When you buy something on Ebay, do you.....

[B.D.F.]

And that is because most people are fundamentally good, at least most of the time.

Read this study once done by a university trying to find out just how bad a 'bad' group of people could / would be. They picked NYC cab drivers as the 'bad' group. Sent students pretending to speak little or no English, and a tad on the dim side to boot, to ask for a cab ride to an address at the end of the block, just around the corner, etc. The bait was a wad of cash to tempt the taxi drivers to, of course, ride them around the city one time and make a day's wages. What happened in actual fact was that not only did not a single taxi driver take advantage of even one of the test subjects but instead the drivers went out of their way to get the kids to where they asked to go.... for free. Some pointed out the place carefully, several times even when the kids got in the cab; the driver would drag them out and carefully show them where they wanted to go. Sometimes the drivers would walk them down the block and point to the address. And finally, a few drivers actually took the kids to the address and dropped them off but took no money.

Most people try to skim on all deals they make; we all want the better half of 'fair' apparently. But once the deal is done, most people just pay the bill they agreed to in the first place. PayPal and Ebay do not work because they have any particular mechanism, they work because we (all of us) are basically OK and want to do business. Those companies are merely the conduit.

Unless of course someone gets ripped on Ebay or through PayPal; then in the words of Emily Latella, "Nevermind".

 

Brian

Pay right away. I have rebuilt two Connies with the forums and Ebay and paid with paypal. Never a problem. Also farkled the s**t outta the 14 and no problems.

[mikeeitup]

Ebay sellers usually take a longer time than other sellers to ship so I pay immediately when I can (cause I want it NOW). They have expressed views that do not match mine so they are a last resort for me though.

[twowheeladdict]

And that is because most people are fundamentally good, at least most of the time.

I have to disagree with this statement.  I believe most people are trained and conditioned to be good.  Wouldn't parenting have been a whole lot easier if people are fundamentally good?

[VirginiaJim]

I use the 'people are basically stupid at times' philosophy.  I haven't been disappointed with that view.  I do not leave me out of this observation either.

[Stasch]

Ebay sellers usually take a longer time than other sellers to ship so I pay immediately when I can (cause I want it NOW). They have expressed views that do not match mine so they are a last resort for me though.

I haven't noticed this.  As a sometimes seller I ship the same business day, telling buyers up front that I ship the following business day. 

Under promise, over deliver.

I recently bought a notebook computer through Ebay, paid with PayPal.  It arrived with a cracked screen.  Seller had packaged it very poorly (practically non-existent).  UPS determined it was poor packaging and denied the insurance claim. 

Seller was reporting health issues which I had no way of knowing were true or not.  A lot of back and forth which felt like delays.  Seller would ask numerous questions that already had obvious answers.  It smelled like a stall technique.

Both EB and PP were VERY helpful.  I was able to talk to BOTH places without a long wait for 'the next available agent'.  Seller was not available or wasn't cooperating.  (At the end I was supposedly dealing with the seller's mother in the EB messaging system as adult son was now in ICU).  PP had to force the resolution refunding my $125. 

It took 3 weeks after my first call to get my refund.  I complicated the issue with a 1.5 months delay in not having put EB and PP on notice ASAP while waiting on the UPS determination.

Like anything, documentation and using EBay's messaging system to show the record of communication are important.

I think many Ebay or PayPal 'horror' stories are because people don't understand the process you'll have to go through to get resolved, OR THE TIME IT WILL TAKE to be resolved.  It can't happen the same or next day. 

EB and PP will follow their pre-declared guideless and timelines.  They have to do their due diligence to protect both seller and buyer.