Anybody else hate eBay sometimes?

[missypie]

I buy LOTS of stuff from eBay but sometimes I just hate that they exist. DD wanted the rest of the American Girl Marisol outfits. I went on the AG site...every item sold out. I looked on eBay....dozens of each outfit, mint in box, all marked way up. Some parents will be paying 3-4 times what they sold for on the AG site a couple of weeks ago. Same thing happend with the Xbox 360s. Folks were buying a dozen of them at the store, then selling them on eBay. I know that's free enterprise, but sometimes it drives me nuts!!!

 

[ForTheLoveofDisney]

Yup, I do.

 

[cinmell]

Yes, I hate it for the same reasons you do.

 

[cardaway]

I feel you pain missypie. It's like the ticket scalping system has taken over the american retail scene.

My biggest issue is with bootlegs and ebay allowing these criminals from Asia to pretend their stuff is legit. Not only does it trick a few poor folks, it also lowers the amount people can get for legit items because people are wary of bootlegs.

 

[C.Ann]

DD & I were talking about this the other day.. Something she wanted from the Disney Catalog was out of stock.. I checked ebay and there were tons up for sale - at twice the price plus $25 S&H.. Nope - not doing it.. We'll wait for the back order..

Anyhow - we were discussing how these people must "speculate" at what is going to be a sell-out and invest in 20 or so for the sole purpose of selling them for a higher price on eBay.. Kind of stinks for the rest of us, but I guess it's free enterprise - like it or not..

 

[mickeysgal]

I don't like it for other reasons. I've been trying to sell a few of our odds and ends this holiday season to raise a bit of extra money for Christmas. The fees that are being charged for low priced items are so steep (in proportion) that sometimes its just not worth going throught the motions of selling. I'd wish they'd make it less costly to sell items.

 

[missypie]

I don't like it for other reasons. I've been trying to sell a few of our odds and ends this holiday season to raise a bit of extra money for Christmas. The fees that are being charged for low priced items are so steep (in proportion) that sometimes its just not worth going throught the motions of selling. I'd wish they'd make it less costly to sell items.

Are you allowed to give an example of the amount of fees? I'd love to know. I buy a lot but have never sold.

 

[cruiserkaren]

I hate it when you win the auction, pay for the item and then NEVER receive it. Going on one month since auction closed and still don't have it. I even told the seller, if you're not sending it just tell me because it's a Christmas present and would like time to buy them from someone else. Nope, still nothing!

 

[Missy1961]

I know what you mean, missypie. I'll give you a great example. 3 years ago, my then 4 yr old niece loved Wizard of Oz. I was shopping in Kaybee and they had a Barbie dressed as Dorothy for $12.99. I bought one. She loved that doll, still does. Now her younger sister loves Wizard of Oz and I would love to buy the same doll for her. No longer sold at Kaybee, I got the idea of buying one on ebay. Well, there are plenty of them, but they are closing at $25 and up. There is no way on earth I am going to buy a 3 yr old a doll that expensive.

And to the poster that asked about fees: you pay ebay to list your item. That's at least 25 cents. Then after the auction's over, you pay them at least 5% of the final value. And if you take PayPal, there's even more fees.

 

[Feralpeg]

Ebay has really changed over the past couple of years. There are so many people using it trying to take advantage of others. They've learned the loopholes. I'm almost afraid to use it now.

 

[becker1123]

Yeah, I've almost stopped using it, too. It used to be like an online garage sale where you could buy things that you wanted that someone else didn't and get a good deal on it. Now, sellers gouge buyers with ridiculous shipping fees and starting bids that you end up paying more for it than if you got it in the store. As soon as I stared seeing "We Sell It on Ebay" stores in local strip malls, I knew Ebay's golden years were coming to an end. Some unscrupulous people are making money, though. It is free enterprise, but free enterprise depends upon consumers, and this consumer is withholding her business and money until things change, or when I find things that aren't way marked up.

 

[ilovepcot]

Ebay started out fun. Now it's a cut throat business and a *buyer* never knows ahead of time what the outcome will be.

 

[eclectics]

I've been selling on ebay for seven years. Yes it has changed but the basic common sense rules still apply. If you feel the price of a item is too high, simply don't bid. Check the sellers feedback. If it's not good, the chances of you not recieving what you paid for are high. Most sellers list their shipping cost. If you feel it's too high, again, don't bid. If they don't list the shipping cost, email them and ask before you bid. Are there bad apples out there? Sure, but if you do some homework before you bid, chances are your ebay experience will be a good one. Also, the only way to get the message to sellers who gouge you on the price of hard to find items is to simply pass them by and refuse to buy it. As long as there are people willing to spend the money, nothing will change.

 

[mickeysgal]

I hate it when you win the auction, pay for the item and then NEVER receive it. Going on one month since auction closed and still don't have it. I even told the seller, if you're not sending it just tell me because it's a Christmas present and would like time to buy them from someone else. Nope, still nothing!

You should contact ebay to report that you haven't received your item. You can recover the money you've spent. I would also leave negative feedback. I was in a similar situation...it was over a month and still no product. I had paid with Paypal, so I filed a complaint with Paypal. I guess what happened is that Paypal freezes the seller's account until its resolved. Wow...you should have seen how fast I received the merchandise then!

 

[disneymom3]

Yeah. lately it seems the good outweighs the bad. I am sick of the whole bid at the last second thing. I just don't have time for it. I have found that doing a search and the getting what I am looking for--mainly homeschooling materials--from an ebay store is a good way to get a decent bargain.

As for selling, we have really felt like it is a detriment to the collectibles market. Stuff that used to be hard to find, now you can get 25 of them on ebay and it drives down the price. And then, yeah, you have Christmas toys going for ridiculous amounts. Just the plain old American Girl Today dolls go for more than you can get them for from AG themselves! I am always wondering about people who can figure out ebay, but can't figure out how to search for something online. We were looking at this Imaginext Castle and the first week Amazon didn't have it in stock, so the next week, I thought I would check ebay. Found several but the prices seemed high so I went to Amazon to see what they would sell it for if they had it. It was literally half the price and they had them in stock. Crazy.

 

[missypie]

I hate it when you win the auction, pay for the item and then NEVER receive it. Going on one month since auction closed and still don't have it. I even told the seller, if you're not sending it just tell me because it's a Christmas present and would like time to buy them from someone else. Nope, still nothing!

That only happened to me once. Through the internet, I found the name of the seller's local district attorney. I then emailed the seller to tell her that I was going to report her to the DA if I didn't get my item. It worked. (It wasn't a bluff, either.)