Re: Ebay - off topic

[JPardillo@domain.elided]

Hi Don
I've got over 2000 eBay transactions under my belt (probably 300-500 
purchases) and have never been seriously shafted. I have always received the 
goods. Very, very occasionally not as nice as advertised - sometimes better.
Point is it is a pretty safe venue if you follow some basic rules and use a 
bit of care.
1. Feedback - feedback - feedback
If your seller has a fair amount of feedback for recent sales (30 or so is 
fine) and no more than 1% negative then you are pretty safe sending them a 
check or MO. If they have less than 10 feedback or no recent sales then you 
should only pay with PayPal.
2. Recourse
There is not a lot of recourse for someone who is out to screw you. Filing 
fraud with eBay is a pain and has never helped me when the item was less than 
described. Maybe if you never received anything they would be more agressive. 
But all they will do is suspend the seller. PayPal can try to recover your 
funds but if the seller has already taken the funds from the account there is 
not much recourse.
But IMHO the vast, vast majority of sellers are not out to screw anyone and 
the ones that are stick out (at least to me) like a sore thumb. Zero feedback 
or low feedback for crap purchases they made. Funny payment arrangements like 
money order only or wire transfer to their bank in Bulgaria.
If you have doubts, you also may want to e-mail them some question to see if 
they are responsive and to get their e-mail address when they reply.
3. Track them down
I have had good luck tracking down buyers and sellers that are not being 
responsive just by using switchboard.com. You can get their name, home city, 
and phone number from eBay after the auction ends. I had one seller that was 
dragging his feet but certainly got the package in the mail after I left a 
message for him at his parents' house (He never answered the phone number 
listed with eBay).
My point is go for it and have fun - just trust your instincts. If you don't 
feel good about an auction let it go and bid on another.
You can contact me off list if you need any more help.
John
alfadog (that is one of my eBay names too)


In a message dated 2/1/03 10:06:43 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided writes:


> Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 06:32:20 GMT
> From: doncoulter@domain.elided
> Subject: Ebay Questions
> 
> Greetings all,
> 
> I'm thinking about bidding on some audio equipment
> either on ebay, or on another auction website(
> audiogon). I'm really apprehensive about putting
> out large sums of money to a private seller,
> without knowing of any recourse. Are there any
> ways to insure that I get the material sent to me
> , and that it's in good shape? I've thought about
> COD, paying with a credit card through Paypal(
> does fraud protection work here?)
> B.S. suggests paying with a postal money order
> making it a federal issue if they skip town.
> 
> Any proven suggestions?
> 
> Thanks ,
> 
> Don Coulter
> 86 & 74 Spiders
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