> I've used both ebay's service iEscrow, and Tradesafe, and have been
> satisfied with both of them. They cost about 40f the transaction
value.
I think someone mentioned he'd pay a premium to a non-auction seller just
to know that he wasn't going to get shafted. Maybe a 40remium to use an
escrow service is a reasonable alternative to that? As I said earlier,
probably not worth doing for small items, but certainly something to
consider for the big-bucks stuff.
> Of course, if a seller agrees to the use of such a service, its a pretty
> good sign that that you don't really need it - i.e. the seller is honest
and
> willing to stand behind what he sells. So I'll often just send them a
money
> order anyway in that instance.
I agree wholeheartedly. If a seller balks at using an escrow service when
the buyer is willing to pay the cost, then that's at least a small
indication that things might not be on the up and up. While I don't click
the "can use escrow" button on my ads, if a buyer were to ask me if he
could use escrow if he won the auction, I'd agree so long as he paid the
cost. Since I'm (apparently one of the few) honest sellers on e-Bay, what
do *I* care?!?!
> I have never been completely shafted in well over 100 ebay transactions.
> Maybe 100f the time the item hasn't been exactly as described, but even
> then I got 'fair value', it just wasn't a "Doris". In an equal number of
> transactions, I got more than I was expecting, so I think it evens out.
That's been my experience, too, although I've only had a fraction of the
transactions you've had.
> On the other hand, I got really screwed on a Yahoo auction. Big bucks.
> Thats when I found out that Yahoo gives the buyer NO protection or
> information, you are completely on your own. Be very careful on Yahoo
While I've taken a gander at Yahoo (and Goodwill, and a couple of others),
I've never placed a bid on any sites other than e-Bay. None of the others
have the volume e-Bay does. I guess that's good in the sense that there
more stuff for the buyers and more potential buyers for the sellers. But,
I suppose it also means there's more riff-raff (sellers AND buyers!) and
cr*ap.
By the way, it's not just sellers who sometimes play games. What about
those flaky buyers who bid and then never follow through on the
transaction, or who bid and win and then try to "dicker" the final price
down??? Remember, folks, the door swings BOTH ways!
As always caveat emptor is the name of the game.
Regards,
Chris
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