Buying expencive stuff on ebay..... safe?

[ibex333]

I have been selling on e-bay for a long time now, but never bought anything for more than $50, even though I wanted to.
I need to know... from your experience how safe is it to buy things that cost more than $100 on e-bay?

Let me give you an example so you better understand what I mean.
I want to buy an ipod and buying it on e-bay is very tepting since some of them sell for much less than they cost in stores. Still, I'm reluctunt to give it a try because it seems illogical to sell a brand new, NEVER opened video ipod for anything less than $300-400. Why would anyone give me such a discount unless it's some kind of a scam... Mabe it's refubrished even though the guy says it's brand new? How can I know for sure? Mabe there's something I dont know about?

It seems highly unlikely that these people get their 60 Gig ipods for less than $400, so I feel quite clueless. Can someone explain why would anyone sell such an expencive item for so cheap when it's brand new, unless it's a scam???

 

[JDrake]

I've had luck with expensive things...
In fact, maybe I'm just really lucky, but I've never had any problem.

AND WTF WHY IS IT SNOWING?!?!

 

[MrBond]

As a student, you can buy the 30GB or 60GB photo iPods with a $30 discount, so snagging a 60gb ofr $370+ shouldn't be that difficult.

The feedback system is your best bet when buying something online. Look at other auctions the seller has feedback for. If they've mostly sold $10-50 items and all of a sudden they have 30 auctions for the same high dollar item, I'd avoid that seller. If it's someone who has sold a lot of the same item before and has a history of doing so, they're probably safe to deal with.

The feedback system isn't perfect however. Scammers do bid on fake auctions just to inflate their feedback. If they have a bunch of feedback from Private auctions and very little from real auctions, I'd avoid them.

Of course, use paypal and a credit card to pay. You'll have two layers of protection then - if they never ship your item, you can usually get money back from paypal. If paypal refuses to issue a refund and you geniunely got ripped off, you can file a chargeback with your CC company.

 

[dmw16]

I bought an XBox 360 on Ebay. First time it was a scam. Second time I got it and it was all good. My credit card company covered me when I was scammed - so my advice is feedback first, but always use a CC.

 

[ibex333]

Allright. Thanx.
I've been paying with paypal from my bank account for so long, that i forgot that I can use my credit card on paypal.

 

[roguerower]

Bought two laptops, $200 and $600 and a $320 graphics card off ebay, along w/ a $110 usb device. No problems ever. Just make sure that the photos are real and the dealer has enough of a background.

 

[jlee]

As dmw16 said, definitely use a CC.