eBay

[For want of a better word]

I will NOT be ordering any high priced eBay items from anywhere outside the UK as eBay support can not now provide the cover against faulty goods!

Buyer beware, I purchased equipment from a "New" EU member state,, was possibly an over the boarder import from a non EU neighboring country.
Was faulty and possibly dangerous... Trading Standards could not do much about it but warn me that I could be prosecuted as the IMPORTER!!

Seemed like a bargain at the time!!

I can not go into much more detail as may have a man with a dark eastern European accent turn up at my door!

Dyffan da

 

[Motobiman]

That's surprising.

Have you used the dispute procedure cos the last problem I had EBay/PayPal refunded without question.

Don't see how the consumer can be liable for non-compliant or faulty goods.

 

[Anduril]

If it's electrical, the likes of bigclivedotcom on YouTube could review as a dangerous piece of equipment.

 

[chrisb]

if you have purchased any item from non EU, in fact anywhere when we finely leave EU
you are classed as the person importing the goods therefore you are responsible to ensure said goods comply with all legal requirements and if they are found not to you as importer is held responsible.
even if its a cheap little toy

as for ebay not providing the support, YES you dont find out until it goes wrong, all the foreign sellers get things easy British sellers get dragged through hell by ebay and there policy's and even more so by the obnoxious buyers on there, the hardest thing to find on there is MANNERS

 

[pargyle]

as for ebay not providing the support, YES you dont find out until it goes wrong, all the foreign sellers get things easy British sellers get dragged through hell by ebay and there policy's and even more so by the obnoxious buyers on there, the hardest thing to find on there is MANNERS

Oddly this is not my experience of ebay - I've bought literally thousands of items on ebay and I've had cause to raise a dispute for just a handfiul - yes, the dispute procedure is a bit long winded but I've found it worked well and I was eventually refunded. The key to the dispute process as both buyer and seller is to keep documentary evidence ... and follow their procedures to the letter.

As for obnoxious buyers - again, I've sold quite a lot of things on ebay and I've always met lovely people who are helpful and friendly. Perhaps I just got lucky.

I've occasionally bought things that perhaps were not quite what I anticipated but it's been my fault in not either reading the description thoroughly or asking the questions of the seller BEFORE I bought it ... if it looks too good to be true it sometimes is - but, once in a while, you get a real bargain.

 

[tonyofarr]

I ordered my wife an ipod for her birthday several years ago through ebay from what was advertised as a uk seller, when it didn't turn up ebay and paypal were no help at all. Luckily I had used a credit card and when I contacted them they did a search immediately and told me that the seller was in Luxembourg, not the UK. The credit card company refunded me the money but I have not trusted ebay since and will only buy through them if the item I am bidding on is less than a tenner.

 

[madasafish]

I usually only buy from UK sellers. And bought a perfect s/h iphone this year.

I do not do major non UK transactions without reading feedback first. I do not do major UK transactions without reading feedback first. Recent feedback is VERY important.

I have had no problems on ebay not resolved by Paypal (fraud £200) or ebay disputes.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

My brother -in-law had a business selling boating clothing and when he retired, he sold quite a lot of remaining stock on Ebay. One day, a mate phoned and said "I didn't know you sold watches" When he checked on the Ebay site, there, under his name, was an expensive watch. The long and short of the story is that his account had been hacked and somebody was using his 100% positive feedback to "sell" expensive watches that probably did not exist.
The cause of his problem was that he'd replied to a phishing email apparently from Ebay offering enhanced seller facilities only it was not from Ebay- just a very good imitation. Ebay stopped the "sale" and nobody lost any money. He had to open a new account and therefore lost his 100% +ve feedback, so he probably lost sales as a result.
The point of this post is to let forum member know that there are some very clever and dishonest people out there whose role in life is to take money from honest people. Caveat emptor!

CVB

 

[chrisb]

pargyle.

you are a good one as you understand but there are a lot who do not, yes we get some awful people but we deal with thousands per month !
and we get the brilliant ones who are old school, have manners and realize there are people at the other end trying to help.

so many fail in the basics of communications, this is internet shopping where people due to lack of face to face contact forget this simple thing.

The biggest advise is be safe. ask if in dought. if it looks to good to be true then look closer and if still unsure dont do it .

there are so many who show to be in the uk yet are not, or simply have a po address over here but everything is shipped in from abroad, it is not just fleabay but so many of the others to, you will not get away from it you just have to shop safe

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Oddly this is not my experience of ebay - I've bought literally thousands of items on ebay and I've had cause to raise a dispute for just a handfiul - yes, the dispute procedure is a bit long winded but I've found it worked well and I was eventually refunded. The key to the dispute process as both buyer and seller is to keep documentary evidence ... and follow their procedures to the letter.

As for obnoxious buyers - again, I've sold quite a lot of things on ebay and I've always met lovely people who are helpful and friendly. Perhaps I just got lucky.

I've occasionally bought things that perhaps were not quite what I anticipated but it's been my fault in not either reading the description thoroughly or asking the questions of the seller BEFORE I bought it ... if it looks too good to be true it sometimes is - but, once in a while, you get a real bargain.

I bought a Chinese ptz camera advertised as 30x zoom. When it arrived it was obviously a 10x zoom. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing I opened a case with eBay. I have had my money refunded and no need to send the incorrect item back unless the vendor pays.
Can't argue with that

 

[pargyle]

pargyle.

you are a good one as you understand but there are a lot who do not, yes we get some awful people but we deal with thousands per month !
and we get the brilliant ones who are old school, have manners and realize there are people at the other end trying to help.

so many fail in the basics of communications, this is internet shopping where people due to lack of face to face contact forget this simple thing.

The biggest advise is be safe. ask if in dought. if it looks to good to be true then look closer and if still unsure dont do it .

there are so many who show to be in the uk yet are not, or simply have a po address over here but everything is shipped in from abroad, it is not just fleabay but so many of the others to, you will not get away from it you just have to shop safe

Yes ..you are quite right ... Madasafish also ... Ebay is good if you use it with some degree of caution ... check feedback ... and look for any anomalies - if the seller sells lots of little things then advertises something at an incredible price that is out of line with previous sales - beware. Look closely at the descriptions and at the photos ..one persons idea of excellent condition is not always anothers ... as always, if it looks too good to be true - the odds are that it is !

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

People seem to forget that ebay is an online equivalent of a carboot sale not an alternative to Amazon

 

[pargyle]

People seem to forget that ebay is an online equivalent of a carboot sale not an alternative to Amazon

Exactly ... if I'm looking for something new and specific I check Ebay, Amazon and then do a google search for the item... I just bought a new Fitbit for my wife (what she asked for) ... RRP £119.99 from Fitbit direct, Ebay going for up to £85 in used state, Amazon £99.99, Decathlon Sports £86.99 - 10 minutes doing a bit of research - £37 price difference between top and bottom - that's fairly serious money to save. I saw a used one in an ebay auction go for more than I paid for a new one from Decathlon - people get carried away or are just plain stupid ?

 

[MuswellMetro]

People seem to forget that ebay is an online equivalent of a carboot sale not an alternative to Amazon

Amazon has it problems, i bought an expensive microscope from a well none german microscope company, it turned out to have a faulty transformer..i then found out that the Amazon free return is not honoured if it is purchased from Germany

the microscope company said return it AT YOUR COST and we will send you a new one IF YOU PAY the postage from Germany for the second microscope or we will refund you the cost (less original postage) and a 25euro admin fee

I chose the money and will never buy from outside the UK on Amazon

 

[einsteinagogo]

Amazon has it problems, i bought an expensive microscope from a well none german microscope company, it turned out to have a faulty transformer..i then found out that the Amazon free return is not honoured if it is purchased from Germany

the microscope company said return it AT YOUR COST and we will send you a new one IF YOU PAY the postage from Germany for the second microscope or we will refund you the cost (less original postage) and a 25euro admin fee

I chose the money and will never buy from outside the UK on Amazon

Had few issues with eBay, Amazon or Aliexpress (yes Aliexpress) - eBay site looks very old in comparison with new sites today, but I'm sure eBay is happy at all the final valuation fees, listing fees, and all the shop memberships they are selling, although their are some complaints by sellers or their items and the way they are selling or being promoted by eBay search algorithms.

Amazon has much higher strict policies for sellers than eBay, in my experience of working with clients, e.g. one Amazon strike and your out and banned for life!

We had one seller via Amazon, closed down their business, and laid off 15 employees, turnover/profit was massive, and Amazon banned them for life, because some filed bad feedback for delivery lost, at couriers fault, and there does not seem to be any Appeal process, or face to face one anyway.

Faceless communication by email to Amazon - no banned for life.

Tough business to be in Online Sales, lots of competition.

 

[For want of a better word]

Now there is a NEW EBAY SCAM !

Seller immediately cancels the item as soon as payment is received...... I have now been pushed from pillar to post as the ebay resolution center tried to figure it out... and the seller simply relists and does it over again!

Yeghes da

 

[chrisb]

Now there is a NEW EBAY SCAM !

Seller immediately cancels the item as soon as payment is received...... I have now been pushed from pillar to post as the ebay resolution center tried to figure it out... and the seller simply relists and does it over again!

Yeghes da

Sorry thats not necessarily a scam. if the purchase was canceled there is an automatic refund of payment to the buyer if the initial payment was through a paypall account.

if you made payment through paypal as a guest then the refund could take a little longer, if it is not paid back to the card you used after 3 days you need to contact paypal not ebay, you will need the reference number of the email paypal will have sent you confirming payment.

they might have sold an item they actually do not have in stock and if they have the item on an automatic re list it will have put it back up again.

was it a business or private seller

 

[For want of a better word]

A private seller... and I have followed the procedure to the letter that you outline
I placed a winning bid, but the moment I paid for the item via PayPal it was withdrawn... now doing battle with ebay and paypal to get a refund... seller and goods have vanished into some kind of ethereal void... with my £8 !!!

Nos da

 

[bpmurray]

Amazon has it problems, i bought an expensive microscope from a well none german microscope company, it turned out to have a faulty transformer..i then found out that the Amazon free return is not honoured if it is purchased from Germany

the microscope company said return it AT YOUR COST and we will send you a new one IF YOU PAY the postage from Germany for the second microscope or we will refund you the cost (less original postage) and a 25euro admin fee

I chose the money and will never buy from outside the UK on Amazon

It doesn't matter if it's Amazon or anyone - the law is clear: the seller has provided faulty goods and so must bear all costs, with no fees whatsoever.

 

[chrisb]

A private seller... and I have followed the procedure to the letter that you outline
I placed a winning bid, but the moment I paid for the item via PayPal it was withdrawn... now doing battle with ebay and paypal to get a refund... seller and goods have vanished into some kind of ethereal void... with my £8 !!!

Nos da

Ah private, what a sod. paypal should open a case for you and it is there responsibility to refund. if paid via paypal account you can do this after logging in and going to the purchase
if paid as a guest you can approach your bank or Card company and tell them what has happened and request a charge back on the purchase.