Ebay Experiences

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I again dont have an issue with shipping if the seller is truthfull. If I agreed to pay $30 or whatever for shiping then when I get it, the shipping cost is a 1/4 of what I actually paid I have an issue. As for packaging, I've shipped things myself. Boxes with some peanuts or that balloon type stuff is not expensive either. And most of the time the sellers i've dealt with have given me exact quotes after the auction. I've only had issues i think 3 times.
 
Back to Ebay again. I bought a pack of 20 Streetlites from China for $1.04 from "the Stylehome". When they came in the wires from the bulbs down thru the stem(pole) were bare. No coating to keep them from shorting out. I contacted the seller & he told me to send them back(shipping; $8.00) & the price to replace them would be $4.00 plus the shipping back of $4.00 & he was sorry about the quality of the item & he would contact his factory(BS).
I contacted Ebay & they told me that his return policy was correct about the return postage, etc. So, that's another dealer that I won't ever buy from again or any of my friends. I guess you know I'm not sending it back. LOL
 
My recurring problem over ebay has actually been the packing of items. They are too frequently just thrown in the box with nothing protecting them.

Packing materials are expensive. It is not unreasonable to have a padding on the shipping charges if you also look at the time to go to the p.O., or UPS. I do however make sure that I don't get dinged multiple times for items where multiples can all go in one little box. That being said, I do look at shipping charges on every item and it they appear too large, I look elsewhere.

As to quality, the non train guys are always intentionally vague and leave a lot of wiggle room in the event of a dispute. The train guys don't do that. So when you wind up with #4 brass turnouts from 1953 instead of #8 nickel silver ones, don't be surprised.

When I bid on ebay, I look it over and set a limit on what I am willing to pay for the item. If I have questions on costs, I write the seller. If I don't hear back, I don't bid. Then , after setting my max, I leave it alone. Bidding fever makes you buy things you would not have normally bought. You didn't "Win" anything.
 


Railphotog said:
The charge for shipping doesn't necessarily have to relate to the actual postage cost. "Shipping charge" does not indicate "postage cost" - it can include the cost of the box, packing, and delivering the package to the post office. If I offer something on auction and say the shipping cost is $10.00, then that's what you'll pay even if the postage is actually less, or sometimes more. It evens out in the end.

Before you say boxes and packing are free, I've paid for sturdy gift boxes to ship things, and have bought bubble wrap and plastic packing peanuts in the past. Now I have a supply on hand that I've collected from parcels I've received.
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Bob,The USPS Priority boxes are indeed free and the USPS will deliver them..When the package(s) is ready contact the post office and your mail carrier will pick up your package(s).Also if it fits it ships for a set price that is based on the size of the box.

As far as shipping peanuts I seen large bags for as low as $16.99 and that will ship a lot of engines or cars.
 
ebay & i well ahhh we get along to well ..... i need to go now i think 5 of my watch items are ending :p
 
I have not experienced too many issues at all. I check several other internet stores before I make the purchase of course, but sometimes, not always, it works out a little better on E-bay. I am always looking for two special road names for modern locomotives and rolling stock for Indiana Harbor Belt and EJ&E, as well as a few other odds and ends that come up on occasion on E-bay for the right price.
 
I've had two bad experiences, one my own fault. The most recent one was when I bought two Roco BN hoppers from someone "clearing out an estate". The price was a bargain so I bid without checking all the pictures and when they arrived they had Rapidos. I went back to the listing and the extra pictures showed them clear as day.

Second time was when I bought a Kato GS4. The only reason I went for it on ebay rather than buying new was that it was a Kobo Custom Wartime black one that had apparently seen little use and been boxed for the last 2yrs. Seller was nice & chatty, answered questions etc...but when the loco came it ran like crap. Wobbled, needed heaps of power to get moving, tail heavy, front coupler was just sitting loose in the pilot (no idea how it survived shipping, it was missing a pin if I recall correctly) and the loco shell didn't sit flush on the body leaving an annoying gap between the boiler and the skirting that shouldn't be there. I explained all this to the seller and was very upfront about either getting a refund or filing an "item not as described" dispute, because he mentioned nothing of the broken components and said the item ran perfectly. He ended up giving a full refund and I returned the loco exactly as it came to me, so all I lost was about $10 for shipping (seller was local).

Where possible I try to buy from people with stores and a "buy it now" price, as in this situation the ACCC gives all Australians the right to a full refund if the seller of a product misleads you or the product is not fit for purpose, and listing the item as "refunds not accepted" or being overseas doesn't change anything.

You just need to be careful on there. A loose rule I have is that I don't spend more money in someone's store than they have feedback. Most sellers will bend over backwards to avoid negative feedback, but if you're buying a $500 item off somebody with 3 feedback they're probably not too worried about it. Of course there's always the option of requesting a chargeback from your bank and this is why I don't link my CC to a paypal account, because if they want to side with the seller they'll just take the money from your paypal balance and/or freeze your account if there's insufficient funds. If you don't link your card then the bank just takes the funds away and paypal are caught with their pants down.
 
personially another loose rule I follow strictly is I don't buy any thing (no matter what it is) from any seller from other parts of the world, now I do make exceptions to this rule, like germany, austrilia and places similar, especially if its an item known location wise to easy to find only in those parts of the world, my other rule is is the seller is in china anywhere I stay away like the plague, sorry but most of what I want is best not left to be "china junk" which I have had a few issues with, so I just stopped buying from sellers in china...

now I dont mind waiting for some time to get an item from germany, austrilia, or mexico or some other place like that...
 


Midnught Special said:
oh and on a side note I been evilbaying for about...6 years and I have gotten something just about on average of once a week (yes I have a new 1:87th scale car on its way as i type this) and I can stop when ever I like....kinda.....
Click to expand...

Um,:o,Hi Everybody, my name is Jim, (everbody says hi Jim!) and I,(cough, cough) am an ebay-aholic (gentle applause):D
 
Here is another laugher,

The box not only looks like it went to war with Iraq, the guy e-mails back a belittling message when you try to make a reasonable offer, and then doesn't even have the guts to let you e-mail him back. Obviously it is cretins like this that not only entertain us, but go out of their way to make sure you do not do business with knuckleheads like this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330635476051&ssPageName=ADME:B:BOC:US:1123
 
I had one bad experience on the bay so far. I bid on a Walthers 89' flat car kit, the kit that arrived 3 days later was a 75' car so I gave the guy negative feed back on item description, but good on everything else. He emails me and says "if you correct the feedback I'll send you a Walthers Gold Line 89' flat for free." So I corrected my feedback when the free car arrived, which was very very nice of the guy. Just the other day I go to his store to buy something and I'm blocked! :rolleyes: Guess I didn't do enough business with him.
 
That was very nice of him indeed, but why block you? Not exactly your fault he sent the wrong item, is it? :D All he's done now is send your money elsewhere.
 
Ebay Isn't the only place Ive had issues, although I have left Negative Feedback 5 times this year already.

I've had 1 issue ea. on here and the HOI as well. Both were some cases of deplorable packing. The 1 case I got a Ath BB GP9 & 2 Blank Shells all 3 were in a medium flat rate usps box with 3 pieces of crumpled newspaper for packing. The GP showed up with broken shell, motor separated from frame, motor mounts broke. O and it took 3.5weeks to get to me from the day my payment was made via paypal and I paid for the priority shipping for a reason....
 
Frankr409 said:
Here is another laugher,

The box not only looks like it went to war with Iraq, the guy e-mails back a belittling message when you try to make a reasonable offer, and then doesn't even have the guts to let you e-mail him back. Obviously it is cretins like this that not only entertain us, but go out of their way to make sure you do not do business with knuckleheads like this.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330635476051&ssPageName=ADME:B:BOC:US:1123
Click to expand...
building that kit right now, new version though :D
 


I have 190 transactions on Ebay. Not a lot and I've probably sold a little more then I've bought. I used to really enjoy the website, until they required (Sorta) that all transaction use Pay Pal. Now, I hardly mess with it. Of the 190 transactions, I only had one bad deal.

I have no problem getting a money order for something I want to buy; or, waiting for and accepting money orders for things I'm selling. I'm old school and just don't want anybody gaining access to money I have in some account. Don't like it and nobody can convince me otherwise! However, I'd like to start selling again and; so, I'm going to have to bite the bullet, I guess!

Lately, if I want something on Ebay, I've been asking the seller if they will accept a Money Order and if they will, I'm in like flynn.
 
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