The legal side of ebay - is it safe?

Question

I'm about to bid on an electrical item on Ebay, paying by paypal. I'm using a debit card so I wont have any cover on that.

I'd just like to know before I bid - are ebay pretty good with dealing with claims between users and such?

Basically I dont want to spend a lot of money to find the item sent is faulty, and I especially dont want to find the user in question refuses to refund me, and that ebay wont help.

So really what im asking is, does ebay support claims, and if something like this was to happen to me, would i be pretty much guaranteed in getting my money back?

Answer 1

Check the sellers rating count, that is the best way to tell. If they are 85% and up in rating, chances are you can trust them.

But if they are 50% and below, then you might want to be asking the seller more question.

If it's a computer, I would be wary of buying one, even if the sellers has a high rating.

Answer 2

Ive used Ebay since '99 off and on.

I have 700 or so all positive feedbacks.

Only been ripped off once.

I have one big rule.

Never spend more money than youre willing to lose.  

Ebay used to be excellent in rectifying problems,but the bigger they got the more people started using it and it became less trustworthy.  It was awesome & inspiring, in the beginning. People dealing on their own personal honor system.    

You can buy that insurance on Paypal now.

Read the sellers feedback, so see what kind of seller they are. Never buy something from a seller with not much feedback.  They have no reputation to go by.

BTW - the one time I was ripped off.. The seller had 800 positive feedbacks.  He, all of  a sudden, went bad and took off with about 200 people's money for a certain hot item.

Answer 3

Yes, what Lindsay said. Make sure you check the sellers feedback. also, I only buy from sellers who have 98% positive feedback or higher. If a seller is in the 85% range they seem pretty sketchy to me. Especially if they're selling electronics and/or a power seller.

Just make sure they have very little to no negative feedback during the past year.

So far I haven't had to file a claim and I've been using ebay for two years now.

Answer 4

You will be fine. Paypal is amazing. I don't make purchases unless I go through Paypal. I had an incident with Ebay in which I never received the item from the seller that I paid for. I was able to easily make a claim on Paypal, and my money was refunded to my account promptly. You shouldn't have any problems! Good luck!

Answer 5

Yes, Ebay aggressively pursues claims, in a fair and balanced manner. They get both sides of the story and try to make things right as quickly as possible. They have a reputation to uphold, so they're serious about not letting buyers get ripped off.

Make sure you carefully read all the conditions of the auction. Print out a copy of the page for your protection. The buyer must disclose all conditions on the auction page.

You shouldn't have any problems.

Answer 6

I think if you buy through paypal, you get some sort of insurance anyway. I think there is some insurance you can by on the selling page.

Also if the guywho is selling is offering postal insurance and what not, that means that he/she is telling you that he will post it....

Or it could mean that he/she is trying to rip you off.