Other Ebay vs Online retailers

[Bitwacker]

Hello All,

I have always used the on-line retailers (Scan, etc) when it comes to new builds, I have never tried eBay. It seems too daunting, then there is the trust thing: when it comes to a new build you want to feel like it is a pristine as possible.

It occurs to me that this is a little bit naive.

I would appreciate some advise on how and when to use ebay, what to avoid, etc?

Can I expect good savings? What happens when you receive dud parts?

I did a quick search in the forums, but there does not seems to be an "ebay do's and don'ts" aggregate post.

[Phalanx]

If it's a business on eBay, I see no problem. Personally I would never buy from a personal seller.

[Deders]

Never buy a PSU from Ebay

[fix-the-spade]

Originally Posted by Bitwacker

Can I expect good savings? What happens when you receive dud parts?

If you're going to be buying from Ebay it's worth reading up on their rules. A lot of the Ebay shops offer little to no price difference from the big Etailers anyway, some of them are in fact run by said Etailers.

As for buying parts from individuals, in the event of dud parts you can file a claim against the seller. They almost always side with the buyer in those events, burden of proof is on the seller to show it was working when he sold it, which with PC parts is nigh on impossible.

[NRG IT - Olly]

I always worry more when I buy from ebay but you're actually better off to do so, if it's a business you're buying from. Ebay's rules force you, as a business, to be on your toes and make sure you're not mis-selling anything. Buyers are pretty well protected as well, s if anything goes wrong, you're covered. If a company's got an ebay shop and a website, you may be able to get a better deal through the site because there's no fees etc, but it depends on the company (ebay fees are only 2 or 3% for businesses, though, so it won't be massive saving).

As long as it's a decent company you should be fine wherever you buy it from, but if anything goes wrong and the company isn't very good then you're better buying through ebay because they'll help you out more. Although, having said that, if you're buying through paypal or credit card, then you've got protection through those as well, so maybe it doesn't make much of a difference.

I suppose it depends on the company you're buying from, overall. If they're using ebay as a side venture and they've got thousands and thousands of feedback, they may not be so good with the communication if there is a problem because any negative feedback will just be swallowed up by the good feedback they're getting for the orders that do go right. I'm generally quite wary of companies 100,000+ feedback on ebay, but I don't know if I'm being stupid there. Also, make sure to read up about warranties. It seems a lot of people on ebay aren't very clear about what you get in that respect.

[Williz]

As long as it;s a shop I;m not too bothered. Heck even if it's an individual seller I;m not too bothered. Either way you are very well covered by Ebay AND Paypal if you have an issue.

I;ve not had any problems on there that haven't been rectified by either of them.

Also there isn't any issues with getting a PSU from eBay as long as it's actually a decent one to begin with. Case in hand... I got a seasonic off there and it's amazing.

[GeorgeStorm]

I've looked in the past, but there's rarely been savings compared to normal retailers, so I don't bother.

For new stuff I stick to retailers, for 2nd hand stuff I stick to a variety of forums.
Prices are better and I feel I'm less likely to get mucked about.

[IvanIvanovich]

I only go ebay for new old stock stuff that is discontinued, or old used items like things that haven't been made for years (replacement part for a 286 for example). Otherwise I see no reason to buy anything on ebay you can buy from an etailer.

[Parge]

Originally Posted by Bitwacker

Hello All,

I have always used the on-line retailers (Scan, etc) when it comes to new builds, I have never tried eBay. It seems too daunting, then there is the trust thing: when it comes to a new build you want to feel like it is a pristine as possible.

It occurs to me that this is a little bit naive.

I would appreciate some advise on how and when to use ebay, what to avoid, etc?

Can I expect good savings? What happens when you receive dud parts?

I did a quick search in the forums, but there does not seems to be an "ebay do's and don'ts" aggregate post.

Can I do a little shameless self promotion and point you to my Guide to getting the best from the second hand parts market

- part of it details what you should/shouldn't buy second hand (ebay)

[hamza_tm]

I've bought tons of stuff from eBay, mostly from individual sellers.

Most of the time you get it cheaper on forums but there isn't as much variety going on, the chances of getting something specific you want from a forum isn't huge, but almost always there's an auction running on eBay.

If the seller has a high percent of positive feedback (100% or close enough) you're safe, as has been my experience. You should be aware of the product though, know what hidden things can go wrong with it, and just make your own judgements. Just be aware.

[Anfield]

If its a private person selling you will be out of warranty as 99.9% of warranties are non transferable.

Other than that ebay works just fine for buying as long as you follow basic safety rules.

However don't bother selling on ebay, you get close to zero protection from fraud and get robbed with skyhigh fees.

[NRG IT - Olly]

Originally Posted by Anfield

If its a private person selling you will be out of warranty as 99.9% of warranties are non transferable.

Other than that ebay works just fine for buying as long as you follow basic safety rules.

However don't bother selling on ebay, you get close to zero protection from fraud and get robbed with skyhigh fees.

True, but eBay offers easy exposure, so I guess you're paying for the honour of it. I've only worked on a business account, though, so the fees are quite a bit less.

[varkanoid]

Originally Posted by Williz

As long as it;s a shop I;m not too bothered. Heck even if it's an individual seller I;m not too bothered. Either way you are very well covered by Ebay AND Paypal if you have an issue.

I;ve not had any problems on there that haven't been rectified by either of them.

You've been lucky then !

How about winning a bid on an item and the auction closing only for the seller to then withdraw the item and refund your money claiming the item is no longer for sale.

Extra inconvenience on top in that it takes 3-5 days for you to get your money back so you cant instantly purchase something else in time. eg for a birthday etc.

Its happening more and more frequently. Three times now in the last two months. I suspect mainly because they didnt want to sell it at the price it went for. eg £75 for a £600 All In one PC or £1 for a new childs scooter selling at £24.99 in toyrs r us


Ebay and Paypal do sweet family craddock about it.

Don't even get me started on the issues I have had as a seller!.


although saying that picked up some good blu ray movies for less than £3 lately.

[law99]

Originally Posted by GeorgeStorm

I've looked in the past, but there's rarely been savings compared to normal retailers, so I don't bother.

For new stuff I stick to retailers, for 2nd hand stuff I stick to a variety of forums.
Prices are better and I feel I'm less likely to get mucked about.

I find 99% of the time that it is more expensive with eBay. Unless you go second hand, which like thou, I'd rather risk it here. At least you can see some history here by viewing their post history!

Originally Posted by varkanoid

Don't even get me started on the issues I have had as a seller!

Same... I've had completely random bad feedback from people who never even bothered to contact me about an issue, yet they've wanted no refund? What's up with that? The stuff they've written was normally lies as far as I could tell also... ???

[hamza_tm]

Originally Posted by varkanoid

You've been lucky then !

How about winning a bid on an item and the auction closing only for the seller to then withdraw the item and refund your money claiming the item is no longer for sale.

Extra inconvenience on top in that it takes 3-5 days for you to get your money back so you cant instantly purchase something else in time. eg for a birthday etc.

Its happening more and more frequently. Three times now in the last two months. I suspect mainly because they didnt want to sell it at the price it went for. eg £75 for a £600 All In one PC or £1 for a new childs scooter selling at £24.99 in toyrs r us

You can file a non-performing seller claim, it's pretty effective.

Also you can check the past feedback of sellers. People who do such things tend to have done them in the past, you can always find some previous buyer who's left negative or neutral feedback because the seller didn't respond after an auction ended. In fact checking previous feedback tells you a lot about any seller.

Originally Posted by law99

I find 99% of the time that it is more expensive with eBay. Unless you go second hand, which like thou, I'd rather risk it here. At least you can see some history here by viewing their post history!

Same... I've had completely random bad feedback from people who never even bothered to contact me about an issue, yet they've wanted no refund? What's up with that? The stuff they've written was normally lies as far as I could tell also... ???

I have to agree I've had random bad feedback too, for no reason at all. One buyer didn't respond to any messages, and left the gracious note "not vary happy" with neg feedback. Well, cheers mate.. learn to spell please..

[NRG IT - Olly]

It's such a pain when people leave negative feedback because they don't know how to use ebay properly or because they're trying to get something extra out of you. We've only had it a few of times, but luckily we've been able to get it removed most times.

[law99]

Originally Posted by hamza_tm

I have to agree I've had random bad feedback too, for no reason at all. One buyer didn't respond to any messages, and left the gracious note "not vary happy" with neg feedback. Well, cheers mate.. learn to spell please..

Boggles the mind doesn't it? You'd think they'd be interested in some compensation. In my case with one phantom feedback, they said a heatsink was broken because of a bend. It wasn't bent when I sent them the heatsink. It was also in easily sufficient packaging to prevent damage and I'm willing to bet it would have a) been easy to bend back and b) functioned inline with expectations even with a bend. Yet they seemed to suggest it was irreparable and non-functional.