For no good reason other than anecdotes from friends and family I had built up an irrational hatred of ebay. The close alliance with paypal, and fear that if you had a dispute the chances of you speaking to a real customer service person would be slim. That as a seller you get asked loads of pointless questions by people that were never going to bid anyway. The various rubber cheque and nigerian scams. Plus the gradual increase in fees, and more recent changes to the feedback system.
Over the years I have used it to sell and buy the odd thing, and when I think back, every transaction as a buyer has gone just fine. As a seller, apart from the various silly questions, again when I really analyse it, I have done just fine. For nieche things like my modified Subaru it was “free” advertising to capture a bigger audience.
Last weekend I finally got around to cleaning up my Laser dinghy and my Phantom Dinghy, and popping them on ebay. I have been pleased and amazed at the bidding frenzy and the 200 watchers. However what has really impressed is the questions and contact I have had with the bidders. Should I really be that surprised they are just “normal” people like (dare I say it) me. Just reasonable questions, and praise for me being helpful and honest. For example a chap coming to view the boats this Saturday morning, who really appreciates me making the time to let him pop round.
Lets hope once the bidding closes the rest of the transaction going just as easy
