How do you like it? Ever get ripped off?

I've bought/sold about 30 or 40 things. In my experience, buying from somebody with good feedback works out. If you're guided by feedback generally you're OK. I have heard horror stories though. Use your common sense.

500 plus transactions with no problems.

Knock on wood.

I'm at 365 and only been stiffed once for $10.00.

I buy/sell there [i]occasionally[/i], but I've never had any problems on either side of the deal. I have only used it to buy out-of-production items that are not generally available elsewhere.

I've been buying from there for quite a few years now. So far so good no problems . I agree with DOW , just make sure you use common sense. Good Luck

Almost weekly for many years, and only one trouble transaction, and I was the seller!

Bought a lot recently--no problems so far.  Just pay attention to feedback and use common sense, as mentioned above.

Yep, a lot. Over 500 transactions. Got ripped once. Also, I've been refunded by Paypal for a deal gone bad. Recently, I didn't get 80 Gillette Mach 3 razor blades I paid for, so I filed with Paypal. A couple of days later, I received an email from the seller, who claimed he just got out of the hospital, after a fire that claimed most of his merchandise and records. A day later he sent me a tracking number. Got the blades with an additional 8 pack thrown in for free.
Some sellers are slow, but legitimate. Paypal only gives a 30 day window for filing. I've had to file, even though I was convinced the seller was honest, and the seller had been returning my emails, assuring me that my product was in route. Then when the product came, I notified Paypal that I was withdrawing my complaint.

We got semi-ripped off on FiestaWare.  I had to threaten legal action to get some (about 75%-80%) of my order filled.  Never did get everything.  DO NOT BELIEVE ANY SOB STORIES ON EBAY.  This woman said she was selling her recently departed mothers collecttion-

Yea Sure.

I've done about 50 transactions, split more-or-less evenly between buyer and seller. Mostly it's small stuff; I think the most I ever spent was $120 or so for a video card. I've had trouble with a couple of buyers, but never had trouble with a seller.

Definitely look at feedback [b]profiles[/b], [b]not[/b] just the numerical rating, when deciding whom to buy from. Some people have inflating ratings from shill bidding and bogus auctions...sometimes you can tell by looking at the items they've bought and sold.

JScott

I have about 250 transactons (about 80% buyer / 20% seller). I have only had one problem.

Let's role play a hypothetical situation:

You win and auction. You receive an email from the seller with payment terms. You send the money via PayPal. This can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending on how fast you and the seller both are.

Then, you never hear anything else. If you are halfway decent, you will probably wait a week until you realize the stuff hasn't shown up. Then, being the hypothetical nice guy, you send another email checking the status of your item. Several more days pass until you realize the answer you haven't received is the only answer you are going to get. Then, eBay will provide you with personal information they have on file (such as phone number, etc). This information is only available for the parties involved in the transaction and cannot be accessed by anyone else. So, you then try to call the seller. No answer. No voice mail.

So, then you FINALLY decide to try to do something through eBay. At this point, about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks have passed. Then you find out that you have to file sometype of request through them. There is no way around it. Once you do that, you have to wait 7-10 days from then before you can leave them negative feedback. Great. So you left a dirty, pissed off msg in the sellers feedback that he is a deadbeat and should be avoided. Now, how do you get your money back?????

Here is one thing most people don't know. eBay owns PayPal. eBay delays and delays the process with so many waiting periods that by the time you finally get around to trying to get your money back, guess what? PayPal tells you they can only 'assist' if less than 30 days have passed since the end of the transaction.

I had to go through my bank to request a credit. Since they didn't have anything to do with the transaction, they want all these affadavits and crap filled out.

When my bank credited me, PayPal shut my acount down and sent me a letter saying that the only way I could get it reactivated was to fax them copies of my bank statements. I told them to shove it up their ass.

250 transactions without a problem. The ONE that was a problem though was a MAJOR pain and left me really hacked off at how eBay and PayPal both leave you hanging and not only won't assist you, but screw you up even worse for trying to get your money back.

Oh, the one bad transaction was only for $25-30. I have sold $1200 guitars, $1000-1500 amps, etc without a problem.

Definately deal ONLY with people with established feedback. Check the auction terms twice for anything funky. I have seen $10 items sold for $5, but then they charge $12 flat shipping. Doesn't matter to where. If you are in the same state, or the next state over, you just paid $17 for a $10 item.

The only problems I ever had were non-paying bidders on two occasions. I give them 10 days to make payment and if they don't I leave negative feedback, re-list the item, and file a non-paying bidder report with eBay so they don't charge me for the failed auction. Never had a problem as a buyer.

Definitely look closely at feedback, and at shipping terms, as mentioned.

I've had about 120 transactions, only two bad ones, both times I was the buyer.  First one I sent some $$ to a guy in Tennessee for a sleeping bag, didn't hear anything else after that.  No record of this clown in that town.  

Second one I'm working through right now....seller is a Marine in Calif., failed to send the item or return my money to me anytime over the last three months. Found out he is under investigation for selling govt property, and just quit whatever transactions he was doing.

I got tricky, called him three nights ago and told him if I didn't get cash or money order back by 9 January I'm going to NCIS (Navy version of the FBI) for fraud.  He huffed and puffed, called me all kinds of dirty names, yelled at me for maligning his good name, but he's sending me a money order.....

Edited to add:  I agree with other posters, definitely look at the feedbacks themselves, not just their rating.

I have had two instances on small items where the seller lost records of the shipment so they double shipped to me.

I had one instance where a guy who could not legally bid on my auction ruined the auction by being top bidder when he knew he could not legally comply,

The only trouble I had was when I bought a DPMS upper.  The seller did everything right, but it took me 2 1/2 weeks to get my upper.

The seller insisted he shipped it priority mail when stated, but I was totally panicked. $400+ on the line.

When the package finally arived, it had obviously been opened and had tracking stickers for places no where near a semi-direct route.  I'm sure some overzealous postal worker about crapped on himself.

I have to buy every so often for work since some things we buy (like cisco routers and Sun servers) are so much cheaper used.  I've been screwed an even dozen times now.  I don't plan on ever buying from Ebay again.  Of course, I said that after #11.

Also, don't depend on Ebay's fraud guarantee to ever pay.  It [i]is[/i] a fraud.z

About 50 transactions and I just got screwed the other day. The asshole seller claimed to be selling "authentic" Oakley sunglasses. Of course, they were $5 crap.

I leave negative feedback on his record and he immediately makes his feedback record private. This is complete bullshit on the part of ebay. What the fuck is feedback for if not to warn future buyers?

Rant mode off - it's fairly safe to buy from ebat.

Just purchased some "18k" gold chains, they were dimestore crap without a trace of gold anywhere. Will send them back for a refund tomorrow and see how it goes. I am relatively new to ebay.
Edited to add, just had some jackass ask to retract a bid with 3 hrs to go. Being the nice guy that I am I cancelled the bid and it looks like I am going to eat $10 dollars because their bid probably kept others from bidding because it was $10 above the last bid.  

I buy and sell on E-Bay.

No problems so far. Know what you are buying!

Av.

I have about 60 buys so far on ebay, lately mostly Norton mc parts. Twice (the 2nd yesterday) I've received parts that were claimed good, but were really junk. Both times the seller fully refunded my money (including shipping). On another deal, I was told the item was stolen before it could be shipped, and I want to believe that, but it was for a small fraction of its worth with no reserve (new seller - 0 feedback, no experience), so I wonder. And on occasion, I fall prey to creative wording. You know, not getting what I thought I won, but after reveiwing the auction, I got exactly what I bid on. Watch the small print & disclaimers.  Nothing big yet, but I'm learning. I will continue to use eBay until something really goes wrong, because I believe most sellers are straight. And the point earlier about excessive shipping is a good one.
It's funny though, I still am uneasy about buying gun parts on any online auction yet. No good reason except that I don't know as much about them as I do my bikes. I rely on you good people to steer me to good vendors. So far, so good.

My latest arriving purchase from eBay is a Benchmade knife.
It came Christmas Eve. A very nice present to myself at a decent price.

Benchmade 710-02 Limited Edition
(mine is number 85)

BT2 Coated D2 Steel Blade, Grey Aluminum with G-10 Inlayed Handles, Blade Length 3.9 Inches. Limited to 500 Knives

[img]http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/users/65df62/bc/My+Photos/__sr_/BM-710-02.jpg?ph7t56_A6Rc5nReH[/img]