Taking a beating on EBAY lately


I snipe manually. If I don't know whether I will be around when the auction ends, I will just simply bid up to the price I am willing to pay, then "Set It, And Forget It!®" If I know that I will be watching it end, I would bid once, and then go back to the auction, and click "1-Click Bid" and sit there until the last few seconds, then manually snipe it for the price that I am willing to pay (by clicking the button)

Works 90% of the time. I won a long sold-out Norfolk Southern Crane (non-powered) for less than MSRP the other day by setting it and forgetting it. (In that case, I set the max bid to the MSRP)

Last week, I won a Walthers Norfolk Southern Difco dump car (built up from a kit) for less than $10 with free shipping. I bid on it when it was around $6, then used the one-click bid to snipe it right before it ended. With my Ebay Bucks coupon (it was like 5 bucks) I got a Difco car for less than $5.

(FYI, the Difco dump cars built from kits have operating gates on the sides. The RTR (Gold/Platinum Line) cars have a single piece molded body)
 
OK i'm retired. Every morning i get my coffee and turn on the news while i check Ebay for a bargin.
Recent purchases. All new, test run, or like new. All arrived in good shape with no problems.
Bli Blueline AC6000 w/sound, needed the wheels cleaned, seller thru in an Athearn C44-9w dummy also. $75.00
MTH SD70ace w/sound&Dcc $150.00
Bli Blueline N&W class A w/sound $175.00
Atlas SD-26 Gold w/QSI sound Dcc $119.00
Proto H10-44 w/QSI sound Dcc $73.00
Athearn SD40-2 UP $11.50
BLI SD40-2 High Hood w/Paragon 2 sound $113.50
Bli SD40-2 Blueline w/sound and ditchlightrs $57.51
Atlas U33c New $26.00
Bachmann F9A & F9b (F7a?) w/8 wheels drive, Spectrun power pack, oval of track and 3 cars. FREE FREE Seller didn't send for 2 tweks so issued full credit and sent it FREE.
Kato SD90 Mac $75.00
Kato SD38-2 $71.00
Proto SW9/1200 new $25.00
AHM/Rivarossi Casey Jones FREE FREE Seller claimes it was new but when it arrived it had dirty wheels. I sent an email and he issued a full credit and said keep it. Free
You can see where i'm going. Best place to find deals for me. With local tax at 10% that coveres the shipping.

Bob
 
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northman said:
Well there you go. I didn't even know this practice had a name! Nor even that an automatic program existed! No, I'm afraid I "snipe" manually, unless I won't be home to sit in front of a computer, so I "set and forget" like diburning does.

Regards,
Steve
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I have been on Ebay since the early software allowed you to win an auction by simply opening the page and sitting on the auction until it ended. That got fixed pretty quickly, as you could imagine.
Now, the last time I bid on Ebay, I used Hammersnipe.
 
I don't deal with Ebay either. I have read/heard too many stories of bad deals to know better.
I don't trust the seller to acurately describe what they are offering.
I don't trust the seller sometimes to even know what they are offering.
I don't trust the " Buy It Now" price to be "the best deal in town"-especially on new merchandise,as I have seen it cheaper on other e-tailer sites. Besides I thought it was an AUCTION site, not a "buy it at this retail price I want for it now" site. I can "buy it now" at other e-tailers new for cheaper sometimes.
I don't trust the payment methods if something goes wrong with the transactions.
I have heard bad reports of sellers not refunding money for or begrudgingly refunding for: broken in shipping items they packed wrong; the wrong item shipped, the wrong item as described, failure of the item described as working, or any other host of other problems I have read and heard about.
There is generally no warrantee with a purchase off ebay.

Mind you, for every bad story there are many who have had no problems.
BUt I just love the ones who say " I love ebay and have gotten some good deals off it, and have had only a few problems in my dealings. That seems to be the most common thread people tell. Yet, mind you, if these guys had a problem with an online e-tailer, you'd better bet your sweet bippy they will be on the railroad forums the first ones to complain about something wrong with the e-tailer or the transaction!

I may miss out on a few good deals, I guess, but I wouldn't want to be the "fool" who was "parted from his money" by buying junk off a questionable site.

Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions, and experiences, others may vary.
________
Prilosec Classaction
 
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Your credit card is your best friend. If a deal goes south, whether at an e-tailer or an ebay transaction, you can always be protected.
 
You'll never know until you try it.

Paypal is usually on your side. If paypal does not find in your favor, you can still go through your credit card company. Then, Paypal would drop you as a customer, but you're not losing out on much since you'd be back to the position that you are in right now.

Lets just say that Paypal doesn't employ the most intelligent people and that all of the problems that you hear about is because of that. I've never had any problems with paypal and I've been using it for years. The only problems I've ever had were with moron sellers and Paypal refunded my money whenever they sent me broken crap or used stuff advertised as new.
 
What grates me is the eBay/PayPal policy of the buyer having to foot the return shipping even in cases of clear fraud. I'm sure they do it to discourage buyers from taking action on small ripoffs. It often isn't worth it if you have to pay return shipping and deal with the hassle.

Those small ripoffs that aren't protested amount to many millions in eBay and PayPal fees. I just wish there was real, viable competition to eBay. I would go elsewhere in a heartbeat.
 
Well, I made my last buy on Ebay this week. Decided that since I've been getting fantastic deals at HOYardSale I don't need the hassles of Ebay. I had to use up my Ebucks before Nov. 1st, so, I got a $20.00 item for $5.00 incl. postage.
 
SRN said:
What grates me is the eBay/PayPal policy of the buyer having to foot the return shipping even in cases of clear fraud. I'm sure they do it to discourage buyers from taking action on small ripoffs. It often isn't worth it if you have to pay return shipping and deal with the hassle.

Those small ripoffs that aren't protested amount to many millions in eBay and PayPal fees. I just wish there was real, viable competition to eBay. I would go elsewhere in a heartbeat.
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Put it this way. Here's a similar scenario:

You go to a brick and mortar store and buy a product. You bring it home and realize that it doesn't work as intended. Now, you have to drive back to the store to return it. Is the store responsible for the value of the gas you used to get back to the store? Of course not. Same with return shipping.
 
Larry said:
Well, I made my last buy on Ebay this week. Decided that since I've been getting fantastic deals at HOYardSale I don't need the hassles of Ebay. I had to use up my Ebucks before Nov. 1st, so, I got a $20.00 item for $5.00 incl. postage.
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Hey Larry, :)

You can transfer money out of your PayPal account and into your bank account.

I never keep any money there.

Greg
 
tooter said:
Hey Larry, :)

You can transfer money out of your PayPal account and into your bank account.

((I never keep any money there.))

Greg
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You mean in your bank acct. or your paypal acct.?

I would never let PayPal know that I have any money in my bank acct. The last hack into payPal ruined some peoples acct.
 
Larry said:


You mean in your bank acct. or your paypal acct.?

I would never let PayPal know that I have any money in my bank acct. The last hack into payPal ruined some peoples acct.
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Hi Larry, :)

I never keep money in my PayPal account. A routing number doesn't mean that a depositor can access account information. It's just a way to deposit or withdraw funds at your direction.

Whenever I buy, I always use my credit card as the funding portal... and never my bank account.

In the ebay transactions over the last 7 years...

...I always find the people who I deal with to be exactly as decent as I am...

...and even if they are not...

...they treat me as if they are. :)

Greg
 
588 transactions including Germany,France, USA, and UK ebay. All positive with no problems with sellers, Ebay, or PayPal. Everyone else stay away i don't want the prices to go up.

Bob
 
I've never had problems with paypal either paying for things or transfering money.
However I recently paid off and shredded all my credit cards (yay me!) so I can no longer make instant payments, they are now "e checks" which take forever to clear.
As far as ebay goes, I have my favorites I deal with and only go outside that if the seller has a great rating.
 
About 3 months ago I bought a 1/87th DC-3. When it got here it wasn't even close to 1/87th, more N scale than what they said. It had the tail broke off, the propellers broke off & no landing gear. In the picture it showed it was in perfect cond. I got it for $3.00 plus $3.00 freight. Contacted the seller(98.9% rating) at least 6 times. Never answered.
So, when I left feedback I put everything negative. Then Paypal emailed me & said they would get me a refund. I told them it wasn't worth it for $6.00 to ship it back, etc.
I'm not buying from Ebay anymore because I'm getting a lot better deals on HOYardsales & paying for them w/Paypal. Don't have to worry about feedbacks or writing an essay on the dealers. I've never had any problems w/Ebay or Paypal. I have a triple A rating as a buyer & I will still be buying from my favorite dealers as "Buy it now". These are electronics outlets in China & one in Oregon. I've got enough LED's & Resistors to last me the rest of my life. Unless something new comes out in the near future I won't be buying anything from these dealers for quite awhile.
 
diburning said:
Put it this way. Here's a similar scenario:

You go to a brick and mortar store and buy a product. You bring it home and realize that it doesn't work as intended. Now, you have to drive back to the store to return it. Is the store responsible for the value of the gas you used to get back to the store? Of course not. Same with return shipping.
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That's not remotely similar. That's not fraud. It's a warranty issue. You either return it to the store or the manufacturer for repair or replacement. Some even will issue a call tag for UPS of FedEx to pick it up at your home at no expense to you, but in most cases you will have to bear the expense of returning the defective unit. That's normal commerce. And bear in mind that the buyer has the opportunity to thoroughly examine the item in the store. If he walks out with the wrong item, that's on him.

The eBay issue is with sellers who commit fraud. As an example, they advertise an item as NIB (New In Box). When the buyer receives it, it turns out to be used and abused or an entirely different object than described. That's not a warranty issue; it's deliberate fraud, a literal crime in some cases.

Federal law says that someone sent something that they did not order is under no obligation to pay anything for it, and can treat it as a gift. EBay blatantly disregards that and requires that the buyer return it at his expense in order to recover his payment.

EBay is complicit in false listings. I have seen numerous items listed as new, usually with eBay new category boilerplate attached, that are in fact not new, but obviously used and in many cases defective in some manner.

On several occasions, I have reported these listing violations via the appropriate eBay mechanism. I have yet to see a single one be taken down or modified in any way.

As I said, eBay makes big money off of these little scams. I'd like to see someone in authority take them to task on it, but I see little chance of that happening.
 
galaxy said:
Wow! nearly $50.00 for a BACHMANN unlettered CABOOSE???

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bachmann-BAC938...360091?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item20b4728f1b

For that price I can get a BACHMANN DCC On Board LOCOMOTIVE from wholesaletrains.com!
No wonder I don;t shop on ebay.
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That's apparently quite a deal -- if you are into G scale.

MSRP = $103.00. HobbyLinc has it discounted on line for $72.09.

I think the G in G scale must stand for (G)ulp, as in what you do when you see the prices. :eek:
 
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SRN said:
That's apparently quite a deal -- if you are into G scale.

MSRP = $103.00. HobbyLinc has it discounted on line for $72.09.

I think the G in G scale must stand for (G)ulp, as in what you do when you see the prices. :eek:
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Oh G scale, well that makes sense then.:rolleyes:
I could swear I saw it in the HO section and I thought it was an HO scale caboose!!!:eek::p
________
WENDIE 99
 
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