[orangegreen]

You can use eBay if you don't want to use Amazon. Plus, you can even sell your stuff on eBay when you're done using it. I've never been an Amazon customer and don't plan on ever being one. I buy most things used too, saving lots of money along the way.

[nunez]

LOL.

eBay is even worse!

Zeroth, lots of eBay resellers drop-ship from or resell directly from Amazon. There are plenty of bots looking for arbitrage opportunities between Amazon, brick-and-mortar, and OEM.

First, there's absolutely zero guarantee that you'll get what you bought. The chances of you getting a box of rocks is significantly greater on eBay than on Amazon (unless you use Amazon Marketplace, in which the chances of this happening are _still_ lower).

Second, returns and disputes are generally settled C2C (consumer-to-consumer). Which means you're completely at the mercy of the seller (or the buyer, if you're selling). PayPal acts as a mediator, but they are really easy to game.

Ever heard of the US Postal Investigations Service? Or the FBI IC3? Well, you'll get to know those departments _real_ well once you start using eBay enough.

Third, PayPal has a Buyer Protection guarantee, but it only applies in a handful of specific situations and is, again, very easy to game. Hard contrast to Amazon's return policy, which is, basically, "if you still have it, and it's in the return window, you can return it, unless you abuse it."

[dannyw]

Have more than 300 orders with eBay over the past few years and cannot relate to anything you said at all.

eBay is great and when I have an issue I can pick up the phone and call someone local in Australia who seems to be able to solve everything in one phone call.

Also picked up a few nice brand new bargains like A$99 AirPods, or A$329 for a ultrawide 3440x1440 144hz monitor.

On top of all the stuff I buy used to reduce my environmental footprint while saving money.

I have also sold about 30 items on ebay and again no issues from buyers.

[wyre]

Lol.

Have you used eBay significantly or so you avoid it because of the reasons you just posted?

I’ve replaced Amazon completely with eBay and have been using eBay for the past 4 years. I have never received a product I didn’t order using eBay. I wish I could say the same for Amazon.

[nunez]

I use eBay as a buyer and a seller. I do not use them often, largely because the reasons specified above.

Example.

Several years ago, I purchased a pair of Lucky Brand jeans. Same cut as what I already had, in the same size. Seller provided dimensions; I thought they would fit because I already had those pants.

They arrived three days later. They did not fit.

Seller would not honor a return. PayPal sided with the seller. I was out $35. I’m actually still pissed that that happened, five years ago, and it was only over $35!

On Amazon, I would’ve returned them in three taps and a drive to Whole Foods.

Should I have looked at the item more carefully? Sure. But the point here is that this transaction would have been significantly easier on Amazon _and_ I would have just bought a different pair of pants right after that.