eBay is one of the top online shopping sites in the world. The greatest thing about eBay is their prices, as people around the world are selling their own personal belongings that they no longer want or need to people who want or need them! Now, there is a wide variety of products available on eBay, from designer purses to limited edition board games; the following tips are for everything presented on eBay, as there are many sellers that are legitimate, there are always those who are looking to burn a buyer; this is how you avoid getting burned:
Use PayPal
First and foremost, never give your credit card information to any buyer on eBay – use PayPal! PayPal not only keeps your credit card information safe, but if whatever reason your purchase does not arrive, PayPal has a 90-day refund policy (90 days after the last day of the range of delivery), basically an added insurance policy if you will. In today’s day in age, where identity theft is running rampant, and scams online are way too common, PayPal is a line of defense between you and the buyer, so if his intentions aren’t pure, you are still protected.
Check Shipping Costs
Before you decide to place a bid on an item on eBay, make sure the seller is willing to ship the item to your country and the cost of the shipping if the seller does indeed ship internationally. Many a time has a buyer placed a bid, only to find out that the seller doesn’t ship to his home or if he does, shipping costs much more than the item itself. You can find the shipping information on your item page below the photo in a tab called ‘shipping’.
Bidding vs. Buy Now Terms
The system eBay runs on is both a bidding system and a ‘purchase now’ method. The ‘purchase now’ is self-explanatory, if you want the item and everything checks out, just click the purchase button and follow the instructions. The bidding system is slightly different. Make sure to read the bidding terms before placing your bid on an item. The most important thing to remember (and it’s also stated as soon as you click ‘bid’), if you are the highest bidder in the end, you have to make the purchase; in other words, if you place a bid and no one outbids you, the moment you place your bid you are obligated to purchase the item if you are the winning bidder. Take that into consideration when placing your bid.
Check the Seller Ratings
Buyers on eBay are the ones at risk, therefore, buyers need to make sure that they read the sellers ratings and comments before deciding to purchase something through them. Every time a seller sells something on eBay and everything goes as planned, their rating goes up as the buyer needs to rate the seller. If something goes wrong, the buyer has the full (and even required) right to rate and comment negatively. A seller needs to have a rating of 95% or above to be considered a reliable seller.
Give Need-to-Know Information Only
Since we told you only to use PayPal when shopping on eBay, we are also here to remind you not to give out too much information in your eBay profile. If you’re a business then it’s different since the office address and telephone isn’t harmful information to share, however, if you are an individual purchasing for personal use, then we highly recommend NOT sharing your full home address (you have to tell eBay your country in order to make sure they ship there) but just the country, and leaving your personal telephone number out of the equation as well. Bottom line, give only the bare minimum amount of information that is need-to-know, if you don’t have to divulge, then don’t.
