Fake Sellers on eBay

[RLWP]

For counterbalance. I use Ebay all the time, regularly buying stuff for my business. I have only once had a problem (On a used Roden Albatross) and negotiated a reduction with the seller

 

Other people's experience may vary

 

Richard

[Out2gtcha]

4 hours ago, RLWP said:

For counterbalance. I use Ebay all the time, regularly buying stuff for my business. 

 

 

 

Same, but not all the time.   I regularly look at EBay and consider it for any purchases, as they have made buying fairly easy. In actuality, I have had decent luck (and that is what it is occasionally, as you never know who you are dealing with) with selling as well, as I have sold many, many small items, and have even sold 2 cars on Ebay for a total of about $34,000, so its not all bad there. 

[mozart]

What really, really bugs me is that some idiot can mess you about but you can't leave him a bad report, whereas he can to you - as happened to me last year.  Fortunately when I went to eBay to complain I had evidence to support my side of the story but it seems like life in general these days, the odds are stacked against us "good guys"!! 

[vince14]

I've done well over a thousand transactions on eBay since 2004, both buying and selling kits, and I can honestly say I've only ever had one problem. That was a buyer who claimed his kit never arrived, despite the Post Office saying otherwise. I took the hit (it wasn't a huge amount of money) and then blocked him from ever bidding on my items ever again.

[Gigant]

14 hours ago, vince14 said:

I've done well over a thousand transactions on eBay since 2004, both buying and selling kits, and I can honestly say I've only ever had one problem. That was a buyer who claimed his kit never arrived, despite the Post Office saying otherwise. I took the hit (it wasn't a huge amount of money) and then blocked him from ever bidding on my items ever again.

I am sure this is not the same as your case, but I have have had the USPS insist I personally received packages that they did not deliver to me at all.

[cbk57]

I am glad the OP reported this, WNW is perfect for Fraud because of the high prices they pull any way and perceived collectible value.  I look at what is going on now and then with WNW but I don't bid as they are running more than I want to pay.  Every WNW auction on ebay seems to go really high.  Some of posters above though are right that colluding on bids or bidding something up yourself is fraud.  It is a technique as old as auctioneering though.  I went to a lot of auctions as a kid with my dad and he was always worried he was bidding against the seller.  

[Confusionreigns178]

E-Bay are a very hypocritical company. They LOVE to hassle private sellers about any perceived infraction of their rules, but they let big companies with massive negative Feedback continue to trade as if nothing's wrong. I have seen a Chinese company on E-Bay which had over one-and-a-half million transactions to its name, but it had 18,000 Negative Feedbacks as well (mainly for non-delivery and very poor quality goods). How on earth can E-Bay ignore this situation? Pretty simple, really. This Chinese company will be making E-Bay loads of lovely Dollar, so it's not in E-Bay's interest to risk interrupting the cash-flow. 

 

Chris.  

Edited March 27, 2021 by Confusionreigns178
Amending some information.

[Juggernut]

I’ve never had one problem with E-bay in almost 1000 transactions since joining in the 1990’s.  
 

I used to sell globally but have since confined sales to the U.S.  I do not buy from any E-bay site outside the United States either (with one exception).  I don’t even look at any items for sale/auction by Chinese sellers.
 

I will buy from reputable people outside the U.S. if I’ve done business with them in the past but that is my only caveat to buying outside the U.S.
 

For those who’ve been cheated by offshore companies (whatever your home country may be), I would suggest limiting the scope of your searches to your own country or ones nearby.  The old saying, “If it looks too good to be true, then it most likely is.” is a good rule-of-thumb to go by.  Also, if you pay via PayPal then you’re covered in most cases.

Edited March 27, 2021 by Juggernut

[MikeC]

I've only had one real problem selling on eBay, and none buying.  I put my max bid in and walk away until its over, if I'm outbid I'm outbid.

 

The selling problem was with the buyer: I was selling a 1:48 Eduard Tempest, and the bidding only went up to "Yeah, OK, I'd hoped for more but that will do".   The buyer failed to pay.  I invoked the appropriate eBay process and relisted the Tempest, with the result that the second auction went about £15 higher, and the buyer paid promptly.  Result!

[MikeC]

4 minutes ago, Juggernut said:

The old saying, “If it looks too good to be true, then it most likely is.” is a good rule-of-thumb to go by.

Sage advice in any circumstances.

[BiggTim]

Like most things in life (Amazon, Facebook, etc.), ebay has pros and cons. Be wary, be objective, learn to work around the cons, and take advantage of the pros, and you can do very well as both a buyer and seller. It's certainly more expensive to sell there than it used to be, but good luck reaching as wide a market anywhere else. I've done both a lot, and have always come out of it quite well, and have found their customer service to be decent, though in favor of the buyer most of the time.

 

I find the extreme hatred of it to be unwarranted, but I do prefer to do business through great groups like this whenever possible. I consider using ebay to be a last resort, but an effective one. Just my experience.

 

Tim

[Out2gtcha]

Well said bud

[ringleheim]

On 3/27/2021 at 10:28 AM, Juggernut said:

I’ve never had one problem with E-bay in almost 1000 transactions since joining in the 1990’s.  
 

I used to sell globally but have since confined sales to the U.S.  I do not buy from any E-bay site outside the United States either (with one exception).  I don’t even look at any items for sale/auction by Chinese sellers.
 

I will buy from reputable people outside the U.S. if I’ve done business with them in the past but that is my only caveat to buying outside the U.S.
 

For those who’ve been cheated by offshore companies (whatever your home country may be), I would suggest limiting the scope of your searches to your own country or ones nearby.  The old saying, “If it looks too good to be true, then it most likely is.” is a good rule-of-thumb to go by.  Also, if you pay via PayPal then you’re covered in most cases.

I have bought and sold thousands of dollars worth of plastic model kits on Ebay.

 

I use them for most of my buying, and for the most part, I will buy from anywhere/anyone if they have what I want and the price is right.

 

I have bought many from Japanese or Hong Kong sellers.

 

I've never really had a single problem on the buying or selling end either.

 

It seems like a lot of modelers out there have their mind made up that Ebay is "evil" or filled with scam artists, and so that is the manufactured reality they choose to live in.

 

I'm sure there are *some* people out there trying to drive up their auction prices with straw bidders, but I think it's probably a lot rarer than some think.

 

I find Ebay to be an invaluable resource for finding kits, particularly those that are kind of old and not commonly in stock at online retailers.  It's one of the few places you can go to find pretty much anything, any time you want.

 

I don't really get the Ebay hate.  As a seller, I do wish their selling fees were a bit less, but they are trying to make money and are providing me with an invaluable platform with nearly unlimited global reach, so it's a fair trade off I guess.

 

 

 

[Out2gtcha]

I agree about the reach......honestly there isn't anywhere on the planet that you can go to get the immense globally inclusive market like you can on Ebay.