eBayReviews 3,492

Ebay is an excellent well put together site. There is a basic search engine on the home page and options to view various different categories.
The users can sell or make bids for items and the site is constantly updated with new prices and new auctions. The site works very quickly considering there are around 100 million users.
My only criticisms are:-
It is difficult to get in touch with anyone to phone or speak to anyone.
It is very addictive - its like having a shopping centre in your living room.
As with any auction sites> They can attract scammers. However eBay takes security very seriously and transactions always require a secure server.
Generally on the whole - Marvellous.

EBay gets a Meh from the seller side, but heart from the buyer side... Fees then fees then more fees.

For selling:
Pros: Tons of buyers use eBay, and the messaging system is very helpful and useful.
Cons: Fee to list your item, Fee when you sell your item, then another fee from your profits when you receive payment on paypal. Selling high priced items have entirely too high of fees. To sell a camcorder, I had to pay over $70 in fees + paypal fees.

Buying: Tons of sellers mean that they fight for lowest prices. Very possible to get really good deals in auctions.
Cons: A LOT of Chinese knockoffs make it hard to find authentic items especially on clothing and sports merchandise.

I started using ebay approximately 10 years ago as a buyer. Then as a seller. It's a good website... I've got many good deals, few bad deals because I'm really picky 'trusting' my seller.

You need to do some research 'from whom' you're going to buy your item. If they have zero feedbacks and no history at all. It's kinda risky to buy from that person. I like reading the seller ME page. And see what they say about themselves.

Just be very careful and know when to stop bidding. Coz otherwise instead of saving money. U'll end up losing money. ALSO. Know the 'retail price' first before thinking an item is CHEAP. Coz with all those bid war. People forget that the item end up cheaper if you just go to the store and buy it there, they get caught up with the 'bidding war' and want to win the item so bad w/out thinking that the price starting to pass the 'retail price'..

I have been an avid buyer and seller on eBay since 2004. I have only had a couple of bad experiences, but with PayPal buyer protection as well as eBay's reporting systems in the help section, those experiences were resolved with both parties being happy with the results. I can teach anyone how to buy or sell on eBay successfully. Look me up under username dospalomascantina and check out my feedback record. This site is trustworthy.

I've purchased a few things on ebay.com and out of all the experiences, have only had 2 bad ones.

Once I bought a computer, which the seller completely lied about the os that was installed, ram, etc. (Finally resolved but I lost $60 in the deal).
Once I ordered a software upgrade and the seller claimed "We're out of what you ordered so we sent you this instead" (Meanwhile they sold 8 more of what they were "out of", while I was getting my dispute resolved)

I now will order from ebay but I set myself a limit, $25. The amount one could easily blow going out to eat or to the movies. That way, if the deal goes south; I just "watched a lousy movie".

I recommend ebay.com because you CAN find some unusual and interesting items there, that you may not be able to find elsewhere.

I haven't sold anything on ebay (though I have taken things to an ebay store where they sold them.) Therefore, I can't comment on the selling aspect of the site.

Use it, but be cautious.

Full of idiots who don't read descriptions then give bad feedback when it's not what they wanted. Idiots that buy one item and expect the total amount available to buy. These idiots give you bad feedback and you can only give the bad buyer positive feedback, hardly fair on the people trying to make a few quid selling their things.
Customer service is terrible, very few humans to help 95% of it is machines.
Ebay charges £15 a month for one shop and you still pay 20p per listing and at the end of the sale they take 10-20%!

It's a shame it's fame has carried it's use on, although fame has made it the biggest auction site, it happens to be the worst!

Give CastOff or Ebid a chance they know how to treat Buyer and Seller alike.

I've been a member of ebay for more than 10 years and I've managed to do very well in buying and selling on ebay. Sometimes the shipping charges are outrageous but shipping charges are posted by the sellers.

I like the fact that we are buyer and seller protected but their charges to the seller are getting larger and larger as the years go by. The best way to pay or get paid with ebay is through pay pal but they also have charges to the seller.

One thing I would recommend is to not buy shoes on ebay. Usually they are seconds and don't fit correctly.

Make sure, before you buy, to read each seller's feedback list. Sometimes it's worth it to spend a little extra on something that is listed by multiple sellers to know you are buying from a good and reputable seller. Just yesterday I had that choice and chose to spend an extra $10 on something because that particular seller had 100% positive feedback.

All in all, my experience with ebay has been a good one.