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first seller had such a small number of feedbacks, that one negative feedback had brought her overall score to a much lower percentage, only because she didn't have as many feedbacks to begin with. I ordered from her and was extremely happy with my purchase, that included very fast shipping.

So before deciding to buy from any eBay seller, don't go just by that overall feedback rating. Click on those numbers and check the seller's detailed feedback ratings.

A lot of negatives, especially over the last six months, despite a higher overall feedback rating, can sometimes spell trouble.

If you are going to buy on eBay set up a Pay Pal account, for two reasons.

First, Pay Pal and a few other electronic payment programs are the only ones eBay will now allow sellers to use in most categories. A lot of sellers, more familiar with Pay Pal, don't bother with the other electronic payment methods and simply now take Pay Pal only in many categories.

That is not entirely a bad thing.

If you purchase items with Pay Pal, then you do have some recourse to a refund if you get the wrong product, a damaged object, and so on. If there is a problem and the seller refuses to try to resolve the issue, and you have paid via Pay Pal, then Pay Pal, once you file a complaint

Be careful, though, about buying any item "as is" or you may not get as much help. Sellers now have to specify their refund policies. If a seller states "no refunds," unless the seller has stellar feedback so that I can be sure that the item listed is as described, I tend to shy away from such sellers.

On the other hand, if a seller does have 100% feedback or very little cumulative negative feedback over the last year then I might order anyway, regardless of an "as is" policy. It's up to the buyer's best judgment here. However, if a seller has a "no refund" policy and a good bit of bad feedback over the last six months, then my judgment would be not to order from such a source.

Overall, eBay is a great place to find loads of good bargains and, following these same guidelines, I've never really had any bad deals from eBay.

There are never any guarantees, of course, from one transaction to the next, but I've been buying from eBay for years with no real problems to speak of.

You can have a lot of fun and save loads of money at times buying from eBay, but you do need to be aware of potential scams and it is wise to check out some of these details before making a purchase. That way you can increase your chances of a good buying experience here.

Learn more about this author, Marijoyce Porcelli.
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