is Ebay really safe?

chocolat · 03-24-07, 08:50 AM

hello. i've never used Ebay to sell before. now, i am considering it, but i am a bit dubious since i've heard of some scam stories from a few people.

SeeMe · 03-24-07, 12:30 PM

I think there are a lot of good people who buy and sell things on Ebay. Everyone has bad experiences, but if you are as careful as you can be, you can have a good selling experience on Ebay.

jaggiegill · 03-24-07, 03:56 PM

Ebay is really the best way to start selling items and services on. There is buyer protection and their payment processor is 100% safe. There is no risk of fraud because Ebay has a very supportive professional staff that takes care of things when a problem occurs, and their job is easy since over 99.999% of transactions are done smoothly.

deanac24 · 03-26-07, 07:45 PM

Ebay is pretty safe. I havent heard too many scam stories about Ebay. I am sure there are some as with anything else though. Ebay does provide alot of protection for buyers and sellers.

fitnessk · 05-23-07, 03:26 PM

Ebay does try to have methods in place to protect the users. But I have heard lots of stories of problems with Ebay so I think it is about half and half.

Silhouette · 05-23-07, 05:58 PM

I think Ebay has an above average success rate. There are some that have encountered
problems, but what business is problem free. They have numerous safeguards in place, and
personally I wouldn't hesitate about buying or selling, however if you do decide to buy make
sure the person has a high sellers ranking...

gladiator · 05-27-07, 06:53 PM

You must always exercise due diligence if you deal with sellers or buyers in ebay or similar auction sites. Check for their feedback. And make sure you accept payment option which can allow you to file chargeback.

tas666 · 05-27-07, 10:32 PM

If your dubious check the history of the seller or buyer. Normally if they had mostly good reviews and been there for a while it shouldnt be any problem.

phaststix · 05-27-07, 11:24 PM

Although they have fraud protection, there's always a risk. I think that eBay is fairly safe though. I've been buying and selling for eight years now. All my selling transactions have been completed successfully, and out of 120+ buying transactions, I've only had 1 gone bad (which was resolved and I received a full refund minus the resolution fees). But like gladiator said, always be cautious and check feedback among other things.

Calypso · 05-28-07, 07:22 PM

I've used eBay for years to buy as well as sell. The only bad experience I had was not getting paid, and it only happened once. If you're nervous about giving out your home address for payments and shipments, you might want to consider using a P.O. Box.

As other posters have said, you can check the feedback on both buyers and sellers. Anybody can make a mistake or two, but if the person you're considering doing business with has a lot of negative feedback, it's probably best to give them a pass.

I think the last time I sold something on eBay, there was even a way to disqualify bidders with bad feedback from bidding on your options.