Explain E-bay to me..(and share buying experiences)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

E-bay. What’s up with that?

I would like to (maybe) get involved in the buying / selling of items, but know very little (read nothing) about how it works.
Can some patient soul take a little time to clue me in?

A couple of questions for consideration:
[ul][li]If I bid on an item and ‘win’, do I have to pay? How legally binding is the auction? How do they enforce it?[/li]Also, does the seller have to release the item to the highest bidder, or can it be withheld?
[li]If the seller insists he will only post the item to ‘continental US’ and I bid and win, can I insist he post it to the UK?[/li][li]If I don’t like the price reached, do I have to sell an item on offer?[/ul]What else do I need to know before considering getting involved: what are the fundamental basics?[/li]
Thanks all for any replies.

2

I’m not going to be much help, but I’m looking forward to any responses. My family have just discovered eBay with a vengeance, y’see. As far as I know, yes, you do have to pay if you win an auction, but I’m not really certain about the other two bullet points.
I’m awaiting further words of wisdom with bated breath.

3

Yes, if you bid and win, you have to buy.

Yes, if you put up an item, you have to sell it to the highest bidder. You can, however, start the bidding at the lowest amount you’re willing to accept for it.

No, I don’t think you have to ship to a country you specifically excluded in your description, although it would be nice if you could reach some agreement for an additional shipping charge to cover the international postage.

4

I’ll try to answer some before the real eBay junkies get here to set things aright. :smiley:

If the seller says in his description that he/she will only mail the item to the U.S., that’s all they’re obligated to do. However, if you win and really want it in the U.K., you could contact the seller immediately after the auction ended and make arrangements. By “make arrangements” I mean “pay a lot of money upfront.”

5

>> If I bid on an item and ‘win’, do I have to pay? How legally binding is the auction? How do they enforce it?

Yes, and wgy would you bid if not? if you don’t pay you will get bad feedback and a warning from ebay which will lead to cancellation of your account.

>> Also, does the seller have to release the item to the highest bidder, or can it be withheld?

Yes, he is just as obligated under the same consequences.

>> If the seller insists he will only post the item to ‘continental US’ and I bid and win, can I insist he post it to the UK?

Of course not. Can’t you read? Why do you think he would write that? OTOH I can tell you that I have won a few small items whose sellers said they would only ship to the USA and I contacted them right after the auction and asked them if they would ship (mail) to Europe and most of them did not have a problem. Only one refused and refused to give any reason so I just had it shipped to the USA. No big deal but the guy was quite a jerk on the whole and I did not leave any feedback.

>> If I don’t like the price reached, do I have to sell an item on offer?

Yes but you can set a reserve price and you are not obligated to sell if it is not reached.

>> What else do I need to know before considering getting involved: what are the fundamental basics?

You can find all of this and much more in the help section of ebay and I recommend you read it.

6

Thanks all. Apologies if the questions seem rude, stupid or ill-informed. (I’m afraid they are).
I had read the introduction (getting started) in the <help> section at E-bay, but it was rather basic. I’m working through all the FAQ’s now, but thought I’d start a thread here to run cuncurrently.

Has anyone had any problems with receiving goods purchased? I see that E-bay say they will cover the costs of any purchases if not received from the seller. How is this in practice?

Anyone have any horror stories about things going wrong?

Anyone have lots of good, positive things to same about the process and how well it all works?

Thanks again.

7

Not quite, sailor. “Will only ship within [home country]” is the default setting. Thus, in many cases, the vendor didn’t necessarily write it - they just didn’t think about it at all, and eBay inserted it.

IMO it’s a stupid rule - since the buyer pays postage, who cares where it’s to be sent?

8

BTW, I believe that, if the vendor stands by the “Will only ship…” thing, it would indeed invalidate your winning bid.

I purchased a wicked little shortwave radio off a bloke in Scotland through eBay. He too had the “Will only ship within UK” thing turned on, but I mailed him during the bidding and he said he didn’t care where he sent it as long as I paid the postage. I won the bid, posted him a sterling banker’s draft, and got the radio by return of post. Great price, simple transaction.

9

Plenty of both - sometimes you’ll buy something and they won’t deliver, or you’ll have to faff around for weeks before they send it or its not in as good condition as they said etc. etc.

But then the vast majority of times i’ve had no problems, got stuff i wouldn’t normally be able to find in the shops or stuff that would have cost me a lot more etc.

Ebay is essentially just about gambling - you are gambling on the fact that the seller/buyer is trustworthy, that the product will work/be in good condition and that you’ll get a good price.

You can narrow the odds somewhat by becoming an intelligent ebay user - checking peoples feedback, shopping around, bidding intelligently etc. but at the end of the day its still a gamble.

You just have to ask yourself everytime you are thinking about buying/selling something whether the potential rewards (whether in terms of money-saving, rarity of product etc.) outweigh the possible risks.

If you do that then you should generally have an enjoyable ebay experience.

Be warned, however, it can become very addictive. I’ve been avoiding it for months, since my last visit went something like:

  1. Get new credit card.
  2. Go to Ebay
  3. Search for “Dreamcast”
  4. Max out Card.
  5. Recieve lecture from GariGirlfriend on cashflow management.

:smack:

10

It’s a good idea to get your feet wet with small transactions when you are new at ebay. Spending less than $15 or so. You can get a feel for the process for very little risk.

I’ve bought three large-ticket items on ebay (2 saddles and a pair of skis) but before I did that I experimented with buying inexpensive items until I was comfortable and had earned some good feedback.

My own personal ebay rules of thumb:

  1. Always read the seller’s feedback
  2. Always email the seller to settle any questions before bidding
  3. Steer away from buying expensive items from sellers with no or low feedback
  4. Never bid on anything without pictures.

But that’s just me!

11

another long-time eBay junkie weighing in. i am strictly on the “buying” side of the transactions (so far). i’d say that 97% have been decent experiences.

i’ve had one or two shipments where the item arrived all smashed up due to poor packing. once or twice i’ve returned items for a refund because the seller grossly mislabeled what they were selling. (honestly, who can seriously think a fan is Genuine Ivory when JAPAN is molded onto the end piece?)

OTOH, i’ve gotten some major “steals” when i found something where no one else seemed to appreciate its true worth. sometimes you get lucky. sometimes you lose out in a frantic bidding war, or a last-minute sniper tops your highest bid.

if you search for specific types of items consistently, like a certain class of collectibles, eventually you may start to recognize the names of certain sellors (and sometimes, of certain competing bidders!). but always, when in doubt, check the seller’s Feedback ratings. most of them are pretty nice people. some have really been patient when something gets screwed up in the process.

your gateway to acceptance is to promptly reply (or send) e-mails to the other person in the transaction. ditto with payments, if you’re the buyer.

i’ve heard some kvetching about the recent melding of eBay and PayPal, but i’ve found it to be a super-fast means of paying (if the buyer accepts funds from PayPal.) checking what forms of payment the seller prefers is also a good idea. you may not enjoy having to run to the post office all the time to buy money orders, if the seller won’t accept personal checks or electronic payments.

no, sellers are not always obligated to sell for the highest bid… IF… they have a reserve price set on the item. (such auctions will always have a label if that is the case.) the reserve is a secret “minimum” the buyer specifies when he sets up the auction. if the highest bid does not meet or exceed that amount, he is free to declare No Sale, and may even re-list the item. on occasion, when i’ve been the highest bidder but did not meet the reserve, i’ve been contacted by the seller who offered to sell it privately for a specified price. be warned: eBay will NOT enforce its policies for these “back door” transactions. (however, i haven’t had any problems with the few i’ve ever completed.)

Dutch auctions, if you are interested, usually sell multiples of an item in one transaction. the seller will describe the item, list how many are available (i.e., 10 books, 50 groups of beads, etc.), and what the minimum price is to purchase 1 lot. it gets tricky on these. multiple people can bid, trying to get a few (or sometimes all) of the lots. if more items are bid for than are available to sell, the winner would be the person who bids a higher price per lot. (example: 5 TVs for sale at opening bid of $10. buyer A wants 2 for $10 each; buyer B wants 1 at $15; buyer C wants 3 at $18. if that’s the status at auction’s end, buyer C gets his 3 TVs; buyer B gets his for $15, but buyer A only gets 1 TV for $10.)

eep. guess the depths of my obsession are showing. :eek:

12

Hi. I’m danceswithcats and I’m an eBay holic. Welcome, danceswithcats. You get the picture.

In general, my experience with eBay has been quite positive. Most buyers and most sellers are great, honest and agreeable people. That said, just like in any other venue, asshats lurk.

I’ve been able to buy some tools for my construction company very inexpensively, find out of print books, CD reissues of old vinyl, and some cool learning games for littlecats.

My volunteer fire company cleaned out the back room, and I listed and sold close to $10K worth of surplus stuff, making some new fire service friends in the deal.

As some other posters have advised, buyers should check seller rating and feedback, and also multi source your research prior to bidding. eBay is a cyberspace country auction, and if you bid too much, shame on ye. Send emails prior to bidding. The speed and accuracy of a response should tell you something about the seller.

As a seller, I always include pictures, and inform the buyer of all I know about item z. The more that is told up front, the less foundation will be extant for a post-sale complaint, and that practice leads to avoiding a flurry of inquiring emails asking for the stuff you should have put in the listing. Again, prompt response to inquiries leads to a good feeling on the part of prospective buyers.

In short, eBay asks that you behave as your Mother taught you:

Be honest
Be fair
If you make a mistake, say “I’m sorry.”

Momma didn’t give you a credit card-that part’s on you :wink:

Hope this helped! Happy eBaying

13

Re: Asking the seller if he/she will ship to you in another country other than the one listed. I would highly recommend asking about this BEFORE you bid. Not after you win. Some people will not waver on this, and I have personally see some sellers blow their tops when people from outside their stated shipping area bid.

The reasons people sometimes don’t like to ship abroad are - the cost can be much higher than their stated shipping fees (and then the buyers balk at the extra expense), customs forms need to be filled out, shipping to other countries can take weeks, if not months (buyers get antsy, asking “where’s my stuff?”. Some sellers do not want this hassle and that is why they only ship to their home countries. Ask before you bid, not after you win. Some sellers won’t budge, and you could get negative feedback along the lines of “buyer too stupid to read, I don’t ship overseas”.

14

Stupid question from me: Can used books be sold as media mail?

15

Sold as media mail? I thought that was a shipping method. :confused:

16

I use media mail to ship all books sold by me and the wife. Never have a problem, and they get to where they are going almost as fast as “regular” mail.

We have been doin’ the E-Bay for a couple years. Haven’t had too much negitive experiance (with the actual buying/selling end).

I dig it. I get good deals on cool stuff all the time. I use paypal and buy from sellers with some positive feedback and have always gotten my stuff. I’ve sold alot of worthless crap also, and have only been stiffed one time. No biggie- I just sold it to someone else. I made hundreds of dollars from stuff that was headed for the dumpster at work that turned out to be a highly-soughtafter item in the “cult” PC market.

Bonus! :smiley:

Of course, since I’m the world’s worst pack-rat and haven’t thrown anything away since Nixon was in office, I always seen to have something that someone is willing to shell out big bucks for that otherwise would just get shit-canned sooner or later.

Have fun!

Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore.

17

E-bay is good to find, things that are Hard-to-Find, or Unique. I have used it to find stuff from my childhood, that I couldn’t get and things like Wonder Woman stuff, that you can not find.

I have never sold, just bought, I love E-bay, have had no problems.

18

Nope, most time the seller has set a fixed shipping charge. Also, they may ship only using one carrier and don’t want to get involved with the complications of shipping abroad. As I said, in several instances they have shipped to me in Europe but also in one instance they said in BIG letters “no shipping outside the USA - Don’t even ask” so. . . I didn’t ask. Sellers have resons for limiting the payment methods they will accept or where they will ship. Be ready to accept the terms as posted (or email and ask first).

On the whole my experience is good but I am careful and will not buy from those with low feedback.

19

dantheman, I meant shipping, and I realized it immediately after I posted it. But refuse to be one of those double posters who correct tiny errors just so people won’t think they’re stupid. So I relied on the combined intelligence of the SMDB to know what I meant. :wink:

gatopescado, thanks for that info! No wonder I wasn’t selling any books. :smack:

20

Aha, see? You failed to consider my uninteligence!

BTW, not quite off-topic, but I have bought things through Amazon’s Marketplace service, and what I bought was mailed to me via Media Mail. I was not offered an alternative, and I didn’t even know the shipping method until I specifically asked. It’s nice because it’s cheap, but Media mail can take forever.