shop shelves for 20 years. A few dealers tried it with 1950s man united football programmes & mecano magazines about the same time, these are still overpriced today in shops and at bookfairs, but on ebay they fetch 1/8th of their retail price.

 

ebay has also ruined the values of dinky and spot-on models, not to mention corgi buses

[Pete-M]

A few dealers tried it with 1950s man united football programmes & mecano magazines about the same time, these are still overpriced today in shops and at bookfairs, but on ebay they fetch 1/8th of their retail price.

 

Ooooh, I've got a 1926 Meccano magazine here somewhere.

[autofive]

1926 ?

that is an early one

[Cavcraft]

Sounds right to me Lord Sterling and I also blame the stupid prices some people want on having seen similar items make big money.

 

An example: recovery truck (3.5T Transit) turns up not far from here on eBay. It's a bloody nice one, had loads spent on it, has all the right bits (proper winch, nice slide away ramps, decent beacons) and has had a major service inc. cambelt and lots of other things. It ended at about £2300 and from what I can see was worth every penny and maybe even a little more.

Anyhow after it's finished all the morons who had clapped out, nasty rust, badly built heaps of shit that were struggling to make £1500 last time round we re-listed with a buy it now of £2500 or near as.

That's the craziness of eBay, some morons see someone else flogging something and think there's is always worth the same or more.

[Renault18]

Sounds right to me Lord Sterling and I also blame the stupid prices some people want on having seen similar items make big money.

That's the craziness of eBay, some morons see someone else flogging something and think there's is always worth the same or more.

 

+1

 

Too right. Things go up in price, but a lot of the old French tat that appeals to me has shot up in price because of Ebay. Mind you, I did get a 1979 R18 TS for 50 quid a few years ago. I was the only bidder and it was a car of a shitness of epic proportions, but I only wanted it for spares. Ebay.fr is useful and I've never been let down. . .

 

yet.

[tonedepear]

Attention sellers:

Due to your invoice payment history, we require you to have an automatic payment method on file. Please click hereto place a payment method on file. The information you have entered to sell your item has been saved

 

Cheeky bastards.

[CIH]

I've sold a car on ebay and bought one, both cases without drama. Use to sell stuff like the odd DVD but I don't really bother anymore

Seems to me ebay used to be the place to find rare or unusual stuff fairly cheaply, usually for sale by someone who just wanted rid of something, now it seems to be the place to bosch stuff up at mega inflated prices.

 

How many times do we see an item sell only to be relisted with a couple of thousand added to the asking price ?

[Cavcraft]

The days of a bargain seem pretty much over now too. Lost count how many cars I got for under a hundred quid most were MOT'd and driveable too. I expect rising scrap prices have seen off a lot of them but there definately isn't the same amount of cheap old knackers there used to be and it's not all down to scrap prices.

 

Regarding condition of stuff and whether it's 'as listed' or not, I do think if something is cheap enough then you can't complain too much. Of the many old knackers I bought a Nova TD for £51.00 was one of my favourites. It was far worse than he'd let on but still drove ok (suprisingly well actually) and was worth three or four times what I paid for it in bits.