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March Of The Zeroes


Hooves

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What the devil is with all these blasted zeroes?

 

Some of these chaps have been members for over 4 years, yet no feedback. Ebay allows you to search by bidder, some of these people have had thier hands in some big auctions, rarley winning.

 

Now I understand you must start somewhere, but I find it hard to believe anybody has enough self-restraint to not buy in that much time. I think Ebay needs to filter out these disturbed individuals.

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OK, so I'm a 1 instead of a 0-- I bought my second concertina on e-Bay and haven't had a winning bid since, though several scammers have offered me second chances on what were probably only slightly overvalued concertina wrecks. That's probably an indication I'm a cheapscate and I'm not bidding often enough to have the occasional lapse result in a purchase. That may well limit the number of questionable instruments I have lying around waiting for repair. I suspect that if I wanted to sell something on eBay biddedrs would hold my lack of feedback against me!

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What the devil is with all these blasted zeroes?

Thought you were talking about the C.net members who had not posted! :D

 

 

And there are 644 of those at the moment (members pages, sorted by total posts, ascending order. At 50 per page we reach page 13 before finding one post).

 

Some of these are genuine lurkers but among them are names like free-stuff-sample and Online Investing Company, who must have other interests.

 

- John Wild

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I think my ebay feedback is up to 6 now (all favorable), over about as many years. I have bought 3 musical instruments (no, make that 4, one an alto horn) on ebay, all from music or antique dealers. Two of those four never left feedback for me, though I asked them to do so after the transaction (in both cases involving more than a few quid) was successfully completed. So there's more to the rating story at times.

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I think my ebay feedback is up to 6 now (all favorable), over about as many years.

 

Mine's about 20 but 100% positive. In includes 2 concertinas - one of which turned out to be a gem for £240 - a Lachenal sutdent model with ivory buttons and brass reeds, which I had restored by Andy Norman and seems to retail in second hand dealers for about £800.

 

I use ebay for rechargeable batteries, bits and pieces of cameras and computers (cables, memory etc). I always buy CDs secondhand on ebay if I can, and books too. Oh yes, concertina playing figurines too - sad case I am.

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been a member on ebay a couple of years. i have yet to get winning bid. i know what i want, what lil money i have, and want go over it. besides you hear about so many scams. untill they find a better way there will probley be more buyers who are willing to wait it out, jmho.

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besides you hear about so many scams. untill they find a better way there will probley be more buyers who are willing to wait it out,

All it takes is care. I'm up to 65 both as buyer and seller and I have only once hit any sort of problem, and that was only for a 5 quid plug that took 3 weeks to arrive. But you do have to exercise some common sense, check out other people's reputations and so forth.

 

Chris

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besides you hear about so many scams. untill they find a better way there will probley be more buyers who are willing to wait it out,

All it takes is care. I'm up to 65 both as buyer and seller and I have only once hit any sort of problem, and that was only for a 5 quid plug that took 3 weeks to arrive. But you do have to exercise some common sense, check out other people's reputations and so forth.

 

Chris

 

That's good advice Chris. You do need to check reputations. I have a feedback of over 1500 with no negatives, which I've worked very hard for both as a seller and a buyer, however I'm often amazed that friends/family bid on items without ever checking the seller's feedback. Often when they do look, they see that the seller has less than 100% but don't read through the feedback comments to see what the causes for complaint are. If the seller only has one complaint that sounds ok but if it turns out to be due to passing off fakes or withholding goods it's worth knowing. I'm dubious of any sellers that have a low feedback score from outside my own country. Shilling circles (groups of ebayers bidding on each other's auctions to falsely raise the price) are not only responsible for overinflating prices but also for buying each other's goods to send ratings up so that customers believe they are trustworthy.

 

Here are a few tips I've picked up, forgive me if I'm teaching anyone to suck eggs:

  1. Read sellers' feedback remarks and even check out the people who have previously made purchases from that seller. You may find they all come from the same town. Be cynical.
  2. Eastern sellers with super high feedback have worked VERY hard to get their reputations because we are dubious of them and they often offer fantastic value for money and great service. However, it's generally better to avoid chinese sellers with very little feedback even if it's all positive.
  3. Consider using a third party for escrow if you wish to buy an expensive item and you are unsure of a seller.
  4. Pay for postal insurance but only if your item is worth more than £30, otherwise just ask the seller to get a proof of posting which is free. I'm not sure whether such a service exists in America, in which case insist on postal insurance.
  5. Even if you only want your ebay account for buying instruments, play fellow ebayers at their own game by building your own reputation up first. Buy cellotape, sheet music or a few second hand CDs (of concertina music of course!)

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well i'm up to 68.

 

but i'm not sure how important feedback unless you're planning to sell. most of the bad ebay experiences i've had are with "power sellers" and people with very high feedback. these people often know just how much misrepresentation and deception they can get away with. i think feedback is useful if you read the specific complaints people have, as well as reading the responses, but i haven't found the number assigned to someone to be particlarly helpful. (unless the number is very high, in which case i'm wary of bidding)

Edited by Chris Allert
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well i'm up to 68.

 

but i'm not sure how important feedback unless you're planning to sell. most of the bad ebay experiences i've had are with "power sellers" and people with very high feedback. these people often know just how much misrepresentation and deception they can get away with. i think feedback is useful if you read the specific complaints people have, as well as reading the responses, but i haven't found the number assigned to someone to be particlarly helpful. (unless the number is very high, in which case i'm wary of bidding)

 

 

I don't trust a zero as far as I can throw him.

 

Let the ankle biters cut thier teeth on Stagi's and lamp shades. It just sends a shill up my spine, ripe stupid wowsers.

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well i'm up to 68.

 

but i'm not sure how important feedback unless you're planning to sell. most of the bad ebay experiences i've had are with "power sellers" and people with very high feedback. these people often know just how much misrepresentation and deception they can get away with. i think feedback is useful if you read the specific complaints people have, as well as reading the responses, but i haven't found the number assigned to someone to be particlarly helpful. (unless the number is very high, in which case i'm wary of bidding)

 

It's such a pity that a few spoil it for the majority isn't it. I entered into my ebay experiment with a business plan and a set of standards which i was determined not to fall below. I doubt highly that I'm alone in having a relatively high score and being efficient and honest to deal with. However I am aware, as you say, that some others aren't so responsible. I do think that Ebay is a bit of a microcosm. You'd think twice about buying a piece of fine art from a gallery that's only been open five minutes and for whom no recommendations exist. On the other hand, as you point out, massive companies (walmart etc) may have longevity but mostly don't treat their customers as individuals to be valued. It's all about finding a balance.

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