How can I do a purchase safely on Ebay (details inside)?
Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question but this is the first time I’ve bought something online, so I’m a bit worried.
A long time ago I had been looking for a rare item. One day I found it being sold on Ebay by a shop. That shop had its own website and can be displayed on Google Map (it seems that the shop uses the website to sell locally and Ebay internationally). I looked at the shop’s Ebay profile and saw that it has been on Ebay for a very long time and is rated positively by many. So I’m fairly sure the thing being displayed on the page is legit.
The thing is, I can’t buy directly, as there are too many things involved that I can’t do: currency changing, customs procedures, Paypal… so I need someone to do all those things for me. I had to go to the Vietnamese site of Ebay where they offers to buy my item and send it to me. So far that is the only solution I can think of if I want to buy anything.
Now the question is: can I trust that service? I can’t find any review on that service anywhere on the net. There are some bad reviews on the Vietnamese eBay scattering around but they are all from people who directly buy items displayed on ebay.vn, not from another site and through the service. The ebay.vn site is full of good reviews, but they can be bogus. How can I purchase my item through the service safely?
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4 Answers
Not sure, @Mimishu1995. I usually use PayPal and semi-trust them but you seem to indicate this is not an option.
You might try contacting PP or EBay direct and find out why they do not offer such services in your country.
@rojo Paypal offers service in my country, but I can’t get through the procedures necessary to register. One requirement is that I have to deposit some dollars, and that means currency changing. Changing currency is very problematic in Vietnam, or at least not something I’m familiar with and can do.
1)
It sounds like maybe they are using the eBay Global Shipping Program
I have used this service a few times without any problem, selling from the US to people in the UK, Japan, and Australia. The buyer is overseas, but I ship to a US address, and eBay takes care of everything after that.
Service description from ebay:
The Global Shipping Program simplifies selling an item to an international buyer. All eligible listings for sellers who qualify are automatically included in the Global Shipping Program. Here’s how it works:
List your item.
Your item sells to an international buyer in an eligible country.
You ship the item to a US shipping center.
International shipping experts manage the international shipping and customs process and send the item to the buyer.
2)
If the buyer has a lot of positive feedback for similar products, I feel comfortable.
The only time I have seen fraud on eBay is where somebody hacks an account to sell under the guise of the honest seller.
In the selling history I could see that the person sold many small items, less than $20 US. But then they were selling a $10,0000 motorcycle for $5,000.
@jaytkay I think the Global Shipping thing’s description fits what I know about that service. I used to test the service by giving fake personal information while linking to several products. And at one point they mentioned something about a US shipping center in their email to me. So I guess it is the Global Shipping Program that I’m using.
Thank you for clarifying. I guess I can trust the service.
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