Outside of the iPhone, the Macbook pro may be the most common Apple product on Ebay. What makes you cautious about buying or selling a used Macbook Pro? It seems that most people are not happy with the fees, stock photos, and quality control overall. If you don't have a problem using Ebay, what features could be improved?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What don't you like about Ebay?
- Thread starter sk24iam
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Ebay is good depending on what you sell. My only problem is the fees they charge. Then on top of it, they own Paypal and charge more fees. It is like double dipping when it comes to fees. Plus the fact they charge fees on shipping. I understand why, but it only ends up costing the buyer. Otherwise I have never really had any other issues.
eBay used to be great back in the early days.
I was buying so much stuff, I had 5 active accounts just to keep purchases straight. 100% positive feedback on all of them.
The final straw that broke the camel's back was the forced paypal thing. I will never use paypal.
I was buying so much stuff, I had 5 active accounts just to keep purchases straight. 100% positive feedback on all of them.
The final straw that broke the camel's back was the forced paypal thing. I will never use paypal.
Other than the high selling fees I have been very happy with ebay. I've been buying and selling since November 2004 and have almost 600 transactions.
Never had a single problem (knock on wood).
I have no problem with the paypal fee because it is not any different than accepting a credit card payment. They all have fees.
I bought my late 2013 rMBP 6 weeks ago on ebay. Sold an early 2008 MBP and an early 2014 Air within the last two weeks and everything went well as usual.
I'd rather use ebay than CL.
Never had a single problem (knock on wood).
I have no problem with the paypal fee because it is not any different than accepting a credit card payment. They all have fees.
I bought my late 2013 rMBP 6 weeks ago on ebay. Sold an early 2008 MBP and an early 2014 Air within the last two weeks and everything went well as usual.
I'd rather use ebay than CL.
This is Reason #1 why I avoid this, but doesn't this occur for every service that uses PayPal? I'm thinking of Swappa for instance.
I don't really trust the products sold
There's a lot more random sellers on Ebay than on Amazon. Most of the sellers are from the asian countries. The shipping takes nearly 20 - 30 days. I cannot wait a month for my item, although most of the items are cheap w/ free shipping!! I trust Amazon for brand named products, but if i'm looking for a cheap earring or cell phone case, then I would go to ebay.
There's a lot more random sellers on Ebay than on Amazon. Most of the sellers are from the asian countries. The shipping takes nearly 20 - 30 days. I cannot wait a month for my item, although most of the items are cheap w/ free shipping!! I trust Amazon for brand named products, but if i'm looking for a cheap earring or cell phone case, then I would go to ebay.
They are now selling PayPal I think. Maybe things change.
I do not like the fees. They are just to high. Not for setting up the auction but for what they keep once you successful sell an item.
As a Buyer I've never had any complaints about eBay.
Seems like eBay policies tends to be "unfriendly" towards the Sellers? They seem to be the ones that I hear complaining.
And I've never had a problem with PayPal either. I use it to buy small purchases over the inter-webs securely.
And why do people think eBay will suddenly "improve" once they lose ownership of PayPal? If anything, the separation into 2 independent companies may mean that eBay will have a worsening and more complicated, non-streamlined way to make financial transactions.
Seems like eBay policies tends to be "unfriendly" towards the Sellers? They seem to be the ones that I hear complaining.
And I've never had a problem with PayPal either. I use it to buy small purchases over the inter-webs securely.
And why do people think eBay will suddenly "improve" once they lose ownership of PayPal? If anything, the separation into 2 independent companies may mean that eBay will have a worsening and more complicated, non-streamlined way to make financial transactions.
I've sold my MacBook Pros on eBay before, never had a problem although I do refuse to use Paypal for payment.
I once sold a mobile phone which was paid via paypal. I was a tiny bit susicious already so I transferred the money straight into my bank account thinking, well 'its in my account', so definitly safe there, they can't take it back. So I posted it and as soon as I got home I got an email from another concerned ebayer who tipped me off that the buyer was a suspected scammer. I rushed back to the post office to retreive the parcel and sure enough the next day the payment was 'reversed' via Paypal.
It turned out to have been paid for with a stolen credit card.
I now insist that anything over £100 I sell on eBay always be paid in cash on collection or direct bank transfer. I always state on my ads NO PAYPAL (despite eBays insistance on having paypal listed as a payment method - if you pay via Paypal, I will refund you immediatly!).
So I've sold one via direct bank transfer, with the buyer trusting my good feedback and reputation for honesty. Last one I sold the guy was in London so he came over and paid cash on collection. No problems.
I once sold a mobile phone which was paid via paypal. I was a tiny bit susicious already so I transferred the money straight into my bank account thinking, well 'its in my account', so definitly safe there, they can't take it back. So I posted it and as soon as I got home I got an email from another concerned ebayer who tipped me off that the buyer was a suspected scammer. I rushed back to the post office to retreive the parcel and sure enough the next day the payment was 'reversed' via Paypal.
It turned out to have been paid for with a stolen credit card.
I now insist that anything over £100 I sell on eBay always be paid in cash on collection or direct bank transfer. I always state on my ads NO PAYPAL (despite eBays insistance on having paypal listed as a payment method - if you pay via Paypal, I will refund you immediatly!).
So I've sold one via direct bank transfer, with the buyer trusting my good feedback and reputation for honesty. Last one I sold the guy was in London so he came over and paid cash on collection. No problems.
eBay was THE SPOT when they focused on auctions and had mostly mom-and-pop sellers.
In recent years, they've thought they can compete with Amazon and have really pushed Checkout-style buying. They've switched rules to favor bulk sellers and their "Buyer Protection" just means any seller is utterly shafted if when a dishonest buyer comes along... You could sell a 70's camcorder, for example, describe it 100% accurately, and the buyer can complain that it's not digital, get a full refund, and you lose both the item and the shipping fee. I'd never sell anything on eBay I wasn't prepared to most likely completely cut as a loss.
No thanks Jeff.
In recent years, they've thought they can compete with Amazon and have really pushed Checkout-style buying. They've switched rules to favor bulk sellers and their "Buyer Protection" just means any seller is utterly shafted if when a dishonest buyer comes along... You could sell a 70's camcorder, for example, describe it 100% accurately, and the buyer can complain that it's not digital, get a full refund, and you lose both the item and the shipping fee. I'd never sell anything on eBay I wasn't prepared to most likely completely cut as a loss.
No thanks Jeff.
Well, I have never much cared for eBay, and would never buy using that service, above all, I detest - and distrust - Paypal.
The fees now. 10% of the total transaction. That and not being able to leave negative feedback for the asshats that bid and win on something then refuse to pay.
Haven't sold or bought anything on Ebay in almost two years. Although, the transactions I have had went smoothly. From people who use Ebay a lot I hear complaints about the feedback system and the fact that buyers seem to always win when it comes to disputes. Apparently, this has led to an increase in scams.
That seems like that is a significant increase, but honestly I don't remember what they used to be. Anyone recall?
I've not sold or purchased on eBay for quite a while. I don't like the preference they gave to buyers, not being able to give a buyer a black mark. I've sold 4 Macs on eBay over the years, without issue. Would I buy a used Mac there? Questionable.
I sold something a couple of years back and told the guy I was going on vacation so wouldn't be able to leave feedback until my return.
I got back to a negative feedback saying I was 'uncultured' because I didn't leave positive feedback. He had left me about 30 messages saying FEEDBACK.
My experience has been the opposite: I usually expect to wait a long time for items from, say, Hong Kong, but they usually come in 5-10 days.
And as you said, they're incredibly cheap with no, or almost no, postage fee. I don't know how they can sell me some of the stuff I get.
I've been buying on eBay since their beginning. Have spent tens of thousands of dollars buying everything from fuses to cars, including multiple laptops, and 99% of the deals have been great.
The most amusing thing to me, is that it almost always seems that the least expensive items come wrapped the best in several layers and boxes, whereas the most expensive and/or fragile items seem to come shipped inside a cheap flimsy envelope. I'm always like, wth?!!
I know right? So I said that begging for feedback was unbecoming in my reply to his negative feedback post so all could see.
The currency exchange (sorry I don't know the exact terminology) may be one of the factors to make a difference. For example, my friend told me in his country, 1 USD ~ 20 000. Sellers in those countries already raise the price, but it's still very cheap for the US.
Fees - They just keep finding clever ways to raise them every year. I started selling on there back in 2007 and since then I can recall several fee raises. Fees on shipping, forced usage of Paypal which allows double fee dipping, 10% fees for all categories, removal of the Powerseller discounts which used to give 5%, 10%, or 15% depending on your level. The "Top Rated Seller" as a replacement with much higher requirements to achieve in order to lower the overall number of people eligible for fee discounts. Another thing with the fees is that rather than intercepting the payment and collecting the fee when the buyer actually pays, eBay charges you the fee instantly when the item sells regardless of whether the buyer pays or not. So if the buyer decides not to pay then you have to wait a whole 8 days before you can get your Final Value Fee credited back. By front loading these fees, eBay gets to collect even more revenue from fees upfront. There's no reason why they can't collect the fee at the time of the payment like EVERY other venue seeing as how they actually own Paypal.
Buyer Protection - Being that everyone is forced to use Paypal, there's really no reason for the eBay Buyer Protection as Paypal already has it built in. The way this program is advertised and marketed so heavily to buyers actually encourages the dishonest buyers out there to scam sellers. They know that with certain items, just slightly complaining about any little detail could result in a partial refund, a total refund, and sometimes not even having to return the item. There is also no negative feedback or type of system in place to warn sellers about bad buyers. The extension of the return period to 180 days is just absurd. There's no item that I can think of where such a long return period is justified. No retailer allows returns for that long. A buyer could go on eBay and buy his textbooks for a college semester, use them, and then return all of them after the semester is over.
eBay doesn't feel like that open marketplace where you can go and clear out some unwanted things in your garage anymore and make a few dollars. It's way too bureaucratic and geared towards drop shippers and big companies now. The hobbyist seller is pressed by their "selling standards" and requirements. It's like they want to be Amazon instead of being what made eBay, eBay in the first place.
But due to the sheer volume users on eBay, there's really no better place to unload random things from your house. So for that reason they can continue to raise fees and do whatever they want.
Buyer Protection - Being that everyone is forced to use Paypal, there's really no reason for the eBay Buyer Protection as Paypal already has it built in. The way this program is advertised and marketed so heavily to buyers actually encourages the dishonest buyers out there to scam sellers. They know that with certain items, just slightly complaining about any little detail could result in a partial refund, a total refund, and sometimes not even having to return the item. There is also no negative feedback or type of system in place to warn sellers about bad buyers. The extension of the return period to 180 days is just absurd. There's no item that I can think of where such a long return period is justified. No retailer allows returns for that long. A buyer could go on eBay and buy his textbooks for a college semester, use them, and then return all of them after the semester is over.
eBay doesn't feel like that open marketplace where you can go and clear out some unwanted things in your garage anymore and make a few dollars. It's way too bureaucratic and geared towards drop shippers and big companies now. The hobbyist seller is pressed by their "selling standards" and requirements. It's like they want to be Amazon instead of being what made eBay, eBay in the first place.
But due to the sheer volume users on eBay, there's really no better place to unload random things from your house. So for that reason they can continue to raise fees and do whatever they want.
Yes,, fees.... i hate fees
1. For one i wouldn't be selling it myself
2. i'd sell it to Gazelle (or equivalent here in Australia). Whats not to complain,,,?? you get payed ASAP unlike ebay and elsewhere.
That's the only thing i go by, i don't care how long it takes for *someone else* to sell it, just as long I get paid quickly
