Your ebay experiences and other auctions

[Scoobiesnacks]

Hi

I've noticed theres a lot of tv equipment (tvs, videos, dvd recorders) on ebay, so I'm interested in your experiences? Have you bought anything of it then regretted it? or have you found a bargain that way?

Firstly I will admit I am an ebay fan - having just purchased a new car radio from it saved me £200.

The tv equipments auctions seem to fall into 2 camps - private sellers upgrading their old equipment (typically these guys are selliing off equipment thats about 2 years old) and dealers selling graded items.

In fact there's an awful lot of graded items from dealers which makes you think why are customers returning these products??? reasons given are "damaged boxes" and "customer returns", I've only seen a few dealers admit to slight technical faults. Here's some typical reasons for grading:
1. Unwanted Gift (really?)
2. Slight Blemish (on the screen or on the box??)
3. Carton Damage (fallen off a lorry no doubt)
4. Cancelled Trade Order (really?)

How have you found the items price wise? I've been watching for a couple of days and some things aren't that cheap - selling for just £50 below the new price!

[spocktra]

My personal opinion is stay clear,Whilst some sets may only be cosmetically marked the vast majority will be electrically defective.You only have to read all the threads here to see a lot of people have returned poorly assembled units[myself included].I would pay a little more and buy online from a well known retailer.

[Scoobiesnacks]

Originally Posted by spocktra

My personal opinion is stay clear,Whilst some sets may only be cosmetically marked the vast majority will be electrically defective.You only have to read all the threads here to see a lot of people have returned poorly assembled units[myself included].I would pay a little more and buy online from a well known retailer.

Thats what I'm nervous about for sure. I can see from these threads that there seem to be a lot of returns for the reasons you say.

The thing thats confusing me is a lot of these sellers have 100% feedback ratings from the buyers.

Does this mean the people buying these tvs just don't notice they have slight faults?

[simon1]

One problem with the feedback ratings on ebay is that they are usually left very soon after the transaction.

EG. Buyer receives goods on specified delivery day, they appear to be 'as described' and working. He leaves good feedback for the seller soon after, as he/she is eager to receive feedback also from the seller. A lot of sellers say that they will only leave feedback, once the buyer has.

A few days/weeks after, buyer has noticed a problem (could be big or small), they contact the seller, who will not help.

Too late to leave the seller any further feedback!

[Astaroth]

You say they dont sell cheap - I would say that they are actually expensive. Whilst they may be £50 cheaper than the RRP or what the likes of Comet sells them for they are actually more expensive than you can get the same item from an online retailer if you are willing to do some looking arround.

Personally I wouldnt trust buying anything significant from ebay as you rarely get a guarantee and even if you use a credit card via the likes of PayPal your recourse against the card issuer becomes more complicated - and may become even more so with the changes to UK law and who is responsible for 'fraud'.

[dynamic turtle]

I love & whole-heartedly recommend eBay, but:

Caveat Emptor, Caveat Emptor, Caveat Emptor, Caveat Emptor, Caveat Emptor, Caveat Emptor, Caveat Emptor, Caveat Emptor, Caveat Emptor, Caveat Emptor..........

As for Paypal:

Caveat Emptor Extremis Maximus, Caveat Emptor Extremis Maximus, Caveat Emptor Extremis Maximus.......

Understood?

I bought a 'graded' set from eBay- it turned out to be a set with 3000+ hours use recorded and a dirty picture tube. It broke down after six months and they replaced it with an identical set that was too awful to watch (and with 7500 hours on the clock) - so after kicking up a fuss they replaced it with a later model (old set was Philips 32PW9536, exchanged for 32PW9528). Replacement set has a few scratches to the top of the cabinet but nothing really bad. Replacement set looks good so far - but no, I would not buy another television from E-Bay. I would go to a local dealer and pay the few extra quid and get some decent service. The last month or so has been too stress laden to make any saving worthwhile....
Saying that, the seller DID sort the problems out, and they have given me an upgraded set at no extra cost. I would suggest that you go and see the set before handing over your money and check for dodgy tubes and the like.