Poll Buying dvdr/electronics' off of EBAY-Confessions

[bobinga]

Oh! you are on a limited budget, or perhaps just CHEAP!

Perhaps the spouse might say something for spending $$ , but if you can
show her how many $$ you saved, then it will be OK ( maybe )

Or

Perhaps it it the thrill of the HUNT and KILL , winning the auction...
Whatever reason...it is really a crap shoot.

My experiences are that even when I get a good product , it is surrounded by unpleasant experiences.
My 1st DVDRecorder purchase off of ebay was for an e50 for $200.
good price Eh!
Well it didn't ship, and didn't ship and the seller had one reason after another ( LIES ). Well after a couple of months I finally secured a refund.
but it was difficult process. By the way she left negative feedback for me 4 months later after issuing refund

A similar story with a computer that arrived damadged and a horrible seller, I never did recieve a full refund, but was satisfied to get most of my money back. He is now selling under another company name. Had major, major complaints.

A monitor that did not work properly ( this company was efficient and handled the transaction well, but also is a traditional mailorder company )
was purchased and refunded purchase quickly.

A Sony tRV 103 arrived damadged from a Canadian outfit ( again a good price ) returned and was pronised a refund, but they returned the repaired camera to me and even included a nice camcorder bag... No harm no foul you say - well when they promised a refund - I purchased another better camera from Sears for the same price. They denied stating they would issue refund. want to buy a 103 ( in some ways it is better, albeit older than the tRV740 from Sears.

My Pioneer 210 ( which I love, but have no warranty for ) $254 with shipping was a frustrating experience, 2-3 weeks before it arrived.

And most recently a defective LCD projector arrived. I tried so hard to make sure this was an honest seller, she seemed sincere. And may well be, we will see if and when I recieve a refund.

No lectures please. Now I have learned my lesson I hope, ....books and small items are OK off of ebay...anything else is a crapshoot and the odds are always in the favor of the house.

Please place your EBAY DVDrecorder experiences or horroe stories here. Perhaps I am a lone Ranger in Bad experiences.

by the way did I say I have a very nice Digital 8 Sony camcorder for sale. LOL!!!

[lordsmurf]

I've bought speakers, an ATI AIW card, a mouse, pro camera equipment, and many other things, no problems. Nothing more than $100 ever.

Buying an expensive item sight-unseen (or is it site-unseen?) is a bit dumb though. I like security of a store. Only exception is when you're dealing with a respected person that has taken the time to inspect and respond to questions.

[hech54]

I bought my Philips DVDR985 from Ebay a LONG time ago....when they first came out. Of course I bought it from a retailer who happens to sell on Ebay as well. I would NEVER buy a used one unless it was one I needed for parts or whatever.
My 985 has NEVER broken down....and I shipped it from the U.S. to my new home in Germany via the U.S. Postal Service and Deutsche Post in it's lifetime as well.
I really don't understand why people all of a sudden forget every ounce of common sense they ever had when they type www.ebay.com into their web browser. Buying something like a DVD Recorder from "some guy named Bob" on Ebay is no different that answering an ad in your local newspaper from "some guy named Bob" selling his DVD Recorder.
Bob might be a dirtball....Ebay didn't make Bob a dirtball.

[Bondiablo]

I've never had any major troubles buying on ebay but in my experience, when buying used people don't take very good care of their things and always exaggerate the condition of items at least a little but maybe I'm just too picky and when buying new you can always find a better deal elsewhere. I pretty much only buy there when I can't find something anywhere else.

[indolikaa]

Only one bad experience out of (checking...) 42 purchases. That includes used computer components like mainboards and CPUs.

The dud purchase was a NIB piece of software that arrived CD-R in a sleeve. The buyer took care of the problem after some convincing diplomacy.

I've also purchased used electronics on eBay through intermediates. Never had problems there, either. Escrow can be a good thing. :P

[verchad]

I have made numerous purchases and a few sales on ebay.

I had one problem related too the sellers description not being accurate ( battery did not work with my camcorder model ).

I have bought a few pc components ( case, ati video card, cendyne dvd-r drive, ink cartridges, motherboard, cpu ), and have done fine. I even got a good deal on a used xbox with controllers, accessories, and games. Everything worked as advertised, I even sold off a few of the games I didn't want.

If it's a lower cost item it doesn't matter as much to me, but if it's $100 or more, I really take into consideration the person's / store's feedback, especially recent feedback. They might have 95% positive, but if the negatives have come recently, it's a good sign of possible trouble.

I don't like to bid on anything unless I can use paypal to pay for it too.

Just my opinion.

[anzimike]

My first post. I have actually been following this site for several months and have over 800 sucessful dvd-r back-ups thanks to the software, guides, and forums on this site.

To the topic at hand, I have purchased several items on e-bay, from books and cd's to electronics and jewelry (yes I had it appraised). My largest purchase was for pioneer dvr-7000 for around $800 over a year ago from a seller called hookedontronics (excellent vendor). The unit arrived from Florida to California in less than a week and has performed flawlessly.

Most of the items I have purchased have been as described, but I would recommend common sense. Try to purchase from high volume sellers with impeccable feedback records and use third party payor, ie credit card or better yet paypal so there is a record of transaction, and recorse if there appears to be fraudulent transactions.

Keep up the excellent work on this site. Thanks!

[JohnnyCNote]

I haven't bought that many items on eBay, and all except for one were without problems. The major exception was cellular_king, from whom I purchased a data cable for a cell phone. It didn't work and when I contacted the seller, he was extremely rude and all but said I was lying. When I filed negative feedback, he lied and said I'd gotten a charge-back from PayPal and never sent the item back. He actually told several contradictory lies, and eBay was completely useless in the matter.

My mistake was going strictly on his 98+% positive rating. It's not enough to go by that number. It's also very important to read the negative comments and see what the complaints are as well as the seller's responses. A responsible seller will either issue an apology or otherwise indicated that the problem has been resolved. In my case, the seller constantly insulted anyone who had a complaint, the vast majority of which were over simple customer service issues such as requests to exchange defective or wrongly sent items or issue credits when nothing was received at all.

The owner, Kenny Que (an alias - "Que" is by his own admission not a valid Chinese name), has been known to berate people with complaints over the phone. He's even made threats and false allegations. I might add that the Manhattan BBB, after first acting on my complaint, eventually stopped responding to my inquiries, even after I submitted all requested materials. They were nearly as disappointing as cellular_king or eBay on this matter.

I've had very good experiences with eBay's Half.com, which I've used for several years. Anytime I'm looking for a book, CD or movie, I check there first and often find even out of print items for very good prices. So far I've never been disappointed. I've sold a number of items on eBay, including a camcorder for around $400, and all of those transactions have gone well. Where it not for cellular_king, my rating would be 100%.

That said, I'd be hesitant to buy a DVD recorder on eBay. I'm a big fan of Costco, which offers a lifetime satisfaction guarantee on all items except for computers, so I plan to purchase all electronics from there. It's well worth the $50 annual membership fee to get that peace of mind. They have a great selection and a nice store (at least the store I shop at is very nice).

My only complaint is that they only have 2 handicapped scooters, which I need since I broke my ankle last August and still can't walk all over a large warehouse. However, while I was waiting for one, the customer service guy told me all about their return policy, so it wasn't as if the time was wasted. There is the added benefit that the place is only a few miles away, not that everyone is so lucky.

By the way, watch out for cellular_king on eBay.....

UPDATE: cellular_king has lost his PowerSeller rating, so maybe eBay does eventually follow its own policies.

[hech54]

Another Ebay tip:
Beware if TOO MANY feedbacks.
Sounds silly but....positive feedbacks are also bought and sold on Ebay.

While you are checking someones feedback....look for multiple feedbacks....in a row....from the same "buyer"....this is a dead giveaway that this guy is using fake feedback to make it look like he is a respected seller on Ebay.

[chas0039]

I
My mistake was going strictly on his 98+% positive rating. It's not enough to go by that number. It's also very important to read the negative comments and see what the complaints are as well as the seller's responses. A responsible seller will either issue an apology or otherwise indicated that the problem has been resolved. .

I couldn't agree more. The only problem I had in over 4 years of 200 transactions was when I didn't look at the negatives.

[sullen]

I have bought a few electronics on Ebay with mixed results.

Capture card - OK
LD Player - tray jammed, return postage $20 so I fixed it myself
MiniDisc Recorder - Refurb, right channel always had static, resold on Ebay
IrDA USB Transmitter - OK
Used LCD Monitor - OK for a while, but is currently going down hill
DSL Modem - OK at time, now outdated with cable modem

Most of my stuff is non-electronic so it is more about strict physical appearance than functionality.

[enstg8er]

lots of stuff from ebay. built four pc's with parts mostly from there. only 1 bad $20 stick of 512 ram. my digital camcorder still works flawlessly after two years. even got my wife's motorcycle from ebay. watch shipping charges and check around. often you can find an equal price locally.

[coasterboy]

I've bought many items from Ebay.
A refurbished computer system for a bargain - which had problems, but was instantly replaced with a perfect unit by the seller,
A new Epson CX5200 all in one printer, saving about $80.00 off store prices
A used Dell Trinitron 17" flat screen monitor with an outstanding screen resolution that works perfectly
Two Panasonic E80 DVD recorders, both new and at bargain prices
Video in/out switches
High end surge protectors
and a number of non-electrical items for use around the house.

I had one problem. The seller of the first E80H that I bought ran off with the money and didn't ship the item. They nailed about 100 people for around 35 thousand dollars. However, my purchase was through PayPal, and was covered by PayPal's buyer protection program, and I was refunded the full purchase price in only 11 days from filing a claim.

Just like buying in a store, if you use common sense when buying from Ebay, you won't have any more problems than if you were buying from a national retail chain. You can save a lot of money and shop from the convenience of your home.

Whenever I need anything, I'll check Ebay first.

[Capmaster]

No way in hell I'd ever buy anything more than a VHS tape from E-bay. I've heard too many horror stories, and unless I lose my job (not likely) and become homeless, but yet still need PC and DVD gear, I'm staying away from that place

I think E-bay is nothing more than a glorified flea market. I'd rather pay $50 or even $100 more for a DVD recorder and know the thing hasn't been pissed in or something

[housepig]

Another Ebay tip:
Beware if TOO MANY feedbacks.
Sounds silly but....positive feedbacks are also bought and sold on Ebay.

While you are checking someones feedback....look for multiple feedbacks....in a row....from the same "buyer"....this is a dead giveaway that this guy is using fake feedback to make it look like he is a respected seller on Ebay.

or, it could mean that someone bought multiple items from that seller, and was happy with the purchases.

look in the feedback for members bluesugarmonkey and emovieposters.com - you'll see multiple feedbacks, many in long blocks, from crossed_out. that's me. you'll see them because I occasionally buy multiple items at the same time from these sellers.

but whether I leave 1 or 100 positive feedbacks for somebody, it still only adds 1 point to their feedback rating.

[handyguy]

Alot of ebay stuff just comes from sales. So if you search the net for sales for a specific item you can get it at what the ebay person bought it for. Lots of stuff is free or nearly free after rebate.

[cheekydevil]

Bought my burner off of ebay long ago to save some cash. I've also purchased a laptop off of ebay, and have no regrets. Just make sure that it isn't the seller's first auction and I think you'll be OK.