Related
I have seen a few references to ebay on this and other media.
The basic idea behind ebay is great and it started off brilliantly with people selling used or unwanted stuff to other people looking for exactly that stuff.
In the meantime most of the stuff you find on ebay is cheap crap made in China (not everything made in China in bad!, but most crap is made in China) I think.
Like cigarettes, all advertising for ebay should contain a warning: Buying here might be harm your purse.
Sorry if I sound a bit cynical but fact is that ebay is trmendeously successful and people get carried away. I use ebay myself occasionally but I would never ever (again) by a phone or accessory on ebay.
This is all my humble opinion. I do try support serious online shops that sell good products and good service at a competitive price. My advice here: Always see to it that the online shop you buy from provides full contact details on their website: postal address and a valid phone and fax number. There are too many shops out there with no physical address at all which to me is quite dubious.
Cheers
I've been purchasing a quite a few things off eBay, mostly UK sellers, and all of the product I've got are brilliant. If you were to think China products are mostly crap, you can well steer away from it (i.e. most of the China sellers have a word 'China' on the item location).
Anyway, I have bought a powered USB hub from China (via eBay) for GBP5 (include P&P). For the same product, if you were to get it from here in UK, it will cost you at least GBP15+. And yes, my USB hub is still here and I'm using it.
And, yeah, I've got myself a 512 Kingston SD from China, for GBP5 cheaper than of UK sellers.
Anyway, with most people saying that China will be an "economy threat" to others, I'm sure there are some reason to that (i.e. you can't be a threat by manufacturing craps). You might want to reconsider your point of view.
Anyway, I've got my Charmer off eBay for GBP150, that is more than 50% off as compared I were to get it (without contract) off local/web stores.
I have saved tons of money from getting stuff from Ebay, which includes my K-Jam.
I've bought a lot of stuff from ebay.
However, selling stuff on ebay, obviously be extremely careful about your purchaser and receive positive indication of payment before posting.
Buying: well, you take your chances of course. I've had bargains on some small electricals (eg USB hubs etc), but if you're paying that kind of money, be prepared for crap quality, and then hope you'll be pleasantly suprised.
I've had my fair share of scammers and non paying auction winners. I think your level of caution should grow the more expensive the item, of course. A lot of guys will try to scam you out of a phone, or into a stolen one (or one without a touch screen :wink
V
I've managed to find original XDA accessories (Keyboard for £16 and Extended Battery for £11!!!!!!!) selling stupidly cheap (would cost 5x more in the shops) and both work great!
Regards,
Neil.
I think there's some golden rules with eBay...
Take everything you see on there with at least a pinch of salt.
Remember, some fraudsters will get others to post fake good feedback, I've seen this in the past and although it's hard, it's possible.
Also make sure you can pay via a scheme which offers Buyer protection - the standard eBay buyer protection is VERY inadequate, and it's really hard to get your money back (and they charge a fee for the service too). If you have a credit card, usually if you have a problem you can speak to your credit card company directly and they will protect you from fraud by charging back the transaction (as far as I know, all UK credit card companies offer free fraud protection these days, so if you are defrauded out of your money they'll give it straight back and get in touch with the transaction processing company themselves to resolve the situation).
Avoid paying by cheque/cash/postal order wherever possible, you're just asking to be taken for a ride like that. Also, third party escrow companies not run or approved by eBay you should steer VERY clear of, I have seen people defrauded by fake escrow agencies. Anybody who pays with cash is just asking to be mugged.
Read the item description VERY carefully - I'm amazed how many people complain that they've received something they didn't want, or people who put negative feedback on items after they bought something which was actually broken (and said so in the description)... They have only themselves to blame. Scour the eBay description every time, and don't be afraid to ask the seller further questions or request pictures / more information if you feel you need it to be confident enough to make the bid.
Everyone with an ounce of common sense will already realise this, I hope.
Thanks for the tips guys.
Always remember " if it sounds too good to be true, it will be !!! "
Just sold my magician on eBay at the second attempt. I've bought quite a lot on eBay, even from Hong Kong and everything's been fine and dandy.
As a seller I'm a bit of a newbie and some nigerian tried to scam me out of my magician. He registered that very day claiming to be an american on business in Nigeria. He even went so far as sending me a fake PayPal confirmation.
I smelled a rat straight away when he said he wanted it posted to nigeria but gave him a chance given that there was a 0.0000001% chance he might have been genuine. When the fake PayPal came through though that was it. I reported him to eBay, PayPal, the owner of the domain he was using to (try to) scam me and then re-listed. He was thrown off eBay in short thrift and I soon had another (genuine this time) buyer.
If selling, you can specify that bidders MUST have a PayPal account and with "But It Now" you can specify immediate PayPay payment. Make sure you do and you really should be OK.
I have my money and the magician is in the post.
Everybody is happy.
P.S. Why do 99% of the world's internet scammers come from Nigeria?
There's a culture, particularly in Nigeria, that scamming people from richer countries is almost entirely acceptable, as the scammers prey on the gullibility and greed of the rich people who usually fall for the scams (the promise of millions with a much smaller payment, what stupid rich person could turn that down?) - some people make a living exclusively from scamming Europeans and Americans (they call their targets 'mugus', singular mugu)... The most prevalent scam is the Advance Fee Fraud - the 419 scam (so called due to the number of the Nigerian law which makes it technically illegal... The thing is, these laws are rarely enforced, and corruption itself is widespread throughout the police force and government).
Of course, this is just how I interpret it, but you'll find others who share a similar point of view. Just googling for Nigerian scam 419 culture brings up some interesting results, including http://slashdot.org/articles/05/10/21/138243.shtml and http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/31063 ... Read those and browse for some more, very interesting, discussions on the subject.
Read this article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3887493.stm on the BBC web site. It's very funny. :lol:
It's about a hobby called Scam Baiting - which is basically stringing the 419 scammers along, getting them to do rediculous things and sometimes conning THEM out of money in the process.
If you want to get in on scam baiting go to http://www.419eater.com
Edit: Funny you should mention police corruption - this is the address he wanted me to send it to:
Name : Eke James
Address : block (d) highway patrol barracks flat 17 :shock:
City : Ikeja
State : Lagos
Country : Nigeria
Zipcode : 23401
TheBrit: that's some funny sh*t!! :lol: "Church of the Painted Breast" LMAO
Sometimes I'm not even sure if the scammers know what they're talking about: one time I received a request to end the auction early with an instant payment of something like £300 for this xda iis with a broken screen, and that I must send it to this guy's cousin a.s.a.p. cos it was his birthday! :lol:
Oh guys if you haven't seen it already, check out http://www.amirtofangsazan.blogspot.com/ - don't sell a faulty laptop and leave your data on the hard disk! This has been making news around the world, over 2 million hits now and a Wikipedia article hahaha!
Neil.
OMFG - the fun never stops!!! I'm laughing so hard that I can't even go to bed... :lol:
It's a shame that the guy's been kicked off ebay now: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI..../search.dll?from=R40&satitle=6825578528&fvi=1
Hardly, he's exactly the kind of person that I don't want to see on ebay. I love all the newspaper coverage this story's been getting
What I mean is that guy is probably using ebay under a different name now, so it's hard for us to track him down, unless he forgets to wipe his hard disk again!
I have bought heaps of great things on eBay and I find it great but you should always be careful of things that seems to good to be true.
My OEM battery for my Advantage is starting to show some age. I can't seem to find an OEM replacement on the web. I've had checkered experience with replacement batteries -- especially from ebay -- in the past. So, I'm wondering if anyone wants to make a recommendation for either a specific battery or specific web vendor.
I know there's another thread about batteries, but they seem to focus on ebay batteries or one which costs $82.00. That's a bit pricey for me.
Thanks!
[
QUOTE=pkchainsaw;2455417]My OEM battery for my Advantage is starting to show some age. I can't seem to find an OEM replacement on the web. I've had checkered experience with replacement batteries -- especially from ebay -- in the past. So, I'm wondering if anyone wants to make a recommendation for either a specific battery or specific web vendor.
I know there's another thread about batteries, but they seem to focus on ebay batteries or one which costs $82.00. That's a bit pricey for me.
Thanks![/QUOTE]
not all batteries on ebay are 80$, i got a 20$ 3 weeks ago from there.i think the seller was accrurepublic,somethin like that.They offer 1 yr warranty about the life of battery neway lol.when i get money im lookin to get a 2400ma mugen(100$).Im just to barely afford this batt bc my oem was complete dead (wont charge,red ring of death)
D1ab70 said:
[
QUOTE=pkchainsaw;2455417]My OEM battery for my Advantage is starting to show some age. I can't seem to find an OEM replacement on the web. I've had checkered experience with replacement batteries -- especially from ebay -- in the past. So, I'm wondering if anyone wants to make a recommendation for either a specific battery or specific web vendor.
I know there's another thread about batteries, but they seem to focus on ebay batteries or one which costs $82.00. That's a bit pricey for me.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not all batteries on ebay are 80$, i got a 20$ 3 weeks ago from there.i think the seller was accrurepublic,somethin like that.They offer 1 yr warranty about the life of battery neway lol.when i get money im lookin to get a 2400ma mugen(100$).Im just to barely afford this batt bc my oem was complete dead (wont charge,red ring of death)[/QUOTE]
so, if you'll excuse my ignorance, what's so special about the mugen battery? I've looked at them but was wondering why they're so expensive. 200ma more doesn't seem worth that kind of premium. However. I'd consider it if it were worth the extra cash.
thanks again.
Its more on the principle, you get wa you pay for! Mugen lasts longer and i believe they have a better warranty for them.Mugen specializes in extended batteries.If you just need a battery but dont have the cash ,then the 20$ battery good for now,no problems so far its been almost a month and charges hold well.
any one got links to those 2400 batteries?
i've checking ebay and googling online, but i can't find them
I am tempted to get one as a backup for when I travel...
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lithium-Battery...m?hash=item270213135346&_trksid=p3286.c0.m234
the one on the link is a standard 2200 not 2400
2200 is the one from factory
im a bit skeptical since it is on ebay what do you guys think?
http://cgi.ebay.com/1600mah-Spare-B...ries?hash=item518c118338&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
Sounds why to good to be true and if it is I would be quite concerned about it's safety
i have bought many items from hong kong on ebay
i thought the g1 battery was 5v and not 3.7v? maybe i'm wrong
heres a feedback from someone who bought the item:
"As Described, Havent seen the benefit of the xtra capacity yet, but it works gr8"
1600mah Spare Battery for HTC G1 Google Phone NEW (#390071957890)
I would trust him since the guy has over 30,000 transactions, and has feedback of 98.7%
ok im going to bite the bullet and purchase it (30,000 transactions and 98.7% positive sounds pretty good to me!) and if it isnt 1600mah at least i have a spare battery
jadi929, I love feedback following on eBay too, you can easily uncover some rampant lies (like following the same "untested" item back through several sales).
I'm still in the market for a high capacity standard size,
I bought this one as a basic replacement: http://cgi.ebay.com/z388-Battery-Fo...ries?hash=item3a51ceee23&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
It came this morning, but they've sent me this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/T-MOBILE-HTC-OE...ries?hash=item5ad2ee643b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
Whatever, it was only £2.50, and since those are cheapest prices, I've kinda of got a more expensive one.
Currently waiting on this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/HTC-G1-T-MOBILE...s?hash=item4ceabd1c59&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177
So hope you can post something positive on that one, maybe I'll have one too.
jadi929 said:
i thought the g1 battery was 5v and not 3.7v? maybe i'm wrong
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No they are 3.7v, charging is at 5v so it's compatible with USB.
I just ordered a 3-pack of 1500mAh batteries with a battery charger for like $12 shipped from eBay. Since they are coming from Hong Kong, I have a bit of a wait, but has anybody tried the eBay batteries on their Xperia Play?
I used similar batteries on my Samsung Captivate with no problems other than they seemed to be only slightly less capacity than my original (based on non-scientific gut checks at the end of the day of how much charge I thought I should have.)
In searching before posting this, I saw some nightmares in the HTC forums where they peeled back the label from their batteries and found them rated by another label 500mAh less than what the top label said.
I'll report back either way when they arrive.
Got them in today. I took some pics to show what they look like right out of the pack. Notice that they all have the same S/N. Hmmmm
The charger has a USB port at the bottom and glows red when charging. If it is like the other eBay battery chargers I've seen, it will likely turn a different color when full.
Will report back once I've had a chance to use them.
Good luck with the batteries. I couldn't find the offer with 3 batteries so maybe they took it out in the last month (ebay.com).
If they turn out to be ok it could be a good investment for an emergency. Looking forward to your results.
I picked up the batteries from this seller.
As it turns out, two of the batteries seem to be bad. I sent a note to the seller to see about making it right. I'll update the thread with whatever the outcome turns out to be.
Regardless, the one that is working is doing a great job. I've been using it in place of my original battery, and so far, I can't seem to tell any difference.
Update: I accepted an offer for my Xperia Play, so I won't be following up here. I sold it with the good extra battery and am probably going to get a Samsung next.
I bought a set with 2 batteries and they seem to work fine, just slightly less capacity as the original. I know just charge the batts separately and swap them when I need a new one.
I got this response from the seller:
Dear Customer,
Thank you for shopping with us.
We apologize for the inconvenience. We are now processing replacement for you.
Customer satisfaction is important to us, as a token of courtesy, there is no need for you to return the original item to us.
Again, we apologize for the inconvenience. If there is anything else we can do to assist you, please feel free to let us know. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Tina
Customer Service Team
That was really nice of them. I checked the seller but they won't ship outside of the US, even tho it's coming from Hong Kong D:
There's a chinese company that makes 1800mAh batteries for the X10. They work in the play, and are good quality. All the reviews said they actually offered better battery life, unlike a lot of cheap alternatives. I can't remember the brand name, but they're black with gold writing.
Sent from my R800a
Normally I wouldn't trust third party batteries from eBay, although I did buy an extended battery for my laptop off of Amazon over a year ago (third party) and it stills holds a charge fantastically.
Dear XDA Members,
Okay I want to buy this product, and I can't find reviews about it as opposed to the famous ZeroLemon Battery Extension.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8500mAh-Extended-Battery-Back-Case-Cover-For-Samsung-N7100-Galaxy-Note-II-2-/181102485781?pt=AU_MobilePhoneAccessories&hash=item2a2a8ca115&_uhb=1
What's the issue with these? Why are they not popular? I get this with free delivery as opposed to ZeroLemon which adds up to about $65 for an extra 800mAh (I don't think that's worth it considering I won't be getting that till December according to Amazon and their shipping). I live in Australia.
Have a look at it, let me know what you think please.
electroking said:
Dear XDA Members,
Okay I want to buy this product, and I can't find reviews about it as opposed to the famous ZeroLemon Battery Extension.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/8500mAh-Extended-Battery-Back-Case-Cover-For-Samsung-N7100-Galaxy-Note-II-2-/181102485781?pt=AU_MobilePhoneAccessories&hash=item2a2a8ca115&_uhb=1
What's the issue with these? Why are they not popular? I get this with free delivery as opposed to ZeroLemon which adds up to about $65 for an extra 800mAh (I don't think that's worth it considering I won't be getting that till December according to Amazon and their shipping). I live in Australia.
Have a look at it, let me know what you think please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
General rule of thumb: If anyone is claiming to squeeze a billion mAh into a standard or only slightly larger battery, it's a ripoff.
The battery isn't popular because it doesn't live up to it's claimed rating.
Even posting a link to it, some poor sap is going to buy it, give it a shot, and get ripped off for 28 hard earned dollars better spent on chewing gum or popcorn.
There are one or two other posters that have posted links to the same battery, and they all have few posts like this guy:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2494002
Then there's this battery which suspiciously looks just like that one:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2465295
Just a few samples pulled from the first 3 pages here. Stick with the reliable products. Might be more expensive, but they sure work well.
Thanks for the information... So the people getting them claim they see a difference, while others are denouncing their posts without trying them. I have no doubt the ZeroLemon one will last longer (it just seems like a much more solid product, its size alone is basically three times that of the original), I went through with it on amazon all the way until the final checkpoint and realized i'm paying $20 for delivery and it will take about a month at least before I receive it...
I'm sure this product claiming to be an 8500mAh battery isn't really 8500mAh... If people are getting a 4500mAh battery they would assume it's lasting twice longer when it's actually giving them a few extra hours of use, and it will probably degrade worse than the samsung one over time.
I wish I can find stock for the ZeroLemon one here in Australia but sadly I can't find any, so I might have to get this one and give it a review myself. It does look like it's double the thickness of the original, so hopefully it's double the life (at least for the first few months before it degrades and melts on my phone and burns it) lol
listen to apallohadas because he's absolutely correct here. vectron has also done tests with proper battery testing measures that show such batteries are rip offs as well. that's the one thing to note about chinese/foreign electronics...they can be rebranded far too easily because majority of the time it's the same company behind its production.
opasha said:
listen to apallohadas because he's absolutely correct here. vectron has also done tests with proper battery testing measures that show such batteries are rip offs as well. that's the one thing to note about chinese/foreign electronics...they can be rebranded far too easily because majority of the time it's the same company behind its production.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay I'll take both of your words for it and not purchase this product.. I'll wait for the cover to come out for ZeroLemon (should be soon from what I've been reading) and might get that with the Rugged Cover.
If anyone who has purchased these batteries and would like to propose an alternative view to the current one, please feel free to comment.
Thanks again for the replies.