Is Ebay Safe

[deepred98]

i've bought stuff from ebay before but nothing that easily brocken

also lately i've heard about a lot of scams and frauds on ebay

so what are the chances that if i bought a video card it would be doa/

do you guys think i should buy from there are just buy from a more legit retailer

 

[corkyg]

It is always a risk. Do a careful analysis of the vendor's track record. I bought a $950+ Canon EOS L lens on Ebay - and I sweated bullets. But - it worked out fine. I took as many safeguards as I could. Try and use PayPal and verify the shipping method. By comparison, circuit boards are a piece of cake to ship compared to a 24mm f/1.4 Canon Lens.

 

[bendixG15]

I have bought a lot of stuff off ebay..

My opinion...Its hit or miss

I would not do it to save ten bucks...no returns...no warranty....

Probably have better luck buying here...

 

[allanon1965]

i used to deal alot on ebay, but the final straw was when a lady sold me a geforce4 mx400 64mb agp and sent me a asus branded riva tnt 32mb card! paypal and ebay refused to do anything about it, stating that i got a video card, even though they admitted it wasnt the right one, i was screwed....well i got the last laugh, i had paid with a credit card and i disputed the transaction! got my money back and a stern warning from paypal that doing that risked my account! eh! screw you paypal! you didnt handle the situation, so i did....i use ebay very carefully these days, and not very often....use paypal too, but very careful to use credit card with unknown sellers...

 

[ixelion]

Agreed, e-bay is actually very safe as long as you buy from a power seller or some one with very positive record. Not to mention people are usually more informative and friendly than those idiots at my local computer store, who wouldnt know the diffrence between SATA and PATA if you spelled it out for them

 

[deepred98]

yeah the no return policy is really bugging me

unless i find a really good deal which iron as it seems are far and few i'll probably just get one off newegg

might try to buy/trade here but that seems complicated

 

[kravmaga]

Buying in moderation I haven't really had any problems. I saved $30 on a cable modem recently and bought a nice pc about 3 1/2 years ago for $300, the msrp was at least 800 for parts. I don't really use ebay that often anymore. As a seller I'm really starting to loathe ebay and paypal for the amount of money they remove from auctions and simple transactions. Just this week I was charged $18 for one item that I had started the bidding at $10, just to list and accept a payment (downgraded to a personal account to try and avoid fees but it seems with a personal account you can only do transactions under $500 a month, so I had to go back an make a premier account again...) I've about had it with them both.

I've had a little bit of luck with buy/trade on here but I'm not comfortable with sending an item before I receive payment and heatware means little to me since it has absolutely no legal backing. With a heat account it seems you can easily trick the system if you have A) enough friends B) enough email aliases and forum registrations. I give people my ebay feedback score (99% from almost entirely selling which has verified legal backing with my address, checking account, phone number etc) and they get angry that I won't send them out a $100+ item before I receive payment. Just because I've never heard of this heatware thing which has no legal backings like PayPal. That's just arrogence. It's really frustrating having to put things on hold only to be told I need to send the item first because a person is part of this heatware club.

 

[suicidalpigeon]

i only buy items <$50 so theres less worries/risks/losses. and i only purchase from purple stars and up.

 

[lordsaytor]

eBay is relatively safe. I have personally bought a Radeon 8500 and a 9800 from there. Like everyone said, see if that person has a good record. Some sellers are actually licensed retailers that doesn't have the resources to put their operations online by themselves, so they use eBay.

The worst thing to get off eBay are games (which are always pirated if they're from Asia) and clothing (since they just remove the brand name logo and stitch it onto something cheap and used)

 

[Mojoed]

I would be very wary of buying a modern video card on ebay from an individual. (ebay stores would be a better choice) I would think a large percentage of these individual auctions are put up by enthusiasts who weren't happy with an OC, or a failed unlocking of pipelines. Who knows what you're going to get from one of these auctions.

Not worth the headache IMO.

 

[absj]

fleaBay... be wary. don't be greedy and you probably won't be suckered.

 

[Texun]

There is no way to buy without some risk. I've made about 30 purchases and only 2 have been less than perfect; just slow mostly. I bought an HP laser printer and the guy took almost 3 weeks to get it out. He said he was out of town. Great, but how about suspending the auction until you can deliver the goods?!? They don't mind hammering you for payment as soon as the auction ends but don't mind holding up the shipping. I'm pissed about my last purchase. I bought a set of pickups for my guitar last Friday from a power seller with thousands of positives. I paid instantly and haven't heard a word since and he has ignored my email. I suppose I'll get the pickups but his lazy response has already trashed any hopes of me giving him a positive review.

There is always a risk involved so use caution and don't fork over any cash you aren't willing to lose if the guy turns out to be a dud. On the upside you can end up with some very good deals if all goes well.