eBay Buyers
Tips
Sniping - Getting
that Item You Really Want
I learned
this by having it done to me, over and over again.
If there is an item that you REALLY, REALLY want, you have 3
options -
A. Buy it now - an option
which may not be offered.
B. Bid the moon - 5 times more
than the item is worth, or
C. Sniping - This strategy
demands that you are in front of your computer when the
auction is ending. Bid once early, just so you can easily
watch it. DON'T chase the bidding, or you will reveal your
intent, and tip your hand! Then, sit yourself down 10
minutes before the auction ends. Turn off your phone and get
all the people out of the room. Refresh every minute, to
observe the bidding pattern. With 30 seconds to go, make
your second bid 2 TIMES the current bid. The
"five-bucks-per-increase" moneysaving bidders will not have
enough time to react before the auction ends. Works great. I
know only too well, having been snookered many times. Ha-ha.
Now it's my turn.
Sellers are
Preferred over Buyers - They Pay eBay
Sellers pay a
3% commission to eBay - Buyers pay nothing. Therefore,
sellers are given the greatest leeway, and are held in
higher esteem. A buyer MUST leave feedback FIRST, which
CANNOT be changed.
Only about 80% of buyers leave feedback, even though the
buyer performed PERFECTLY, and left highly positive
feedback. Try not to get too upset about this - that's the
way it is. Of course, you should NEVER buy anything ever
again from any seller who does not give you good feedback,
when you have performed flawlessly. You can at least make
sure to do that. I have my checklist; do you have
yours?
Seller
Quality
Many sellers
have sold over 10,000 items, and maintain a 100% approval
rating. Why would you buy from someone who has sold less
than 100 items, and has a rating of less than 96%?
I will never buy from sellers with a Positive Rating of less
than 96%. They just aren't trying hard enough. They have
angered 40 people out of every 1000 - too many.
I will only buy from sellers with a Positive Rating of over
98% - why gamble? There are so many EXCELLENT sellers. When
a seller has sold hundreds of items, and has a 100% positive
feedback rating, I buy with no hesitation whatsoever.
Deceptive
Advertising is Allowed
1. You
are NEVER going to find any "GOLD COINS" in any "unwashed,
unsorted" pile of "Roman coins". Gold NEVER tarnishes, and
would be scooped up in 1 second. For a photograph
representing what they are selling, they show you a picture
of a bag. A BAG! And a gold coin. Don't let greed make you
stupid. Highly reputable coin sellers are on eBay, but you
do have to research who they are. BEWARE!
2. "Ming Dynasty Vase - minimum bid 1 penny, shipping
$200". Sure. Good luck. Be particularly wary of countries
which don't speak your language - the greatest source of
fraud. It is so easy for there to be a "misunderstanding",
due to the "translation". "Oh, didn't you realize it was
fake, phony, ersatz, spurious, a reproduction? You are
stupid if you thought it was real, even though I didn't say
so." BEWARE!
3. When referring to high-tech items, "Untested" may
be honest, if the seller has a 100% approval rating. But it
usually means, "IT IS BROKEN, and DOESN'T WORK". If the item
WORKED, they would say so. Don't you think that they would
test it, so they could sell it as "working"? Do not HOPE
that the item may be OK. Use common sense. An item that is
"TESTED", or "WORKING" is worth far more that an item that
is assured not to work. BEWARE!
Beware of what constitutes "WORKING". A seller may be
selling a Geiger counter, and claim that it works, because
he put in a battery, switched to "Circuit Check", and the
needle on the meter moved. This means that the METER is
working, but says nothing about the ability of the device to
detect radiation (I bought 2 of these worthless
paperweights). BEWARE!
Many "Ion Chamber Detectors" (CDV-710, 715, 717, 720, etc.)
are sold as "Geiger counters". They are nothing of the sort.
A Geiger counter is HUNDREDS of times more sensitive than an
Ion Chamber detector. In addition, a Geiger counter can
detect Alpha, Beta, and Gamma radiation; an ion chamber can
only detect strong Gamma radiation (sometimes strong
Beta).
4. Some buyers put up ONE photograph, to represent
multiple items they are selling. What you see, WILL NOT be
what you get. Personally, I want to see THE ITEM I am
buying, not some single "prettified" photo, of a
cherry-picked item. BEWARE!
Feedback - You Must
Lie
When giving feedback, you are forced to lie about the small
stuff - slow shipment, poor packaging, item different than
pictured - or else the sellers will tag you as a whiner. If
you are FAIRLY satisfied with your purchase, and hope to get
highly positive feedback, then LIE. Politics are at eBay,
just like every other place in the world. I want an
impeccable buyer reputation, how about you?
Credit Card
Required to Change Email
Address
Even though you always pay CASH (US Government Money Order),
and NEVER plan to use a Credit Card number on eBay, you MUST
provide a Credit Card number, to change your email address.
My old email address has been dead for a year, but I can't
change it, because of this.
It doesn't seem to affect my buying. Just be sure to tell
the seller your CURRENT VALID email address, when
communicating with them. Avoid any misunderstanding that may
arise, when your ancient email address hiccups, which of
course it will, if someone tries to use it. And they will,
since eBay CONTINUES to give them the WRONG data. I wish
eBay would fix this, but instead, they send you into a Catch
22 infinite loop of frustration, for which there is no
resolution.
Shipping
Charges
Are the shipping charges visible, right there in front of
your face? ALWAYS get the shipping charges, BEFORE you
checkout, not during. You may be in for a surprise. Some
sellers like to "pad" their sale, by charging high for
"shipping", when in fact, they are adding a significant
"handling charge". BEWARE! Some unscrupulous sellers will
charge for premium shipping, and then send the item the
cheapest way. Check the shipping charges when your item
arrives.
Nonstandard
"Partner" Checkout - DON'T DO
IT!
I encountered this today (10-19-06). That's why I created
this page. I have never seen it before. I should have
realized something was amiss when it was difficult to
determine a shipping amount. All the checkout screens were
foreign - there were TWICE as many as normal eBay checkout.
I just assumed that eBay had updated their "checkout
interface". Then, the software asked me for my PASSWORD.
HUH? WHAT PASSWORD? My eBay password? I'm ALREADY signed in.
I do not know them from Adam, so I backed out IMMEDIATELY. I
DID NOT COMPLETE THE TRANSACTION.
(UPDATE
10-19-06: EVEN THOUGH I did NOT enter the required password,
did NOT complete the transaction, and backed all the way
out, and EVEN THOUGH I received an email from them, which
stated that "I can file with eBay that we have mutually
agreed to not complete the transaction", and I AGREED to
that -
my ebay "Items I've Won" now tells me to "PAY NOW". I DIDN'T
BUY IT. HELLO? If you don't complete checkout, they will
COMPLETE IT FOR YOU. Password or no
password.)
(Update
10-20-06: Because this transaction has been "mutually
agreed" to be withdrawn by both parties, I have agreed not
to reveal the problem username, who is using the problem
"third-party-checkout system". In return, there will be no
"strike" against me (interesting term). I shall therefore
discuss this problem in general terms.)
I want
to deal with eBay, and EBAY ONLY. What am I supposed to do?
Spend extra time trying to check out some OTHER
PAYEE, who jumps in front of my face, with a NEW LIST of
"Terms" longer than my arm? Not likely. The standard eBay
system has worked perfectly in the past. I have NO INTEREST
in any previously unknown, unannounced, and
undefined third party transactions.
In the future, if you are checking out, and everything does
not look familiar, back out immediately. Unless you like to
jump through extra hoops, and immediately trust someone you
don't know, right out of the wild blue yonder! No
introduction, no nothing. "Oh, eBay isn't here right now,
but I will take your money, after you give me your
password." No way, José. Do you think I'm an
idiot?
THE BAD NEWS - Loss of eBay Trust
I have not been able to find a list of "trusted eBay
partners" at eBay Help, or by searching Google. If they are
so "trusted", then why won't eBay tell us who they are? And
HOW MANY there are? Or even that they EXIST? Pop-up
surprises do NOT work for me, thank you.
There
is NO MENTION of their "Partnership" with eBay, on eBay.
There is NO MENTION of their "Partnership" with eBay on
THEIR website.
In my experience, it's the companies with the longest
disclaimers, and most boilerplate that you should fear. This
outfit has more boilerplate than the Titanic - it's all
about them, and not much about you.
If you are buying an item, and the checkout screens look
DIFFERENT THAN NORMAL, leave immediately. That's my
advice.
UPDATE:
Further research has revealed the following non-ebay
checkout systems -
Andale,
Auctioncheckout, Bidpay, and Kyozou. These companies are
mentioned here.
Helpful?
Did you find this eBay Buyers Guide helpful? If so, don't
click anywhere.
Just be careful.
Thank you for your time.
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