Fred and All,
I think Fred's comment is a bit excessive. It's a shame he had a bad
experience, but the same thing could have happened if he had used almost any
other "venue" for selling gear, like Eham, or QTH, or whatever. You can't
just blame Ebay for your own mistakes. His comments about being more
careful about just how you effect the transaction are more appropriate.
Truth is, you can make a bad deal anywhere!
I don't use Ebay a lot, but I have made a few acquisitions through it.
Fortunately, they all turned out O.K. I guess I was just lucky. Like Fred,
I'm somewhat cautious about some things I see there, but that's mainly
because it is so wide open. Half the time you really don't know who you are
really dealing with. Usually, though, you do have the option to contact the
seller first, so it doesn't have to be totally blind faith.
In any event, if you have any significant concerns, you should probably
follow Fred's suggestion and get some sort of assurance that you have
recourse. You should probably do that with any 2nd hand acquisition,
regardless of where you get it. I think Ebay has some sort of "problem
resolution" process, but I don't know how effective it is since I've never
had to use it. If it has any value at all, it may be better to buy there
than on some other venues. However, I think the first rule of any such
transaction should be to have at least some idea as to who you are dealing
with. If it's some "phantom", hiding behind some obtuse ID, you don't have
much upon which to place your faith. I also have another rule--"When in
doubt, pass!" If you can't get the assurances that make you reasonably
comfortable, I'd let the deal go. Except in rare instances, there is almost
surely going to be another equally reasonable deal, if not better, coming
down the pike. Personally, I have to keep reminding myself of this last
rule. It's hard not to get somewhat excited (and possibly foolish) when you
see a good deal come along.
Dave W7AQK
-------------------------------
Fred Smith Said:
I make it a point of never buying any radios on eBay usually there is a
problem with them or they wouldn't be there.
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