General Discussions

**Learning Newbie** · 02-04-2008, 07:00 PM

Ebay is the center of online money. A friend of mine just showed me an auction for a free item that has $100 shipping. Somehow this doesn't surprise me. Feedback seems like a good way to put an end to the abuse, but it's easier to game than Page Rank. Plus, so what if a bunch of people I'll never meet all say John Doe is trust worthy?

If you gamble in Vegas, the rules say if there's a tie, the house wins and you loose. Seems like most of Ebay's rules basically say the same thing?

**Moxxnixx** · 08:29 PM

I've been a buyer and seller on Ebay for a few years. It's not hard to know if
a seller is trustworthy or not.

It only takes a minute or two to check the seller's history. You should check
to see how long they've been a member and how they got their feedback. If
they got their feedback from buying/selling 1-cent ebooks, I'm not going to
trust them if they start selling higher-priced items.

Also, I never buy from new sellers; I don't care if they are legit. That's my rule.
A person wanting to sell on Ebay needs to build up a rep and that takes time.

Starting in May, Ebay is restricting sellers from leaving negative or neutral FB
to buyers. So now we're going to see a rise in scammer buyers.

@Newbie,
I always use the "Report this item" link when I see listings like you mentioned.
Circumventing Ebay's listing fees is a big no-no.

**KML9870** · 02-04-2008, 08:38 PM

I don't blindly trust Ebay.

I have bought and sold many items on Ebay over the last several years. I think you have to practice the old saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." I never buy from anyone that has been an Ebay user for less than 6 months.

I research the retail price of what I am looking to buy or sell before going to Ebay.

When I buy I look for telltale signs that it's a scam -

1) too low bid price
2) too high shipping
3) vague description
4) description doesn't match pics
5) no pics
6) Negative or neutral feedback
7) High volumes of feedback.

When I have bought items on Ebay worth a considerable amount of money (like my computer) I have contact previous buyers directly, not just read the feedback and asked things about shipping time, shipping quality, product quality, did they have any problems, need to contact the seller, communicating with the seller, etc.

When I sell on Ebay I research the item I'm selling, include as many details as I can find, post plenty of pics from every conceivable angle and answer all questions within the auction.

Ebay is just like so many things in the world - people will abuse the system. Granted, it does seem to be worse lately. I also haven't sold anything on Ebay in a while because it has become much more of a buyer's market than a seller's. It is very difficult to get an item to sell for enough money to make it worth the time and effort that I put into listing it.

**ADAM Web Design** · 02-04-2008, 08:42 PM

Never mind the vendors...I don't trust eBay themselves. Any company that insists on creating an alternate set of laws, ignoring the obvious laws associated with their own jurisdiction, is not a company I will ever do business with on any level.

I will never...and I mean EVER...buy anything from eBay.

**Learning Newbie** · 02-05-2008, 11:27 AM

Sometimes a seemingly legitimate company is so intertwined with the cheats that at a closer look, you can't separate one from the other. I don't know if that's the case here, but with Adam's signature, and the fact that each and every one of these little discrepancies lands in eBay's favor, makes me suspicious.

**hostabove** · 02-05-2008, 12:09 PM

Yes, I do trust ebay but here you have raised question for a particular auction and that may be pointing to the auction owner. Ebay is good as long as you play your game with attention.

**angele803** · 02-05-2008, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADAM Web Design

Never mind the vendors...I don't trust eBay themselves. Any company that insists on creating an alternate set of laws, ignoring the obvious laws associated with their own jurisdiction, is not a company I will ever do business with on any level.

I will never...and I mean EVER...buy anything from eBay.

How has ebay ingored the laws associated with their own jurisdiction? I'm not opposing what you said, I am just curious to know more about this.

I feel like I trust ebay in itself, but I am pretty skeptical of the sellers. (which I think is what your question is really about). I have purchased several things on ebay, but nothing has been a highly priced item. The thing I hate the most about ebay is that sometimes you can get a good deal, but, like the example you posted, the shipping charges are ridiculous.

**ADAM Web Design** · 02-05-2008, 09:42 PM

Well, without getting into great detail...let's say that you have an image stolen from your site. You've watermarked the image, and can conclusively prove that the image was not only yours, but that it existed long before the eBay seller who stole it even became a seller, they'll say that based on some rule that they've concocted the eBay seller is right. And there's no way to tell them the rule doesn't apply, because like most non-thinking robots, they go right back to the orignal explanation.

Numerous non-eBay vendors have gotten screwed that way over the years, and eBay does nothing about it. It's one thing to protect your customers...it's another thing to directly violate IP law to do it.

**ForrestCroce** · 02-05-2008, 10:43 PM

Wasn't it a case of unless you're also an eBay member, you can't avail yourself of your rights? That they don't take reports from non-members? I know you can always become a member for free ... but you don't have to, under law.

I had half forgotten about that incident, but, as a photographer, I'm angry all over again.

**ADAM Web Design** · 02-05-2008, 11:05 PM

Sorry, bro...I didn't mean to **** you off. But yeah, you got the gist of it. eBay has no regard for your rights if you're not an eBay member.

I've even encountered a case where a content hijacker put a client's content up on both eBay and their own website. The host removed the content within 24 hours, and eBay still has it up on their site (fortunately, the auction has ended since then.)

**Aadriyah** · 02-05-2008, 11:36 PM

No, I don't because I've known so many friends who are upset when ordering their items on ebay

**newneo** · 02-06-2008, 10:26 AM

No, I don't trust them. Prefer PayPal.

**ADAM Web Design** · 02-06-2008, 10:45 AM

You do know that PayPal is an eBay company, right?

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/we...stion7-outside

**chrishirst** · 02-06-2008, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newneo

No, I don't trust them. Prefer PayPal.

Apart from the fact that EBay OWN PayPal

How can they be compared?

PayPal are an online payments system

EBay is an online auction / shopping site.

**CSS4Life** · 02-06-2008, 05:38 PM

Well before now, I would have said yes. However, I made my first ebay order about 2 weeks ago and they said it would be delivered in about 7-10 days. It still hasn't arrived. It would be unlucky to be scammed the first time I ordered anything - would definitely put me off for good.

**ADAM Web Design** · 02-07-2008, 01:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrishirst

Apart from the fact that EBay OWN PayPal

I said this first! Stop horking my content, you post scraper.

**jamestl2** · 02-07-2008, 01:45 PM

Did you know PayPal was sold for 1.5 Billion. Guess who bought it, that's right......eBay.

Also I wonder if anybody here knew that eBay not only supports, but helps content stealers.

**DaveMo~** · 02-08-2008, 12:20 AM

It only takes one person getting the bad end of a deal, especially in their own eyes, and convincing a few, that some place is evil. And that wasn't directed at anyone. It's just that you don't usually see someone saying "hey, eBay is so fantastic" and then lots of people saying, "yeah, you're right". Some might attribute that to the "fact" that eBay is bad. I think it may be because it's easier to jump on the hey-they-suck bandwagon than it is to realize that the scammers out there will use any and all sites/programs/whatever that they can. So who's to blame. The web site, of course. And why wouldn't a site support their members more than those that just passby?

Do I trust eBay? No more, and no less, than I trust other sites. Have I ever had a bad deal with eBay? No, because I buy from people, not eBay. Have I had a bad deal with people using eBay? No, and I don't expect to.

I do suggest that if you use any place like eBay that you make sure of any deal that you might be considering.

I did have a scammer try to get me to send the money for a safe as a "second chance" deal. After receiving all his information, I turned that in so he could be caught. I didn't blame eBay for it.

I'm not getting on anyone for not liking, trusting, or using eBay. That's everyone's choice to make.

And if there's proof that they are doing something illegally that could hurt someone (finances or whatever), then it's time to get that class-action suit going.

Dave

**shahab6** · 02-08-2008, 02:02 AM

I don't trust them at all, I rather buy from a store. Or more legit website.

**ADAM Web Design** · 02-08-2008, 11:01 AM

Dave, you're talking about a different issue...and to be totally fair, the question was structured in such a way as to lead to the potential to talk about the alternate issue.

eBay sellers are individuals. eBay cannot control what individuals initially place on the site as a result (well, they could, but the human resource involved would be too great to make it worthwhile). I can also understand why eBay would want to protect their customers in disputes with non-customers (although non-customers become potential new customers).

The problem lies when eBay directly circumvents the law for their own purposes:

Quote:

I have reviewed each of your examples and do see the other watermarks in the listings but again, since the sources that you provided are not in the form of an ebay listing I cannot take action under our Image Text Theft policy. We cannot remove listings based on the representations of third parties whose credentials we cannot verify.

If you contact most hosts and point out multiple watermarked images on a site, and the watermarks indicate property that belongs to multiple companies, most hosts will remove the offending content within 24 hours. To date, I've only run across one that hasn't...and that case is still pending.

I know that eBay isn't a host, but they are similar in the sense that they're providing a server for users to control their own content and upload it to said server. Therefore, when IP issues arise, it is the responsibility of the host to deal with them correctly. eBay has no interest in doing so whatsoever.

This isn't bandwagon jumping, Dave. This is experience that I have had with a company directly. You are correct in that a lot of people will jump on the "X sucks bandwagon" because it's controversial and negative, but they also tend to be people that don't recommend anything at all. I don't recommend a lot of things personally, but I do recommend a few things a lot of the time to people.