Rebuttal of Ten Reasons You Should Not Buy Things from EBay

In Ten Reasons You Should Not Buy Things From eBay, Dana Licciardello discusses why you should not make purchases on eBay. While some of the points do have merit, most of the points assume that anyone buying on eBay lacks any degree of common sense. I'd like to use this article to respond to each of the points made in Ten Reasons You Should Not Buy Things From eBay.

One: The item is not accurately portrayed in the picture. I agree that this can be a problem; however, this can largely be overcome by a healthy dose of common sense. If you're bidding on a 3-dimensional object and a picture of one side is not shown, ask the seller to provide additional pictures! Check out the sellers' return policy and feedback to see if they have a reputation of ensuring their customers are happy. As a last resort safety net, pay with your credit card. If you widget is damaged on a side hidden from the camera and the damage isn't described in the listing, your credit card company will be glad to walk you through a charge-back.

Two and three: You wait longer for your item than it would take to go to the store. This is a true statement; however, it has nothing to do with eBay per-se. You can order from Wal-Mart.com, but it still takes longer to arrive that driving to your local store. This is true for any e-commerce, mail-order, or telephone purchase. The item has to be shipped to you. The benefit of shopping online is convenience! You don't have to get out of your pajamas, let alone into your car to purchase your widget. You have to decide if waiting a week for your new widget is worth venturing out into traffic. Yes, you also have to wait for the auction to close, rather than purchasing your widget immediately. But that is the fun of it! Why pay $10 to get your widget now when you can place a $10 bid and possibly pay $6 for it? But, if you have to buy it now, eBay offers Buy-It-Now auctions.

Four: Selection. I don't understand the issue with this. If there is an abundance of blue shirts on eBay and I happen to need a blue shirt, it is actually a good thing for me to have dozens of them available. Not only do I have more choice in the transaction, but the laws of supply and demand would indicate that I'll probably get a better deal if there are more blue shirts out there for a finite number of buyers, than if we were all bidding against each other for a single blue shirt.

Five: damaged goods. I personally win around 200 auctions a month on eBay and I don't think I've ever received a broken product. However, I have received numerous things from my local big-box retailers that are broken. Just because your are driving to the store to pick up an item, doesn't mean that item can't be damaged in transit. Think about it-the widget you buy from Target got to Target by being shipped by truck. Just like the widget you bought on eBay was shipped by a mail truck.

Six: return policy. This is a common sense issue. Know the return policy before you buy. eBay buyer protection policy may be limited, but your credit card is not. I actually think it would be easier to re-box and re-ship the item than venture into traffic and wait in line to return an item. I may not have the cash in hand as soon, but it is a lot more convenient.

Seven: competition for hard to find items. Yes, hard to find items tend to be the most popular auctions. Buying collectibles is my specialty on eBay and every auction I win is still for less than I would pay from my favorite "non-eBay" dealers.

Eight: pick-up only. This is a common sense issue. If you don't want to go to a seller's house to pick up an item, then don't bid on a pick-up-only auction.

Nine: Used products re-wrapped and sold as new. I have had this problem several times at brick and mortar stores, but never on eBay. It isn't an eBay exclusive problem. See my other points to see how to ensure you are buying from a good seller and to protect yourself in case the seller turns out to be bad.

Ten: Lack of human contact. This is a good thing! Instead of fighting lines, crowds, germs, and traffic, I can shop in the comfort of my living room in my pajamas. I don't have to deal with unfriendly cashiers, rude people, overcrowded stores, nor waste gas.

It's true that there are bad eBay experiences out there. However, these are the minority! With a little common sense, you can protect yourself against the bad sellers and have a memorable eBay experience. Why let one bad apple spoil the whole bushel?