Cell phones on eBay?

[LuLu]

I was just wondering if anyone here has bought a cell phone (or any other electronic device) from eBay. If so, was it worth it? Something you'd do again?

[JDPower]

I was just wondering if anyone here has bought a cell phone (or any other electronic device) from eBay. If so, was it worth it? Something you'd do again?

I sold a phone on eBay and got conned out of the ?200 it sold for. I wouldn't use eBay or PayPal to buy or sell any high value item anymore.

[LuLu]

Ouch. Getting conned is what I worry about. I've asked quite a few people about buying that stuff on eBay and have gotten mixed reviews. Best advice I was given was if I'm going to buy the phone, buy from someone who sells just cell phones/cell accessories, not someone just throwing it in there amongst a conglomerate of other auctions. I don't know; I guess I'll have to think about it more. I don't have 200 dollars for a new phone so eBay sounded like a good idea. Guess I'm still stuck. haha

[burtman]

I've just spent the day looking on eBay for a phone I really want.

I haven't bought anything yet (I have been eBaying for other low-value items for some time though without problems), but this particualr phone seems to sell on average for around ?250-?300 (retail is around ?350-?400) - anyway, I did notice quite a few ridiculously high offers like ?1,000+ !! for the same phone. Most of these users had the sense to check out the bidders history & cancel the bids if at all suspicious.

It does make me think twice about selling high-value items on eBay (at least to international un-confirmed bidders)

The other downside is that PayPal is all to easy to allow you claim back money (that's how these scammers steal stuff) by claiming it was not received.

 

Best advice I can give is send only to a confirmed address if selling. If this is not possible, insure & track the item - this way you can proove to paypal that it was delivered.

If buying, make sure you read the sellers feedback ratings. If a user has been on eBay for example 4 to 5 years, but has a very low rating (i.e zero or one) I would be slightly wary.

Send them an email, if they are genuine they'll quite happily talk about the item.

 

I'm not sure if this helps you make your mind up, but in my own mind I'm reluctant to give anyone ?200+ whether it's a high-street or otherwise

The thing is, unless your gonna get an absolute bargain, it is probably not worth the headache for the sake of saving say ?30.

[LuLu]

Hey thanks for the reply.

 

Yeah I've been eBaying for quite some time myself, but never ventured into buying electronics or anything high-end because you always hear about people getting stiffed on the deal. Either it never shows up or it's broken or something. I've found a few cell phone sellers who have higher than 95% positive feedback and who also have return policies for defective items. Some even accept the item back if you decide you just don't want it. This is a plus in my book. But again, I still worry about something going wrong. A good seller can go bad in the blink of an eye, ya know? So I'm still thinking it over. I probably won't do anything until after my vacation that's coming up (need all the money I can get for that..haha) but I can still at least do my research on the seller and the item.

 

Thanks again for your input! Greatly appreciated.

[fireryone]

See an Ebayers negative rating all the way back to when they signed up.

 

http://ebaynegs.mozdev.org/ (firefox plugin)

 

http://www.toolhaus.org/ (manual search)

[LuLu]

Cool, thanks.