EBAY.............

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Jon

EBAY.............

Post by Jon »

Following comments from Francis in the For Sale section, about Ebay sellers, I just thought I'd add some comments myself. I've bought one car via Ebay, and it will be the first and last. What can you do when it goes wrong, you've bid, your bid has been accepted, then you have to go ahead and buy the car. In my case, I felt that the car was basically as described in so much as the condition of the bodywork etc went, the seller also mentioned the need for 2 front tyres for the MOT but apart from that said it was OK. What really irked me was that in the original description, it said "ABS works fine", then in the revised description it said "ABS light comes on sometimes going round corners". This was one big lie. The ABS light was on because the o/s/r sensor had been cut and a non ABS arm had been fitted.
The seller also assured me that the car drove fine, but I got only a few miles when it ground to a halt (blocked fuel filter).
I'm not really too annoyed as the purchase price was low, I've done loads of work to make the car a good'un. I just don't like to be misled.
I have no problem in buying low value items off Ebay such as CD's and magazines, where the risk is low, but doubt whether I'd buy a car again.
I do sell a few automotive bits and pieces myself and consider that they are of a high standard, honestly described and in good order, I've never made much money though! I must be going wrong somewhere.
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uhn113x
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Post by uhn113x »

I would not buy a car off eBay unless it was near enough for me not to waste too much time and fuel going to look at and test drive it.
I do buy and sell lots of other things of less value on eBay, though, and have never been 'done'.
You will have a decent BX when you are done, though, Jon.
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Post by tomsheppard »

I've been ripped off through Ebay before. I really think that a few well publicised Trades Descriptions Act prosecutions might help here (Let's start with that 16 valve excrescence.) Grass a few of the dodgy dealers up to the Revenue as well. I've "won" auctions and the goods have disappeared, too. No longer think it is worth the bother.
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Post by VisaGTi16v »

I was bidding on a car yesterday but it went too high. The car was worth what it went for and I would have paid it but I hadnt seen it so just couldnt risk it. Out with the local papers I think is best.
Re: other items, ive done 118 transactions on ebay I think now. Only once did someone not send me the item but it was under £10 so not end of the world but annoying at the time. Every car advert you see says, no tyre kickers, bid to buy etc. I bet so many people turn up, find the cars not quite to their liking and walk away. Selling cars in general annoys me outside of ebay as well :)
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Post by oilyspanner »

I have bought both of my current citroens off ebay, the Volcane with the dashboard out ready to fit the matrix and my current BX which needed a clutch and HG as well as 2 front wheelbearings a droplink one rear arm and electrical messing about with fans etc, luckily they were both pretty much as described but I think it was lots of luck and the fact that both vehicles were sold with mechanical problems so the bidding was slow to non existent. Caveat emptor, at least your current BX will now be sorted.
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Post by bikeboyz »

I like surfing ebay.com and finding all those Cits n Pugs in America, 504, 505, 604, DS, 2CV heaven! Even found a 205XLD on ebay in America.
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Post by DoubleChevron »

Last week I purchased an old caravan on ebay. The description was "Caravan is in great condition, will make buyer happy".
I bidded on it, expecting the outside of it to be knocked about and the interior to be half stuffed due to it's age. what I didn't expect was the thing would be rotten as hell. The fiberglass poptop roof was rotten beyond repair and had obviously been leaking for years (as the bottom edges were rotten off the interior cupboards). The fiberglass ends were rotten and buggered, the floor was rotten. It was basically junk.
I was quite dissapointed as the ebay user had traded over 350 items on ebay and had exeptionally good feedback. They then got abusive when I left it there and went home and left negative feedback. How dare I state is was rotten beyond repair in there feedback as now they can't re-advertise it on ebay [:(!]
Dunno about anyone else but I don't have "sucker" or "idiot" written all over me. They instigated a dispute against me on ebay. I guess they didn't like my rather blunt [}:)] truthfull feedback I left in the dispute area as they closed the ebay item as mutually agreed not to sell it.
Why would you risk such excellent user rating on ebay by falsely portraying the condition of something your selling on ebay is beyond me [V]
seeya,
Shane L.
tomsheppard
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Post by tomsheppard »

because not everybody is as savvy as you, Shane.
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Post by gradeafailure »

thankfully i haven't yet had a bad eBay experience but i'm sure it's only a matter of time...
my current zx volcane was from eBay and was only half an hour away - accurately described, genuine seller, and has been more reliable than my previous volcane despite having 260K on the clock with no history! needed brakes and exhaust for the mot, and i serviced it when i bought it but that's been it - even the alarm on it works!
still, caveat emptor indeed...
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Post by Stuart McB »

I bought my Xsara (citroen model) CD changer and head unit off E-Bay no complaints from me. Did sell a tow bar aswell as some other stuff and the guy drove 80 mile just to view before bidding. He cam back a week later and picked up the stuff and paid cash. But saying that a couple of guys at work have been let down on top range Sony and Alpine head units for their cars.
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Post by VisaGTi16v »

gradeafailutre. that is a diesel i take it as ive never yet heard of a 1.9 8v petrol doing that many? :)
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Post by Homer »

You have as much comeback buying through Ebay as you do with any private sale - virtually none.
My big gripe with Ebay is the feedback system. This is supposed to give you an idea of how reliable the seller is but it is abused far too often. If you leave negative feedback then the other person is likely to leave negative feedback on you which will work against you if you ever come to sell anything and can rule you out of buying from some auctions. I have even seen people threatened into leaving positive feedback in advance. Which makes the feedback score useless.
Ebay don't seem to care and refer everything to the mediation service.
It would be much better if the feedback was more honest and positive feedback was reserved for exceptional service and not considered the norm.
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Post by oilyspanner »

And while we are at it where do all of these alloy aerials come from?
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Post by portugeezer »

dear Shane L/homer,
I'm disappointed that you have had trouble with the feedback system.
I have bought and sold over a hundred items and have had one bad feedback which I deserved and one neutral which I did not.
Feedback should be honest and if an item has been described knowingly wrongly then that seller deserves bad feedback to alert others. I bought my car on fish4cars and rushed over there to find that it did not have service history for the last 60000 miles of its life,despite saying in advert that it had full service history.
If people are going to be dishonest then they will be dishonest on any forum. At least the feedback gives some indication of reliability.
I recommend always give feedback without fear or favour, and keep contacting e bay to relay these problems. If you are at all dubious about the transaction use another username as this will protect your feedback record.
Regards
Portugeezer.
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Post by bernie »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by oilyspanner</i>

And while we are at it where do all of these alloy aerials come from?
Stewart
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
There made of the alloy thats drilled out of all the pepperpot alloy wheels[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]
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