Is eBay bad to buy and sell stuff on?

Question

My dad thinks it is. I see great stuff on there for cheap prices, and I want them.

Answer 1

Ebay GOOD!!

At ebay as in life, skepticism is your friend. If you are cautious and use your brains, you will never get burned. If you are gullible and don’t think things through, you will.

If you sell, may sure you list PayPal as a payment option. Even though you may offer all payment options, you could put an additional note in your listing stating something to the this effect: PayPal is the only form of payment I will accept from overseas bidders/ buyers or for any bidder/buyer with a feedback rating of less than 100% and less than 20 feedback postings.

One major target of scam artists on ebay is EXPENSIVE items where the only payment options offered are money orders and / or checks. Sellers who do this will receive a very nice, courteous email from some overseas buyer asking, “will you ship to Russia (or wherever).” If you take the bait, they will send you a piece of worthless paper you won’t find out is worthless until sometime later and ‘being a trusting, gullible soul,’ you will have already shipped the merchandise.  

If you are a buyer, just check the seller's feedback rating.  If it is 99%+ with over 50 transactions, I would rest easy. If you want to bid on an expensive item and the seller has 0 feedback, leave this auction for a gullible buyer. Keep in mind that scamsters won't waste their time with nickel and dime items: They want to 'kill elephants, not mice.'

If you want to sell, here is some more info:

Be honest and accurate in your descriptions – One-sentence descriptions are for lazy sellers. One paragraph should be sufficient for most items. My general guideline is the more expensive (read higher priced) an item, the more you should ‘talk it up.’ It won’t be time wasted. Use lots of adjectives in your descriptions. Adjectives make prose and your items come alive. Without them, prose is dull and your items less appealing. Just add a little ‘sizzle’ and even have a little fun with it. In short, make your descriptions stand out above the crowd.

Be professional - use good English with no spelling errors

PICTURES:

ALWAYS include at least one picture, more pictures for higher priced items. Make sure your pictures are clear. There are far too many pictures on ebay that are dark. If prospective buyers can’t see your items clearly, your items, more than likely, will not fetch the closing prices they deserve. To remove darkness, use any photo editor to add some brightness and a wee bit of contrast.  

Eliminate clutter. Prospective bidders don’t want to know what kind of cereal you eat or what kind of kitchen table or bed you have. Use a SOLID backdrop when taking your pictures as you want to focus all of the attention on your item. In short, the one and only thing you want in your picture is the item being sold.  A SOLID white or light blue backdrop is best. However, there are certainly items that won’t show well on a light backdrop. In these cases, use a darker backdrop. And for gosh sake, don’t even think of using a plaid blanket as a backdrop for your pictures as I once saw on ebay. You should also crop the photos in your photo editor. Good pictures can add 5% to 10% to final closing prices.

GOOD DESCRIPTIONS + GOOD PICTURES = GOOD PRESENTATION.  This is what you should strive for.

COMMUNICATION:

GOOD Communication is a must - Always notify buyers when you mail their items. It is not only a courtesy you would want and expect as a buyer but it is also both good customer service and good business practice. After all, you are the 'President & CEO' of your 'company' running your business but using ebay as your selling medium. In short, conduct your business so that it reflects well on you as a person. Treat everyone as a human being, not a living being and this includes people who have inquiries about your items, not just your buyers.

TIPS TO MAXIMIZE PROFITS:

Do not limit your auctions to one country. SELL WORLDWIDE. The reason is elementary. You now have access to the largest market ebay has to offer. Limiting your auctions to only one country also limits your potential profits. A basic business tenet is, 'the greater the potential market, the greater the potential to maximize profits.' But do note in your listing that PayPal is the only form of payment you will accept from overseas bidders/buyers.  Through experience, you will learn that there are certain problem countries. Italy seems to be one of them. Mail sent to buyers in Italy very often ‘mysteriously disappears.’  If this is the case, just note in your listing you sell to all countries EXCEPT (name(s) here).

However, if you decide to limit sales to only one country, such as the USA, never say NO when you receive an email asking if you would ship to Taiwan, Germany, Australia or wherever. The reason is that you have a ‘FISH ON THE HOOK!’ This person will bid! When he or she does, this may force a previous bidder to enter another, higher bid or force later, first time bidders to come in with higher bids. So always say YES to these emails if you want to maximize your profits.  But do say that PayPal is the only form of payment you will accept from these overseas bidders

Do not limit your payment options – Offer all of them. Sellers who offer only PayPal or only money orders or money orders and checks are further limiting their potential market and, in turn, reducing their potential to maximize profits. Some people will not bid on items that do not have PayPal as a payment option. Then you have a smaller percentage that refuse to use PayPal and prefer to pay by check only or money order only.

Avoid selling ‘nickel and dime’ items. People who list and sell a steady stream of items that close for $5 or less are wasting their time. Less expensive, similar items ($5 or less) are best sold as a group to save time. If you have a large number of these cheaper, similar items, divide them up into sub lots of three, four or five.

More expensive (higher priced), similar items are best sold individually to maximize profits.

If you want to do your listings OFFLINE, download the TURBO LISTER program free from ebay. Once you have finished with your listings, you can upload them anytime or schedule a date and time when you want your auctions to start.

Answer 2

I don't think that it is bad.. I have never had a problem myself and I have been buying since 2005. I buy at least twice a month off there for random things. Your dad may not like the idea because there is no warranty for anything and there is a slight chance that someone may just take your money. If that ever happened there are steps to report the person and try to get your refund. The seller's account will also be banned, ect... My parents had bought a camper off Ebay Motors or something last year as well. It was in an other state so they had to drive to pick it up. It turned out exactly what the person had said but like I said before.. there are chances at what you are buying can be c**p.

Answer 3

not at all-- it's great

Answer 4

been a round a long time... and sure there are a few scams sometimes... so it depends  on what your buying or wanting to sell.. you do some reading about the person selling and take your time in dealing watch a few sales first see what happens...... i sell and bid every now and then ive had no problems 8 years

Answer 5

I wouldn't say it's bad because my mom sells and buys stuff off of ebay all the time

Answer 6

Well, it all depends on what it is & the seller's honesty. I've bought a few things on there & sold plenty of items. I've not had any problems yet. If your considering a car, never buy something you can't go & see yourself.