E-Bay Newb asking advice

[Kim Taehyung]

So, I've got my eye on a gently used iPod Nano for, currently, $8.50 american. However, I'm new at the whole E-Bay thing, so I'm sooo afraid of losing the iPod. Is anyone here sort of a vet when it comes to E-bay, and if so, could you give me some pointers?

BTW: here's the iPod I'm looking at::<A href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180399697856&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching" target=_blank>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180399697856&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching

 

[SaShman]

Oh Boy! A sexy, fully functional purple Ipod nano at just $10!? Just what I was looking for! I am sooo going to win it.

 

[Dionysos]

I wouldn't cal myself an ebay vet, but I have used it quite a lot over the past few years.

I suggest not bidding until the last day, so keep an eye on it until then. Then place a small bid. Increase your highest bid to a few pounds more if you are willing to go that far.

I suggest go back to it about an hour before the end of the bid and check the progress again so you can guess what to expect. When it gets to the last 10 minutes keep refreshing and if anyone has bidded, make sure you bid again and increase your highest bid as well. Make sure you do it fast, and make sure you are signed into ebay otherwise that will lose vital time and you may not get to it in time (sometimes ebay signs you out if you are not active for a while).

Lots of people put their bids in during the last few minutes to try and steal it, so it could get pretty hectic.


There's no guarantee you'll win it though. If others see it and also linger around it then it really is a sort of race to click the buttons and raise your bids before the clock runs out.

Good luck with it.

 

[Bambi]

check the sellers feedback if its high/100% then you shouldnt have all that much to worry about. Make sure you can pay by pay pal so you are insured. Even if it DOES you tits up you can get your money back if you pay with pay pal. It happened to me once, I just didnt recieve something and got my money back

Also read and re-read the item description to make sure you're not missing anything

As argor says, people will dive on it last minute, I usually wait til theres like a couple of minutes left (did it with a camera the other day) and just shove in what you are willing to pay for it. There's a chance you might nopt win though, people are FAST.

Good luck

 

[Sir Kenneth]

Ebay is full of scammers and it can often be hard to determine who's genuine, and who's just trying to trick you. I remember buying what was supposed to be a brand new PS2 game from a seller located in England with an almost perfect feedback score. 2 weeks after the purchase, I receive a badly packaged counterfeit stamped in Peru.

A good rule of thumb though, is to steer away from sellers who do not have a photo up of the actual item they are trying to sell. Especially if the condition is described as "used" or anything other than brand spankin' new. On ebay terms like "lightly used" seem to cover anything from actually "lightly used" up to "mauled by a grizzly bear and used as an eating utensil for 5 years", so ALWAYS demand a photo of the item so that you can judge the condition for yourself.

 

[Bambi]

Ive well taken loads of risks with ebay xD

I saw some GHD's that were too good to be true, £52 inc. p&p?! I was like, fuck that I'l risk it. Then there were some issues and the 'listing was removed' by ebay. I was like, oshit..... but I knew I was covered by paypal, so I wasnt that arsed. I was more bothered about not being able to straighten my hair than the money xD

And even though ebay told me it was suspected fraud (apparently someone hacked someones account or some shit)via email when i emailed them asking for specifics, they arrived and they were perfect and pink and still work even though Ive had them AGES now

Watch them fucking conk out on me now

I'l move this over to Costa I think. Not much point it being in spam, it's not even being spammed D:

Just dont ever ever ever buy anything that you cant pay with pay pal, or you wont be insured

 

[SaShman]

Well since this isn't in spam any more, here are a few things which I have learned:

Check the sellers feedback, their percentage and the amount of people who have left feedback. Just be warned that this is not always reliable.

When you are adamant about winning a certain item, try to find an auction that closes at a time when not many people will be able to get online. Ideally in the middle of the day (when most people are at work) or very late at night (when most people are asleep).

Another good trick is to search for an item by using a different name (Although this won't be possible with a lot of items). When I was trying to get a copy of "FFVII" almost all the auctions were up in the $100+ mark. But then I searched "FF7" and I found a few auctions that were not nearly as busy.

I suggest not bidding until the last day, so keep an eye on it until then. Then place a small bid. Increase your highest bid to a few pounds more if you are willing to go that far.

I suggest go back to it about an hour before the end of the bid and check the progress again so you can guess what to expect. When it gets to the last 10 minutes keep refreshing and if anyone has bidded, make sure you bid again and increase your highest bid as well. Make sure you do it fast, and make sure you are signed into ebay otherwise that will lose vital time and you may not get to it in time (sometimes ebay signs you out if you are not active for a while).

Lots of people put their bids in during the last few minutes to try and steal it, so it could get pretty hectic.

When it is up to the last 20 or so minutes of the auction, make sure you have fast net, if you don't go somewhere that does. Figure out the maximum price you want to spend and follow Argor's instructions.

Ebay is full of scammers and it can often be hard to determine who's genuine, and who's just trying to trick you. I remember buying what was supposed to be a brand new PS2 game from a seller located in England with an almost perfect feedback score. 2 weeks after the purchase, I receive a badly packaged counterfeit stamped in Peru.

This is quite true, it's best to always be a little sceptical. It largely depends on what you are buying though. Clothes for example, are often counterfeit which isn't that big a deal if the price is right. But you don't want to spend top dollar on something fake.

And even though ebay told me it was suspected fraud (apparently someone hacked someones account or some shit)via email when i emailed them asking for specifics, they arrived and they were perfect and pink and still work even though Ive had them AGES now

Something similar happened to me, except Ebay actually deleted the sellers account after I had sent my money (which nearly gave me a fucking heart attack), luckily the seller ended up posting anyway so good times were had by all.

 

[Bambi]

Something similar happened to me, except Ebay actually deleted the sellers account after I had sent my money (which nearly gave me a fucking heart attack), luckily the seller ended up posting anyway so good times were had by all.

I almost had a heart attack too xD

Ebay removed the listing and advised me to contact the seller, of course I couldn't DO this when the listing was removed, so i had no way of contacting the seller via ebay - just selecting 'contact the seller' doesn't work , I sent a very angry email to someone at eBay, who asked me if I paid through pay pal etc. I'd of been snookered if I didnn't use paypal, and also EXTREMELY annoyed at eBay for removing amny way of contacting the seller. Anyway, I found the sellers email adress through paypal, emailed them AND the dudes at paypal, although the item arrived anyway

I bought a heater for my fishtank, it was only like £6, never arrived, so after 2 weeks, filed a complaint, seller never replied to an email sent. 2 weeks later pay pal had credited my account. It was more the principle of it than anything, as it was only 6 quid haha

So that's only really one and a half hairy moments and Ive bought over 100 things from eBay in my time ¬_¬