eBay UKReviews 198

This site is really good is your a buyer looking for a bargain buy. Although you should be wary or bad sellers that sell fake stuff, don't ship on time or are just silly. But I've had some good sellers on there, once I ordered a yoshi bag for a tenner(ish) and got it the very next morning!: D

BUT, if you're a normal person looking to sell some old stuff from the attic or under the bed then I'm not so keen. There are so many fees involved in selling your item and I think the percentage they take off your final sale price is really cheeky! I sold a kinect on there and was amazed at the difference in the sale price to the price I got after the fees were took off. I'm sure it's an amazing site for business's.

Really great for buying & you do come accross items that are like gold that some people have sold or are selling that you just wouldn't find anywhere else.The only downside is when your a seller at times.If you try to sell something on ebay & all you get is watchers but nobody places a bid or buys then you still have to pay listing fees, even if you get nothing sold.If you do happen to get something sold or a few things & you don't make much, ebay still take they're i think it's 10% for if your item sells on top of your listing fees & then your've got paypal who take they're fees too. I think it would be great if ebay could ditch the listing fees & take maybe a 4.6% of each item sold on ebay all over the world.It might put them back on top.It might be a great place if your a business seller & getting tons of items sold in a day & are already minted. But if your just an ordinary seller like my self... ithen it's not really great.If you read other sellers reviews of ebay then it's a company who must be mega rich like bt or virgin.It they do it this way, i don't think they could loose. If they just take 4.6% off every person who gets something sold around the world.It might just do it.

I am a relative newbie to eBay and in principle I think it is great. Great idea, great mobile app and some great finds to be had out there in cyber auction land.

But...

My beef is that I don't think their customer service is up to scratch.

99.9% of people operating on eBay are honest, and I have bought things and had them come so carefully and beautifully wrapped that I have felt guilt stricken for the knock down price I've picked them up for. Mind you I have also sold stuff at silly money myself and diligently wrapped and trotted of to the post office as soon as the 99p hit my Paypal account! So that's all good. That's when eBay is doing what it should do and is at its best. But I just don't feel they are able to address problems. Even relatively simple ones.

An issue I have had twice now is getting something that is significantly different in quality to what was advertised. When this happens eBay customer support are great at getting on to the seller and advising you that if you return the item you will get a refund. The problem is the item must be returned by tracked mail in order for the process to work. The actual dispute resolution process requires the tracking number. And also if you are dealing with someone who has been less than honest in the first place, well, let's face it you are going to want to track your return.

Tracked mail is expensive. I have had to pay £13.45 to get a refund of £45. I took the hit on this one because it was a private seller and I felt I had no choice.

I currently however have a similar situation but this time with a business seller. Commercial sellers on eBay are covered by the UK Distance Selling Regulations. But some seller and eBay itself do not seem to understand or accept this. They have asked me umpteen times to foot the bill for the tracked return of a faulty item. In this instance it will cost me half the value of the item to return it. I am going round and round in circles with customer service representatives who do not seem to understand quite rudimentary regulations and who just keep replying with the same answer.

I imagine I will eventually just give up. But also, sadly, I think I will end up giving up on eBay. It's all just a bit too much of a gamble. And it only takes you to be swindled once or twice to lose the benefit of all the bargains you have had. Which is very sad for those honest people behave within the rules on the site.

I think it will be back to Amazon for me. They really are the gold standard for customer service. A site where you really can shop in total security and knowing that you will be looked after if there is a problem.

Was suspended indefinitely due to low buyer satisfaction. The feedback score for this account is 99% positive. That means only 1% of buyers were not satisfied. It is unbelievable that eBay is suspending accounts that have such good feedback. EBay ruins the lives of seller's who depend on the eBay income... seller's who are disabled and unable to go out in the world and pick up a job like normal. It makes me sick how they can do this and be able to sleep at night.

I'm a huge user / fan of eBay been using it for nearly 12 years I've used eBay.com, eBay.ca, eBay.de and eBay.co.uk never had a any problem as a buyer if I did all was sorted by the seller in a timely fashion where either goods were sent slightly late or fully refunded.

My only gripe is as a seller I can't leave negative feedback anymore against deadbeats that fail to pay, eBay is all about protecting the buyer but sellers have rights too do they not?, so I wish negative feedback could still be left where its fully warranted, I know eBay has had a lot of bad press in recent years which is why they are becoming buyer friendly as some sellers abused the ratings system, but if they could put it back in place where sellers then report problems to eBay about non paying bidders, then if after 2 week or a month still nothing eBay then themselves rates that bidder with a negative, rather than a hidden black mark against them, as then sellers can see who is to be trusted when bidding and then can ever leave the bidders to bid or remove them from bidding / their auctions, rather than not seeing any black marks only to find out after the auction the bidder was a deadbeat etc.

But over all for what its worth its good but still some room for improvements to make it excellent

I have been scammed buying and selling on this site! Certain goods I bought broke after 2-months with no way of getting a refund as the seller had simply changed i.d. When selling goods on here I've had people swap them for broken ones and return them! Also had experience of shill bidding and bid shielding! Absoulute rip off FVF and Fees with absolutely no protection for sellers and buyers can also be shafted advice be careful what you buy, check feedback or steer well clear!

Like all classified sites, ebay has its share of scammers and share of touts. They are not alone though and they do take "Trust & Safety" seriously. Touts put tickets on eBay becasue people want to buy them - that's what a marketplace is.

I have found eBay to be very useful of the years. I'm not a massive user but I've made around 50 purchases and I've never been scammed yet. Just be careful, use your common sense and you'll find eBay is a fantastic place to find what you need.