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Why Use Ebay?


dbflash

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I have never used Ebay so I really can't say anything good or bad.

It just seems that lately there have been alot of post's about scams and rip off's.

A fellow BB won the bid on amps and after messing with it for alittle over a week it turned out to be bogus.

I know that people are saying that somethings you can only find it on ebay.

Do you really save that much money?

And this paypal adding 3%.

Has ebay turned into buying something out of the trunk of a car in a dark alley.

Like I said i have never used it and don't think I ever will, but for you who have, is it worth it.

I have used Audiogon twice. First time it was great and second time I was ripped off (at least that is how I felt).

Thanks for any replies.

Danny

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I'd say maybe 1 out of 1000 auctions are scams but you only hear of the neg. Maybe a 1000 might be a little optimistic, but you get the idea. I've bought and sold probably a 1000 things and only had a couple of negative transaction. Mostly shipping damage. Although, Ebay & paypals fees suck, I can't find the things I buy locally on ebay. On the same note I can't sell the things I unload on ebay for the price I get. I'd like to try a different auction site but they don't have the traffic ebay has. You just really need to be careful when dealing with ebay. Always ask questions when buying something. I will almost always pay w/ a CC through paypal so I can get compensated.

As a matter of fact the last sheister I delt with was on this forum. I bought Music Hall mmf-7 from a another member and he shipped and didn't package it worth a damn. It came and the tonearm and cartridge was totaled. I filed a claim with FedEx and they paid him back, he got the TT back and he didn't refund my $$$. Stopped responding and all that. Luckily I had paid w/ a cc that reversed the charges, but what a dick. Just goes to show you, CYA!!

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Buying anything at an auction (live or electronic) is a good way to get reamed UNLESS you really have a handle on EXACTLY what you are looking for. Then there is the unforeseeable shipping from who-knows-where, in what, and what altitude and is it heated or unpressurized, bumpy, wet, etc...

Patience is a virtue.

DM

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Danny,

I expect that well over 99 percent of eBay auctions end up with both the buyer and seller happy with the transaction. There are certainly some bad ones on eBay, but really they are pretty easy to pick out in advance. One good way to get a feel for how the guy does business is just to ask him a question about the item he is selling. If he answers quickly and answers the question fully, that will give you some idea about how he does business.

Also check the sellers feedback rating. Mine is 1320 with 100 percent positive. I have to work pretty hard and give good service and good products to maintain that rating.

There is always a possibility of having something damaged in shipping. I have shipped around 1000 packages by UPS in the last year and 3 of them arrived damaged. I have always shipped the replacement item almost immediately and waited for my claim to be paid by UPS. They have always paid.

Bob Crites

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Thanks,

I know this sounds funny but even though I have never met Craig (Bought his amps), Dean (Had him redo a pair of xovers) Bob (am going to let him redo a pair of Cornwall woofers in the near future) I'd rather deal with you guys.

Oh yea can't forget ALK(xovers) or Mark (Peach).

I guess it's the buying from someone I don't "know" that gets to me.

Bob I agree with you about UPS. i guess I have been lucky because I have never had any problems with either UPS or Fedex.

Ok I guess I will go to the ebay website and check some stuff out.

Thanks again. I guess I am just hearing the bad stuff.

Danny

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As long as you have a little common scense, and know something about the product your searching for, there's no real worry. Sure there's scumbags aplenty, but so are there in the churches on Sunday too. So, join the ebay frenzy, but like I said, you had better learn a little something about the item your searching for, so that you'll know what questions to ask the seller.

The paypal 3.8% percent thing only comes into play when an item is purchased through Paypal. And what happens is this, the seller of the particular item must pay that percentage of the winning bid price. The fee is automatically deducted from the buyer's Paypal'ed payment. Some buyer's have fits about it. But after watching ebay now for the past few years, I've come to realize that the Seller's that permit payment through Paypal, almost always (99.95%) get more bids, and higher sale prices. To test this fact, just watch a few different auctions for a particular item, and see which Seller's get the bigger bids.

Is it worth it, HELLL YA! Jump in, the water's fine.

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I have had very good luck with ebay. My very first purchase on ebay a number of years ago was a BMW 540i. I am still somewhat amazed that I bought an expensive car on ebay. But I saw the car, and the auction was ending,and it was a good deal, and I knew that I had to go to texas to pick it up so if it was a piece of you know what i could back out. I have stil have the car!

I have probably transacted over 60K on ebay in total and have never been burned. But I am very careful!

Josh

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I've bought over 200 items on ebay and sold 3. 2 were in the past week and I made out great (2 lps for almost $400 - I paid 80 cents for the one that went highest!).

I buy my razor blades in bulk, specific LPs, girly stuff for my wife and daughter, etc. I've only had one really bad experience and it was an $8 item.

If you use common sense, it's a great place to do business.

BTW - Those Mach3 blades are waaaaay cheaper when you buy 100 at a time!

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Most of my home audio gear was purchased on eBay. Is it worth it? Heck yes! Do you have to be wary? Unfortunately, yes.

I've bought ties, CDs, a digital camera, car bulbs, watches, electronics, speakers, just about everything. I've only had some very minor problems with a couple things.

Typically as long as you deal with someone with a decent feedback rating (100+) you're ok.

The camera I got was $100 including shipping, it was $150 plus tax in stores. I've bought several ties that retail for $125-150 for $10-20.

Its a great place to buy if you have a very specific item you're looking for and don't mind waiting a little bit to get it.

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Man I love ebay, buy the heck out of stuff and save a lot of money. Just beware of big buck items thats were you could get taken. I think the most exspensive item I bought was about 250 dollars. I would never send money over 500 bucks without knowing the seller real well .

BEC that is amazing 100% feedback with 1320 sales, hats off too you thats incredable. So far I have 110 sales and buys on ebay and have 100% feedback to go over 1000 like you did takes dedication and hard work .

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I've bought many items on ebay and never had a problem. However, just

recently I saw several Denon 5805's that were going for anywhere from

800-1200 bucks, this is a $6000.00 amp. I inquired about all of them

because they would do a BUY IT NOW for these prices. These guy's only

want to use western union which is a no no in my book. One even said

they used an escrow company to handle all of the transactions. I dug

much deeper and found this so called internatinal shipping company that

did the escrow was bogus. So buyer beware of things that seem to good.

Make sure you check everything out even the ones that look legit.

scooter

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I haven't done a whole lot on ebay, but my purchases include two pair of Heresy's (one local pick up, the other shipped - beautiful packing job!) and three B&K amps. Maybe I've been lucky, but I got great prices on everything and it all turned out to be as represented.

I've also sold a Carver TFM-45 and a Haffler amp. Transactions went smooth as silk. Honest sellers and buyers. No complaints. Of course, as always, YMMV.

James

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