Certain items are really inexpensive on ebay. For example, cell phone cases, chargers and batteries (pretty much all accessories). Nimh & 18650 cases. Cordless phone batteries. Replacement car key fobs (forget the dealer). TDS meters. RO filters and membranes. Garage door capacitors. Coin cells. SLA batteries for scooters. Trustfire X9 [:)] And more!
For just about everything else, I goto Amazon.
I rarely bid on ebay items. Not worth the hassle. Peruse buy it now listings. Low enough, it's purchased.
Never could figure out how a person could "win" an item; you may win the bid, but still have to pay for the damned thing. Don't have time to prime buy-bots.
It's much more fun to hangout here (or other decadent forums), and enjoy wasting my time...
I've been using ebay since 2002, and have found many great deals. Here's a few recent purchases:
However, not all transactions have been good. I purchased a Tank007 E3 for $18.50 from Hong Kong seller. Three weeks later, I receive a Tank007 TK-506. They look similar, but the TK-506 has 1 mode (E3 has 5 modes).
From my experience, the best deals on ebay are auctions ending on Friday night. If you don't like auctions, look for "buy it now" on the last days of the month.
I don't use ebay these days. Years ago I used to buy and sell a few items on there. Now for the type of thing I would be tempted to go there for I end up going to Amazon or Manafont or Tmart (rarely DX) and perhaps GoingGear.
Ok MR B, I have the following in my ebay watch list.
I can BIN a Sipik 68 for 20% off DX.
I can BIN a ITP A3 Upgraded shipped where elsewhere you must pay shipping.
I can BID on a TrustFire X9 for $33.50. That's the cheapest anywhere atm.
But yes, I agree that most of the newer lights are gonna be more expensive on ebay.
Some you can bid on and pray of course. :)
Here is why I dont use Ebay much anymore: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/3881?page=2#comment-80788
I don't think you can generalise. There are good ebay sellers and bad. Its just a case of doing your research both on the light being offered and the seller. I can think of quite a few ebay sellers that I trust just as much as I trust suppliers like DX, MF and KD.
I did not generalize. I was specific about one seller. He is an example of the bad ones. He has
one shill who bids on all his lights, so he is sure its sold at a certain price. I think its only fair
that he does not want his items go for cheap, but then he should use "Buy it now" not the
"Auction" format. What he does is fraud and its against Ebays own rules, and its a disgrace that
they allow it to happen.
My time does not allow me to do a serious study of all sellers. That´s why I dont use Ebay as
much anymore. I dont want to be cheated in a rigged "auction"!
If you have an example of a honest seller who dont use shills, please tell me.
Sorry, Nautic, but you did say, "Here is why I dont use Ebay much anymore:.....", surely that is generalising? It is suggesting that all or at least most of the sellers are like the bad one you had cited? However, you have clarified now that you don't have the time for research, so I see why you said it.
I think it is probably true that many sellers use shills for auctions. So auctions can be misleading. However, I can't see how that has any effect on 'Buy It Now' offers. Certainly sellers like topofking, cyberport888 and 365Digital, to name just three, I have found to be trustworthy when it comes to Buy-It-Now; although I do agree that even some of those appear to be a bit naughty when it comes to auctions. Believe me though that that is the nature of auctions in general, not just on the web........
No. No. Good.
If specs are true, as a principle I should trust all Buy It Now offers, as I know what I buy and for
what price!
Auctions involving shill-bidders is not an auction but fraud!
I agree it gives you a bad impression and I don't blame you. However, the same must be said for the likes of DD who voluntarily allows (or creates) fake reviews. At least ebay discourages shill bidding and is supposed to have the software in place to punish sellers who use it. You always have a choice how much you want to spend bidding on an item. Regardless of shill bidding it still sells for fair auction value. They can't make you spend more and in the end it will likely cause them more harm than good. The only negative for you is it can waste your time, which, yes is annoying. With the dishonest Chinese retail sites you pay their price and hope the information they gave you is correct and truthful. At least the feedback on ebay is real and you know you can trust it. And I'm not defending ebay because I think they lost touch with the very people who built them up to what they are today. I'm only defending the auction concept they use, which still revolutionized online buying and selling. But I still understand your position and support your decision.
The one thing that DX does right is allow customers to comment right under the product and they do allow negative comments as I've left some. I'm talking about the discussion section at the bottom of the page.
The review section in the middle of the page generally is left alone as well as long as you don't start out bashing the product right away.They also have the forums where you can say pretty much anything.
Ebay has the seller rating but nothing for the product. It may compare to DD but I don't use them either.
I would use them for something other than flashlights or other mass dealer items. Unfortunately that's pretty much the direction they are going in these days.
I did get my X9 with two batteries and charger for $34.
Oh they absolutely structured their fee increases to benefit the big Chinese sellers and screwed the rest of us (sellers). I've been a member since 1998 and I so miss the 3.5% final purchase fee. They can certainly do whatever they want but do they really want to alienate the average seller and turn ebay into China Marketplace.
But comparing Chinese sellers I've definitely had better experiences on ebay vs the major flashlight sites. You just gotta be careful about who you're dealing with. And I don't buy flashlights from ebay that aren't already commented on elsewhere on the interwebs. I'm more interested in the seller feedback over product feedback, unless we're talking about fakes. I'll actually go through the feedback looking for comments relating to this subject matter if I'm skeptical. Other than that I already have feedback from places like BLF. I never treat ebay as a product review site. I've already done my research prior to bidding/purchasing.
Back in the day (98-00), I often had a dedicated browser window open (this was before tabs) just for eBay. Those were the days if were buying. Later, eBay really took off and you could make some really nice money, even if you didn't want to turn it into a full-time business. Then they just had to mess with a good thing and buy every promising IT startup in sight (must have been around 2004-2005) with zero vision or plan and that's when eBay started to really go downhill, at least IMHO.
I still use it for research and you still can't beat the prices on some items unless you know people, but I hardly ever buy electronics or knives on eBay any more and I no longer use it to sell at all. It's just not worth it for me and save for the occasional deal, I can find anything I want or need elsewhere. The idea is to cut out the middle man, establish some sort of relationship with the supplier and save money in the process.
Plus, I just don't really like eBay if I'm being honest. I don't like de-facto monopolies. I don't think they're moving in the right direction and haven't been for the better part of almost a decade. I am not too crazy about Paypal and given the choice, I'd rather use CL or go through a different supplier while avoiding eBay. It's just that that's sometimes not a feasible or smart choice and that's when I use eBay.
I go through CL for the stuff I know I can sell in my area but the fact is I live in Montana so I rely on reliable marketplaces that guarantee private sales such as ebay. As much as I love Amazon, they still want to charge me a flat 15% on EVERYTHING I sell so ebay still wins. So I can live in a nature wonderland like Montana and still make a few bucks almost effortlessly through a company like ebay. It's just annoying competing with the low wage labor forces and low standards of certain countries that now dominate ebay.
I am not a big fan of E-bay and save it for a last resort when I can't find what I am looking for anyplace else.
I quit on greedbay long ago at least for the other hobby, vintage radios. Greed has gone rampant, especially with blatant ripoff shipping. And most sellers don't know how to pack old radios, and get obnoxious when you try to give them guidelines. Packing horror stories abound-I gave up, between that and general insanity.
And I hate auctions with an absolute passion. Can't stand those mind games-takes too much energy and affects my peace too much. Buy it now or nothing-I don't even look at auctions.
Rich
I agree with all of the above except sla batteries cuz the shipping is always high and found a local source cheaper. Are you following me around on Ebay?
Shill-bidding on eBay may be less frequent than it's assumed to be. Up to now I have bidded perhaps five or six times and always succeeded to win considerably below the Buy it Now price.
My best deal has been the TrustFire X9, won at $28.50 when the Buy it Now price with the same seller was about $38. Soon after that they stopped the auctioned offers that had been typically starting at $0.99.