Beware of eBay seller!

[Jimmy Buffett]

I have been watching a piece of equipment on eBay for a week or two. I'm adding a new automatic and needed an acw and stand. I bought the acw from a guy in Florida and it arrived today just the way it was supposed to. The stand that I had been watching was available about 80 miles from my home in Kentucky but on eBay it was automatically including $212 for shipping, a ridiculous charge for a stand. I contacted the seller and asked how I could pay for the stand online without the shipping and he would never answer me. I wanted to pay for it and have my installer pick it up on his way to me. I had a rare afternoon off today and decided that I would just drive up and get the stand since he wouldn't let me pay for it online. I can only assume that the "shipping" was part of the profit margin. He sent me the address and told me when someone would be there. I got to the house and his son was there. We loaded it in the back of my truck and I asked to borrow a pen. He said "I can only take cash". I can understand that policy for eBay sales but it would only make sense to tell the buyer that before he comes, so I am quite irritated at this point. I didn't have $475 cash with me. We unload the stand and I find an atm and take out $480 from my personal account. When I get back the kid tells me his dad now says it is $500 for the stand. At this point I'm about to blow a gasket so I ask the kid what kind of a place this is. I feel sorry for the kid. I'm sure it's tough being stuck in the middle when your father does business that way and I wasn't very pleasant. I was warned to watch out for this guy from a friend out west. He told me the guy had made a deal on a machine out there and not held up his end of the bargain. Anyway if you are looking for carwash equipment on eBay this guy in Kentucky has a lot of stuff for sale but I'd say let the buyer beware! Also if anybody has a Hamilton stand for sale I'm still in the market!

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Since I am in Ky. I'm glad I don't have any car wash stuff listed right now.

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

Yeah. Sorry IBW. As far as I know this guy hasn't been on the forum.

 

[bigleo48]

I only buy stuff online with paypal from reputable buyers. That way I have recourse. If the vendor has communications problems, won't answer emails, etc...that's my answer...don't deal with him.

 

[Jimmy Buffett]

I'm the same way Leo. Since I was able to drive to this one and actually look at it, Shelbyville is only about 90 mins. from me, I didn't think anything could go wrong. Silly me. This guy had good ratings but I was told by another member of this forum that this is his 3rd eBay identity and he had been banned before. Live and learn.

 

[bigleo48]

JB,

The stellar reputation I seek on eBay has to be long standing. None the less, I have had minor problems in the past, none of which were not resolved to my satisfaction. I guess its like dealing with any other business or person...there are scumbags everywhere...thankfully they are the minority.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

The problem with reputations on ebay is that there is no good way to check out their reputation. The feedback system is a total joke. Since a buyer can only get positive FB you can rack up tons of transactions and of course be 100%. Also, since they started obscuring the bidders IDs they made it a shillers paradise. Frankly, ebay has become a joke and I don't feel anywhere near as comfortable as I used to when buying there. Selling is even less fun.

 

[MEP001]

You can check the history of a seller by sorting the feedback as a seller.

One thing I watch for is excessively high shipping. I found what I thought was a good deal on some PC memory but didn't check and ended up paying $40 for a padded envelope with 97 cents postage on it.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

You can check the history of a seller by sorting the feedback as a seller.

Yeah, I know how to do all of that, but it would be nice to have a little more of a realistic idea of how they handle things if I could see that they have a habit of not paying or just being a total pain in the hind quarters.