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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.
Eh? I sold my TyTN tonight, using my old 8125 -- Ready to order the Kaiser...
The question is - What online stores ship the Kaiser to Canada?
clove.co.uk should be fine.
Anywhere else that's slightly cheaper?
http://www.superiorgadgets.com
They are located in Toronto. Paul, the seller, is a really great guy. That is how I bought my Qtek S200
for more stores in Canada (although I think thats basically it) go to http://www.howardforums.com and look in the marketplace section. Although I havent heard from him in a while, check out Mad Monkey Boy
anymore? i hear people getting it for 800$
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=170147807464&Category=64355&_trksid=p3907.m29
Buy It Now will include SH + Insurance to Canada
check pm....
you can get it for around $800 If you buy from a US retailer, the problem becomes if customs checks it and then dings you for the import fees and taxes so be careful. www.expansys.ca also has it and for some reason doesn't charge the full tax amount. If I am getting mine in canada, Paul is easy to deal with especially if you are in the GTA cause you can do local pickup which makes returns very easy to deal with if there is a problem.
I would and did use SuperiorGadgets. They will ship free in canada, there is no duty or import taxes and by the time you convert $800 us its almost the same anyways. You do have to pay the 6%gst. Also if you have a problem you only have to send to Toronto not to Europe.
none of the stores mentioned above have them in stock.... i cant stand this 8125 device.
First time poster, long time reader/enjoyer of this great forum.
I would second superiorGagets.
I had a terrible experience with expansys telling me 2 days avail. so I would buy it. Then they put me back a whole week after I commited to it.
SuperiorGadgets is up front and holds their customers very highly
i guess i will have to wait...
Hi all,
I'll be traveling to London soon, and I want to buy the Diamond 2 there (since it's cheaper).
Can someone please recommend a store to get it from (online store is irrelevant)? I need it to be unlocked and sim free, of course.
Thanks
Tottenham Court Road is your sest bet . Take a walk and do some bartering , you should ge the price you want
Will try that, thanks wardy!
sunrise digital is a good bet, but make sure you have some quotes from other shops first or from the internet.
i got 70 off my original diamond because of going there
Where is sunrise digital?
Just tried this same thing on Tottenham Court Rd two days ago and was quoted 450 pounds falling to 391 when vat recovered at Heathrow. Didnt bother with the haggling and didnt check other stores--this was the store very near to Oxford Street think it is called Technics or something like that.
I think Sunrise is further up the road if my memory serves me right. Much better off ordering by mail and getting it sent over for about 340 pounds.
But sent where? I don't live in London.
I bought a Diamond2 in Sunrise, Tottenham Court Road 3 weeks ago. I paid £420 including fitted Brando screensaver. I have decided not to keep it and it is for sale in the Marketplace. Much cheaper than in the shop. So I am am the cheapest place in London to buy a D2
Let me know if interested.
Thanks.
I get VAT off the retail price, so the price you are offering is a bit too much. Good luck though
I live in NYC so only hotel address in London and that wouldnt work (I checked). Some UK online companies seem willing to send to New York for 340 pounds or so which ain't bad if you ask me (100 pounds less than TC Road more or less). I think there are threads on the marketplace forum which give the names and websites of these firms.
can you plz post some websites?
http://www.clove.co.uk/
loadstone007 said:
I get VAT off the retail price, so the price you are offering is a bit too much. Good luck though
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Not if you read the whole thread
Tottenham court Road used to be quite competitive, but in the last couple of years I have never had prices matched to the cheapest on the internet, obviously because of their overheads. They are great if you need something urgently and don't mind paying, but they no longer match or better other stores prices, particularly internet stores.
[email protected] said:
Tottenham court Road used to be quite competitive, but in the last couple of years I have never had prices matched to the cheapest on the internet, obviously because of their overheads. They are great if you need something urgently and don't mind paying, but they no longer match or better other stores prices, particularly internet stores.
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My own experience is that the cheaper internet stores never have them in stock (and don't always tell you that on the site) whereas supply in TCT Rd is usually plentiful.
Having just ventured forth, the big advantage of TC Rd to me coming from NYC on a short visit to London wasn't the price but the chance to handle the D2 physically and check it out. Very useful--I did and compared it to my HD and decided against but others may arrive at a different conclusion. As far as price goes, think the internet is still a better bet and seems to work well from those who have used it according to reports on other threads.
I live in DC, got mine yesterday (05-12-09 / 12-5-09 ) placed the order previous thursday.
purchased from Handtec (http://www.handtec.co.uk)
356.89 including shipping.
The only thing I was pretty unhappy about was that they shipped it using a fed ex envelope, and not a box. When I opened the envelope, things were bad enough to have me worried the device was borked. luckily enough everything is fine. I would have happily paid $10 more to have it shipped in a box.
Anyways, this was the cheapest i found online.
Are you sure, it is really cheaper in the UK?
When I read prices of 420 pounds, that is more than I have paid at amazon /Germany (450 euros).
I'm looking to buy a Nook Color as a cheap CM tablet to experiment with app development/pdf reader for school, but getting a hold of one in Europe seems pretty difficult.
My only option so far seems to buy one on ebay and pay ~50% in import "penalties" etc.
At $300 it isn't in my price range any more, so do any of you have any good advice on the subject?
I'm in Denmark.
Try these guys -
http://www.comgateway.com
be quick and you could get it for less than US$200 delivered -
http://www.dailysteals.com/
vman81 said:
My only option so far seems to buy one on ebay and pay ~50% in import "penalties" etc.
At $300 it isn't in my price range any more, so do any of you have any good advice on the subject?
I'm in Denmark.
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I don't know if it available in europe yet but I would look at the Fire.
I have the same problem, living in Italy. Import duties on the last shipment were more than the cost of the items shipped from the US and shipping was almost as much. Fortunately I had to fly back for a wedding and brought a nook color back, with a lot of other things that can't be purchased here. Might as well get as much as I can for the price of the ticket.
For more urgent things I use Amazon.UK or Amazon.DE. Good exchange rate with the pound right now and buying from Germany is much cheaper than Italy anyday.
I ended up buying it on ebay.de for 249€ with free shipping (within the EU, so no taxes). Now I just need to unload my PS3 to pay for it
I bought one from US Eby and asked the seller to write down the value. Still had to pay import duties, but much less. Still a great price!
Be aware:
If you plan on keeping the B&N Nook funcitonality, it won't work so well in Europe since purchases need to be made in the US borders and with a US account.
If you plan on just flashing CM7 to the emmc, you'll be fine.
byronczimmer said:
Be aware:
If you plan on keeping the B&N Nook funcitonality, it won't work so well in Europe since purchases need to be made in the US borders and with a US account.
If you plan on just flashing CM7 to the emmc, you'll be fine.
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Lets just say I modded my ps2 before i even tried to turn it on
Heck, I was gonna suggest that I'd buy it and ship it to you as long as you could procure an N9 and ship it to me.
It's a shame when it's so difficult to get our hands on gadgets we like.
*NOTE: This can be deleted, because I was being a moron. All I had to do was log into my PayPal account and see the funds weren't there, or even pending, and I knew immediately someone was trying to scam me. Should have known sooner, though.
So, I "sold" my HTC One on Craigslist, and the person who bought it apparently wants me to ship it to Nigeria where her son is sttending school; it's for his birthday. She gave me 60 bucks more than I was asking via PayPal, which she stated was for shipping. Aside from not knowing whether the Sprint variant will even work over there (does anyone know?), I can't help but feel uneasy about this whole thing. I guess as long as the funds clear I'm safe, and am under no obligation to (unlike with eBay), to right any wrongs she might point out later down the line. Should I just take the money send the phone and run, or is there something I'm not seeing that could cause legitimate problems?
Oh man that's a big no no. Doing business with people on craigslist who want to pay you through PayPal and Western Union plus wanting you to send it to another country which always seems to be in Africa is almost always a scam. If you read the craiglist faq you might get more info on what they do.
Edit: Glad you caught it
Mwahaha, I remember having one of these for a listing on my Galaxy Tab 10.1. Businessman in Nigeria for his son's birthday. Were it not for the bad English, they actually had a reasonably convincing-looking PayPal e-mail notification (which failed Google's trusted vendor mail check, sure, but it was good nevertheless).
Lancerz said:
Oh man that's a big no no. Doing business with people on craigslist who want to pay you through PayPal and Western Union plus wanting you to send it to another country which always seems to be in Africa is almost always a scam. If you read the craiglist faq you might get more info on what they do.
Edit: Glad you caught it
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Actually, the PayPal thing was my idea. It was my way to get a higher dollar amount for the phone, kind of like what some gas stations do with credit-based sales. In my case I asked $425 cash or $450 via PayPal. Maybe I should stick with cash and local sales, though.
And this scammer was the same deal, Rirere, except it was a woman sending to her son. I Googled the mailing address faux PayPal sent me and found other people who had also almost been ripped off.
It's a good idea to always deal in cash, locally, and meet at a sprint store. Unless you are selling on ebay, doing it this way will cover both seller and buyer.