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I have been shopping with Ebay for about a year, and have made over 40 purchases. Out of the 40 purchases I have been pleased with all of them except for about 3 or 4 purchases. I have been scammed once, and was out around $40. Ebay was no help getting my money back. I even payed through Paypal. The seller pulled their account right before Christmas, and many were scammed by her.

I had one item damaged, and I hadn't purchased insurance on it, so I was only out a few dollars. One seller took forever to get my product I had ordered. I had waited months before I finally got my product. Another time I had ordered an instrument, and the item was not as described.

For the most part people were honest. Even with the few who were not, I would still shop with Ebay because of SOME of the great prices, and ability to purchase items that are unique to my part of the world.

Normally, I pay by PayPal. I find it the quickest and easiest way. I can pay minutes after the action is over with and I have won the bid. Sellers seem to appreciate this way of payment the most. I am having one problem at the moment with being able to pay a seller from a bid that I won. Each time I try to make a transaction, Paypal keeps telling me that the seller is not able to accept payment and the transaction has been cancelled. You can see there is slight agravation at times using this site. What makes it difficult is when the seller will not communicate with the buyer. I have sent numerous messages with no response.
I am hoping I will not get a bad feedback.

Feedback

This can be a good thing or a bad thing. Like I mentioned. I could probably get a bad feedback for non-payment or something. You never know how the buyer or seller will react. On the other hand, feedback can be a great way to tell how the buyer and seller is responsible enough to handle your transaction. This is not always true either. The one lady I had purchased from that skipped town, had a 100% positive feedback until the month of December when she ripped off several people, then closed her account.

Customer Service

I don't count on customer service for anything. They seem to be useless. As long as Ebay gets there money, they don't really care about whether or not you get your product or not in my opinion. I never got a decent reply about any of my complaints. I don't like receiving computer generated responses. To me that is NOT customer service. Because of this reason, I vow to not make expensive purchase. I try to limit myself to around $20 to $40 tops. If the customer service were better I would risk more. I only purchase products from Sellers in the USA. I don't want to go through the hassle of having problems with out of the country sellers. There is no recourse if I get stiffed, and they know it. I won't bother.

Shipping Fees

Sometimes Sellers get a little out of hand with the shipping fees. Sometimes it makes the item not even worth purchasing. When agreeing to pay some of these fees, I would hope that my package is wrapped well. Sometimes it isn't and that can get on my nerves.

Cautions

In addition to the risk involved, I have seen a few people get scammed. One lady I knew thought she was purchasing a Martin guitar. It turned out the guitar was not a Martin, but it was strung with Martin strings. You really have to pay attention to how things are worded.

Overall

Overall I am pleased with Ebay. The site is easy to find what I am looking for. I trust Paypal, and glad Ebay accepts. I have received some great items that I would not have been able to find on my own. I have saved money by purchasing through Paypal. I have also lost money.