Ebay Warning!

[HPIguy]

Guys, be careful buying parts off of the bay. Something I've noticed recently is sellers, some of them big RC B&M shops, listing things as new, which under Ebay's policy clearly states;

New: A brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item

Notice the unopened portion of that statement. This is important if the part, such as an ESC has a warranty from the manufacturer. If they're simply parting out a truck or car, there is no way for you to register your listed as new item with the manufacturer. Buyer beware, not sure if this is violation of ebay's terms or not. You may save a bit of money, but will forfeit your warranty.

 

[bgbdwlf2500]

Good point will probably be up to ebay to change their terms

 

[RC Addict]

Interesting...

 

[2revo1maxx]

I'm having trouble with douchebags who win my item, then don't pay. It's frustrating because I can't nuke their feedback.
I honestly think some guys are stupid enough to think I'm gonna ship without their payment showing in paypal.

 

[HPI-Killer]

Thats why I stick to my trusted RC stores on ebay.

 

[HPIguy]

I'm having trouble with douchebags who win my item, then don't pay. It's frustrating because I can't nuke their feedback.
I honestly think some guys are stupid enough to think I'm gonna ship without their payment showing in paypal.

That would tick me off to no end. The nerve of some people, I tell ya. The only recourse I guess, is to take time out of your day to report all of their user accounts.

Thats why I stick to my trusted RC stores on ebay.

I usually do, but once in a while I'm in a gambling mood as there are still some deals to be had on the bay. So far anything I've been screwed on, which is rare, I do a good job of documenting everything, including trying to communicate with the seller. And so far, paypal has got my money back every time.

 

[Racer 1966]

I'm having trouble with douchebags who win my item, then don't pay. It's frustrating because I can't nuke their feedback.
I honestly think some guys are stupid enough to think I'm gonna ship without their payment showing in paypal.

Yet another reason I avoid selling on evilbay as much as possible.

 

[Greywolf74]

That is a good point HPI. Not everyone might be aware of that fact. I wonder though if you wouldn't have a warranty. As long as you can show some sort of receipt, the manufacturer has no way of knowing if you bought it NIB or not. Now some items that would only come on a RTR kit may have the problem of no warranty but if you bought , for example, an MMM and had a PayPal receipt showing where you purchased it, It would be your word against there in terms of whether you bought it new or not. IDK, just a thought.

In terms of eBay itself, I eBay all the time both as a buyer and a seller. The only problems I really have with Ebay so far is:

A) how much money they take (used to be a lot less especially considering they now take a percentage of your shipping fee as well....OMFG don't get me started on that one)

B) your can't leave buyers negative feedback (You used to be able to)....I'm mean give me a freakin' break here....so there's no such thing as a bad buyer? This leads me to the next thing

C) Since you can't leave buyers negative feedback then when they get the item some people will look for any little tiny flaw/excuse that wasn't documented in the auction to come back on you and try to put pressure on the seller to get extra stuff because the seller will have a sense of fear of receiving negative feedback.

D) this one isnt so much of a complaint as a FYI.....someone can't leave you negative feedback just because you dont leave them any feedback. If someone does this to you and they sent you an email telling you thats why they did it you can report them for feedback extortion.

All in all though I generally have good results. I've had very few bad ones and as a buyer ebay/paypal will have your back almost every time. As a seller all I can say is post plenty of pictures, makes sure you document all the bad along with the good, and take videos of your items working before you send them out. If you camera has a time and date stamp for the video use it. or at least reference a date like on your computer screen right at the beginning of the video. I then post these to YouTube and set them as only viewable to people with the direct link that way if a buyer tries to give you grief and opens up a case against you, you have something to give eBay when you have to answer the case.

 

[HPIguy]

Wolf, those are really good points. I had no idea the you as a seller couldn't leave any negative feedback for the buyer. That seems destined to cause problems, and is seriously myopic on ebays part to say the least.

I alway try and communicate with the seller first to work out any issues, and give them a fair chance, documenting it along the way as you said. So far, in all my years on ebay, I've only had two deals go bad, and have to resort to paypal. Usually the seller and I can work things out, and that's better for both of us.

 

[wacmartin]

Ok so I saw a losi ht tuned pipe on eBay for less then $20, the thing is its from one of the rc stores that's doing this. Taking parts off new rtr's and selling them. Now I'm thinking there's not much that can go wrong with a pipe, that wouldn't be my fault. I'm talking like dents and stuff, am I wrong. What are your guys thoughts, I would also be buying some rpm arms and other stuff to save on shipping with there combined shipping offer.

 

[maddmaxx65]

you also have to watch sellers getting on a other members ebay and bidding on there own item to jack up the price,and if it backfires on them they offer you second chance offer

 

[TRXaddict]

I've personally been buying tons of rc parts off ebay. never once had an issue with ebay. I've bought over 160 things and only about 2 things were sort of tough. 1 was when that huge flood happend in this one state and the company i ordered from happend to be in it and they couldnt send it out for like 2 weeks. the other was just something to took along time to get here. never had any issues with the parts them selves.

My personal advice for shopping on ebay is

Check how good their positive feedback is, shouldnt buy from the company if its under 95 % positive you should maybe consider a diff seller.

Check how many products they have sold. if they have sold ALOT of items like in the thousands and its around 98% positive feedback or even 100 percent.. you can trust them JUST as much as all these online hobby stores...

Also ebay is requires all sellers to have accurate information on the product and usually the sellers that sell ALOT of items add sometimes year warranty's depending on what it is.

I'm a firm believer in ebay and considering i usually try to save as much as possible ebay is my best choice. There has been times where I've seen some users post hobby online store links for parts and then just out of curiosity ill look on ebay and find the item for cheaper and free shipping.. Another thing is these online companies that sell rc parts usually charge a ton for shipping alone..

In the end... yeah other online companies can offer some more but for people like me almost always on a budget ebay is your best friend. And also sellers are required to pay you back if anything they listed was incorrect in any way. So you can't really get ripped off.

 

[Greywolf74]

Ok so I saw a losi ht tuned pipe on eBay for less then $20, the thing is its from one of the rc stores that's doing this. Taking parts off new rtr's and selling them. Now I'm thinking there's not much that can go wrong with a pipe, that wouldn't be my fault. I'm talking like dents and stuff, am I wrong. What are your guys thoughts, I would also be buying some rpm arms and other stuff to save on shipping with there combined shipping offer.

I say buy the pipe. You have 45 days through ebay and paypal to file a claim. Besides like you said, not much can go wrong with a pipe. I buy torn down RTR parts all the time regardless of warranty or not. I figure 99% of the time if it breaks its gonna be because of something I did anyway. If it shows up broke then you just get your money back from the seller.

 

[wacmartin]

Yeah that's exactly what I was thinking greywolf. The price is just to good compared to other online hobby stores and the arms I want our a couple bucks cheaper too when you need to buy 4 sets that's a good factor of money.