# Ebay purchases you wish you'd never made. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 30, 2002, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504 "2002-10-30T05:59:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/21 "2002-10-31T03:04:22Z")
I would love to have a huge lot of vintage postcards, although I’d rather have 'em from the '50s. Written on or not. I haven’t bought many things on ebay, so I haven’t a horror story yet. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/22 "2002-10-31T03:18:07Z")
Muad’Dib… do they not work? I’ve considered them before. Don’t think I’d want one used though… ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/23 "2002-10-31T03:26:13Z")
I was joking. Note that I said _used_. ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/24 "2002-10-31T13:49:09Z")
**Muad’Dib** , ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! ---
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/25 "2002-10-31T14:34:53Z")
I once got dumped by a boy because of a pair of purple, black, and white polyester pants I ordered on ebay. When I got them, they were too small. I once got carried away in a bidding war and paid $51 for a Bruce Springsteen iron-on (a gift for a friend). I once won some Communist Russia paraphernalia (another gift–don’t ask), and was sent entirely different stuff. I contacted the seller via email who replied, “Hmmm, let me see what dispatch has to say”, and then disappeared from the face of the earth. Other than that, though, I’ve been highly satisfied with my ebay goods. The pink velour pants I just got are simply delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/26 "2002-10-31T14:57:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Little Nemo \* > **So I bought a bunch of CD’s and, as per his request, sent a check (I should have been suspicious by his refusal to use PayPal).** Why is this suspicious? I don’t use PayPal either and I’m not interested in starting. I don’t have any desire for an uninsured company to have that kind of access to my credit card and checking account. From what I’ve heard, problems with them are few and far between, but when you do have a problem, it’s a nightmare to resolve. So I request checks or money orders. I have yet to rip anyone off. I knew there were people on eBay who didn’t LIKE to do biz with non-paypal people and it was fine with me to lose their business, but I didn’t realize what I do is _suspicious_. ---
**Author:** ![PhilAlex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@PhilAlex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhilAlex)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/27 "2002-10-31T15:19:03Z")
I sold a book for $800 from my collection. Later, I bought a copy, on ebay, for $5. Heh heh heh. One thing I’ve found: My latest two “Big” sales were comic books. People were buying because there was something special in the book, for them. For example: 1 book had a “Disney Vampire”. This guy collects comics with Vampires in them. Another had a bind in M&M story. This lady collects M&M stuff. Whatever works. ---
**Author:** ![DemonSpawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@DemonSpawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonSpawn)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/28 "2002-10-31T15:22:19Z")
A few weeks ago I decided that I just had to have the Visorphone, an add-on module for my Visor PDA. On ebay Germany they are hardly ever available and when they are, they sell for around EUR 130,00 plus shipping. Checking on [ebay.com](http://ebay.com) I found that they sell for 40-60 US and thought: hey, shipping can't be more than 30 US with a decent shipping service (I did not want to do regular mail), that would still save me like 40 bucks. So I checked with the seller and bought the thing. I paid EUR 72 total. I even managed to get the seller to mark the item as a gift so I would not have to pay taxes. My package arrived and I was in heaven. Until yesterday when I received the customs/tax bill. I had forgotten to tell the seller to mark the package “no commercial value”. Now I have to pay 30 Euro ☹ It’s still 30 Euro cheaper than at ebay Germany, but I was really disappointed that my cool plan did not work out as expected. GRRR! ---
**Author:** ![DemonSpawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@DemonSpawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonSpawn)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/29 "2002-10-31T15:30:28Z")
A few weeks ago I decided that I just had to have the Visorphone, an add-on module for my Visor PDA. On ebay Germany they are hardly ever available and when they are, they sell for around EUR 130,00 plus shipping. Checking on [ebay.com](http://ebay.com) I found that they sell for 40-60 US and thought: hey, shipping can't be more than 30 US with a decent shipping service (I did not want to do regular mail), that would still save me like 40 bucks. So I checked with the seller and bought the thing. I paid EUR 72 total. I even managed to get the seller to mark the item as a gift so I would not have to pay taxes. My package arrived and I was in heaven. Until yesterday when I received the customs/tax bill. I had forgotten to tell the seller to mark the package “no commercial value”. Now I have to pay 30 Euro ☹ It’s still 30 Euro cheaper than at ebay Germany, but I was really disappointed that my cool plan did not work out as expected. GRRR! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/30 "2002-10-31T16:11:44Z")
You had to pay a 41.6% tax rate??? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/31 "2002-10-31T17:27:05Z")
Does anyone remember the box for a computer that sold for $400 bucks a year or two ago? (No, I was not the purchaser.) True, it was indeed worded that it was a box, but it was easy to miss. The buyer left rather angry feedback. The seller’s response: “Item was just as described.” ---
**Author:** ![Stccrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Stccrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stccrd)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/32 "2002-10-31T17:59:29Z")
[hijack] I bought a [Dave Taylor](http://www.dillonmusic.com/getzen_instruments/getzen_trombone_1062fdr.html) custom Trombone for 1500. It is beautiful. No problems whatsoever. It was practically brand new, and it originally ran for 3150. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2002, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/33 "2002-10-31T18:18:02Z")
RCA RP5007 digital voice recorder Paid $12.50 for it Great deal as they have been selling for $25 It said it worked and it did. It tells time.thats all. I decided it may need the digital card. So I bought a 16 bit card,they don’t make the 8 bit that came with the dvr add another $8.00. It does more stuff but I still cannot talk or hear anything. Check into Operators manual. Still available from the co. that does warranty repair. Cost $7.00 PLUS $5.00 shipping. Still pondering ---
**Author:** ![DemonSpawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@DemonSpawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonSpawn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2002, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/34 "2002-11-07T11:10:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JohnT \* > \*\*You had to pay a 41.6% tax rate??? \*\* Actually it was 13.5% tax and the rest was a handling fee by the logistics company that had handled the shipping within Germany. The handling fee was charged because they had to pay the tax for me and then get the money back from me. If the packet had been sent by regular mail I’d have to have gone and picked up the package at the customs office and just pay the tax. But by regular mail it may never have arrived at all … ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504/35 "2002-11-20T00:05:27Z")
I purchased a **Buffy the Vampire Slayer** _Once More With Feeling_ DVD that was supposed to be one of the ones sent out to Academy members for voting purposes. It arrived, but looked and played like a home copy of the original DVD. And when I contacted the seller about the imperfections in video (because hey, even if it was a copy, at least I got to feed the beast and see the musical episode years before it’ll be released officially–the episode, not the beast; I make no promises about any beasties), he sent me another, more perfect DVD without hesitation. Which kinda strengthened my suspicion that I wasn’t getting an original item. So, I guess I did alright. Even if I did spend fifty clams. (“Alright” meaning you should probably look past my willingness to pay that much for… um, _one episode_. Ahem.) > [@](#): > > The pink velour pants I just got are simply delicious. Oh, Honey, no. I mean, on you, they look divine. But separated from yer lovely self? Huh-uh. Especially if they’re separated with red galoshes at the same time. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-purchases-you-wish-youd-never-made/134504.md?page=1)