Seaver

Hey all, I tend to rarely use Ebay as a friend of mine was screwed by a false seller. Basically my friend made the mistake of posting his comment before he got the item, and was not sure if he could later change his rating.

ANYWAYS....

I was looking online for the new Civilization IV and expansion games, and they are rediculously cheap over Ebay. I'm kind of wary, believing that if they're selling the game for $9 it must be bootlegged but I'm curious none the less. Does anyone know of good/trustworthy sellers or of a way to tell the fake from the real? And does anyone actually know how they can turn a profit with those prices?

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Ch'i

The cheap prices are the starting bids placed by the seller. The game you saw for $9 will probably end up selling for $10-$20 after bidding, and depending on the popularity, ect. I've seen items that start at $2 and end up selling for $405.50 after a bidding war.

As for the trustworthiness, it'll never be 100%. The best way to be sure is to review the seller's rating and comments (if one out of 300 buyers gives them a scammer comment, I don't buy). eBay will recodnize sellers that are known for their good reputation. Usually they do this by giving them titles like "power seller" in a star, or something like that. Be wary though; it'll never be 100%.

feelgood

If I were you, I'd go through used bin at your local gaming store. It's more safeguard than having to trust someone for the provide that they promise to ship to you after you pay for it.

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blahblah454

I use ebay all the time. I buy pretty much everything off of ebay and I have only ever had one problem. I have never purchased a PC game before but I have gotten NES, SNES, Super nintendo, n64, PS, and PS2 games with no troubles at all. I have also purchased a guitar, guitar parts, toys, pretty much everything you can think of. Oh yea, and tons of DVD's. The dvd's are sometimes bootlegged but you can pretty much tell that before you buy it, look at where the seller is from and read ALL of his negative comments, and check out the peoples feedback who left the negative comments.

Yea Ebay will never be 100%, alot of it is the honor system and there is always fucks out there. But if you dont blindly buy anything off of ebay and you check out the sellers first than everything should be fine.

mixedmedia

I've been a seller on eBay since 2000 - I deal chiefly in books - but I've sold a little bit of everything from baby clothes to collectible dishes & pottery to all kinds of media to just plain weird junk.

I've done A LOT of buying, as well, and have never been ripped off, as yet. But, I always thoroughly check the seller's feedback, their return policy and (very important!) their shipping costs before buying. If they don't have a shipping quote, or at least a calculator on their ad, then I generally won't bid. If it's something I want badly and can't find from another seller, then I will contact the seller and ask about the shipping before bidding. Gouging on shipping costs is a fairly common "scam" that a loophole in eBay policy allows some sellers to get away with.

Overall, it's my impression that the vast majority of sellers and buyers on eBay are honest. As I said before, I've never been ripped off by a seller and out of thousands of sales, I've never had a buyer's check bounce nor had my Paypal account charged back.

Maybe I'm just lucky but I've found eBay to be a very profitable and gratifying venue for both buying and selling.

And Chi is absolutely correct about the starting prices you see on some items. Don't let curiously low prices fool you. Very often auctions are watched by savvy bidders who will bid only in the last few hours to try and get the item at the lowest price than can. Early bids attract a lot of attention and tend to encourage more bidding on an item. And then sometimes you may find a seller who simply doesn't know the value of what they have. Always check feedback and ask questions. A good seller will be prompt, helpful and not offended by questions that may belie your valid concerns about their honesty.

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CSflim

If you bid $9, the worst thing that can happen you is that you get screwed and you lose that $9. Hardly anything to lose sleep over, is it? The vast majority of ebay bids go across without a hitch, so it's well worth using. But I would never bid on anything for an amount that I could not afford to lose. Be sensible, and you can nab yourself some great bargains.

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Deltona Couple

One of the things I have noticed in my years of selling/buying on Ebay, is the location of the seller. A VERY large number of the games you will find that sell for $9.00, are located in China, or Taiwan. After you buy it for $9.00, then pay the $29.95 shipping and Handling charges, THEN the US Customs Duty tax on items purchased outside the US, you then find that the game is in CHINESE!...lol. So be careful of where the item is FROM as well as shipping and handling charges as MixedMedia has said.

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