Candlelight said:Oh, you think that it's OK to put yourself on the Internet, to provide contact info for buyers, as per Ebay's user agreement, but not to state what part of the country you are from? Have you heard of listing only the STATE? It gives a person a good idea of what the reasonable charges are for shipping from location to location. Some people try to make lots of money in shipping charges. I am not referring to you, because I don't know anything about you, but eBay has become a den of scheming professional selling scam artists in some cases.
Your reasoning makes no sense to me. If you are that worried about being murdered, then you should turn your PC off and never turn it back on. Certainly if a person would murder you, then they would cheat you and steal from you, wouldn't they? How do you trust your buyers?
Certainly you are at a higher risk when you post on a true crime board as there are people who know how to put imbedded code in their posts to track IP addresses. Once a person has an IP address, it is a piece of cake to trace right to their location.
I hope you already knew this.. and don't post anywhere else either.
No one has ever asked to pick up anything from us and we have sold from 2 major cities. I don't know what you are selling, or if your shipping charges are high or what, but I have never encountered anyone ever who wanted to come to my house or meet me somewhere to pick up an item if it was local.
Curious, do you use PayPal for payment? Sellers are supposed to give their complete address to PayPal when registering, same as eBay.
What about the fact that you HAVE to give a shiping address when you BUY something?
I hope that you will follow up with the police in the seller's area. One of the posts above, I believe, has details. I know that it is a hassle; however, I wouldn't let it drop. This seller needs to be prosecuted.Timex said:The seller never responded to either PayPal's inquirey or SquareTrades inquirey. PayPal tried to debit their account for my $1600.00, but the money had already been taken from their account, so they could not refund all my funds. I have received part of the money, and PayPal says they will continue to attempt to debit their bank account for the remaining amount due.
Racer X, I just wanted to note something - I am an Australian eBay seller and regularly sell all over the world every week. I have over 5000 feedbacks, 100% positive. So please don't label all of us "overseas" sellers in the same basket. I agree that you need to be wary, there are certain countries I won't buy from either, but I regularly trade almost every day with the USA and would be happy to recommend to any fellow Aussie that trading "overseas" with the USA is safe.racer x said:Use your head when on e-bay. If the deal is too good, its a scam. If the seller is out of the country, don't bother, chances are its a scam. There are very few things you cant find here in the states. (sic?) . let the buyer beware!
I compare it to a giant garage sale. You can find some good bargains, but there's also a lot of junk. Basically, if I'm thinking of buying something, I read the seller's feedback file very carefully. If I get the feel that this seller is not reliable, I'll pass on an item, even if the price looks good.AutumnBorn said:I don't understand this ebay phenom. I once ordered a dress from there, brand new 1940s reproduction for $10, but that was it.
What is the deal? I mean, are you looking for things you need or things that you collect? Can someone explain this to me?
For me, it's fun to try and find a bargain. Sometimes people don't know the value of what they are selling. One man's trash is another man's treasure...AutumnBorn said:I don't understand this ebay phenom.
What is the deal? I mean, are you looking for things you need or things that you collect? Can someone explain this to me?
Neptune'sMom said:We first used ebay to purchase a rare book we couldn't find anywhere else. I then used it to buy certain clothing items, specifically designer clothes for cheap. That worked out well for the most part. I made about 22 purchases with just 2 flunking out. One seller refunded my paypal and the other hasn't responded to my inquiries about a paid item that was won by me about 7 weeks ago. I may get burnt on that one as I'm reading in the comments section that the 'business' has a new owner.
I'm not crazy about ebay. I'm finding it can be quite risky. Another item I won I wasn't able to process the payment through paypal. The seller didn't respond to my emails asking how I could pay. When I complained in the feedback area, the seller wrote back that I was dumb and a jerk. At least I hadn't paid yet. My concern then was this was an unfinished auction. Ebay doesn't have a quick or easy way to send complaints or have them intervene. They offer a pay service for mediating. $20 to mediate with a seller who won't help me complete my transaction of $10? In the end, the seller ended up unregistering and is long gone.
I think the biggest complaint about ebay is the risk of getting taken in by their registered sellers. I can understand that vendors will want to be paid before shipping an item, but what guarantees are their for the purchaser?
That's my :twocents: