EBAY Essentials

[PocketPlayer]

I can't seem to get the mini disc player I want so I've decided to venture into the dark waters of EBAY.

Anyone offer me EBAY essentials? I always get paranoid when I go through the registration process and it asks for my CC#. Yikes.
What about reliability? Is it worth trying to purchase electronics?
What about those guys selling 30 items--Are they dealers?
If the bid is $10, what's the likelihood I will get a decent deal. I guess I need to know the retail price of a new item.

Any experiential feedback welcome!

[Clintuplet]

Hey Pocket, I've bought quite a bit of stuff from Ebay so I offer this bit of advice: check out the seller's rating by clicking on the number of sales they've made. For me if the seller has negatives I look to see what has been posted concerning that transaction and also how many negatives the seller has.(this will be self explanatory after clicking on the # of sales) Sometimes the comments can be dismissed if they are along the lines of unpreventable circumstances such as Postal problems. Just to be safe, ask for insurance. For me, if the seller doesn't offer PayPal or some other electronic means of pay I won't buy from them regardless of rating.(I hate the hassle of sending a check, waiting for it to clear or getting a money order. That's just me though) If customers leave comments about not receiving items, I avoid the seller like the plague!!!! [img]graemlins/thumbs_down.gif[/img] If unsure about a particular product you have the option of asking the seller questions about the item. Doing some research elsewhere on the internet regarding price is well worth your time in getting the best deal. My big thing is seller reliability. Everything else should take care of itself. The seller should advertise the condition of the product. If you receive something that is less than mint condition if advertised mint, you have rights to a refund and the seller may be beaten about the head and shoulders with a rusty tire iron. [img]confused.gif[/img] I hope this helps. Good luck.

Clint

[jonthibault]

I've bought and sold tons of goodies on ebay, including snare drums and bass drums. Just check the seller's rating and email him if you have any questions. If the person doesn't reply to your emails, don't bid, because I think it denotes unreliability.

Incidentally, there's some guy on there who's always selling signed Vinnie stuff. Right now he's selling a signed Jing Chi CD. It seems kind of suspicious, because he uses a photo of Vinnie standing next to someone, presumably the seller (the picture is blanked out) as "proof" that he met him. But he uses the same picture every time he sells a Vinnie item. I emailed him and politely asked how he regularly got Vinnie to sign so many things, and he never emailed me back. I smell a rat.

Anyway, use your head. If a deal sounds suspicious, don't go for it. I would also never buy an item that isn't pictured.

T-Dawg

[benrand]

eBay is where I got my mini-disc player/recorder, I had no problems and was satisfied with my purchase. I love that thing. Had to get a mic for it, tho.

[PencilZ]

If the person doesn't email you back it could be that his email isn't working or a multi-tude of other reasons. I wouldn't distrust someone because they haven't emailed a reply.

As far as elctronics are concerned they pretty reliable but then there always that percentage which manufacturers have for faulty goods to be replaced. (10% margin i think?)
Who's to say that the product you buy will go wrong?
Its part of a gamble buying from ebay but i have had no problems and will continue to buy from it.
theres plenty of bargains and as was said...check the feedback.
watch for people who win the bid and then stuff the trader and then put negative feedback in. Thats NOT the traders fault.

[PocketPlayer]

Anybody use a sniping program, auction sentry?

[buga]

like others have mentioned buying stuff from Ebay boils down to common sense. Before you buy ANTHING on eBay you ALWAYS check the sellers feedback rating.

for example if Mr.X's profile reads: 80 neutrals and 60 negatives then u can ASSUME that guy is gonna rip u off...Ebay needs to do more about unlawful buyers/sellers - it just ain't right how these people can just basically steal from you and get away w/it.

from personal experience ive never bought anything that's drum related(tho I was looking into sum Sonor Snare just for fun)but I did buy a Laptop Computer and everything went pretty much flawless [img]smile.gif[/img]

[jonthibault]

Me2 wrote: "If the person doesn't email you back it could be that his email isn't working or a multi-tude of other reasons. I wouldn't distrust someone because they haven't emailed a reply."

I disagree. If their email isn't working, they won't be able to sell on ebay, as it requires an email address once the auction is over. In my experience, those who pack and ship the item well and who care about the buyer are very astute when it comes to email communication. Nobody wants to feel left out to dry, especially after they've just sent a check or a Paypal transfer for hundreds of dollars. Those who are slackers and don't really care about the other person's satisfaction either return emails when they get around to it or not at all.

Right now I'm selling a bunch of stuff, and I return emails as soon as I get them. It only takes a second. I would never buy from someone who can't be bothered to answer a question about something they're selling. I think that's weird, suspicious behavior. How can you trust that person to pack and ship your item well?

[PocketPlayer]

T-Dawg, I am leaning strongly towards essential communication. I am interested in a mini-disc player, but there was no pic...they just sent me to the manufacturer's website. Well, that's going to be a pristine pic right? It isn't the actual product I'm buying. Sounded a little cheesy to me.

[jonthibault]

Yeah, people who don't have pics will sometimes use a link or download a pic and use it. I don't know. It's your call. Typically, though, if I'm buying a used item, I want to see a picture of it.