eBay Experience

[judybee]

What concerns me is that an eBay newbie, which I most certainly am, will have no feedback, will be clearly new, and will be inherently distrusted.

It seems like one of those catch-22 situations: How can you gain a positive feedback score if many people will not deal with you because you have a nil or low score, or they assume you're a scammer reinventing yourself?

You could buy some things first and then you will get positive feedback from sellers. That's a good way to start off.

[peterb666]

To get your rating up, just buy a number of small, low cost items like filter ring adapters and stuff like that which cost around $2 (provided you need them) each and you will soon have a positive rating into double digits.

Most genuine sellers who have a restriction on buyers will let you in if you email them first and express a serious intent on what you want. As a seller (just about to start reselling again), it isn't too hard to filter through the scammers. Like all things, if you want respect, you need to work at it.

[Xenedis]

Thanks gang.

I wasn't sure how to build up a reputation on there.

Unfortunately there's nothing I want or need, so I'll probably remain a nil-activity eBay member for some time yet. :-)

[I @ M]

Unfortunately there's nothing I want or need, so I'll probably remain a nil-activity eBay member for some time yet. :-)

I reckon that is quite a wise move, I have only used ebay for price checking for a while now, all the bargains seem to have disappeared and the restrictive sales measures ( double dipping via paypal) when selling make it more of a hassle than it is worth.

[squizzytaylor]

What concerns me is that an eBay newbie, which I most certainly am, will have no feedback, will be clearly new, and will be inherently distrusted.

It seems like one of those catch-22 situations: How can you gain a positive feedback score if many people will not deal with you because you have a nil or low score, or they assume you're a scammer reinventing yourself?

If you message the person you wish to purchase from before bidding 99.9% of the time they will be fine with it.

[eMOJO]

I've only had a positive experience with Ebay, both selling and buying domestic and international and this includes a couple of lenses. I never buy from anyone with less than a 99% rating unless it's a small, inexpensive item or a well established Ebay store that has many thousands of sales.

[johndom]

IThere are some great points in this thread,
My only bad experience was buying a dvd. Camera gear, i use big sellers with high feedback only. I have bought 10 or more lenses, tele, flashes etc.
Ricnaks list is on the money. Get your cards from cheapchips or other locals, really they arent even that much in the shops anymore, not like they used to be.

[markjaffa]

I buy lots of stuff from eBay - software, tools, dive gear and obviously photography gear. To date I have purchased the following photography gear - TWO BG-E6 grips for my 5D Mk II(first one was non-genuine, which I knew, but it only worked intermittently and was returned for full refund minus postage), a LensPen cleaning kit, a 14mm Samyang f2.8 Lens, an Expresscard 54 CF card reader, an Intervalometer, PhotoSol cleaning products, reference books, and an Underwater Strobe.
The only issue I have had was with the before mentioned grip, which was solved satisfactorily at little cost to me. I will continue to shop on eBay - using most of the hints that people have already given about keeping safe/not getting ripped off. Buyer beware is an age old saying that applies to eBay perfectly.

[8perpetual]

Most importantly, check the buyer's transaction history. And ask questions if you would like to. If the buyer is authentic and genuine, he would reply you. Just practice caution.
I bought lenses, filters, polaroid films, flashes and a lot of stuff from ebay and would continue to cause they have some good bargains there. Cheers

[bellbolski]

i have always used pay-pal to purchase items on eBay or c.o.d. in seven years i have only had one disagreement, that was sorted out... do not fall for items that want money in their account... and check their feedback... but i honestly recommend it, you can get some real bargains....

[rossl]

I have made many purchases (and some sales) on ebay over a number of years and have always been satisfied with the result, including computers, cameras, lenses, flash units and other accessories. On one occasion I scared myself through my own incompetence when buying a new $400 camera from Hong Kong (about 1/2 Australian retail price). Because my computer crashed part way through the payment process on PayPal, I inadvertently paid twice. I discovered my mistake within the hour and immediately emailed the seller. The seller must have been closely monitoring his email because it took him only a few minutes to issue a full refund for my overpayment Of course the seller had a strong incentive to do so. He was running an ebay shop and was very aware of the damage that can be done to his business by bad feed-back.

[tracyselena]

I have bought a brand new lens from a distributor in Australia for much less than rrp and it came quickly with 1 year warranty and I have not had a problem with it yet.

[fabian628]

What concerns me is that an eBay newbie, which I most certainly am, will have no feedback, will be clearly new, and will be inherently distrusted.

It seems like one of those catch-22 situations: How can you gain a positive feedback score if many people will not deal with you because you have a nil or low score, or they assume you're a scammer reinventing yourself?

That is true.
You never know with someone who has 10 or less feedback and is selling something for big $$
My advice would be to sell some smaller items, say, less than $50 where people will not be so suspicious that it will cost you your final price.
Regularily on ebay you can get item for hundreds of doallrs below the regular second hand price because its 0 feedback sellers or people selling $3000 cameras from thailand etc. but the risk is high, so if they are genuine, you do get a bargin
Even purchasing small item, maybe 4-5 things under $3 will get you some starting feedback so you dont look really dodgey.

Some sellers will cancel your bid on certain items if you have less than 5 feedback, becuase it really is a risk to sell to these people. Firstly they may not pay, or understand that you actually have to pay. OR they do not communicate and end up leaving negative feedback before they even contact you with a problem (happened to me where they just left negative without a word after 4 weeks ) Dropping the seller a message saying you are new to ebay and a genuine buyer may give them more confidence. Just don't say you are from nigeria and have a pick-up agent

[I @ M]

Are there any bargains left on that site?
I tend to think not.
The conditions imposed on people when selling amount to double dipping when ebay collects a sellers fee and then because you HAVE to offer paypal ( same company as ebay ) as a payment option they collect their kick from the convenience of you using their service.
Their supposed buyer protection is highly questionable and especially for camera gear there appear to be far better ways of both buying and selling on the net these days than ebay.

Yes, I had recent bad experience with paypal ( try talking to their help centre, learning the language of the Philippines is an advantage )

I am quite happy to have cancelled both my ebay and paypal accounts.

[fabian628]

thats true, but since they are so big they can get away with it. You get massive exposure but pay a price.
The smaller sites are nice but not many people visit. And if you are trying to sell something a bit obscure, its almost impossible to sell it.

[la lumiere]

Wow..lots of good advice out there so I won't repeat it.

My advice is to be VERY AWARE that eBay does absolutely NOTHING if you have a dispute - all talk and no action - If you think logically there is nothing they can do other than send "We're very disappointed in you emails" or if they really get heaps of complaints they may suspend a seller for a short time (no real help if you have paid for an item that doesn't turn up - even tho' you paid for registered mail). If booted out of eBay sellers simply change name and email and start all over again. Plus, let's face it lots of people tell 'porkies' and eBay have no idea as to who to believe in a dispute.

My advice .....only pay by paypal (linked to an account that is only used for that purpose and not linked to any of your other accounts)

Always have items sent by express post (has a tracking number) or by registered mail - If the seller is genuine then you have a good chance of receiving your item.

And.......never spend more than you are prepared to lose as it really is a gamble.

Cheers

[Papou]

Must admit to using ebay quite abit and have been bitten for the first time purchasing a Canon remote and lcd screen protector from Linkdelight.
Cost wasnt a great deal to lose sleep over but the thought of been bitten was maybe worse than the bight itself!!..
Paid for the items on the 3rd December 2010 and still awaiting items to arrive. have sent numerouse emails to linkdelight with coutiouse replies that the items have been posted to the proper adress and advise me to check with my Post office, which i do but to no avail!!..
Re-email them and same reply!!.. Not interested in causing a fuss over low$$ but have made me wary of purchasing from them again..maybe wary is an understatement!! Actually i wont purchase from them again full stop!!..
Have kept all sent and reply emails to them "Just incase"..
Anyhow my two bobs worth towards this post..
And must stress this is the only time out of heaps of transactions ive had my fingers burnt..
Cheers

[Redgum]

Papou, it might be interesting to note that only yesterday on TT Oz Post admitted that up to 25% of mail is lost or mislaid. And of course there's the other end, Hong Kong. In Australia, if an employee is caught "mislaying" mail they will probably get suspended for four weeks (on full pay). In China, the same offence carries a seven year prison sentence. One could reasonably expect that your goods are in this country and someone else is enjoying their use. Registered or traceable mail is always a necessity and less likely to go elsewhere but sometimes that out-prices the goods.

[Papou]

Redgum, your propably right mate?? as its my only bad experience with online shopping..Like i said , the cost wasnt humungas so didnt worry too much about it but just the same i will keep persisting!!..I find it strange that the goods went astray twice after being sent as they said ey??..

[fabian628]

Redgum, your propably right mate?? as its my only bad experience with online shopping..Like i said , the cost wasnt humungas so didnt worry too much about it but just the same i will keep persisting!!..I find it strange that the goods went astray twice after being sent as they said ey??..

Same thing happened to me. bought a battery from H.K, just needed a cheap one to test an old camera. Never receieved it. Just opened a paypal dispute and got my $4 back the next day.

Trying to get the same battery I bought one again from H.K. Arrived, tried it but it died almost immediately. I emailed the seller, they said it was my fault etc. etc. I explained clearly how it died within 3 frames and that I would like a refund or new item. They said i should send it back, but I explained it would cost me 3x the value to send it to them (due to high postage in Australia). After several emails, they agreed to send a new one and it worked fine, the other one was a dud. During my emailing I didnt threaten neg feedback, or a paypal dispute, but I would have won the paypal dispute I think.