On Buying a Laptop At eBay

[emtee3511]

"Sorry I seem to have offended you, but that is basically the only way sellers can protect themselves on today's eBay."

Thanks, but no apology necessary -- not offended in the least -- just pointing out that simply observing a Buyer has left a negative in the past without also checking to see if the negative-receiving seller is now NARU, and/or checking to see if the negative-receiving seller has now received bunches of additional negatives, does not simply "get rid of 'riff-raff' Buyers -- it may block bad Buyers from your auctions, but it also blocks good Buyers -- as a Buyer, it would not affect me one way or the other, as there is no shortage of good auctions from which to purchase on eBay -- I agree caution must be used by both Buyers and Sellers, and I check feedback on Sellers before bidding -- lots of negatives, and I'm hitting the back-button -- a negative or two received by a Seller over a several-year period, and I will double check what comments were listed by both Buyer and Seller before deciding whether to purchase or bid --

While I purchase quite a bit on eBay, if I am looking for anything ThinkPad, I am absolutely looking on the Forum first -- gladly pay a percentage higher price on our Forum because of the typically easy and honest transactions which occur daily here -- but if I find a deal I like on eBay, I do my homework and have made almost 100% positive transactions -- had bad outcomes a few times, but I could say the same for shopping at WalMart -- won't keep me from purchasing an item I want at a fair price.

[dsvochak]

I’m not aware of a “federal law” requiring purchasers to pay return shipping. Please provide a cite.

[goofyGAguy]

The rules governing internet commerce are buried somewhere on the FTC website, and I'm too lazy to look it up right now. And perhaps I should have phrased it this way: there is no rule to force the seller to cover the cost of return shipping due to a dispute, although they may if they wish. I usually do, if I have indeed made an error. Just good business.

[rkawakami]

My current eBay adventure consists of winning a parts/repair R51 a few days ago and receiving a T22. <snip>

Here's the end of the story... I just received a full refund (purchase price + shipping) from the eBay seller. I was not reimbursed for the return FedEx shipping, but then again, I didn't push the issue too far. I was told that I'd be notified by them when the system was received but no such message appeared. I knew that the laptop arrived on time two days ago via FedEx tracking so I guess they were too busy to send out an email.

[Neil]

Here is a recent experience I had on ebay. Used "buy it now" for a R51 motherboard complete with base. Guaranteed to work or your money back. Couple of days later got an email notifying me that they had found the item to be in worse condition than advertised and had already issued a refund. Didn't ask if I still wanted the item or anything just, here's your money back we are not sending the item.

The next day the seller had the same item re-listed for sale at the same BIN price, and as far as I could tell the only difference in the ad was a statement that the base plastics had a corner broken off. If that was all that was wrong I would have gladly accepted delivery of the original sale, because all I wanted was the motherboard anyway.

What really sucks is I had used my one time only BillMeLater promo discount on the original purchase, and now that is no longer available.