Buying from Ebay? (1 Viewer)

[CaysonE]

There are some great prices on refurbs of the Toshiba RPCRT models I'm looking at on Ebay. I'm wondering if its worth the potential hassle of buying through them. Has anyone here had much success with a similar purchase?

 

[ScottRCapt]

It all depends upon who the seller is on eBay. Heck you can buy from Sears and other major brick and mortar merchants via eBay. So I wouldn’t be afraid of the fact that the item you want is listed on eBay.

You must check into the seller though. Feedback is a good indicator but it is not the whole story. Read the feedback and then look at the items the feedback was left for... If the feedback the seller has is all for small items worth a few dollars each and then all of a sudden they are selling all electronics worth thousands of dollars - watch out! Especially if there is no feedback from people who have actually made these large dollar purchases.

The seller should have feedback that relates to the items you are thinking about buying from that seller. IF you are looking at TV’s and the sellers feedback is for cosmetics or flashlights... move on to the next seller. (Unless the seller is auctioning a personal item – we all have to sell our stuff from time to time).

Also, you should do your research and make sure you are not spending the same as you would from a reputable online merchant. i.e. some eBay sellers get your attention with a low item price and then sock it to you with shipping and insurance. Or they will get you by selling a refurbished product marketed as new. Not all sellers do these things (I am an eBay PowerSeller myself). However, you have to be aware of the details and read the entire auction before you bid (especially if it says in the auction to read the entire auction – this is a sure sign that there is a hook in it somewhere) and be ready to say no.

Set your high bid price in your mind before you get into a bidding war with another buyer. Also, always look up the item you are interested in on eBay and then select the "completed items" box on the search page. This will give you all of the items similar to what you are looking for that sold or did not sell in the last 30 days. This will give you a very accurate range on what your item is really worth. Don't bid up the high end of that range unless your item is rare or you really need it now!

I have outfitted almost my entire home theater from eBay auctions and in most cases I have been treated well and I got exactly what I paid for. eBay has saved me a great deal of money and allowed me to own a home theater that I could never have afforded in any other way.

Good Luck and keep an eye on those auctions!

Scott

 

[Jerome Grate]

First, I didn't know brick and mortar stores sell stuff on ebay. Even with that knowledge, I just could not justify buying something that large from ebay unless the seller is in your immediate area. There are plenty of sites that have refurbished stuff with warranties. Of course there's the shipping back and forth for possible service but at least you know that some of these sites are actual authorized dealers of the products. I've heard stories about how sellers use friends and interested parties inflate the price at the last minute. There's no real way of knowing if this happens all the time and if it did happen, there's no way to prove it. Something large like that, personally I would stay away from ebay. Just my opinion.

 

[John S]

I'd be tempted if the deal was "out of this world good", I'd check up on the seller three ways to Sunday though.

Many now are just smaller Brick and Mortor stores looking for more outlets to sell stuff.

 

[ScottRCapt]

I am sorry Jerome but your view of eBay is myopic and quite a bit out of touch.

eBay has more sales and more customers worldwide than General Motors and Walmart COMBINED.

Shill bidding is watched by eBay and will result in immediate suspension of the seller. Shill bidding can easily be avoided simply by not bidding over what the item is worth.

When you buy from almost any mail order or internet merchant you will have to deal with shipping on returns.

Factory authorized merchants like J&R electronics - Adorama Camera - Sears - Harbor Freight Tools - General Motors Dealers - Ford Dealers - Walmart - and many others do business on eBay. It is big big business and that cannot be denied.

If you purchase a major item on eBay you are just as protected via your credit card as you would be if you went down to Best Buy and bought the item. You have the same protection with your credit card company. Sending cash or money orders is s different story and should be avoided on high dollar items.

You can find some items on eBay that are not available locally for very good prices.

You can also spend more than you would have locally. It is simply up to you to know the difference.

Please do not paint a picture of eBay merchants as all being crooked - no matter what the level or price the item. It simply is not true.

"hearing stories" and repeating them, when you do not know the validity is called gossip. You may want to deal with factual replies in the future.

 

[John S]

I might add, that lately I find the ebay sellers to more attentive and genuinely better than most other webtailers.....


Fast shipping, tracking numbers the moment they have them, they never have problems with my often squirrly pay methods, get right back to me if there is some sort of issue with the sale on their end, ect..ect..ect...