Ebay & stupid people.

[stj]

why do they come together??

i just watched someone in the u.k. spend £83 that's about $115 on a faulty HP54600b scope!!!
i was bidding max-£50, and that was more than it was really worth, but it was down the road - so no shipping costs.

congrats to the winner, you just got a 2channel 100MHz scope that actually samples at 4MHz complete with a faulty input for £83 + £7 shipping!!
i bet you wished you had read the sales-sheet and the posts on that model here before bidding!

i dont mind losing the bid - really i dont, but £83+7?? damn that's over!!

[Galenbo]

why do they come together??

i just watched someone in the u.k. spend £83 that's about $115 on a faulty HP54600b scope!!!
i was bidding max-£50, and that was more than it was really worth, but it was down the road - so no shipping costs.

congrats to the winner, you just got a 2channel 100MHz scope that actually samples at 4MHz complete with a faulty input for £83 + £7 shipping!!
i bet you wished you had read the sales-sheet and the posts on that model here before bidding!

i dont mind losing the bid - really i dont, but £83+7?? damn that's over!!

Why call him stupid without knowing his agenda? without knowing his situation?
I would say you are the one who is stupid, for not knowing even 1 of the 100 possible reasons to buy a specific obsolete device, even defective.

[rdl]

I have many times seen bidding on items that were available from other sellers as "Buy It Now" at lower price. I have no idea what's up with that. Auction fever I guess.

[bitseeker]

Auction fever I guess.

Bingo!

[System Error Message]

bidding is dumb if the item is common (such as if available as buy it now).

Many people think ebay is a source of good deals (or cheap) which it barely is. Places like ebay just have a higher percentage of people who would rip you off. For example many items may not actually be up to their rated specs but people dont notice it as they barely use it at that spec.

just remember, If you ever find a fraudster on ebay dont report it to ebay, report it to the cops. They really need to clamp down on ebay hard.

ebay and amazon are actually more expensive than some places if you know where to look. For example many items i find at amazon are priced more than at the grocery store for the same item, and they call tesco greedy. Even suppliers that i buy stuff from (like routers meant for datacenters) double their prices on amazon. Amazon actually takes less of a cut than ebay does.

The main problem with ebay has always been paypal and the huge amount of fraud.

[ez24]

The main problem with ebay has always been paypal and the huge amount of fraud.

Think positive.  We are witnessing the emergence of the greatest thief's market in human history.

[stj]

The main problem with ebay has always been paypal and the huge amount of fraud.

Think positive.  We are witnessing the emergence of the greatest thief's market in human history.

isnt that banking?

[Dubbie]

What the heck sort of eBay are you guys using? I've bought hundreds of things and never been ripped off once.


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[george graves]

Ebay use to be decent...well kinda decent.  Now it's a shit-show. Somewhere I saw a graph of amazon vs ebay sales/users.  Ebay was point down to the left, and amazon was pointing up to the left.

[MatthewEveritt]

bidding is dumb if the item is common (such as if available as buy it now).

The exception being if you're willing to wait. If you've got the patience to keep putting in low bids not expecting to win eventually you can get lucky.
I've got a few things at a reasonable discount (~1/2 price quite often), but it does take a long time, and of course if it's a new item you can probably get it for that price somewhere else.

[Assafl]

eBay was worse when it started. There were all these nickel and dime peddlers selling fake watches back then up until 2002 when they started cracking down on these shysters.

In obsolete parts the markups and fraud are just a small reflection of the market in Shenzen. Nothing new there. But from Rochester Electronics if scared, but pay a pretty dollar on the cent.

As for the T&M and Surplu guys - they sometimes do try to maximize their gains. Isn't that the point? Don't let them. But there may always be someone desperate (maybe they buy the entire device for a spare that is discontinued?).

[dannyf]

This conversation reminds me of those engineering types calling the cable guys "stupid".

Look who's laughing all the way to the bank,

[bitseeker]

Good deals do exist on eBay, but they are not the norm. As with shopping anywhere, if you don't know what you're buying and haven't done your homework, then you end up paying too much. The differences with eBay are that there are many more buyers and sellers in one place (i.e., more opportunities for stupidity, nonsense, and shadiness) and people get swept away by the desire to win (and end up losing).

It is unfortunate that the stupid ones ruin good deals for the smart shoppers, but c'est la vie. More patience is required.

[stj]

that specific item may end up back on sale - a lot of people wont be able to fix it. 

i hope the buyer knows what he's doing and either fixes it or does not make it worse.
that goes for most people buying faulty equipment with surface-mount parts and usually no schematics available.

[bitseeker]

@stj

Funny you should mention stuff going back on sale.

I recently saw a DC calibrator close for about $200 (I believe it was for parts). The description said that it worked fine, but had no fuse, just a jumper that bypasses it. In the photos you could see electrical tape covering the fuse holder. With a little digging, I found that the seller bought it for parts from someone else on eBay for $20 and the fuse holder was not yet taped over.

Jumper across fuse holder = $180 profit

[ez24]

@stj

Funny you should mention stuff going back on sale.

I recently saw a DC calibrator close for about $200 (I believe it was for parts). The description said that it worked fine, but had no fuse, just a jumper that bypasses it. In the photos you could see electrical tape covering the fuse holder. With a little digging, I found that the seller bought it for parts from someone else on eBay for $20 and the fuse holder was not yet taped over.

Jumper across fuse holder = $180 profit

My guess is that there are a lot of forum members buying and selling equipment from ebay.

[bitseeker]

My guess is that there are a lot of forum members buying and selling equipment from ebay.

I wouldn't be surprised. I've run into forum members while bidding and one item I sold introduced me to a member who lives a couple of cities away. That was cool.

[bitslice]

Curses, last month I bought something that was described as working normally, yet upon arrival did no more than flash the lights and hum 

I'd love to sell this ignoramus a car with no wheels -  "well it makes a noise when you turn it on, and the headlamps work fine..."

I'm still 100% covered though, he's gone and sent me a completely different model from what was pictured in the listing 
And technically it wasn't a bad price for a piece of junk, so I might try and fix it first.

[Jwalling]

@stj

Funny you should mention stuff going back on sale.

I recently saw a DC calibrator close for about $200 (I believe it was for parts). The description said that it worked fine, but had no fuse, just a jumper that bypasses it. In the photos you could see electrical tape covering the fuse holder. With a little digging, I found that the seller bought it for parts from someone else on eBay for $20 and the fuse holder was not yet taped over.

Jumper across fuse holder = $180 profit

You mean this one?
eBay auction: #http://www.ebay.com/itm/EDC-520B-DC-Calibrator-Precision-1kV-Voltage-100mA-Current-Source-/272332433121?hash=item3f684726e1%3Ag%3Ap7IAAOSwyLlXpbCP&nma=true&si=kC1xQw8gMJoGhVB0VufZDldbLUc%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Yeah, but I'll fix it properly, calibrate it, and sell it for much more! It has the 1KV option which I'll disconnect before servicing. 

Wish I had seen it when it was going for 20 bucks. 
It's a EDC 520A, BTW. Listing was wrong
Funny! 

[Jwalling]

Ahh. there it is. Easy to find when missing the silver inlay on one of the knobs.
eBay auction: #http://www.ebay.com/itm/EDC-PROGRAMMABLE-IEEE-488-DC-CALIBRATOR-MODEL-520A-1595-/232014004422?hash=item36051cc0c6%3Ag%3AkQkAAOSwNKRXiObW&nma=true&si=67H%252BLd6jcRkeNlrOarsFxjCD9ek%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[bitseeker]

Oh, you got it! That's funny. Yeah, I wish I had seen it when it was $20, too. Isn't it ironic how good deals show up when you're not looking?

Anyway, now that I know who has it, what is the deal with the limit knob that was added on the rear panel? Feel free to make a separate thread about your calibrator, if you prefer.

[Jwalling]

Oh, you got it! That's funny. Yeah, I wish I had seen it when it was $20, too. Isn't it ironic how good deals show up when you're not looking?

Anyway, now that I know who has it, what is the deal with the limit knob that was added on the rear panel? Feel free to make a separate thread about your calibrator, if you prefer.

Haven't received it yet, expecting to get it this week.

[Galenbo]

Ebay use to be decent...well kinda decent.  Now it's a shit-show...

My experience too.
I was worried about cheapo items on aliexpress first, but have nearly no problems with it, and when I had, fast voluntary refund.
The last Ebay purchases were all Sh it, and I was dragged into their boxClick-and-wait system.

[bitseeker]

I've had good success with AliExpress too. Out of several dozen orders, I had three failures:

1. The seller looked scammy (items too cheap), but it was a good opportunity to see how AliExpress handles such things. They detected the problem, emailed me that the orders were being canceled, and I was refunded.

2. The item never showed up. The seller promptly shipped a replacement.

3. The item never showed up. I got a refund.

So, I'm at around 90% of orders being fulfilled with no issues and 100% resolution when an issue does occur.

[ez24]

I've had good success with AliExpress too. Out of several dozen orders, I had three failures:

Same here.  I am going through one bad one now, been about 2 months and the seller extended the dispute time frame (surprised that they can do this).  Worth only $20 and I watch the expiration time carefully. 

Aliexpress sends emails close to the time limit asking if I have a problem.  So I am just waiting for the email and see if I can get a refund by responding to the email.  If the seller can extend the ending time indefinitely then I have  a problem.

The only horror stories I have heard of, is when the seller asks for more time past the close off date and the seller says ok.  If the seller does this they lose.