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Buying on eBay
No doubt about it, going on eBay to make a purchase - especially one involving
a substantial amount of money ($100.00 and up) can be a very fiscally-intelligent
move. But a novice to the “game” is especially susceptible to the
scammers or the just-plain-dishonest folk who are always looking for new “prey”.
Here are a few ways to minimize your chances of being taken once you have seen
an item in which you wish to invest:
- You are always given
information about the seller– check it out. It’s less risky if
the seller has a feedback score of over 96% ,the closer to 100%, the better.
- Make sure the feedback
score comes from more than single-digit responses. A positive
response from 1 buyer equates to 100% but it doesn't mean much.
- Click on the feedback
- if there are more than a few retractions, the seller may be suspect, even
thou he/she is willing to negotiate.
- Read some of the feedback,
both positive and negative - you may learn of some situations which will give
you pause .
- Make sure you can tell
where the seller is located. Personally, I am uncomfortable dealing with someone
who is on another continent!
An anecdote–one seller who was US-based was selling goods out of China–
a reading of the feedback told me this.
- Ok - now you are fairly
comfortable that the seller is legitimate- BEFORE YOU PLACE A BID: Ask the
seller a question - any little thing about the item of interest - the idea
is to see how quickly the seller responds to you (if at all) - this would
be an indication of how readily the seller would communicate with you should
there be a problem.
- Best way to actually
make the purchase: Credit card through Pay Pal - this way there are 2 resources
behind you should there be a problem.
- A warning about PayPal
- contrary to what the indications are, you are NOT fully protected in the
case of a sour deal. PayPal should- but does not- freeze your monies in the
buyers’ account for a reasonable amount of time. Therefore, if you attempt
to get your money refunded from the dealer and you can’t, you must file
a claim with PayPal - it can take up to a month for it to be dealt with. If
PayPal can’t recover your money for you and IF the transaction was insured
by PayPal, they will still only refund a portion of your monies to you.
- For especially- expensive
goods and those more likely to be defective (e.g.-electric items), a
dealer affiliated with a physically-based business is a safer risk. And any
seller who gives you a phone number (check it out to be sure it is legitimate)
is less-likely to be fly-by-night than one who does not provide the same information.
- When you receive your
purchase, keep all the return-address information on the package for
a decent interval of time - say, a few months. You just can't be too careful.
Here's hoping your shopping
experience on eBay is a positive one!
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