I just want to write honest reviews, of things that have pleased me and all things annoying alike! G...
I just want to write honest reviews, of things that have pleased me and all things annoying alike! Go consumer power! Lol.
Member since:10.12.2008
Reviews:41
Members who trust:2
My story
I have been using Ebay now for longer than I'd like to admit and yes, it does have its advantages. There is the excitement of bidding on items, the freedom of shopping from home without restricting hours and the opportunity to grab a bargain. But is it always a bargain? I'd like to say yes, but I fear, not always. I have bought so much stuff on Ebay that has either ended up back on Ebay or in a charity shop. Is it really worth it? Is one man's junk really another's treasure?
Having said this, there are plenty of opportunities to grab genuine bargains. For example, I just sold a 100% silk top to the value of £40 for only £5, so someone out there has got themselves a great buy and I have cleared some space from my cupboards. It's also great for finding things which are difficult to get a hold of, retro stuff and car parts, or whatever you may need- it's probably on Ebay. Plus, you can sell your junk and get some cash, great!
How am I protected?
Thankfully, Ebay operates a feedback system, so you can buy safely and Paypal also offers refunds
for items that were faulty or did not meet expectations, so you are protected to some extend.
Where does it go wrong?
With such an awesome idea, how could anyone stand to lose out? Well, Ebay itself is largely the cause of my frustration. Whilst most operations are smooth and easy, Ebay has many glitches. For example, it is very frustrating to search for an item unless you have used almost precisely the exact words as the listing. I advertise many items which I later search for, only to find that 'blue jeans', for example, may not come up when I search for 'jeans'. The worst was when I listed a digital voice recorder using the make and product number and obviously stating 'digital voice recorder' at the end. This was Ebay's suggestion, however, when I searched for my item using 'digital voice recorder', it didn't come up at all! This can be very annoying.
My annoyance with Ebay is only furthered by Ebay's poor customer service. In my experience, Ebay will do anything they can to avoid becoming involved with a complaint. I have only recently sent my sixth or so email asking Ebay customer service to sort out a problem, without just copying and pasting sections of their 'Help' topics. They obviously do not read email properly and it's very annoying. I found a phone number for Ebay, however, not on the Ebay site but on www.saynoto0870.com and was pleased to speak to a real-life person. Nonetheless, suspicion was cast over how I had obtained such a number and how I could possibly be calling them when I wasn't subscribed to the relevant service allowing me to actually speak to someone, perish the thought. Anyway, the problem was finally resolved, but only after some exasperating lengths.
Another frustrating addition to Ebay's already debatable fees is the inclusion of mandatory 'FREE postage & packaging' on some items. Categories such as books, CDs, DVDs, belts, etc. all require the seller to offer 'free postage'. This is very annoying as it's obviously not free to post these items and it is a bit cheeky to expect the postage is incorporated into the starting bid, since sellers will inevitably have to pay a final valuation fee, charging for non-profit categories such as postage, grr. Anyway, this all makes more money for Ebay and less money for the seller. I guess their original idea was to combat people hiking up their postage prices in an attempt to avoid paying final valuation fees, however, it has just lead me to avoid selling these items altogether.
Aside from the fees Ebay applies, Paypal, a joint company offering safe online money transfers, continue to garnish off another set of fees for their services. All in all, you could stand to lose money on small items which don't sell for much, especially once you have factored in your time and effort. Therefore, it is usually more beneficial to sell a few expensive items, rather than lots of cheap ones.
Would I recommend it?
All in all, would I recommend Ebay? The answer is yes, I would, but not for the customer service or clarity of the website, but simply because used correctly, you could stand to profit (both as a seller and a buyer). When it goes well, it goes really well and for such a huge website, certain errors can be expected. However, when it's bad, it's pretty annoying. Just don't say I didn't warn you!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Nov 6th, 2009
(Dec 5th, 2009)
very helpful by (91%):
helpful by (9%):
