http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2002-2006 by the authors Fri, 4 Aug 2006 03:36:14 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/06/05/221533.php#comment-420634 Without a doubt there are some categories of merchandise that may attract more problems than others, but I really think if you are dealing with a reputable seller with high feedback who allows a secure method of payment via credit card, you have protections. I have been on eBay for seven years and I have not had more than one bad experience with a seller and it was resolved by charging back the payment. Sincerely, Christopher Matthew Spencer, Author "The eBay Entrepreneur" ]]> 420634@blogcritics.org Fri, 4 Aug 2006 03:36:14 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/06/05/221533.php#comment-67604 I'll apoligize Ken! Eventually.... Idiot #4 is no longer an idiot. I got paid for the system last night. Granted it was an E-Check which means it could still bounce, but he has apologized and been great ever since. As for the first guy, I looked at his rating of around 10,000 and let it go. I'm not sure of the percentage, but it was super high. He was a Powerseller as well. ]]> 67604@blogcritics.org Sun, 6 Jun 2004 09:54:17 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/06/05/221533.php#comment-67597 I was a big ebay user in the early days. I got screwed twice last year, and the frustration is monumental. I've quit using the place altogether, and there are more than a few concerns that it's turning into Fraud Central. ]]> 67597@blogcritics.org Sun, 6 Jun 2004 07:06:45 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/06/05/221533.php#comment-67592 i have to agree that it's not just the %age of positive feedback that's important. Think about it this way: if a person has 70 negative feedback, that's about 70 (allow for some where the rater was just being an asshole like the one who gave you negative feedback) different people who've had bad experiences dealing with that person. Myself, i've had one bad experience and been a bad bidder once. The bad experience, i won a book but then the guy didnt reply at all after my prompt payment, i complained to ebay and then a week later he'd been NARU'd (made Not A Registered User i.e. he got banned on that account). Luckily i only lost about £10 to that. The time i was a bad buyer was ultimately my fault, but a mate let me down cos he was gonna provide transport for a Jamma cabinet that was being sold in london. I checked with him first, he said yeah he'd go with me to pick it up. So i bid, i won, i was ready to pay...and he turncoated on me and said no, he wouldn't go with me to get it. I was pissed off to say the least, and worse than that, I ended up being without 'net access for a month and a half or so cos i'd just moved in to a uni house and we had to wait that long for ntl to install it. Understandably, i got -ve feedback for that (only time i have though). I gave the seller +ve just for not actually reporting me to ebay. What makes me laugh now is that they recently changed their terms saying that sellers are not allowed to charge bidders extra for paying via paypal/cheque/any other payment method. Well just try telling them that (or, more appropriately, realise just how few of them have read that email) cos i still see many auctions where the seller says there is an extra charge for using paypal. Far too many to report (i'm not going to do ebay's job for them, altho i may draw their attention to the overall problem) ]]> 67592@blogcritics.org Sun, 6 Jun 2004 04:20:25 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/06/05/221533.php#comment-67553 About the first guy, you bought something from someone who has 70 + negatives? You should have checked that first. Any bad experience you have is your own fault if you don't check feedback. ]]> 67553@blogcritics.org Sun, 6 Jun 2004 00:12:13 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/06/05/221533.php#comment-67550 eBay is fertile ground for classic videogamers. 3500 games? And to think we thought we had a big collection with our measly hundreds of games! The Neo-Geo is still one of my favorite systems to play, even though graphically "better" machines have come along. They owned the 2D fighting market for fun factor. ]]> 67550@blogcritics.org Sun, 6 Jun 2004 00:06:05 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/06/05/221533.php#comment-67540 Apologize to the guy Matt! ]]> 67540@blogcritics.org Sat, 5 Jun 2004 22:32:57 EDT