If you’ve been burnt by eBay Buyer Protection, you’ve been burnt by a system that started on PayPal.

By the way, the name starts with a K.

-Kurt

Fixed apparently as you responded, wanna know how many times I've been called Karl instead of Carl?
Whitman has led the charge to create the monster ebay is now, and ebay divested paypal hat over 10 years ago?

FWIW: in general and especially ebay, don't believe the "brochure" and the salesman...

Here's an idea. Read through the eBay terms and conditions, take into account people's experiences with eBay, and if you don't like it, don't use it.

Exactly. I've had no problem with eBay, either as a buyer or a seller. I've managed to get items that would be all but impossible to get in most circumstances.

Kind of related to how the worlds gone to hell, I've got about $450 "out on the street" right now with 3 different internet transactions. 2 are with "established" vendors who are from prior experience a little "loose" and a peer to peer transaction that us nearing 24 hours of radio silence after sending funds. Covering the extra paypal fee's myself instead of going with friends and family looks to be a good choice

Ebay is a garage sale with anonymity. What I'm hearing is a lot of naive expectations. "Dishonorable people found selling on eBay" SHOCKING. STICKY RED HEADLINE ON THE NEWSWIRE. We all know it entails risk. The seller knows everything and the buyer knows nothing. Usually it works out fine, sometimes it doesn't. I look at the risk/ reward question every time. And if it turns out bad, I knew that was possible and I put the blame on myself for my decision.

I quit selling on ebay a looong time ago when they kept trying to harness a workforce without having to pay a workforce, and making sure they offloaded all the liabilities onto the sellers. Oh, all while raising costs left and right. They were the greatest yard sale on the internet but then they got in their heads to become Amazon and they ended up failing at both.

I remember when they tried to give me regular performance reviews and thought that this carrot and stick approach would lead to a more "professional" unpaid workforce. I f*ing hate performance reviews on my day job, they are a dog and pony show. I also remember the Christmas they wanted to force a loooooong no questions asked return policy, because that's what Amazon did.

Has anyone here used the ebay alternative Mercari? It truly is a wild west where you have very little buyer protection, and scams run rife. It's important for buyer protection to be highly prioritized on ebay so that people feel comfortable to purchase items. I've never had an issue over the past 10 years buying parts on ebay. I think using ebay is a combination of personal responsibility to eat costs where you didn't do your due diligence regarding the item's condition/compatibility, and utilizing the buyer protection inherent in ebay's system for those moments when the seller did lie about an objects condition or is unwilling to play ball and compromise if the item does not meet stated expectations.

That being said, I pretty much never trust a seller to know a bicycle part's measurement standards/compatibility, and only go by the markings available on the packaging or the item itself. If I'm ever unsure, my questions get directed to this forum. Returning NOS is difficult...I think it's fair that the seller would not refund 100% of the cost, but trying to keep 50% is really scummy (assuming you did not mar the part or packaging). Unfortunate that you had to deal with such a dishonest person on ebay, but them's the brakes. Hopefully you playing hardball with the refund will incentivize them to change for the better.

I recently asked for a return on an item I purchased on eBay. I did not end up needing the items. The seller sells on Amazon and offers refunds but does not offer refunds on eBay. I figured, what the heck, maybe I'll get my money back and be able to return the items. Weirdly, eBay refunded my money, and despite asking twice for a return address so I could mail the item back, the seller never answered.

So does anyone want some universal cv axle boots? yours for the price of shipping. haha

I don't have to like it to use it, Is this personal for you?
I no longer sell on ebay, but I do buy. I also use ebay in a particular fashion.

I wasn't clear - agreed that there's a risk to selling on eBay. My comment on not liking it related to their terms and conditions, which I think is a valid point. I've never had an issue selling or buying on it, don't work for eBay, etc., so there's nothing personal at all about it. The worst experience I had with eBay was I won a no-reserve auction on a frame I wanted, and the buyer decided not to sell it.

Every once in awhile a someone gets burned on eBay and comes here to blow off some steam and complain about it. Sellers in most any market get burned once in awhile, it's not just eBay.