CYBERJUNKSHOP on e-bay cashed the check I sent them two months ago and never shipped the item. I have e-mailed them repeatedly and contacted e-bay to no avail. Don't trade with them.

You have been warned. :mad

 

Lots of bad things happening on Ebay...

:mad :mad :mad :mad :mad :mad :mad

 

That is why I read the dealer's seller's feedback. I bought my Hokker SC's from this guy Steve Cerrato. After the auction, I get an e-mail from a guy telling me to look at the bidders. "Margie123" had bid him up on a Palm Pilot. Oddly enough, Margie had also bid on my BB headers and some aluminum wheels he was selling as well as BB front springs. I asked the seller about it and he said Margie was his Mom and wanted the Palm Pilot after he had listed it. Yeah right, she also happened to need some wheels, headers, and springs. He got booted off when Safe Harbor investigated it. He was stupid enough to use the Margie address to contact the guy about winning the Palm Pilot auction. This same loser stated that the headers were in NC when in fact they were at a "resto shop" in FL, and they wanted $20 extra for handling fees. On top of all that crap, he overcharged me by about $30 on the shipping. He did reimburse part of the shipping but the guy was a really dishonest person. When I got them, they were rusty and had a huge dent where he bottomed them out BAD. What a loser. I have had tons of positive experiences but that was my one bad one.

 

As much $$$ that is generated by ebay you would think there would be some form of protection for the consumer(besides the cheesy feedback remarks or simply getting the boot). I feel for ya... :( :(

 

There is protection, if you use a credit card. If you pay for anything, anywhere and you dont receive the item or service purchased simply contact your credit card company anf they will refund your money.
Gary

 

As far as I'm concerned, they're just one of many. That's why I won't do business on ebay. Ebay should provide some sort of escrow arrangement, where you pay ebay, the seller ships you the suff, and upon inspection, you ok the release of funds to the seller. That way you're protected, and the seller is. The problem would be that ebay probably doesn't want to get involved in the disputes. so, what good are they?

 

I totally agree. eBay DEFINITELY needs to do something to protect BUYERS. As it stands now, buyers take ALL of the risk of every transaction and sellers assume NONE of the risk. That's a totally unfair situation, in my opinion. For example, buyers are required to send money (very often in the form of a money order or cashier's check) BEFORE any seller will ship anything. So, the sellers are ASSURED of payment before anything ships and assume NO risk whatsoever. But, buyers have absolutely NO assurance that an item will ever ship and have no assurance that it will be as described. It's as if the basic presumption in this equation is that all buyers are assumed to be "flakes", regardless of feedback rating, but all sellers are absolutely upright and paragons of virtue.

I've had mostly very good experiences on eBay, but this way of doing business just "rankles" me as a matter of principle. So, I've pretty much stopped even looking on eBay. That way, I avaoid temptation and save a LOT of money.

 

I've just about quit Ebay, too many Margie's bidding things up, that incident wasn't a rarity. I've seen it on several items by the same sellor. My big burn came on a set of valve springs. A guy had a set of springs listed as Vortec replacement springs good for valve lift up to .500, light weight titanium retainers. His picture was of the springs in a Crane valve spring box. I bit, and bought, strangely a bidder with a big (0) behind the name bid them up. I knew what Crane's valve springs were worth and I placed a maximum bid at half of the list price(Summit) of the springs new. Well Mr. Zero bid them up $1 at a time until he got them really close to my max (I have no idea how he knew when to stop) then bailed.
I got the springs (it took the guy 2 months to send them) when they arrived I opened the Crane box, he even placed the paper work for the Crane springs with the part number circled. The springs were used stock Vortec springs and retainers. I was burned. I contacted the guy and he said "Hey, man I never said they were Crane springs." I had paid with a money order, so I had no recourse. So I'm stuck with a $50.00 set of used stock Vortec springs.
If I was a real behindhole I'd put them for sale on Ebay again with the exact add he used. The only thing he fudged on was the maximum lift the springs were good for. When I challanged him on this he said," Hey I used them with a cam that had .501 total lift and I didn't have any problem." Yeah great, that was really good for the springs, now they are fatigued from being put in coil bind. So they are worthless. I had them checked at a machine shop and they are worn completely out.
I will never buy anything again on Ebay that doesn't accept credit card payment.
There is a lot of scum out there. :mad


[Modified by Smokehouse69Mark2, 4:58 PM 8/8/2001]

 

Just curious. If you have conducted trade using interstate phone lines and the US Post could not the punk who ripped you off be charged with violation of a federal law. Just wondering. I am not a lawyer.


[Modified by Tim80, 6:19 PM 8/8/2001]

 

I've only bought a few things from eBay, all but one experience were just fine. I bid on a HO scale C3 slot car, I sent the payment the day after I won the bidding. The guy kept blowing me off, saying he was going to send it tomorrow. Luckily for me he lived in the same state, also lucky for me I have a PI license and tracked him down. I emailed him with his address, phone # and some other things and told him if he was jerking me around I would personally come and collect from him....funny thing, I got the car a few days later.

Buyer beware, just be a smart shopper and always use a credit card OR postal money order. The postal inspectors are no people to mess with!

 

I have bought a number of things on Ebay, but like Joe L. says the chance of being ripped off gets much greater each days that passes as there are no protection for the purchaser. Ebay has made a lot of improvement for the sellers but they have ignored the buyer almost exclusively, which leaves the whole concept open for the sharks who pray upon the defenseless there. I don't buy anything there anymore because of the unfair nature of it all. :mad

 

I am curious. Why not use PayPal? No payment until goods are delivered in acceptable form.

 

Like anything its BUYER BEWARE! If you are not prepared, you're probably gonna get ripped off...on eBay, at the local supermarket, at the car dealer, wherever.

I've bought quite a few things on eBay and its been a windfall for me BUT I did my research before getting involved. I've saved untolled amounts of $$$ buying new parts at usually 20-25% off retail.

Tips...Check the sellers feedback and if hes got ANY negatives, check him out by at least by emailing the complaintant and getting the scoop. I only use PayPal whcih protects you as a buyer and seller when sellin/buying from other PayPal members. Hint only buy from PayPal members. eBay also protects ALL transactions up to $200. Their is an escrow service also. Alot of the negatives I've heard in previous posts is due to ignorance of how to use eBay not eBay itself.

Mark

 

I've been buying and selling on ebay for some time now. I've received a few items, not in quite as good of shape as advertised. When selling, I always point out any flaws I know the buyer might want to know in advance. I’m at the post office twice a week and have UPS stopping by out at work at least once a week. That income is how I finance most of my car purchases.

I used to sell in Hemmings - had to send the ad for next month's book and correspond via phone with perspective buyers and/or mail pictures. Boy that was the good old days!

Just won and auction for an un-used Pace car rear spoiler for $152 bucks.

So, I'll have to go against the group here and give ebay two thumbs up - after all I got my luggage rack t-top holders for just under $25.00, there!

 

PayPal doesn't wait to pay until you get the goods. It pays right away. They will however investigate any bad incidents and help resolve them. I use paypal, but actually the credit card gives you better protection. I have had a lot of good experiences on ebay. I have bought two cars and a number of other things. I have found most people are very honest. There are some bad apples too, so check feedback before bidding and stay away from anyone with negatives that are mounting. Buyer beware for sure!!

I actually bought my vette on the net but of course I didn't pay until I came to pick it up.

 

Equating ebay, where you cannot meet the individual you are bargaining face to face or handle and inspect the goods, to your local supermarket and car dealer is like comparing apples and oranges. Their are significant fundamental differences here. Your quote "BUYER BEWARE" is exactly the attitude, and there are 1,000 more ways for someone to rip you off that you cannot control on this type of transaction than in the two methods you compare it to. i.e. The guy who recently purchased a car, sent the money (because the seller insisted on receiving the money first) had a shipping company go pick the car up, and the car disappears!!!! Seller says they picked it up, shipping company says no. Seller has no paperwork to prove the car was picked up, but has the money.

In terms of escrow service, there is a fee and both people have to agree to it. It's not mandatory, and if you want it and they don't, forget it. How many sellers will actually agree to the arrangement? Also, ebay discourages it under $500.

Ignorance? Hey, I don't need the hassles, and I choose to avoid them. I'm not saying that ebay is the thief, I'm just saying it is a perfect facility for thieves and I choose not to bother. :seeya

 

I've bought several things on Ebay. No problems yet and the sellers were all friendly. I only use paypal, plus I check the sellers feedback, if there are bad comments, or not many comments at all I usually avoid that seller. I usually only bid on items that come with pictures and I email the buyer for more info if I am not sure. This helps you get a handle on what type a person the seller is. I also like to wait until the last 1-2 minutes to bid. I know not the fairest thing to do, but it give you a better chance at winning the auction at a lower price, just make sure you bid enough. I have seen some of the auction I bid on go from $50 to $150 in the last few minutes. :mad

 

I've done over 200 auctions on ebay and saved a ton of money, much of it on vette stuff. Never been out and out defrauded, but a couple of times bit on misleading descriptions.

Here's a quirk with PayPal you may not have considered: most people assume that using a credit card to pay through PayPal offers you the protections you get with a credit card. Not so. You're not paying for your item with your credit card, you're paying for PayPal's service. PayPal's actually paying the seller, so you get zip in the way of CC consumer protection.

JB

 

Earlier this year I bid on a Pentium 4 processor and won. The seller contacted me, wanted payment in form of certified check prior to shipment. I said credit card or COD. The response was they do neither. I said I don't prepay and left it at that. The seller kept contacting me said he was waiting for the funds, I kept replying, send it COD and payment will be made with a certified check.

This turned into threats from the seller as I was reported to eBay. I responded to Ebay stating the seller was a rip off artist, would not accept credit card payment and would not ship COD. I also expressed my concern that I doubted the seller had the actual merchandise.

 

stickboy - what do you mean 1 to 2 minutes -- I usually wait 'till there is 30 to 40 seconds :D