Ebay is a great place to buy if.

[roccotacodad54]

   If one does some research first and learn the ins and outs of buying here. Know your rights/responsibilities as a buyer before committing to buy.

   Learn how to use keywords on searches and how to bid effectively on auctions.

   There are alot of sellers on this site that don't have a clue as to what they are selling and I have aquired items for a fraction of what they are worth by trying different keywords or actually looking closely at pictures and reading descriptions carefully all the way through.

  One example--> "Antique silver plated fish serving knife & fork". This was listed cheap even for silver plate. Upon looking closely at the pictures I noticed English sterling hallmarks on both items. Sure enough they were sterling and worth way more than listed for (I bought them).

   I was looking for some horn handled steak knives to fill out a setting for when we have friends/family over for steaks. I found some listed as having wooden handles and priced as such. Cha-Ching another score.

   Over and over I find items I want that are listed incorrectly because I do my research first and try different key words and even misspelled words in searches. I once found a nice Ackermannchen knife for auction with no bids because it was listed with the spelling Ackermanncher. I learned from research that the last n sometimes is seen as an r. Scored on that one, no other bidders.

   Of course sometimes I see listings that are listed as something they are not and worth much less than the asking price. Research to the rescue again.

   Use common sense as in the odds of an old rare silver dollar from China or a Bob Loveless knife from Pakistan being authentic are slim to none.

   A little research and common sense goes a long way to being a happy buyer on Ebay...............

[chevymontecarlo88]

Could not agree more. 

If you understand what you are buying (product knowledge and market knowledge) eBay is great. The eBay MBG covers buyers rather well and rarely is needed if you know what you are buying. If not, ask questions. 

Good post @roccotacodad54 

[simba6]

Yes.  That applies to all buying venues.  Buyer must to their homework , that is for sure.

[mudshark61369]

@roccotacodad54,

Not to be disparaging but you have every few months or so posted tips or suggested that buyers take more time to read etc. when shopping on ebay Ex: "Read the ebay policies before buying".  Maybe one person might benefit from your posts, before they drop off page one, and that is a good thing, but mostly you are preaching to the choir.

The reasons for and/or the answers to your posted topics are:

Common Sense is seriously Uncommon these days. 

We Can't Fix Stupid.

Fewer than 1% of U.S. registered members ever come to these boards and most people who come to the boards, do so for help not to be told what they should have done before an issue arose. So they skip over the helpful topics or piggy back on ancient ones, that often are not about the same issue they are having now.

How many times in the last couple of years have you seen topics written by longtime high FB number buyers who:

Do not seem to have ever read the MBG policy or even knew it existed.

Opened a dispute, then let it time out, or let a seller stall them past the time to ask ebay to step in.

Fell for a scam that started with a too good to be true price.

Did not read the description or look carefully at the photos.

Bought from listings that had conflicting photos and descriptions or Item specifics info, and never thought to ask the seller a question.

Bothered to look at the estimated delivery time frame.

Opened an INR dispute when they received the wrong item, and wonder why the dispute was closed

  ... Ad Infinitum?

Don't get discouraged about trying to help people but you might reach more of them with your replies to other's problems.

[tinsoldierunderground]

@roccotacodad54 Absolutely agree.  Also seeing that @mudshark61369 raises a very good point;  all too often, members who've been here for decades post about the most elementary problems that are easily remedied, had they bothered to familiarize themselves with ebay policy.  Far too many seem to thrive on willful ignorance.  

[roccotacodad54]

   Yes. I get it. As far as me answering their problems to provide help. I do sometimes if it's something I'm well versed in and the answer is not an obvious one. 

   If the problem is something elementary that they could and should have found out by themselves then I have little patience for them. I salute the ones that do have that patience (you come to mind as well as a few others).

   Spring is just around the corner so I won't be spending much time at the keyboard, I'll just fade away anyway. 

   Good luck to you and all the patient folks on these forums.

                                           P.S. No offense taken or meant....................................

[mudshark61369]

@roccotacodad54,

P.S. No offense taken or meant...

None was taken, about the only time I get offended on these boards is when I'm called an ebay employee, or cheerleader. I'm accused of being a rip off seller, a liar, or more derogatory things. Then I give them a blast from my imaginary Stevens 10ga. 24" barrel coach gun. My real one is too hard on  computers and the furniture. 🤠