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How do I know if I can trust people on Ebay?

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HaggisBumfart

So a while back, I opened a topic about getting Halo 1 somewhere, and most people said pirate, some gave different sites, and I eventually decided I would buy it from Amazon or something like that... That was four months ago...

Now, I have come to the decision that I will try as hard as I can to find a good deal, and I will definitely buy it.

My problem is, the cheapest place I found to buy both Halo 1 + 2 on PC is Ebay, and I can get them for $10 each, and then plus shipping, it makes the total $22.58. I have never bought anything from Ebay... I want to know, how do I know I can trust whoever is selling? The little star things by their names shows that one seller has sold like 4000+ items, and they have had 100% positive feedback, so I think that means I can trust them. But then the other guy, has only sold 20 items, but still with 100% positive feedback. Can I trust these people, is it just a matter of do it and get my money back if I was cheated, or is there something I can do to really figure it out?

The reason I'm having trouble with this is because, like I said, I've never bought anything from Ebay, and I really want these games, and I had to count out $22.58 in change that I had saved up, and I don't want these to be scams or anything...

If any of you know of a cheaper/better place to buy these games, let me know. And before anyone says it, I refuse to pirate games. I don't think it's right, and so I won't do it.

EDIT: Well shit... I waited too long and now Halo 1 has been sold... This sucks... Maybe I'll find one for around the same price...

11 years ago*

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20 Comments
flownzu

Pay with PayPal and you are fine.

11 years ago
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HaggisBumfart

if I pay with paypal and I get cheated I can just get my money back? That's good to know.

11 years ago
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2kwik4u

I think you have like 1 month or something. Might want to check up on that.

11 years ago
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orangepiranha

45 days

11 years ago
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HaggisBumfart

Okay, that's good.

11 years ago
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Squeak

Check what people have said in feedback. I say the more items sold with positive feedback, the better. Pay with paypal. Ebay also has buyer protection.

11 years ago
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HaggisBumfart

Alrighty then, I guess I'll just hand my dad the cash and he can use his paypal. That's what I normally do since I don't have my own (my mother is afraid I am going to buy a bunch of crap with it).

11 years ago
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Squeak

If you have any problems (don't receive it or its the wrong thing) you contact the seller. If they don't make good on it, you go through ebay's resolution center and they will get your money refunded back to paypal. You have 45 days of the buyer protection for each purchase to do so.

11 years ago
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Deleted

This comment was deleted 2 years ago.

11 years ago
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atb85

Watch and READ the feedbacks. Were they the seller or the buyer? Were the items similar to the one you are looking for or they were biro pens for 0.10$?
When you find negative reviews READ why they were rated negatively. Was the item faulty or just a slow shipment?
The one time I didn't receive my item from eBay I got refunded from the seller, but of course I can't garantee for everybody. :)

Any trade takes a bit of trusting. If you only see positive feedbacks (and there's a lot of them), you can buy safely enough.

Also check for second-hand games in your zone: 10$ each doesn't sound like the best deal possible, you might get lucky.

11 years ago
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HaggisBumfart

So I read through feedback on both. The one with the thousands of things, they sell a wide variety of stuff but quite a few were movies, games, consoles. The other guy with less feedback sold things like nail polish and a few other things, but he did sell an iPhone 5...

11 years ago
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atb85

Sounds like the first is an eShop, while the second is just a regular guy like you.

On an item like a videogame I'd trust a random guy just as much but if you still want to be extra safe, go with the shop. Ebay's rating sistem is a hell for shops: the really need those 5 stars and usually will do all they can for you to be satisfied.

11 years ago
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HaggisBumfart

I think I'm fine with buying from the random guy, he seems to have good reviews. If I bought Halo 1 from an eShop, I would have to pay like $20 for a copy, so I'll stick with the cheap guy.

11 years ago
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Doppleganger

Check the feedback rating. You want someone with high rating and even if they have a few negatives, see if you can find them and read that feedback. It doesn't really matter what's sold in the past...service is service and quality is quality. If the feedback is positive then their good. That case will then get logged against their account which is worse than negative feedback.

Likewise, you don't HAVE to use PayPal...eBay has buyer protection as well now; however, using PayPal will give a backup to the eBay Protection. If the seller has eBay Protection it will say it in the auction in a banner type thing. If the item isn't as described you can ask the seller for a refund or replacement and if they don't respond/do so then you can contact eBay and open a case using that Protection stuff.

11 years ago
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Angrygamer

I know this is kinda off, and a lot of people will get mad at me for saying this. But just go on Amazon, it's much more trustworthy.

11 years ago
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BahDerb

Frankly, you dont. I've bought on Ebay and have had not receiveds from a "power seller" before. But, as its been pointed out, you're basically 100% protected by Paypal. There's really not a whole lot to fear on Ebay even if buying from a new seller. The biggest drawback is the possibility that you are stuck waiting if someone decides to be slow with shipping. The same goes for Amazon Marketplace, where Ive had bad experiences with sellers w/ a history and great experiences with people that "just launched".

I would not worry buying from Ebay at all provided Paypal was the payment method. The worst case scenario is it takes an age to get your items or you get a refund.

11 years ago
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bobofatt

http://www.half.ebay.com/

Halo 1 and 2 for ~$5 + ship

11 years ago
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HaggisBumfart

That was for the Xbox version, I want the PC versions... Those would be $32.47 on that site. Not too bad, I'll go back tomorrow.

11 years ago
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CrippledLamp

Check Steamrep.

11 years ago
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cats

Look for people with high rep and even without it paypal/ebay covers you for refunds.

11 years ago
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Closed 11 years ago by HaggisBumfart.