How to buy on eBay and not get ripped off.

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This will be an ongoing thread so stay tuned

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These simple rules will apply to anything you want to buy on eBay.

#1 Don't be in a rush to buy.
It never fails, if your in a rush you will pay a premium.

#2 Before you start searching for your part, log into eBay.
That way shipping rates will be calculated to your eBay registered shipping address.

#3 Read all the information on the ad. Yes I know, there can be a lot to read.
However, reading all the ad can often prevent misunderstandings, lost time and money, and hurt feelings.

In this example we will search for a VOR Vertemati Offroad Racing 2002 450 MX SHOCK.
So, your at eBay, your logged in, put VOR Vertemati Offroad Racing 2002 450 MX SHOCK in the search box at the top of the page and click on the big blue SEARCH button.

In this example, only one person has this item, me
So let's look at something else.
In this example we will search for a 04 crf450r impeller.
Go back to the search box and run a search for 04 crf450r impeller
You can click on the link below to see this search on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=04 ... r&_sacat=0

The items you see on the search will change over time.
However, the basic interface screen will be the same until eBay changes it again

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Note that "Sort: Best Match" is selected.
You need to change the "Best Match" to "Price = Shipping: Lowest first"

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Due to the way eBay's search feature works, and because so many sellers don't know what their parts fit or even what year or model their part comes from you need to use discernment.
Ask questions, ask for additional pics, ask for measurements, ect.
If the seller is good but busy, they will let you know or give you a time frame as to when they can answer.
If there is no reply, slow reply, or poor communication, consider what will happen if you get something and there is a problem.
It can be like pulling teeth to get anything out of a poor seller.

Let's say that the ad looks good, the price is fair, and you don't have any questions.
What then, push the buy it now button?
Not so fast.
Let's take a look at their feedback.
Look on the right side of the screen.
See where is says "Seller Information"
I have removed the seller ID because this is an example and I don't want to offend anyone.

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Just below where it says "Seller Information" and just to the right where it shows the "User ID" is a number.

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In this case 11949.
This is the number of transactions that positive feedback have been left by unique buyers.
So this seller has completed a lot of transactions.
This can be good or bad.
Below this number and slightly to the left is another number (99.6 positive feedbacks)

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What does this number really mean?
Basically 4 people in 1000 were mad enough at this seller to leave negative feedback.
Is this bad?
Hard to say just yet.
Let's take a look at what was said about this seller and see if he responded.
To do this, click on the number 11949 one time:

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A new screen will come up that looks like this:

ebay 7.jpg (66.97 KiB) Viewed 9997 times

The chart is pretty self explanatory.
But, let's see what the buyers said.
You can do this by selecting one of the numbers on the chart.

I want to see all 17 negative feedbacks for the last 12 months so I will click on the number 17 as shown below:

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Now you can scroll down and check out what is said:

ebay 9.jpg (76.17 KiB) Viewed 9997 times

I removed the buyers ID and the transaction numbers to protect the innocent
The seller only responded to one of the feedbacks.
We respond to all negative or neutral feedbacks indicating if it was our fault.
There is more feedbacks there but you get the idea.
So, is this feedback profile bad?
Consider this, he is selling all new product, nothing used.
So, while 4 in a thousand upset people isn't bad, I think we can do better.
I'm going to click back to my original search and look at the feedback profile of the next least expensive seller.
His feedback is worse 98.8 or about 14 in 1000 were not happy and once again he is selling all new parts, so let's look at the 3rd cheapest.
His feedback is 99.3% so it looks like the cheapest guy, shipping included has the best feedback.
Incidentally, as of the time of writing this article, we are at 100% positive feedback and we sell only used parts.
Why do I specify used or new as making a difference?
If you sell new all you need to do is be sure you ship the correct product.
In most cases you can buy more perfect product and simply re-list without re-writing the description or taking more pics.
When you sell used you have to disassemble, clean, inspect, picture, price, list, organize, store, and then ship the correct part.
Then you have to hope that the buyer realizes he is buying a used part, not a new part.

More to come

[81cr450]

Excellent I have friends ask me how I dare buy as much as I do on ebay. Now I can just point them at this

[Sandblaster]

Thanks.
I also plan on doing two follow up articles on "How to resolve a problem on eBay with a seller" and "How to resolve a problem on eBay with a buyer" after I finish this article

[Tardboy]

This is great.
Thanks for doing this.

[Sandblaster]

Buy or no buy?

Here is something else to check.
First off, look at this part of the screen as there is a lot of good info here that can help you decide..

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Take a look below.
This will show the ESTIMATED arrival time to your eBay registered address.
Remember, there are a lot of factors that go into that date.
Here is just a few of the factors.
1. How fast you pay.
2. the time of day you pay.
3. Where you live vs, where the seller lives.
4. Holidays.
5. Bad weather anywhere along the delivery route, not just the straight line between you and the seller.
6. How good the delivery service performs.
Remember, once the seller drops off the package he has little to no control over the delivery service.

ebay shipping estimated date.jpg (66.28 KiB) Viewed 9984 times

How long is it warrantied for?
In this case 60 days.
For a new part that will last for several seasons, 60 days is good.
If your buying used parts, 15 days is good, especially on electrical parts.

ebay shipping warranty period.jpg (70.79 KiB) Viewed 9984 times

Where is the part shipping from.
Why is this important?
Consider the weather.
If it is frozen over where the seller is at and there is no power, you can expect a slower the ESTIMATED delivery time.
If the seller lives on the opposite end of the country from you and the ESTIMATED delivery time is one day you can just about bet there is an error on the ad.

ebay shipping from .jpg (69.1 KiB) Viewed 9984 times

So, not only was the seller the least expensive but he also had the best feedback rating of all the sellers for that product.
He had good delivery time and a excellent warranty.
Would I buy from that seller?
Sure.
While I would rather see him at 99.7 or higher, 99.6 isn't really bad compared to most sellers on eBay.

Of course I would rather have you buy from me direct and skip the whole eBay experience but I don't have every part for every bike and I'm not always going to be the cheapest when I do have a part you need

I hope you find this information useful.