ebay deadbeats

[briankeith]

I was not referring to sellers that are pros at packing like Firebottles on EBay or yourself. I bought a mint red banner Edison Home from Canada back in 2009 - it was not taken apart and was literally just thrown into a box with a little bubble wrap and crushed newspaper - it took me 3 months to restore a once mint phononograph. To make matters worse I explained in detail on how to take the phonograph apart and how to securely package everything for a safe journey - He did not listen and I paid the piper.
No sir - I will not buy a talking machine on EBay unless I can drive to pick it up - look at it - and pay cash......

[MicaMonster]

After reading this thread, I am going to pour myself a good glass of wine, and it is 11AM! I have found phonograph people to still be the most honest and reliable folks out there (and the best friends a fellow can have). Imagine if you had to deal with the crowd selling/buying cell phones, collector coins and stamps? I had sold an 1807 American silver ½ dollar coin in 2004 for nearly $700 on eBay. The buyer complained that he hadn't received it. Oh, this is rich. I went to the post office and retrieved the digital copy of his signature when he signed for the insured parcel. I emailed this to him (and eBay), and he said, "OOOOhhh, I just found it!"

In a down economy that has greater access to electronic means to swindle people, it is no surprise that some people have taken to spam, email phishing, phone selling scams, slamming, and fraudulent eBay auctions as a CAREER. I still sell on eBay, mostly Italian clothing and shoes, and have found it to be a valuable method of reaching a large audience. In over 4000 transactions, I can say that less than 6 have been painful.

Raphael is right....in any hobby there will be "baddies." It will never be a curate's egg.

-Wyatt

[startgroove]

I think Wyatt has it right. There is always going to be that tiny percentage of people who will be intentionally dishonest, be a buyer or a seller. Then there is another small percentage of people who are just plain unknowing or uncaring. However, through fifty years of collecting, the largest percentage of people I've met, either in person, or on line, have been honest, forthcoming and wonderful! Those are the ones I befriend or work with again. Russie

[US PHONO]

I think ebay's attitude is like this:

say you own a store that turns over $1 million. You however loose 20,000 to shoplifting each year. To hire a security guy will cost you 40,000. So what do you do? ebay thinks why bother, it is less strenuous for them to let there be 20K of theft and accept it.

Problem is that word will get around and suddenly the misbehavior will rocket!?