Ebay and your opinions...

1)
Yes, eBay sellers can be trusted, but check the seller’s feedback. Every point represents a sale, so, for example, 100 positive feedback means they sold 100 items where buyers reported a satisfactory sale.

2)
No

I have bought from ebay a number of times. I always made sure they had a high rating, it was all good for me.

Oh as for the shoes @ $500.. NOOOO.

1). I don’t know anything about shoes, but Ebay is great. I buy alot of stuff on Ebay and as long as the seller has a good rating, you can pretty much always trust them. If something goes wrong, you can let Ebay know, they have fraud prevention.

2). It’s none of my business whether your little girl wears $500 shoes or $5 shoes. Your money, your choice.

1) I have used EBay a lot. I only buy from people with 100% positive feedback. Anything less, and you’re really taking on more risk. I’ve sold shoes on EBay before (having never worn them outside) to satisfied customers because they did not fit right. Some people get products at a discount somehow and resell them as a business. Others might scour thrift and consignment shops for steals to resell on EBay. Others may have bought the shoe for a specific occasion which has now passed. There are really an infinite number of reasons why someone might be selling a product on EBay. Look at the pictures they provide and read the description carefully. Ask questions to the seller if you have any. Always pay with PayPal because that way sellers will never see your credit card information and your purchases are protected against fraud.

2) I can’t and won’t tell you how to raise your children. You need to decide for yourself what is appropriate. I will tell you that I don’t even buy $500 shoes for myself and I am an adult.

I use ebay all the time and have never, ever had a bad experience. As far as expensive shoes, my mother bought them for me when I was a kid. It was something she could do. I never forgot it.

<—-top rated seller 1000’s of succesful sales. Money back guarantee.
by all means. just know the seller.
And feedback doesn’t indicate sales but simply how many people have left feedback. Some people don’t leave feedback even after a successful purchase.

1) I’ve purchased things on eBay that I haven’t been completely satisfied with, but that was mostly my fault for not asking the seller questions before purchasing. If you can’t tell enough about the item from the pictures, request more pictures from the seller and ask questions about the item.

2) The most I’ve ever spent on shoes was $70 for a pair of hiking boots on November 2, 2008. I’ve worn them every day since, and don’t own any other shoes, and they are still in good condition. I personally would never pay $500 for a pair of shoes, especially shoes that will wear out quickly.

I’ve bought many, many things off of Ebay and am typically satisfied with what I get. Just make sure that the seller has good feedback from previous customers and that there are good, clear pictures of the shoes in the auction listing.

I don’t have kids, so I can’t answer the second part. I do know that I have always dreamed of owning a pair of Manolo Blahniks… sigh… but then, I could never justify spending a grand on a pair of shoes, no matter how beautiful.

I think the question is how long will she like these shoes. My teenage daughters would never have liked anything $500. worth of time.

1. Depends on the seller. Be sure to make sure they have a high rating and that they are not selling knockoffs.
2. It depends a lot on your finances. For me, a 29 year old, 500 is rent, not shoes. But if you can afford it within your budget, it’s a choice you’re free to make. Have her feet stopped growing? It would be a shame to spend it and have her grow out of them in 6 months.

1) Out of thousands of transactions on eBay I have had only a few that didn’t go well. Check the seller’s feedback, look over the photos, and ask questions. If all sounds right, then go ahead and buy.

2) No. It won’t matter to her that they are $500 shoes. She isn’t paying for them. Now if she wants to earn or save up the money and then have you place the bid for her, that’s another thing. I do that with my daughter all the time. However, she has to give me the money when and if I win the auction.

I sold on eBay for many years, and have 100% positive feedback on more than 1,000 transactions. I agree that good bargains can be had on ebay and that it’s important to pay attention to the seller’s feedback. But don’t rule out a sellers with 99.9 or 99.8% – not all buyers are rational and every seller, no matter how good is eventually going to get a neg. I use www.toolhaus.org to figure out whether I want to deal with a seller who has a few negs. It pulls up all of the negatives and neutrals received so you can look at the comments, and any follow-up reponses from the seller.You can also look at old negs given by the seller, which can also be very telling.

I’ll deal with a seller who has gotten negs for being slow to ship. I will not deal with them if their negs are for unmentioned flaws or if they are verbally abusive in their reponses to the buyer.

About the shoes, are you talking $500 retail or $500 on ebay?

@MagsRags – In checking out eBay, it looks as though it’s $500 retail, and anywhere from $50 to $189 (NIB) on eBay.

I’ve been buying and selling on eBay since 2002, my feedback is 4100+ and like every walk of life there are nice folks, A-holes, conmen, dodgy geezers. Feedback is a good indicator, check further than the 12 months if possible though for feedback.
Make sure you cover yourself in large transactions with either a credit card or paypal.
Generally eBay is as good a place to shop as anywhere and just as safe.
As long as you buy from someone armed with fore-knowledge – Like @MagsRags said, if thier feedback says they are slow to ship, you can still buy from them but at least you know that. I’ll even buy from sellers who have little or no feedback, I just email them first. You can get a feel for them after they reply.

As for the shoes! $500 for shoes? blimey. I’d say no to my kids but if you have that kind of money to spend on them then why not? My wife has like 40 pairs of shoes. I dont get it myself. I have 1 pair of dress shoes and 2 pairs of comfy trainers. What more do I need (ok, slippers and wellies don’t count)

@Darwin That makes a big difference! I was thinking of it was $500 on ebay. It seems way less nutso to me now. :)

@scotsbloke
steps up on box, taps microphone
Why would anyone need to check more than 12 months? If one can’t get an idea about someone within 12 months then surely they are being too cautious. And the idea behind the feedback is at this point skewed.

It used to be that there was an equal playing field and buyers could leave negative feedback for sellers and sellers could as well. Now since sellers can’t, Buyers can act like complete pricks and hold the seller accountable to their whims. I have a 4.9 rating out of 5 stars and a 100% feedback. I save about 20% in final value fees because of that but I am constantly bending over backwards to make customers happy. But one negative or neutral feedback could completely affect my bottom line.

And sooner or later there is going to be one impossible person who does not want to read your description, multiple pictures, details or policies and will just be a complete tool.
I had one guy who insisted that my item never got to him for months only to find out that he was left multiple requests to sign for package and never did! I had another guy who insisted that I pay return shipping because item was not what he thought even though the item had 24 close up pictures and details about every square inch of the thing. I gave him his refund and return shipping through clenched teeth because it was in my best interest to do so but he still may have been a prick and left me negative feedback if he got a bug up his ass.

Thankfully none of these two did leave me negative feedback, but if one does then at the least it’s only fair that eBay expunge the history after 12 months because clearly there is not a pattern of bad business practices if one shows no other unhappy customers. How about my items I ship to Japan, Europe and Australia? These people are unaware that shipping may be quite expensive and like to tell you how much they want to spend after they win the auction. WTF! Thankfully eBay takes this into account when considering the weight of their “shipping feedback”. Some of them are unaware that they can pay import taxes up to 75% on their item! The ones who are aware of the import taxes want me to declare the value at far less than its worth, or as a gift on the form. All fine until the item is lost or damaged in shipping and an insurance claim has to be filed.

Finally, anyone who gets a string of negatives or is seriously criminal will get booted quite quickly from the site quickly regardless. And furthermore if all “bricks and mortar businesses” were run with such accountability there probably wouldn’t be a business left in the country. Christ I’d sure like to leave more than one abciser/whatchacallit/whozewhatzy infomercial a few negative feedbacks
Steps down from box

@mollypop51797
And where else are you going to find a slew of people willing to sell 500 shoes for less than 50%. Just take into account how used and all is well.

@SeventhSense with a large volume seller, I agree that 12 month’s of feedback received is plenty. And what you describe regarding unrealistic buyers is why I closed my eBay store last year. The aggravation felt bigger than the payoff.

@MagsRags
Well as much as I bitch, I still find the venue for what I sell, antique and vintage toys, to be second to none as long as you can periodically purge and focus on doing what you love. To me it’s about so much more than money and when I focus on that and weather the speed bumps it’s all good and the money happens. And the opportunity for increasing international sales is awesome. I’d say 15–25% of my sales are now international.

@SeventhSense – fair point. I personally like to know as much as possible especially if I’m spending a ton of money. But that’s my cautious side. It can also show me if they maybe had problems in the past but got it together….... just a personal thing.

(can I have a loan of that box?) :0)

@scotsbloke
“The distinguished gentleman scottsbloke is recognized”...
Congress reference…like the British parliament without the wigs :)

Most Ebay sellers can be trusted, just look at their feedback.
It’s the mail that is the problem