Should I buy pass from this ebay seller

[frannn]

I noticed someone selling a few child's annual passes on ebay a while back and emailed them (just for laughs) to see if they had any adult APs. They just recently returned my email to say they had 2, which they could sell for 495 (for both). I was skeptical, so I checked their ebay feedback, and it is private, but it does show 385 positive and 1 negative (left in the past 12 months). I emailed the 3 people I could find that purchased children's vouchers from them, and only one answered me back so far:
Hi:

I have not used it yet, we are not going until July. But I did contact Disney and they assured me that it would be honored. I was a little concerned because when I received it, it looked like an older certificate. I called Disney ticketing and they told me that it did not matter. The older certificate would be redeemed for a new annual pass when we activated it. The seller also assured me that if I had any problems, he would refund my money, and I kept a copy of his e-mail just in case.

I hope this helps!

I emailed the seller with a few more questions and got this response:
Hi, yes for $495.00 for both, they are the old type vouchers (no expiration) and no worries not Florida resident. If I list them on eBay I would have to charge a little more to cover the fees..since it is quite a large amount of money. I would estimate it would be about $515.00 total if we list them. I would leave that up to you if you would like to proceed that way. Thanks and have a good night.

This seller currently has no items up for sale on ebay. I am very tempted to buy these, but I am thinking about the "too good to be true" thing. He did give me his paypal id, which is similar (not exact) to his ebay id. We are not going till Sept. What do you think?

 

[CheapMom]

I wouldn't do it.

 

[CarolA]

APs are NOT transferable. You normally show ID to get the pass activated and if the active pass does not work with your finger scan (which of course this one wouldn't) you have to show ID. The NAMES need to match!

The seller probably did not contact Disney! They do not allow re-selling of their tickets so I am pretty sure they suddenly wouldn't say, yes it's fine!

 

[summerrluvv]

Originally posted by CarolA
APs are NOT transferable. You normally show ID to get the pass activated and if the active pass does not work with your finger scan (which of course this one wouldn't) you have to show ID. The NAMES need to match!

The seller probably did not contact Disney! They do not allow re-selling of their tickets so I am pretty sure they suddenly wouldn't say, yes it's fine!

I believe the OP was talking about an annual pass voucher, not an actual annual pass. There are no names on a voucher. The seller doesn't have to say that they are selling the ticket on ebay. For all Disney knows...the voucher was purchased as a gift for that person and that's why they are asking if it's still useable eventhough it's old.

If it's the same seller I'm thinking of...I too emailed others that had purchased and they had no problems and the feedback was very good. A newbie probably bid on something they had and left a neg and that's why the seller made the feedback private.

 

[floridagirrl2]

I wouldn't buy them without further verification from numerous buyers that the vouchers do work (not that they THINK they will work).

Also, it just doesn't make sense that somebody with 385 positive feedback and only one neg would make their feedback private. Too much doesn't make sense here--I would be very, very careful, especially for that amount of money. (I sometimes throw caution to the mind for cheap items!--but these are not cheap! ).

 

[CarolA]

No matter what, Disney does not allow the resale of these vouchers. So if they don't work, Disney does not have to do anything to help you (and probably won't!) There have been a few posts in the past where people bought park hoppers that did not work and they were out of luck. I guess you could attempt to convince Disney that these were "gifts", but ......

Yes, if you paid by credit card you can probably fight the charge, but in the mean time you have to fork over yet more money to Disney for good vouchers. High risk if you ask me.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I wouldn't buy tickets from a middle man, other than a business known to be responsible.
It is not unusual to be at any WDW turnstile and see guests turned away because of off site tickets they purchased.
By trying to save money, you might be throwing it away.

 

[ceecee]

I'd be cautious. It makes no sense that he would change to private after 1 negative feedback, I always hesitate to buy from people with the private feedback.

 

[C.Ann]

I wouldn't purchase anything from someone who has made their feedback private.. Can't think of any reason they would doing so unless there was a comment that they didn't want potential buyers to read..

 

[C.Ann]

Forgot to add.. Why don't you email them and ASK them WHY their feedback is private? You may not get the truth, but it would be interesting to hear what they come up with..

 

[WDWisTheBest]

I would not do it. Buy from a reputable ticket seller.

 

[frannn]

His feedback is no longer private, and several of his positive feedback going back to '03 (and recent 2004) is with regard to Disney World tickets. He has sold other items and received positive feedback as well. I looked at one of his current auctions and it has the Paypal buyer protection logo on it. I am still hesitant, but am leaning towards purchasing these. Most of the gist of the feedback is "tickets worked great", "tickets were valid", and "Disney was surprised at how old the tickets were, but honored them with no problem". I would'nt be using the vouchers until Sept, so the protection I would receive is very limited- might just be a complaint logged on the seller's Paypal acct. But, based on all his great feedback, I'm thinking of going for it. It is a lot of money to lose, but I would still be able to pay my bills. Thoughts?

 

[justhat]

If they're vouchers then you shouldn't have a problem activating them. Disney has no idea who bought a voucher when you exchange it, as I bought 3 in September for myself, my fiancé, and my mom and none of them have any ID on them. We're activating them in May, but I could choose any of the 3 for myself, mom, etc. So as long as they're vouchers I would go ahead and buy them.

 

[frannn]

even unactivated ones, could have a name attached to them. That makes no sense, unless they had a different way of issuing the vouchers in the past. I have been using the vouchers since 2000, and never encountered this issue.

 

[DNBois]

As a frequent ebayer (mostly as a seller), I would recommend that you NOT purchase those vouchers. First of all, there are absolutely no discounts on APs (except for renewals) so how could this ebayer make any profit or even come out even with a price like that. DH and I just renewed our APs for 722.00 for both so that deal does sound "too good to be true". Also, be wary of a seller that has private feedback - I have bought about six things on ebay and two of those I paid for but never received (one of which was purchased from a seller that had private feedback). Luckily, I only lost $35.00 in total but since that time, I have never purchased anything on ebay. Good luck and let us know what you end up doing

 

[frannn]

and the seller's feedback is no longer private. At least 10 positive feedback (out of 383 positive comments) from 2003-2004 concerns tickets. Does this change your opinion at all? I am really torn over this.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I honestly wouldn't. And don't be fooled by the Paypal protection logo. Paypal is horrible to deal with when a problem arises. Read www.paypalsucks.com for more horror stories...

I know it costs a little more to buy APs from Disney or a regualr ticket broker, but it's worth it.

I also don't see why a seller with only one negative feedback would make their feedback private for ANY legnth of time. I have one negative feedback and I don't make mine private nor would I ever. Anyone who reads my response to the negative feedback and then checks the feedback of the moron who left me a negative will clearly see she was the problem - not me.

Most of the time with negative feedbacks , the buyer leaving the fb does it out of spite or revenge (ie. they don't pay, the seller leaves them bad fb and they retailate....this was my case).

I just wouldn't do it. Also , you said she /he doesn't want to list the auction on Ebay? If that's the case, you have very little chance of getting your money back if it doesn't work out. If this person really wanted to sell, why not list an auction?

 

[floridagirrl2]

Still too much $$ to take the risk. You also have to wonder if the people who left positive feedback had actually already tried to use the passes or not, or if they just gave ++ feedback because they received the passes in the mail from the Ebay seller....

Also, I believe you can only do a chargeback to Paypal within 30 days of purchase, so if you tried to use the passes more than 30 days after you purchased them, and they didn't work, you would have no recourse with the seller.

 

[DNBois]

I have one more thing to add; we purchased a jam cam for about $25.00 from a seller who had more than 3000 positive feedback and no negatives. I sent the money and never rec'd the product and when I went back to check out the seller, all of a sudden, he had no more items up for bid. I e-mailed several times, threatening that I would contact Square Trade or post negative feedback; I ended up doing both and still never got the item I paid for. A couple of days later, my husband told me that he saw a show (he thinks it was local news) that informed consumers of several ebay scams - one included shady individuals somehow taking over other ebay seller identities (those with many positive feedback) and tricking ebay buyers to purchase their product - we both still cannot figure out how this could be done but I think in my case, it was very probable. Hope this info helps!

 

[CheapMom]

I think it is very suspicious. Why was his feedback private in the 1st place? It is weird. He is taking a big loss. The feedback claiming "valid tickets" is suspiciously too perfect. If it is a risk that you are willing to take- then...good luck.