Edit: I figured it out.  I hate Ebay.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

I've never had any problems with ebay, only with some of the people that use ebay. My only real complaint about ebay is the lack of power that sellers have. Once, I sold this guy my CD-rom drive from a Dell computer I had just purchased. It was brand new and worked fine, but the guy claimed it made horrible noises and didn't work (I sold it because it was cheaper to buy a Dell without a CD burner and to then get one from Best Buy). He was clearly lying, but ebay (and paypal) allowed the person to get his money back. I think, if someone wants a refund, the process should be extremely difficult to carry out. Anyway, if you're damned serious about getting an electronic product, you won't go for used stuff. I don't understand why people don't understand the risk of buying used electronics. It's quite possible that the CD-rom I sold was damaged during shipment - but I'm not responsible for that. The buyer should be aware of such risks and deal with the post office - not me or ebay.

That's why you force the buyer to pay for postal insurance.  Then when they claim damage you make them take it up with the post office.  If they were lying, they might think twice before getting involved with a party that might actually determine if the claim is legitemate.

I have had problems with both ebay and ebay sellers.  There are both bad and good buyers and sellers, but ebay will only side with the most equitable person in a dispute.

Any particular reason?

-avatar!

I've done almost 100 transactions w/ ebay and I'm pleased with it overall. I did have one problem with a seller, who apparently was selling fake DS lites and didn't know it (?!). It took a while to get a refund, but I got it. Actually, as both a buyer and a seller, I'm pretty pleased with how refunds work. I've also got a speedy refund on another occasion, when I never received my item. Now I've switched mostly to half.com for games which is even easier to do. It's pretty generous w/ the shipping allowance, and the commission it takes is probably about the same as ebays insertion+final value+paypal fees.

Here's the real problem with eBay: when someone signs up for an account they check for credit card information, not a soul. Instead of asking if you want to pay .50 to add pictures to the "gallery", they should offer a selling option where they allow the seller to buy and show some dignity and honesty.

I was forced to download some Ebay picture editor thing for posting auctions, and after the first auction, it wasn't letting me insert pictures period.  After 45 minutes I was ready to strangle someone.

Hmm... I haven't had to download that. That's kind of weird. I listed something a week ago, though, so maybe it's a new "auction tool".

by the time the post office grants your claim, paypal will long since have yanked your money.
Im still awaiting compensation for a claim for an EMS package to france shipped dec 19th last year... tracking shows it took off from O'hare airport on the 20th and never landed. Luckily that customer paid by western union.

youve never tried selling your college textbooks on there, have you? youll need triple or quadruple the shipping allowance if you offer expedited priority mail.

It's funny because I hadn't posted anything for about 6 months and there are all these new things they've added/changed that are supposed to make everything "easier", yet they only make everything more of a pain in the ass.

"It's funny because I hadn't posted anything for about 6 months and there are all these new things they've added/changed that are supposed to make everything "easier", yet they only make everything more of a pain in the ass."

No kidding man.  I'm just trying to list my N64, and with all of these new bloody 'enhancements,' I could probably finish three or four well made listings in this time!  Seriously.

OK, this is ridiculous.  Spent ten minutes at least writing a full description... only to have it all delete when clicking the non profit link.  This is bull.

Huh, I thought that picture editor has been required for some time. I personally never had any problems with it. Turbo Lister (or whatever the heck their free auction lister is called now), now, that's a different story...

Longhairmike: Oh yeah, selling books on Half.com or Amazon is pretty much a losing proposition unless you have some rare item that people are willing to pay at least $5 for. I really wonder how those sellers listing books at 1 cent are making any kind of money, considering Amazon charges 99 cents once the item is sold...

csK: That's why long ago, I started typing up my descriptions in text files and then transferring them over.

I think it may have been here where I read it, a few years ago. Someone wrote that selling on ebay probably works out to less than minimum wage. It'd be easier to get a second job than list stuff on ebay. Now, if I could get my hands on some more factory sealed Super Mario RPG soundtracks, then ebay would pay out more than $150 per hour. But I'd only be able to do that for 1 or 2 hours per month. Still better to get a second job.