Ebay

[Casey]

Please can anyone tell me what the risks are of buying a PS2 off ebay? If the person has excellent feedback etc and the item states it is 'brand new' is there still any chance of it being a dodgy deal?

[j2buttonsw]

Yes there is a chance of it being a dodgy deal. It, however, is extremely unlikey that even if it were stolen, you would be prosecuted for receiving stolen goods or your PS2 be repossessed. It is simply not worth persuing. You have bought it in good faith so give the seller the benefit of the doubt.

[nicola_red]

There's always a chance anything you buy on ebay could be dodgy.  There's a lot of trust involved.  Out of about 150 transactions I've only had two problematic purchases, and they were just items being not quite as described.  Ebay do have procedures you can follow if you run into problems, although their response rate is sporadic.  I got banned because my email inbox was too full (!) and it took a week for them to tell me why so I could resolve it, whereas when a hacker left spiteful negative feedback on my account they responded and removed it within 24hrs.  Basically I would say go ahead and buy if your judgement tells you it's okay, as j2buttonsw says, the chances of it being stolen etc are fairly slim.

[Casey]

Thanks guys, I am just a bit scared of spending all that money as it will be a christmas present and I would feel so let down if anything bad were to happen. The most I have ever bought off ebay is CD's.

[tomd]

There's a local second-hand electronics shop near us and personally I feel much safer buying off ebay than I would feel about buying anything there. Everything's recorded, the exact description, how much you paid for it, and if it's not how it was described there's a good chance you'll see your money back. There's always a chance, but the prices are much lower because there's no overheads, as he doesn't have to pay all the outgoings for running a shop.

[Mattk]

if the seller has good feedback he should be ok.check other things like their other items and maybe a website as some shops sell their stuff thru ebay too

[Kev_UK]

I am an Ebayer and have had no problems except for one guy that sold me something that was not in the condition he described then left me negative feedback because I left neg feedback for him as he wouldn't play ball. I did get satisfaction through Square Trade though. The other few problems were resolved by replacement or refund without hassle.

 

I would strongly recommend you sign up for a paypal account, then pay using your credit card (that's what I do). That way you have more protection.

 

Look if there is a paypal protection sign on the buyers item he is selling... that will be even better

[Tigger4]

Just make sure the  seller has a good amount of ffeedback, is a square trade  partner, or  at the very least accepts PayPal (and you pay that way)

The only time I have ever run into trouble was because  the person was new, had feedback from private auctions only, and only accepted money orders. (I have bought from new sellers or sellers with little feedback before, it was just the combination of these 3 things that should have set off the little red flags)

Needless to say that even though it was kinda my fault eBay was very helpful and even refunded part of the money I had sent to the guy.

[Bangkok]

Assess whether the price is reasonable and / or the guy is selling more than one.  There are a number of fake PS2's that are made in South Korea that would be difficult to be repaired if they went wrong.