an Aristo 46601 Railway Express Agency (REX) Wood Truss Reefer
and won it for $0.99 because it was listed in “other” on eBay. I promptly paid via eBay for the item plus Priority mail shipping and waited. Emailed the seller after a couple of weeks and after 3 weeks I got a message saying the item was to be shipped. Got back from vacation and after 2 weeks nothing at my door! Emailed seller again and 2 days later the seller has canceled their eBay account! Already put my complaint into PayPal.
Brian, I could start ranting about some. The time I paid more than list for some switches because of description (that’s ok) and then was the only bidder for the same seller and the item was removed at closing? Ebay allowed it? The time I actually sent payment and the seller said it got stolen when he went to pack it??? Well he sent back the payment. etc, etc. A lot has been good, and I stay with the reputable sellers. It’s not really an auction though, is it!
My condolences, Brian. I had several close calls and decided to stop using “evil bay”. Too many street-wise shrewd dealers (know how to mislead potential buyers without technically lying). I would only shop there again if they changed their policy for sellers to require a $1,000 up-front deposit that is put into an escrow “buyer insurance” account and held until the seller cancels their account and all pending transactions have been verifiably completed to the buyers’ satisfaction.
Yes I know there will be a barrage of replies telling us how others have had 100% success and never gotten shafted. I say - God Bless You all Real Good.
I do tend to trust dealers who regulary advertise in GR - never got shafted by any that I have patronized thus far and they have been downright pleasant to deal with. A few had prices way too rich for me but they were honest and up front about it.
There are ways of forcing them to be honest on the bay, been there done it, over four years of dealing on it, haven’t lost over $100.00 yet.
And sometimes it’s the only place you can find certain discontinued items you may be searching for a long time, for instance, the Amtrak LGB Materials Handling Cars, Nadda anywhere.
You need to file claims in a timely manner, and NOT LET WEEKS PASS BY, and you CAN get your monies back, from E-bay, if necessary. Been there, done it, more than once…File a claim, Brian…might still be time…
Sorry for your luck, but it seems you weren’t out a great deal of money and that’s a good thing. You will never get customer service or your money back from Paypal, chalk this up to a learning experience. I stopped using Paypal and ebay about 2 years ago after a go-round trying to get paid for merchandise I sold. I was out over $200 and spent 15-20 hours of my time on the phone to no avail with the Paypal call center in India.
Evil bay eh its alright, but I always but from sellers with a 99.8 or above rating (that have been around for a while) and say “No paypal” that is usually what screws me over.
Well G W, as you know, supply and demand, as well as GREED(free enterprise), always dictates somethings value. And some have recently gone UNDER, I don’t mean DOWN either…So it seems those items will continue to go UP UP UP ^^^^, and so on. As they get horded up…
Really, all depends on what it’s worth to “YOU”, the one Purchasing it, or looking for that particular item, that’s being offered out there…
As I’ve already indicated here in this thread, I am looking for an Amtrak, LGB, Materials Handling car, and no doubt, if I ever do find one, I’m quite sure the person selling it, won’t let it go for the blow-out price that I had heard these were once offered for of only $40.00 USC…
I think this is a major reason they went to the Paypal only payment system, to weed out the weenies who dont want to honor a sale because it was lower than expected or that have no intent of actually sending the item.
If a seller wants a minimum price, post a reserve or start the bid higher, closer to what you want. Its not rocket science.
No they haven’t gone to a pay-pal only system, and also if you’d always list adds the way you are suggesting, that is just what E-bay wants, cause they make more money that way.
There are ways to set your price, and weed out the penny anntie bidders, without spending an arm and a leg using reserve pricing, or pre-set bidding levels…it’s called make me an offer…or buy it now settings…that way right up front you let bidders know what you want, but yet leave it open for offers also…
Everyone knows really what they are looking for, and what it’s worth at the RETAIL HOBBY STORES, that is, if it’s even still available, but they wanna try an get it for next to nothing if they can on E-Bay…Right…
As we all know, sometimes, or quite often, the only place too find some items, we might want, is only on the Bay…and yes once in a-while, we do stumble on a real deal there, too…but it takes learning how to know YOUR value of an item, and use the system accordingly, and bid and make offers accordingly.
