Why do people think ebay is evil ?

[SilverBolt]

I have seen it sayd by a lot of people on numerous occasoins.
And i wonder why do people find ebay an evil thing ?

I love ebay, it gives me the chance to buy stuff i would have never ever found in my own country let alone even know it existed.

As for prices on ebay, they can be quite fair at times although i admit some people really know how to ask crazy prices.


So tell me people why do you hate ebay.

[s0urce]

ebay support sucks/doesn't really exist,insane eBay fees,but yet eBay doesn't have any real competitors.Buyers don't have any real problems beside they use the eBay company Paypal for payment (look at paypalsucks.com).But anyway I don't hate,I just don't like them even if I use their service.

[ASSEMbler]

Because if you get ripped off they basically tell you to go
:smt019 fuck off. :smt019

[Paulo]

Because if you get ripped off they basically tell you to go
:smt019 fuck off. :smt019

But at the end of the day its not really their problem... Their job is to provide a system for people to auction their goods.

You cant put the blame on them because you had a bad experience with a seller...

[Alzaire]

I've been using E-bay for years, and thankfully I've never had a bad experience with any transaction (knock on wood). You just gotta be careful and keep your eyes open, and you should come out on top most of the time. I love E-bay. Wouldn't have half my anime/game collection without it.

[Spottedkitty]

I think it's really down to the attitude of eBay (and don't forget PayPal) towards it's "customers".

Sure, if you have nothing but Good exeriencies then there's not a lot to complain about. It's when things go pear shaped that things start getting painful. There's not a great deat to protect Sellers and Buyers in the process. While I agree slightly with Paulo that bad sellers are not really their fault they could require more info and confirm that info so that people have a better ability to get a hold of the folks that *do* screw people over.

Their compensation levels are a bit of a joke as well. If you complain about loosing £20 to someone it's just not worth complaining as you'll only get a fraction of that cost back after their "admin" fees.


Essentially, what most people feel is that they're trying to reap all the profit while absolving themselves of any/all responsibility of those that act through them.

[AntiPasta]

I think ebay is okay... the amount of regulation is fine for me, way better than for instance the dutch marktplaats.nl... which has basically no rules, moderation or any form of treshold so it's swarmed by dumbasses trying to sell Megadrives for 70e :axe:

[Divine Evolution]

I've dealt with eBay for a couple years and have had over 150 transactions, about 140 of which great, eight or so I was unhappy with my product (no big deal), and two in which I just got straight burned, those two probably lost me about $300 and neither eBay or PayPal would (or claimed could) do anything to help me...
I know $300 is nothing but both of those where back when I was in high school working part-time as a waiter in a cafe on weekends, $300 was like two weeks of work!
In any case I still use eBay because YES it DOES give an opportunity to acquire the otherwise unthinkable, but also too many times people get caght up in the spirit of winning that the price goes incomprehensibly high on things... oh and don't forget those shill bidders! :smt011
~Krelian

[Yakumo]

EBay is infact very cheap and easy to use compared to bloody Yahoo Auctions Japan. Talk about a RIPOFF :smt011 They even charge your credit card every month just to have the privilege to bid on it ! That's wrong in my book. The only people that should pay are those selling stuff. I don't see why the buy should pay. Also Yahoo actions have some bloody stupid payment system. THankfully most people use the post office or bank acounts.

Yakumo

[Funkstar De Luxe]

Ebay is one of the best resources on the internet. For music and video games, I talk from experience. I have stuff now I could never even imagin getting 'in real life'. If people don't like eBay, then don't use it. Stop bitching about it and try and get stuff else where (just try it...) And please, please stop calling it evilBay. Really not funny.

Tony

[TheDeathcoaster]

I love Ebay and hate it at the same time ^_^ Its a great place for finding cool/rare items.....just alot of it seems overpriced (but thats not their fault, its the fault of all you people out there richer than me! lol)

[Paulo]

No i changed my mind i hate the thing its EVIL! someone :snipe: 'd a auction on the last second! damn bitch i mean ok bid in the last 2 mins but not in the last second! Thats just rude! I had a little bidding war and then there was about 1 mins left im all ok. 3 seconds left theres me clicking refresh and 2 seconds left im winning! yay im home safe... refresh :smt022 Lost!

EVILBAY!!!!! :smt043

[Anonymous]

I always have to watch my ass in the last few seconds because I'm scared of snipers, its just something you have to get used to. Its always best if you're the sniper :D

[Hawanja]

I've been ripped off a few times, but for nothing too expensive, a couple of action figures, one that arrived busted (looks like somebody stepped on the box so it wasn't the seller's fault.) But I must say on the selling side lately I've been making out like a bandit- seems like any piece of useless junk I put up sells. I made over $300 last month just selling little things between $5 - $100.

And as for your experience Paulo, I apoligize as I'm one of those people who waits until the last second. I just scored an Arcadia 2001 for five bucks yesterday. I bid when there was 11 seconds left. Bwahahaha! If that was you, sorry about that.

[Funkstar De Luxe]

If you used eBay properly, and put in your highest bid, then there is no need to worry about snipers.

Tony

[Paulo]

If you used eBay properly, and put in your highest bid, then there is no need to worry about snipers.

Tony

Noo cos you never really know how much you want to pay till the last 10 seconds! lol

I mean ill put a bid for something when i see it and then all week long i think ah i dont want it nah.... and then if i want it i end up there in the last min! lol

Yeah i do sniper but it just annoyed me 3 seconds and ahh! lol

EDIT: And two hours late they rub it in with the "you been outbid" e-mail... :smt019

[Funkstar De Luxe]

We've all been there man, and what's worse is that it's always our own fault :)

Tony

[WolverineDK]

EvilBay :snipe: shoot the shite thats my point of view
some jerkoff tried to sell Denmark (my homecountry)

so i think it is Evil Bay but still some likes the site some does not :smt033 :smt033 :smt033

peace :-)

[GaijinPunch]

In Ebay's Defense:

Is it shit? Yes. Ebay makes a small fortune, yet doesn't protect people selling on their system. Paypal is *WAY* more fucked up (google for some examples) but that's another thread. However, if you're a seller (and a good one) you WILL get repeat business. I had a pretty bang-up business just b/c people new they weren't going to get screwed (something rare on Ebay, apparently)

Yakumo:
You should know better than anyone, nothing is free in Japan. 400 measly yen per month to be on Yahoo Japan isn't bad I don't think. You're paying 400 yen to buy stuff you literally will NEVER be able to find in stores. Porn from the US, and even things with "shady in the copyright area" stuff. Yahoo turns a blind eye to almost anything, which can be a good thing. Japanese people aren't known for being scoundrels, so the policing that Ebay does isn't really necessary.

[Da1m0n]

I love eBay. Out of >150 successful transactions as both buyer and seller, I only got burned once, by a seller who took my $47 and never shipped the Radeon 9000 Pro that I had won. :smt011 (Blessing in disguise, though: 1. it wasn't much money and 2. I got a Radeon 9600 from yesmicro.com :-D )

What I see a lot of the time that just makes me scratch my head is people telling you to go for seller with lots and lots of feedbacks. *How many* feedbacks they have isn't the important part - it's the *ratio* of positives to neutrals and negatives. You gotta actually look at their feedback history and all the past comments to make your own judgment, not just go by a single number. And it surprises me that more people don't think like that. :smt009

[madhatter256]

If someone really pisses ya off on ebay. Spend about $200 to find that person's real address and its mail-bombing time IRA style :D.

[AnalogWinter]

I have been on E-bay for many years, and have seen good and bad times with my buying and selling. You just have to watch who you are buying from; because there really isn't anything you can do when you get ripped off. As per their (EBay) user agreement they are not liable for anything, it is up to the buyer and seller to iron out an issues. So don't expect too much help from (either EBay or PayPal), if you run into issues.

All someone has to do is say they didn't get the package, right a small claim to EBay and you are screwed. Just an FYI, if you sell, make sure you require insurance on your all your shipments.

I still laugh when I see crazy prices for items. You can get stuff so cheap, but usually hype outweighs sanity.

:snipe:

[ASSEMbler]

1. Shill bidding
2. Max $200 refund
3. Paypal refund has fees and max refund
4. Paypal chargebacks and 3 week reversals
with proof.


Try losing $1000 on ebay and then try to get a refund. $200 - fees
$170 back from $1000.

See how much you love ebay then. :snipe:

[Hawanja]

Wow Assembler, you lost $1000 bucks on Ebay? Damn. That bites. Still, don't they have some kind of Escrow service or something in case you sell something that expensive?

The most I've sold is $101 for an Infocom CD Rom (Had games like Zork, you know, the old school text adventures.) It was just something I had laying around, didn't even know it was worth that much. Usually you can't give old PC games away...

The cheapest way to find out somebody's real address is to buy something from them, it'll usually be on the return address on the package. Else it'll be a business address with a name, so you can just look in the phone book. If they're stupid enough to have an Ebay profile page that always helps too.

But as for getting ripped off there's really not much you can do, short of tracking them down and beating the shit out of them. I once e-mailed all the high bidders on a loser seller and told them all my experience. A few of them cancelled thier bids. A small revenge.

[Hawanja]

Hey, is there a way to disable the editing of bad language on the board here? We're all adults.

[sininc]

I have some problems with ebay, but many more with certain users and postal services over the globe (espec. in the UK)