on 08-05-2017 05:26 PM
I am looking for an iphone. I have emailed some that I'm interested in, asking questions such as:
- has it ever had water damage
- has it ever been repaired or had a screen replaced?
I ask because I want to be informed. I have noticed that some sellers do not respond to such questions. I am talking 3 days later. Is it because they can't then be held accountable for what information they give? Is it to avoid disclosing the truth?
Either way, I won't buy from them, but further, it puts me off buying from ebay full stop. I feel as if it is creating a safe harbour for some sellers to deliberately mislead people about their item. But of course they can't be called on it, because they are 'not answering'.
Is there a way to report such sellers, who seem to do this? I am starting to think I need to email a basic question first, such as "what is the IMEI", which will garner a response, to know they are getting emails. Then, I can go to the real questions.
It saddens me that I have to go this effort, and that ebay does allow sellers to avoid answering questions, in order to not honestly disclose the condition of the phone they are selling.
Solved! Go to Solution.
09-05-2017 12:21 AM - edited 09-05-2017 12:22 AM
I agree in general, enigma, 'however I have bought a couple of secondhand phones (not iphones lol) and new mp3 players on eay, but always from local sellers (online storefronts for the new items) and always from sellers with either 100% feedback, or very close to it.
Agreed it was still a risk, but a calculated one - and not for the sort of prices new iphones go for. If you are going to risk it, try locally and from a store which also has a b&m presence, for preference.
on 08-05-2017 05:47 PM
As far as I am aware, no, there is no 'rule' that states sellers must answer messages
Not all sellers log on to ebay every day, and recently there have been a number of people not getting email notifications via ebay that they have messages (there are a few threads about this on the boards)
In any case, iPhones and the like are not the sort of thing I would buy off an ebay seller anyway, no matter how many questions they answer. The 'warrenty' (if any) is not worth the paper it is written on unless buying through an authorised sller of the brand, there is no way to be 100% sure it is genuine and they seem to be a big 'dropshop' item so may not even comply to Australian standards etc
Far better to buy this sort of thing from a b&m store where you have far more protection if there is something wrong/goes wrong
08-05-2017 05:53 PM - edited 08-05-2017 05:57 PM
eBay is great but NOT for phones and electronic goods.
eBay cannot force sellers to obey rules even if there were such.
eBay is only an advertising medium similar to a newspaper marrying up sellers and buyers.
We don't expect The Age to disallow advertisers if they don't take your call on a classified listing.
Many people think eBay is the company you buy off, but is more like an automated electronic classified newspaper.
09-05-2017 12:21 AM - edited 09-05-2017 12:22 AM
I agree in general, enigma, 'however I have bought a couple of secondhand phones (not iphones lol) and new mp3 players on eay, but always from local sellers (online storefronts for the new items) and always from sellers with either 100% feedback, or very close to it.
Agreed it was still a risk, but a calculated one - and not for the sort of prices new iphones go for. If you are going to risk it, try locally and from a store which also has a b&m presence, for preference.
on 09-05-2017 09:13 AM
IF you must buy an iphone on ebay, only do it from a seller that allows you to go see the phone in person.
otherwise we will most likely see you back here saying 'ive been ripped off'
iphones are one of the biggest problem items sold on ebay.
a high proportion of old phones sold on ebay are being listed to get rid of faulty phones. no matter how great the description.
on 09-05-2017 11:53 AM
on 09-05-2017 11:58 AM
@pimlico*rose wrote:I am looking for an iphone. I have emailed some that I'm interested in, asking questions such as:
- has it ever had water damage
- has it ever been repaired or had a screen replaced?
I ask because I want to be informed. I have noticed that some sellers do not respond to such questions. I am talking 3 days later. Is it because they can't then be held accountable for what information they give? Is it to avoid disclosing the truth?
Either way, I won't buy from them, but further, it puts me off buying from ebay full stop. I feel as if it is creating a safe harbour for some sellers to deliberately mislead people about their item. But of course they can't be called on it, because they are 'not answering'.
Is there a way to report such sellers, who seem to do this? I am starting to think I need to email a basic question first, such as "what is the IMEI", which will garner a response, to know they are getting emails. Then, I can go to the real questions.
It saddens me that I have to go this effort, and that ebay does allow sellers to avoid answering questions, in order to not honestly disclose the condition of the phone they are selling.
Don't do it to yourself, buy elsewhere.
Bad, bad idea to buy phones and such on ebay (on the whole-although obviously some people will have good experiences)
And no answers to messages? red alarm bells should ring.
Just buy elsewhere.
on 17-05-2017 11:46 AM
Thank you, apologies for my delayed response. Until I got an email from ebay 'is your question answered', I thought there were no responses! I had not, until now, been able to find where to select to get emails when responses were made.
on 17-05-2017 11:49 AM
I agree with that sentiment, buyers do exploit returns. Not sure what INAD is, but I get the gist of what you are saying.
I think, unless it is someone who I can see history of, and 100% feedback, I'd be less inclined to buy an iphone from ebay. Yep, things do go wrong, I get that, but it's more the deliberate evasion of 'has it ever been water-damaged' that concerns me.
on 17-05-2017 11:50 AM