eBay is still a good auction site. (ebay.com)

Member Name: randomreviews

Product:	ebay.com
Date:	26/08/09 (8 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy interface

Disadvantages: shady sellers

eBay, it seems like whenever I read reviews on eBay these days, they seem to be negative and warn you to steer clear and go elsewhere, like Amazon or lesser known auction sites. Well eBay is still an excellent place to find or sell things, however you have to be extremely cautious and meticulous about how you present things and in researching a seller's history before you place a bid - because if you're not looking for certain things, you'll end up being robbed or with a defective product.

eBay now allows you to receive or make payments through PayPal,which is great. I use it. BUT.. now you have 2 charges - the eBay charge for your sales, plus the PayPal charge for your transactions. Some people claim because of this, sellers now are putting their items up at even higher prices, but in my experience that's not true. Most items go for the same or less than what they do in stores, unless of course its a scam or bootleg, in which case you'll probably see people winning them for 50% or more off the store price.

How do you spot the scams? Well in my year on eBay I've learned a lot. Been scammed twice - both gaming related. You need to be careful with electronics.. well, everything else too.. but still.. you need to be a smart buyer. Ask questions. You do not bid until your questions are answered. Forget the condition of the item, because in most cases people lie and the stuff is in really poor condition, especially if they have anything but 100% customer feedback.

Ok, I'll use a video game as an example. Let's say its a PS2 game - that's a disc. You need to contact the seller and find out things like if the game has any scratches. Does it lag? Does it freeze? And glitching? When you hit new game, does the game start and play? Does it save? These are all extremely important, because otherwise you're led to believe its great and works. I ended up getting a fake game where if you hit New Game to start playing, it says the disc is defective.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS.. MAKE SURE THERE IS SOME KIND OF RETURNS AGREEMENT. In many cases the seller wants you to handle shipping charges, which is annoying especially if its a big item because that can get pricey.

100% customer feedback is ideal but not perfect. Read through the seller's comments. What kind of people is he dealing with? What kind of messages? When were the dates of those sales? Look into the other sellers.. are they still active? Were they banned or did they leave eBay? You have to be careful because some people make fake accounts and use bots to make fake transactions and boost their ratings so you think they're a top seller but they're just thieves trying to rob you.

Also, watch out for cheap knockoffs. Always good to do research to be able to spot fakes and ask about it from the seller. Make sure what you're getting is authentic and official. For instance, some Nintendo DS games that are being shipped from sellers in China "only work for the DS and DS Lite" but not DSi.. why? All 3 systems are the same - they all can play DS games. I'll tell you why, because its a fake copy of the game. DSi rejects it.And since its fake, it could mean a few months down the line the game fries out and never works again. Not every foreign item is fake, but you have to be cautious. It may look like a bargain, but its not.

Summary: eBay requires you to be a very smart consumer.