Why use Ebay?

[TerryBPP]

I usually don't give my stupid opinions but I just in a mood today.

Last week I got robbed on ebay for a $25 part, no biggie. This got me thinking though, why do we keep using ebay? I think everyone has been hit for a couple of bucks on there. If you calculate up the money you loose+time+aggrevation is'nt it cheaper just to buy a new part. One robbery can subtract all the money that is saved by buying used.

Just a thought. Thanks for letting me vent.

[jhelgesen]

I use it more for selling than buying. Only have had one major hassle, but got my money back. If I look back over the years, I've been ripped off more at swapmeets than on ebay.

[Jdub]

It's worse than we know. I only delve into Ebay if there is a part I must, must have, and typically this is for a manual or a /2 part for my bike.

I am really just dirt, the professionals buy and trade there and it is well over my head.

John

[TerryBPP]

As long as your not buying complicated pieces, like heads or electronics, how do you get ripped at a swap meet? You actually see and feel the part as well as take it home with you. Now on heads and stuff I can see were a rip could occur.

[dad911]

As a seller, eBay provides a quick way to sell items from the comfort of my home. I have trecked too many parts to swap meets over the years, not to sell everything I brought. In fact, at the last swap meet I went to, I sold the balance of my stuff to the vendor next door for $20, just to be rid of it.

As a buyer, I have found Items that are un-obtainable through any other venue. For example, My best friend's grandfather owned a bottling company. I have found two antique bottles for her just by leaving an automatic search running on ebay.

About 100 transactions, and I have not been burned yet. Just lucky?

I have been burned at swap meets though. Bad checks and items not working.

[LeeH]

Like many things I think you hear about the bad experiences on eBay and rarely the good.

My recent eBay transactions include purchasing a 2001 Mazda Protege MP3, a t-shirt for my daughter, a cell phone case, and a heart monitor.

All of these items were purchased for much less than typical retail values. There were some issues with the car, but even with the flaws I found, it was still a great value.

I've got a stack of stuff to sell... stuff that if it weren't for eBay would be thrown away, donated, etc. I just sold a used iPaq PDA... for $176.00! Not bad for something that pre-eBay would have lingered in a closet and been tossed out. No, it's not risk free but I think the benefits of eBay far outweigh the risks.

[widebody911]

There are generally 2 ways to get ripped off.

The first is when you are buying something that is advertised as one thing bus is really another, ie 935 heads which are really VW 1600 heads. If you're well-educated about what you're buying, it's harder to do that, but I see swappers misrepresenting stuff all the time. For one, I never ask a swapper questions in a manner that make it easy for him to misrepresent an item.

Wrong Is this piece correct for a '77? (seller just has to say 'yes', and has a motivation to do so, even if he's wrong)
Right What years is this piece correct for? (make the seller tell you what it goes to, thus avoiding the easy lie.) I've asked this question, and then had the seller immediately ask what year my car was. Tricky!

It's easy to misrepresent stuff on ebay, because you can put up pix of the 935 heads and ship the VW heads, and the mark doesn't know until the UPS man has driven away. That's why reputation is very important on ebay, but unfortunately, that's easy to manipulate.

The other way to get ripped off is to pay for something and just not get it. This is really hard to do in person, although I've known of people to buy a widget that's missing parts, and an arrangement is made to get the parts later. I've been burned this way when buying a car, and homey don't play dat no mo'.
It's very easy to do this on ebay, and once again, reputation comes into play.

One thing that ebay could do to improve it's reputation and that of it's sellers, is to break down the walls of anonyminity. Any moron with an email address can sign up and start selling crap. This won't weed them all out, but it would help. Another would be user education, but that's a long row to hoe.

[BGCarrera32]

I don't put much weight in the stupid little "feedback" column on ebay.

How many times have you seen the line:

"Excellent buyer, prompt payment, A+++++++++++++++++"

Geez, with that many pluses after the A than they must be good...

[jluetjen]

E-Bay is a far more efficient (although not perfect) market then most places this side of the NYSE. Like in any dealing with humans, it's possible to get fleeced. It happens on EBay and it happens on the NYSE (Hey! who took my Enron investment!). Never the less, to a cautious buyer/seller, I believe that EBay is far superior to the following for the reasons listed.

Classifieds: EBay has far more listings, arranged to foster competition better then any paper classified. The bidding process also helps bidders not to over-pay and sellers to get as many bidders as possible. Economists will always point to auctions as being among the closest to the ideal "perfect" market.

Swap Meets: I can search Ebay in 5 minutes from my home week after week. Hershey isn't going on today, is about an 8 hour drive from my house and may not even have what I want. Not to mention I need to walk around the grounds picking through pieces for hours to see if 2 or 3 sellers are competing on something that I want.

Word of mouth: This always seems to be a very hit-or-miss proposition, somewhat akin to "barn finds", most people know of someone who got a good deal, but never themselves. Not to mention they only seem to happen once in a lifetime.

On-Line classifieds (like Rennlist, Pelican's, etc). From a seller's perspective, often it's the first buyer who gets it rather then the buyer willing to pay the most. From a buyer's perspective the same shortcoming applies.

[TerryBPP]

I've also been screwed from a seller perspective when I sent a product and the buyer canceled the credit payment through Paypal after he recieved the product. It is almost impossible to prove they recieved it. Ebay owns Paypal therefore I blame Ebay.

It is good to see some positive results for Ebay though.

Ebay is good if your trying to locate usedparts or sell used parts compared to other venues, but not compared to buying new parts. I don't see the advantage if and when you get ripped, which I believe is only a matter of time.

P.S. Buying a MX-6 on Ebay takes balls!

Ebay sucks, but is the easiest way to find and buy some of the unusual stuff we all look for. I've been hosed on a couple of deals from ebay and am very cautious of using it now.

[jrdavid68]

I have been involved in close to 400 transactions on eBay - about 75% selling. Considering the volume, hassle has been minimal.

One of the persons I list stuff for stumbled across some hard to find throwback football jerseys on a clearance rack in Palm Springs for $6 /ea. I sold them on eBay for $65 - $105 / ea. - of course, not all transactions are home runs - just the ones I want to talk about :-).

DAD911 - I have a auto search for an old business too that turns up a bottle now and then from a friend's grandfather's business in SF around the turn of the century - cool stuff.

[ruf-porsche]

Brought my P car on ebay. Was a local seller and he decided to end the auction early when I came around with cash in hand.


82 911SC Targa
70 Lotus Type 52 with twin webers
70 Lotus Europa
97 Isuzu Rodeo the Grocery, parts and the baby seat SUV

[Hootie]

I've bought and sold on ebay for the past 3 years with no problems so far...but with everything it's buyer beware and you have to do your research...ask questions, look at the feedback!!! And then bid if you are comfortable. I've had people bid and start asking questions after the fact whether it will fit their needs or not...DUMB!!! IMHO...I think you're taking a chance buying off a BBS unless you linger a bit to see who is a regular or not. You have nothing to go by when making that transaction except honesty of the two completing the transaction.
But I tell you what...it's amazing what you can sell on ebay!!! Closing down the company I work for and had a 10hp Ingersoll-Rand rotary compressor that was barely used...asked around locally to sell for cheap and no reponse...threw it on Ebay and within 24 hours it was sold, paid for and buyer even arranged shipping. Unbelievable!!!

[ruf-porsche]

For seller of items that they don't know the value of Ebay is great. Sold a Chaparral slot car by Cox still in the plastic bubble for $500.00. Originally paid $10.00 at a model car show about 15 years ago. The fact that it was still in the plastic made it valuable but unless you know the current value of the item you could sell it for a little more or even less than what you originally paid for it.

I use the feedback rating and don't buy from anybody with excessive negative feedback.

82 911SC Targa
70 Lotus Type 52 with twin webers
70 Lotus Europa
97 Isuzu Rodeo the Grocery, parts and the baby seat SUV

[MarkP]

If you really want to know, read the book "The Perfect Store: Inside Ebay"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0316150487/qid=1048792232/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-3419908-6303064?v=glance&s=books

It tells the ebay story and explains the social/economic dynamics in great detail. I enjoyed the research that shows that no reserve auctions sell for higher prices than reserved auctions.

From the promo stuff:

From its beginnings as a hobby site on a Silicon Valley PC, to its maturation as a real company under the burgeoning fiscal pressures of cyberspace, to its present status as one of the few original e-business practitioners to survive the dot.com implosion, eBay has always been part of the crowd while managing to stand out from it. Cohen helps us understand why by taking us inside the heads of major players like Pierre Omidyar, the cofounder who imbued his site with a Libertarian philosophy responsible for its heart and soul, and Meg Whitman, the seasoned manager who brought business savvy and a Harvard MBA to its roller-coaster world. What helps make the book so readable and informative, though, are Cohen's accompanying observations of the many other people and events that also helped eBay develop its trademark direction and characteristic personality: the company that formulated its distinctive logo, the Kansas City clothing-iron collectors whose pastime was transformed by the upstart Web site, the quirky listings that generated controversy (and publicity) like the one in 1999 for a "fully functional kidney," even detractors who decry its big-business underpinnings. Fans of the site, along with students of the online world in general, will find Cohen's account both instructive and enjoyable.

[AndrewWolfeUK]

Ive done 50 or so trans on ebay.
Only had one fool mess me about and guess what i was buying some trainers from him. Many weeks went by with no word from him, so i made up a mock solicitors letter and posted it to where i sent my cheque,
Guess what? I got cash in the post two days after and it was more than i had paid, so i gave him negative feedback and went to bed with a smile on my face.

[Wayne 962]

Getting an occassional bad deal is just the cost of doing business - just like when someone writes me a bad check. You have to factor it into the cost - it will happen eventually...

-Wayne

[jeff91C2T]

The feeback deal on Ebay is a joke. If you ever post a negative one, your sure to get one right back. Makes no sense to me...

[tobluforu]

I've been lucky. I've bought car parts, diamonds, servers and workstations, monitors. Never been screwed. Lucky I guess. My brother is a hotwheel freak. Buys them like crazy on ebay-yet to be screwed as well. This is no joke, he has a whole room covered with almost every hotwheel that's worth anything-still in packages. Worth over 30,000 bucks. I'm talking at least a thousand stapled to the walls. He has found almost every porsche hotwheel made and given them to me-I have a pretty cool set-He's still looking for the 959 for me.