eBay Experience

[Wulfys Kingdom]

Ebay's live help said to me when a buyer bought my item who is in the US and I stated in several places in my auction that I was only posting within Australia that "they have entered into a contract with you by buying the item and you are still obliged to sell it to them".

The reason I was on live help to begin with was that he wanted the item (which was worth $850) sent to his friend in Zimbabwe as a "gift". It was a very suspicious transaction and the person bidding only had 1 feedback from several years ago!

I was very annoyed that ebay claimed you still have to send the item regardless yet allow you in your add to state where you will send it to!

I dont know if this is one of their terms somewhere, or whether the person on live help didnt know their job, but I wont be selling on there again.

[peterb666]

Ebay's live help said to me when a buyer bought my item who is in the US and I stated in several places in my auction that I was only posting within Australia that "they have entered into a contract with you by buying the item and you are still obliged to sell it to them".

The reason I was on live help to begin with was that he wanted the item (which was worth $850) sent to his friend in Zimbabwe as a "gift". It was a very suspicious transaction and the person bidding only had 1 feedback from several years ago!

I was very annoyed that ebay claimed you still have to send the item regardless yet allow you in your add to state where you will send it to!

I dont know if this is one of their terms somewhere, or whether the person on live help didnt know their job, but I wont be selling on there again.

I wouldn't pay any attention to eBay's live help.

If you have restricted your sale to particular countries and the seller wants the item sent elsewhere, communicate with the buyer that the terms restricted sale to specified countries and cancel the sale. The buyer has not bid according to the offer. Only send by registered mail or better.

I don't sell items with an expected sale price overseas anymore as you can no longer buy additional insurance with registered mail. This is due to restrictions on insurance in most countries. You can get insurance with other types of mail like Express Post International or Express Courier International to get insurance, signature on delivery and tracking. You are looking at $60 to $75 or more depending on the value of the goods for a 2kg package. That is enough to discourage the dodgie byers and the genuine ones will factor that into the amount they are willing to pay.

By cancelling the sale, at most you get a single bad rating point which I could live with. It only lasts on your % rating for a year.

eBay really sucks for sellers now unless you are careful.

[Redgum]

But of course you wouldn't post the item until you were paid - eBay rule. Was there anything stopping you adding say $50 for postage? And insurance is the responsibility of the buyer, not the seller?
Had you set up your ad correctly to restrict sale to Oz market? (Underneath the price section).
Certainly sounds like a scammer though.

[Jeanette]

oh dear...my first time . finally i go to ebay and look for a camera bag that i liked..
still waiting for it to arrive.(2wks).. paid via pay pal so hopefully no issues there ..
fingers crossed
Great thread .. got more to look out for now

[ricnak]

Ebay - If the deal seems too good to be true, then it probably is.

A fairly common thing on ebay is account hijacking. I have come accross it twice as buyer. The first was a few years ago around the time that the medium format was going digital. The seller was in Vic. It was his first listing in about 3 months. He had excellent feedback, both as as buyer and a seller. Bought and sold electronic stuff. From his feedback I could see that it was his first photography type sale/purchase. I emailed with some very specific (difficult) questions about the camera. The answer was OK - sort of. He mentioned that he was in Italy.

I went back to his ebay profile and got some more details - his user name gave some good hints. Searched in the white pages and gave him a phone call - he was not in Italy!. He had no idea that his account had been used to list the item. Contacted ebay with the details and the name and address of the scumbags in Italy.

Recently, same sort of thing. When I contacted the buyer she said that it has happened to her several times. She is a reputable dealer of antique jewellery. They had listed a very expensive camera at around half it's market price - brand new!. Her account was idle at the time.

My ebay checklist goes like this -

1.Is it too good to be true?
2. Seller Feedback - 99% - there are some unreasonably difficult buyers out there too!
3. Recent Seller Activity - hijackers target idle accounts. Are they selling any other items?
4. Seller preferences - what do they buy and sell usually
5. Questions - ask really hard technical ones. Lets you know the level of their expertise. Make sure they answer your questions. This week I have asked a person who claims to have been the licenced dealer for a product in SA for over 30 years to supply me with their business name. He gave me his mobile phone number twice! - no deal.
6. Paypal - always use it. It makes the seller tracable.
7. Bookmark the item - usually hijackers remove the item from the listing as soon as someone looks interested. They then prefer to deal away from ebay. If it is not on ebay when you do another search - then it does not exist.

Wow - I sound like a cop!

Have I ever been caught out? Yes..... I have bought Yugioh cards for my son. Two were fakes!

You live and learn -

[Jeanette]

thanks ricnak.... my hubby usues it alot and never had any issues... even though this person i bought off had 0% like hubby said could be his first time like i am ... so thought i would give it ago
I have used paypal.. phew so can get money back and item very little money .. i had to go cheap for my first few times as i have always been too concerned ..
you dont sound like a cop .. just sound like someone with experience
cheers Jeanette .. will keep you informed... I just want my lovely bag

[Jcas]

My stepson very nearly got caught, the scammers are out there big time. He placed a bid on a front end loader in the machinery section, there were a few bidding for it, the seller had zero feedback which rung alarm bells with me,( I know everybody has to start somewhere, but your first ebay sale isn't normally an 11000.00 machine)
but they stated Paypal as payment method, so that enticed him to bid on it as money is normally refunded if the deal turns out to be a dud.

They were in Sydney and offered free delivery Australia wide.

Anyway he won it for 13,800.00, I advised him how to get sellers details off ebay as you are able after you win or bid on something, he tried to ring the number they gave him but never any response, a day or two later he received an invoice from the seller requesting him to wire transfer the money to a bank in Germany ..... no way!!!!!!!!

It seems there never was any such machine, they just hoped he would be mad enough to send the money ..

[Wulfys Kingdom]

If you have restricted your sale to particular countries and the seller wants the item sent elsewhere, communicate with the buyer that the terms restricted sale to specified countries and cancel the sale. The buyer has not bid according to the offer. Only send by registered mail or better.

The transaction was cancelled (luckily the buyer never responded to the cancellation request) and my fees were credited. It would have been very annoying if i had to pay ebays fees on top of a cancelled sale, just another thing that's a rip off.

But of course you wouldn't post the item until you were paid - eBay rule. Was there anything stopping you adding say $50 for postage? And insurance is the responsibility of the buyer, not the seller?
Had you set up your ad correctly to restrict sale to Oz market? (Underneath the price section).
Certainly sounds like a scammer though.

Of course you wouldnt post an item before payment is received (and cleared if its a cheque etc).

Considering what the buyer asked me to do and that he had only 1 rating from 2006 or 2007 no amount of additional money for postage was going to make me post it, i was just too suspicious of the transaction, and i didnt want an additional claim to deal with should it never arrive.

I had listed in 3 separate places where i would send, in the proper section, in the description and in the additional instructions.

[Redgum]

Of course you wouldnt post an item before payment is received (and cleared if its a cheque etc).

I had listed in 3 separate places where i would send, in the proper section, in the description and in the additional instructions.

I guess what I'm asking is - If you have been paid and the extra postage has been paid, why not continue with the transaction? Proof of postage (registered for $2.50) is available from every post office and that's all you need for eBay to prove you have posted the goods.

[lacad01]

Touch wood I've always had a positive experience purchasing photo gear via eBay. Some tips to help:

• Try not to get sucked into something which looks too good to be true as said already
• Always check the feedback and comments. Use the option to check in the last month, 6 months, etc
• Check for hidden charges such as tax, VAT, duties, shipping etc
• Be prepared to wait, especially for stuff shipped from Asia. I don't mind waiting a couple of weeks if I know I'm getting a great bargain.
• I've only ever purchased new from overseas vendors.

Some of the stuff I've purchased online include a 2nd hand Canon 20D from a local person; Sigma 10-20mm WA zoom, CPL filter, Kenko extension tubes, Nissin flash, camera backpack, 240V power adaptor for a Canon 450D --> all new from Asian eBay stores

[Wulfys Kingdom]

I guess what I'm asking is - If you have been paid and the extra postage has been paid, why not continue with the transaction? Proof of postage (registered for $2.50) is available from every post office and that's all you need for eBay to prove you have posted the goods.

I didnt get paid for the transaction when I cancelled it. Having only sold on ebay once before (and never having to make a claim on any items i've purchased previously), I didnt know what would happen if the item was conveniently "lost" and I didnt have time to research it at the point of this person trying to make the transaction, so I just stuck to my guns and said I do not post international. I felt it was the best course of action for me to take at the time.

[janni]

I found item hunting in ebay is fun. as everyone said, always read the seller's comment carefully. Even power seller is sometime a bit dodgy. I also go to the shop first to have a look at the item that I want to buy. I got my used lens and CPL from ebay with no issue.

[selaw]

All in all I've had no real problems with ebay. A couple of times there have been a long wait for item to be shipped and my last purchase was the 1D3 body. I was confident with the seller but it did take Aust Post the best part of 11 days to get it to my place (Melb - Bris)...That was a gut wrenching wait specially sinse the tracking number didn't provide any details until after it arrived at local Aust Post centre...The seller was very helpful throughout the process by keeping me up to date with his own enquiries...At the moment I follow lenses and accessories to bidding end just to get a good idea of what they are selling for.

[wiggles]

Ebay's live help said to me when a buyer bought my item who is in the US and I stated in several places in my auction that I was only posting within Australia that "they have entered into a contract with you by buying the item and you are still obliged to sell it to them".

The reason I was on live help to begin with was that he wanted the item (which was worth $850) sent to his friend in Zimbabwe as a "gift". It was a very suspicious transaction and the person bidding only had 1 feedback from several years ago!

I was very annoyed that ebay claimed you still have to send the item regardless yet allow you in your add to state where you will send it to!

I dont know if this is one of their terms somewhere, or whether the person on live help didnt know their job, but I wont be selling on there again.

Hey the same thing happened to me except the so called guy from US asked me to send it to his son in zimbabwie and was willing to pay me $400 postage and another $600 dollars for my sony ericsson w800i $190 phone and he wanted me to send him a Birthday card as well . It was too good to be true and alarm bells rung. I contacted live help and they sent me a message saying not to send it to these countries and that they have hackers stealing names and passwords from other legit sellers I didn't contact the buyer I only filled in a complaint form and they dismissed the guys bid. I just got put off from selling it. But I still buy things from sellers on ebay.

[Wulfys Kingdom]

Hey the same thing happened to me except the so called guy from US asked me to send it to his son in zimbabwie and was willing to pay me $400 postage and another $600 dollars for my sony ericsson w800i $190 phone and he wanted me to send him a Birthday card as well . It was too good to be true and alarm bells rung. I contacted live help and they sent me a message saying not to send it to these countries and that they have hackers stealing names and passwords from other legit sellers I didn't contact the buyer I only filled in a complaint form and they dismissed the guys bid. I just got put off from selling it. But I still buy things from sellers on ebay.

Thank goodness I wasnt just being paranoid. Even if it was true, the risk of not knowing at the time would have caused too much hassle to bother.

[Alpacamike]

I have bought and sold many things on eBay over the last ten years but sadly the last few months it has turned into a bit of a jungle, I find as a seller you do not have many rights with the new rules imposed on you by eBay, you are basically on your own.
I have experienced winning bidders not wanting to pay, others arguing about the cost of postage and so on. Buying from China is an absolute no no but on the other hand I have bought plenty of things from the U.S.A with no problems what so ever.
Alpacamike.

[peterb666]

I have bought and sold many things on eBay over the last ten years but sadly the last few months it has turned into a bit of a jungle, I find as a seller you do not have many rights with the new rules imposed on you by eBay, you are basically on your own.
I have experienced winning bidders not wanting to pay, others arguing about the cost of postage and so on. Buying from China is an absolute no no but on the other hand I have bought plenty of things from the U.S.A with no problems what so ever.
Alpacamike.

I was predominately a seller on eBay too and have since stopped as the rating system no longer filters out bad buyers. I had sold heaps of hobby stuff over the years (toys, models, cine film, photographic stuff) and used the proceeds to buy other stuff for my current hobby and got very high prices with things like Dinky toys. I did well and when I first started, had a great rapport with a number of repeat buyers.

I still buy but am very reluctant to sell. It just isn't worth the hassle and there are too many dumb or dishonest buyers now. I think any future photo gear will be offered on forums, here and in the US.

I have bought from the US, UK, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, China and Hong Kong.

The only bad seller I came across was in the US and they had a good rating. Sold a Vivitar lens with a stuck aperture (common problem) that was not disclosed in the sale and they were de-registered by the time the lens arrived. The postage was more than the lens anyway so it would not have been viable as a return.

I am very careful to check ratings and feedback but the whole feedback system has been ruined by eBay.

[peterb666]

Hey the same thing happened to me except the so called guy from US asked me to send it to his son in zimbabwie ...

There are some countries that you don't even contemplate and that's one of them. My last sales were restricted to Australia, NZ, UK and the US.

[Zac]

I use eBay a bit and usually only to buy small items, but I avoid the "little" sellers....but ones with the big stars are usually good, especially if they are offering free postage. I would be very wary of camera bodies and expensive lenses....very risky stuff
Richard

I have bought and sold quite a bit on eBay. I generally find the littlish sellers with around 20-2000 feedback the best, they understand the system and are building their reputation so work to impress. The huge auction house type sellers that sell anything and everything are generally the worst : slow to post and unlikely to help if something goes wrong. Feedback is important, above 99% is usually OK adn 99.5% excellent though it pays to read the negatives and neutrals.

I'm fussier again with overseas sellers as the logistics are so much harder and more expensive if something has to be returned. Where possible I buy in Oz.

I will also buy from newbies... but only low value items.

[SirusDeVirus]

Recently bought a 32GB SD card for approx $15 including shipping on ebay for my Nikon D5000 and it turned out to be a FAKE SD card from China. It only contained 2 GB of space and corrupted file over 2 GB.

Made a complain to Ebay/Paypal and they were happy to refund me $15 provided i send the card back to the seller which costs $25 registered to China at my own expense. The return postage cost more than the card which doesn't make any sense to me at all. In the end i kept the FAKE card.