How safe is it to purchase stuff through e-bay?

Question

I've never bought anything from e-bay. How do I know for sure what the seller is selling is authentic?

I would preferably like answers from people who have bought stuff from e-bay before.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I have sold on ebay for about 6 years - and bought on ebay for about the same time!! Most stuff is just fine, but I would never buy anything overly pricey on there, to be honest unless it is local to me and I can collect.

The bulk of sellers are great - but there are a few that spoil it for the rest.  check out your seller well, use paypal and read the ads very very carefully.

Good luck

Answer 2

It's very safe if you know what to look for and what to do... I've been on there for years and never had a problem... What you want to do is look at the sellers feedback percentage (usually listed under "meet the seller" on the right side at the top of each listing). You want a percentage of usually 97% or above. That means 98 times out of 100, people were generally satisfied with the seller and what they brought. It's OK if they have one or two unsatisfied buyers, sometimes buyers are never happy with what they get even though what you are selling was listed exactly as it was. You really can't stop those few "bad apples". You also really don't wanna buy a high-priced item from a new seller, you want one that is experienced and has sold a few items, I would say 50 and up... This number is listed next to the seller's name in parenthesis.

To pay for things I would either go thru Paypal or send a money order (make sure the seller accepts them). I would never send a personal check or give anyone my credit card number.

Paypal is good, it is very reputable, like a regular bank. You give Paypal your bank account info (yes it is safe to give it to Paypal) and you have Paypal withdraw the money from your account and give it to the seller. Your personal account information will not be given to anyone. Also, if you pay thru Paypal, there will actually be a record of the transaction in case the rare idiot seller claims you did not pay.

Ebay has a lot of tutorials listed on their site to explain things to new users. I would suggest going thru the tutorials.

Below I listed links for the Learning/Tutorial center and a listing so you could take a look.... Notice the seller's Feedback score of 100% and his Rating of 51.

Good luck!!! If you have any other questions, you could email me if you'd like.

Answer 3

use paypal to pay for items (www.paypal.com) and make sure the seller has 100% feedback ( or very close to it) and is not a new seller! also read the feedback comments!