I don't use e-bay anymore either. It has gotten pretty corrupt. Craigs list is better and free. Local people.

Hubby has done a lot of business on ebay. Back in the day, things were "as advertised", the prices were fabulous and rarely did he have any issues.

Just the past year of two though, the crooks are having a field day. Sellers, as well as BUYERS are scammers.... Right now he's waiting for shipment of a purchase he wanted to give as a Christmes gift for a co-worker. He's tried to get a response from this seller regarding when it shipped, but he's gotten no response.

I like craigslist for the most part... especially since many of the items we are looking for - are from local sellers. We can pick it up and inspect it, before any money changes hands.

Miyata312: Anytime you want to travel to Florida to have a chat with that jerk, I will drive you myself. P.S. Bring that piece of wood with you; I know a good place to stick it once we find the guy.

ebay has become a joke. Dont even get me started on payscam.

Just go to ebay communities and see how screwed up ebay has become. The paypal fiasco, the no ability to leave neg feedback to bad buyers and paypal giving refunds willy nilly to buyers for any reason they want (which encourages fraud by the buyers), the DSR garbage and the number of long time sellers leaving for other sites due to these issues and the fee increases.

I quit paypal and ebay after selling a video camera to some joker in FL for $200. Sent it signauture required. He claimed it didnt work, so I told him to send it back. He already opened a dispute with paypal and paypal so generously took the money out. Oh I got the box I shipped it in back. No camera, just a piece of wood with a note that said "Thanks for the free camera *&^%&$&". Sent an email to paypal and ebay. Nothing. Paypal refused to help. They said well he sent it back delivery confirmation, so we feel he sent the item back. Neither paypal or ebay cared. Tried the cops, but nothing. Wasnt worth their time. So much for paypal being "a safe way to transfer money".

You need to be cautious about making purchases using escrow services also. There have been scams using fake escrow services. Here is a link to a story about someone who had fun playing games with a scam artist:

http://www.easynetworknyc.com/powerbook/...

eBay is becoming a place for fencing stolen goods that are difficult to track and fakes that are being made overseas, like clothes, consumer electronics, perfume, clothing accessories, and the like.

Hannah, my guess is that you're not really getting the real deal with items that have prices that are "too good to be true" - my guess is that its a knock off or stolen. For many people, that's alright with them.

Unfortunately I've received knock-off computer motherboards for a seller that had a good reputation - only tell tale sign was the number of components on the board didn't match the OEM's instructions. After a few calls - I had a full refund, but still could have been a mess if I was building computers for customers. Yes, they were almost 1/2 the cost of retail - but now I know why.

I would think the red flag would be someone selling a $10k to $15k guitar for half of its value.

Escrow services, people. It costs a little bit more but it makes the transaction that much safer.

No Character ..No Integrity. How does this happen? We have no leaders with those essential qualities to set the example for our generations of people. Our society has no foundation left,therefore, accountability is no where to be found. We wonder why this country is in the shape it's in???? Some people get it, unfortunately, many people still don't!

Like everything in life it is buyer beware, if it sounds to good to be true thats because it is wake up people!!!! How many times do people have to hear of this kind of thing and still allow themselves to be had. As far as ebay goes there is this little thing called feedback if you check this you can tell what kind of person your dealing with, if the feed back is 1525 good and 0 negative you can trust this seller, if it is 1525 good and 542 negative I would look the other way. Just use common sense.

Paypal won't always get your money back. If the money is still in the guy's paypal account, they can get it back, but if its empty they can't. I have lost money this way!

Yeah! PayPal!

If they paid for the instruments with paypal....100% of their money will be returned to them. Guaranteed!

I guess he will be having some time to play the blues!

you have to be so so careful when dealing with people on ebay. So many times I wanted to buy travel deals off that site but I don't trust it. I would never buy antiques off of their either as you take a big chance.