Looking past the low prices, eBay is a marketing based trap. Some people might wonder why the heck would anyone sell prices that low? I mean, $0.01 cents? Some items are reserved. That means if you don't bid up to a set price not displayed, then the vender has the right to not sell you their garbage. That makes some feel jipped. And if you ever manage to get a good deal on something (like a computer), you have to deal with shipping charges. Some sellers overcharge their shipping prices. I know people that do so. And if you're really unlucky, you might end up with a broken computer. And with the no refunds, the only thing you have to fight back with is giving bad feedback, which nobody ever looks at nowadays.

EBay sucks! If you shop there long enough, you'll probably get cheated one day. Instead, I recommend Amazon.com. Stuff there is really cheap! I buy books there often. Even the used books look new! Check it out. You might find something you'll like.

Wow...I don't know where to start.

You obviously don't have the mind to think for yourself!

If you don't want to get cheated on eBay, deal with users who have good feedback and you can look at the shipping charges before you bid, so you know what you're getting into. You can also see if an item has a reserve or not before you bid. If you see an item has a reserve and you don't like that, don't bid, how is that getting jipped?

Everybody who sells on ebay pads their shipping charges. I do. It's because I'm going to be paid for the time and materials I spend on shipping, not just whatever the place charges me to move it. But like I said, shipping charges are displayed before you even bid, so its not like some big secret.

As for faulty, DOA, or broken products, that's why you pay for shipping insurance and deal with trustworthy sellers. You say no one looks at feedback, but that's obviously just you, since you seem to be in the minority of people that have bad transactions on ebay. Maybe if you did look at it you wouldn't have such bad transactions.

Feedback is also not your only recourse. You report a seller to ebay and they usually face suspension and more often closure of their accounts. For sellers, if you get a non-paying-bidder than eBay will even refund all your listing-fees. For buyers, pay through pay-pal because all transactions through them are guaranteed and pay-pal will refund you your money if something is wrong. Combine that with the fact that there is almost no one on eBay who doesn't accept pay-pal and you have a fairly nice system. More often than not, any reputable sellers DO offer refunds. I do, but no one ever asks for them since I take the time and care to make my transactions right.

And you are falling prey to outright deception if you think Amazon has low prices. Give me a list of the top 100 items sold on Amazon.com and 9/10 can be found somewhere else online (and places other than ebay) for lower prices.

Please think things out before you go attacking something you obviously don't know how to use. It's not a poor product on ebay's fault, it's a half-hearted approach to it on your fault. Read through ebay's help section and you would have found everything I've told you.

If it's so crappy, then why does everyone use it?

I also forgot to add, don't call everyone else stupid because you don't know how to use something.

I think anyone who reads what you said and what I said will see whose actions could be considered "stupid".

Good post, Akijikan. Just like he said, you have to look at the information and data that is already shown there. If it's not obvious or it's hidden somewhere, then you can call it some sort of scam.

Not "everyone" uses it, just many people. Millions of people. I don't use it because my parents think that inputting their credit card info to Internet pages are not safe. Well, yes it is unsafe but YOU ARE ENTERING IT INTO SECURE HTTP SITES!!! Bah, they don't understand what I'm trying to tell them.

But it's okay, I understand how they feel.

I want to use Ebay sometime too. And I wonder if I should start selling stuff!! Like... err... I don't know. I don't have anything to sell Hahaha!! Here is what I have to say though:

Ebay does not suck Period.

1. Each eBay listing indicates whether or not there is a reserve to be met on that particular auction. If a potential bidder can't be bothered to look before he/or she places (and then confirms) a bid, that's his/her problem.

2. The shipping charges are given up front with the rest of the listing. If a bidder doesn't want to pay 30 bucks in shipping charges when the merchandise will really only cost the seller 25 bucks to put into the mail, then I guess that bidder should look at a different listing.

3. PayPal offers buyer protection, as does eBay. PayPal will reverse charges if there's a problem; eBay offers complaint resolution in addition to the feedback thing that you complain about.

My point is just that, if a buyer is careful and pays attention to what he or she is doing, then there are some pretty good deals on eBay. Yes, there's a bunch of junk, but you'll find that no matter where you go on OR off-line. And while there are plenty of crooks and con artists using the site, there are also quite a few good or even outstanding sellers and buyers.

the thing is what ever kind of bidding system you have ..you ll always have the problem of bad seller and damaged goods fraud etc. You just cant make it go away. May be in a system where peoples ids are tied into the system...lets say a person's international unique id tied to a online business consortium databse..which lets any seller buyer verify things about the others.

for example ..if i were to buy books from two similar buyers ..every thing similar down to geographic location ...condition ..shipping warrenty ..may be i can look up on how much profits or losses were posted by those sellers..and help the less financially person out..remember we are dealing people here..

i know this is just impossible...but it never hurts to dream

While I like to browse eBay every now and then (and by that, I mean it strictly; I've reviewed the eBay web pages, oh, no more than 3, 4 times), but I have never bought anything, and I really don't care for it. Not that I dislike eBay itself, I just could care less for the whole idea of online bidding. Hell, I've barely been to Amazon.com as well! I am really not interested very much in online shopping, I suppose.

Who knows; maybe I'll come around... become one of those eBay junkies, eh?

My favorite part about ebay is that you can find expensive electronics for anywhere from 30-150 dollars less than typical retail prices

It's realy hard to buy on eBay from Ukraine

This post has been edited by twitch: Dec 18 2005, 10:44 AM

eBay is my best friend. I've bought my last two cell phones (granted used, but great condition) on there, because i'm not eligible for the lower price offered by my cellular provider.
I also bought some computer parts off a website which I didn't feel like dealing with for a refund, (they weren't for my computer.. my mistake) so I sold them on ebay and made money off of them!

I also have been keeping an eye on those XBOX 360's... they are selling for WAY more than i would have ever imagined... so i'm going to get on a couple Pre-Order lists for the new Playstation3 and then sell em on ebay. I'm not big into gaming so a PS3 wouldn't really do me much good sitting next to my tv.. cash in the bank would do me alot of good.

So i guess that proves another good thing about ebay... you can find rare items not so easily found in your own town.

Well, that Xbox 360 issue is something like 'pre-investment' funds or something like that. People are making crazy amounts of money just for selling SUPER ULTRA HIGH DEMAND items!! Yeah, capitalism follows the law of "supply and demand". Something to do with mercantilism and stuff, marketing and economy, etc etc.

Anyway, I want to try out Ebay sometimes. I want to get like paintball equipment, maybe some SWAT uniforms ... or even Navy Seal. Man... they look so cool and I wanna wear 'em to school or something. Hahaha! Yes, I have big dreams