Question about Ebay purchase

[Brian Hale]

I'm considering buying from a vendor that has a 100% positive feedback with 3,552 votes. The item i'm considering they're selling (Buy It Now) for $599.00 plus $30 shipping but I've found the same item elsewhere for $799 plus shipping.

Question..... Can a seller really have that great a price and still have 100% positive feedback? This will be my first Ebay purchase and with all the bad things i've heard, i'm a little nervous about laying out that kind of money.

Thanks!!
Brian :)

BTW, the item is New In Box and there's only 3 left.

[Mike Shoemaker]

I've bought over 50 items on E-Bay. E-mail him and ask why the discount. Mostly the "new items like that are, returns, seconds, etc. A good feedback rating like that is really good. Read the feed back , see what kind of responses there are. Hope this helps. When it comes down to it. Are you a gambler?

[Jim Dailey]

Brain,

With that track record I would not be afraid to make a purchase for him.

Now a $15,000 Kernov from Australia and a "zero" behind his name... I would touch it....

jim

[Mike Weaver]

Brain,
With that track record I would not be afraid to make a purchase for him.


QFT - with that much feedback, sounds safe to me.
(especially if you read a few of them & they are from other buyers that have been around a bit).

-Mike

[Brian Hale]

Thanks Guys!

I'm on the edge of doing it. Like i said, 1st ebay purchase for me but i feel kinda good about it.

Brian :)

BTW, this is a double post. I posted by accident here first and then posted in the General forum where i wanted it orginally. Kinda new to this forum stuff :o :rolleyes:

[Mark Berenbrok]

I've purchased 60+ items over the years but have never made that large a purchase. Paying thru Paypal gives you some recourse. The one time I received an item that wasn't working (it was just flat worn out), the seller wasn't responsive to my e-mails. After I made a complaint thru Paypal, it got resolved very quickly. I'd check their feedback rating to see what type of items they've been selling and how long they've been selling. If it's high dollar stuff like you're considering and they're getting good feedback, I'd probably feel better. I'd be cautious if they don't take Paypal.

[Carroll Courtney]

I also have 78 feedbacks w/ 100% postive rating.When someone has 100% rating,that is good.But be sure that the item in question, is what you want.Ask questions,what voltage,single or three phase,is there any defects,is it a floor model and ask is the pics of the item is the item you will received.Sometimes they post pics that is not the orginal item.Good luck w/purchase.

[David G Baker]

I'm considering buying from a vendor that has a 100% positive feedback with 3,552 votes. The item i'm considering they're selling (Buy It Now) for $599.00 plus $30 shipping but I've found the same item elsewhere for $799 plus shipping.

Question..... Can a seller really have that great a price and still have 100% positive feedback? This will be my first Ebay purchase and with all the bad things i've heard, i'm a little nervous about laying out that kind of money.

Thanks!!
Brian :)

BTW, the item is New In Box and there's only 3 left.
Brian,
I have purchased quite a few items through Ebay. Most of the items I purchase are generally under $200. Many friends and relatives have purchased items in the $1000 range and have not had a problem. In my opinion there are risks involved when purchasing from Ebay but there is not too much that you can about the risk and have to take a chance if you want the item. I think the odds are in your favor that the seller is genuine. Being new to Ebay you probably do not have a PayPal account. If you have a PayPal account and pay for the purchase with PayPal, you have some insurance that you are not going to be ripped off but even that is not a total guarantee.
I don't know if you can find out for sure if the item is refurbished. I have purchased items that I thought were new and when I received the items I could tell that they were not new. I went back to the auction information page and found that I didn't read all of the information. It was my fault and had to live with it. Read all of the information on the auction page several times.
Another thing that I do is I read quite a bit of the sellers feedback to get a feel for what type of seller the person is. I also check out what he has sold recently and what his buyers have to say about their purchased items.
Good luck.
David B

[Sam Chambers]

I don't know if you can find out for sure if the item is refurbished. I have purchased items that I thought were new and when I received the items I could tell that they were not new. I went back to the auction information page and found that I didn't read all of the information. It was my fault and had to live with it. Read all of the information on the auction page several times.
The best thing to do is ask the seller if it's used, reconditioned, or new. If they say it's new and it turns out to be something else, then you may have some recourse through eBay. Also, as someone else said, use PayPal and a credit card (not a debit card), as they both give additional protection against fraud.

[Conrad Aquino]

I've been an ebay buyer since 2000 with 600+ transactions and dollar amounts for items between .99 to $600.

A seller that's 100% positive with 3500+ feedbacks is impressive, and yes a seller can still have a great price. They may have decided to do business by making their profits in volume sales versus higher prices.

As already mentioned, use paypal... and make sure the item qualifies for the paypal buyer protection coverage that you can opt to purchase.

I've found that Ebay's buyer assistance for transactions gone wrong does not do much you at all. But with Paypal, I have recovered monies from sellers (twice) that sent items that differed significantly in condition from what was described, with the PayPal buyer protection.

Ask questions... make sure there is no doubt about what the exact condition is. Make sure the shipping charges are clearly stated and understood.

In my experience, there are far more good seller's than bad, and someone with that many feedbacks with a 100% positive record... I would not hesitate at all.

Good luck and when you've bought the item... how about letting us all in on what the heck it is... my curiousity sure has been piqued. :p

[Brian Hale]

Sorry, i posted the item in the General forum.

170077551713

My card was charged $634 which includes $599 for the table, $5 insurance and $30 for shipping, just like it should.

Thanks again for all your input! Hopefully my first ebay buy will go smoothly and i'll be back for more.

Hmmmm now who has the best price on that router lift?

Brian :)

[Dave Hale]

In eBay, Big Leroy's Tool Shack. Search for his store. He's down in Florida somewhere and sells Woodpecker's lifts for less than Woodpeckers. I got the whole Incra Fence, Joinery System, Rouuter Table and Router from them. Everything was in the original boxes and in perfect shape. He has a lot more than what's on eBay if you use 'contact the seller'.


(http://stores.ebay.com/Big-Leroys-Tool-Shack)

[David G Baker]

Conrad,
There have been fraud cases on Ebay where the crook was able to hijack another sellers identity and feedback. Don't know how it was done and it is very rare, but it does happen. Another trick is phony bidders used to drive the prices up, but again this is in the minority.
I have had a couple of sellers try to rip me off. Because I used PayPal the seller resolved the problem. PayPal freezes the sellers account and closes all of his auctions until the problem is resolved. I had my PayPal account frozen once by a buyer that tried to say that I didn't ship a camera to him. He said that the box was empty when he received it. The price of the shipping is based on the weight of the package so I turned him into the Postal service and all of a sudden the camera materialized. I have found that 98% of my dealings on Ebay have been great.
Something I learned the hard way, "always find out what the shipping charges are". Quite a few items on Ebay have a very low bidding price but the shipping and handling charge is higher than the item can be purchased for retail.
David B

[Lou Ortiz]

Glad this worked out on the purchase. I've just been through a bit longer ordeal with a computer buy. Seems that the seller had teamed up with another vendor to capitilize on a really good rating with a long track record. The partnership finally fell apart as I was getting my stuff, so I received the computer first and then the software in separately a little at a time. Never received all of the software. The vendor with the good record on ebay did reimburse me for software that wasn't delivered, but what a hassle.

[Charlie Velasquez]

Brian,
Thanks for posting the auction number. I recently got the 5625 and am debating whether to build or buy a table.

One piece of advice - I would consider deleting or dropping your current ebay screen name and choose one less revealing. While the folks here at SMC are pretty respectable, I would be hesitant to divulge my real name on ebay.

[David G Baker]

Charlie,
Very good advice. Ebay had predators from all over the world lurking and gathering information that they can use to gather more information.
David B

[Brian Hale]

So tell me, how was my screen name reveled?

Brian :confused:

[David G Baker]

So tell me, how was my screen name reveled?

Brian :confused:
Brian,
I went to the auction site and could not find your name associated with the auction at all. There was a screen name there but it was not your real name. Think someone may have made an error.
David B

[nic obie]

For some reason, this BB doesn't like Ebay.

Expect your posts to be banned.

[John Bailey]

For some reason, this BB doesn't like Ebay.

Expect your posts to be banned.

Not so! E-bay discussion is fine, just not a direct link.

John

[Russ Filtz]

I was a buyer "victim" of an eBay name hijacking of a seller with good credentials. Luckily it was only for a DVD. If you pay through Paypal and/or a credit card you are pretty safe. You can always contest the charges. This was a few years ago, and I assume/hope they've gotten better at weeding these out. Still anyone can get "phish'd" if you are not careful.

NEVER click on an eBay/PayPal link from another website or email if it is concerning your personal account.

ALWAYS go directly to the sites by typing the address in your own browser, that you opened! OK to bookmark I guess, but??

[Jack Dickey]

I've had good luck buying and selling there ..
I had one bad transaction where I didnt think the seller advertised his item properly , and he cheerfully sent me my money back and I returned the item ..
And he even gave me a positive feedback , and I returned the favor ..
My issue now is I have had three transactions where I was satisfied , gave the other party a positive feedback , and get nothing from them .. I go and look at their feedback , and other stuff that was bought or sold around the date of my transactions got feedback from these people .. They wont respond as to why they will not leave me feedback , cant be the money , was paypal .. EBay says there is no requirement for feedback to be left , which I disagree with ..
Sorry for the rant , just irritates me ..

[John Schreiber]

I have purchased about a dozen things on e-bay. I got burned once when I purchased from a seller with a 98% positive rating. I found that this seller has an artificially high rating because they state that they will give the same rating which they receive. They will do this even if they screw up and the buyer does nothing wrong. (I won't start ranting here, but even though it was only about $20 and I finally got my money back, it really steamed me.)

I am comfortable recommending that everyone avoid the seller FindingKing. If anyone is interested in the factual basis behind that recommendation, just ask.

All and all, e-bay is about as good and bad as the stores locally. I would not have been afraid to purchase the product referred to in this thread. 3000+ transactions and 100% positive is good for me.

[David G Baker]

John,
I went to Feabay and checked out the seller you named. In the last year he had 1117 negative feedback ratings. He has already had 127 in the past month. He does have a 98% positive feedback rating because he does a tremendous volume of sales. The large volume sellers are very hard to communicate with due to the large volume of e-mail they get from customers. Any time I purchase from a seller that has any negative feedback I search his feedback so I can find out what the complaint is. There are some very nasty buyers out there as well and I take that into account before making my bids. I have been pretty lucky so far.
I think FleaBay is cutting their own throats with the constant increase in fees. One of these days there will be a competitor that is going to steal a bunch of their customers. Craigs list is cutting into some of it. My problem with Craig's list is the lack of items for sale in my area.
David B

[Chris Padilla]

Craigslist has worked extremely well for me. I get rid of all kinds of stuff. The free stuff section really moves fast. I got rid of a coach and some oak cabinets very quickly (like within 2 hours of posting).

Stuff you want money for can take some time and patience but Craigslist has made it easy to keep reposting items.

Next up for me on Craigslist is a bunch of baby stuff (toys, bathtub, etc.) plus a very nice crib. The crib will probaby be hard to move depending upon what I ask for it but I'll just have to be patient with it.