Safe to buy off ebay?

[tupacinla]

I was looking into buying an ipod through ebay, but is it safe? I heard stories that sometimes people steal products, and sell them thru ebay...

if so, and i end up with a stolen ipod, when i try to register it, will something happen to me? buying online has always made me cautious..

what do some of you think? apple can track stolen products when you try to register it am i correct?

[Sargasm]

I sincerely wish they did have some sort of online tracking, as my mini was stolen last year...

[tupacinla]

I hope so too, i saw a documentary on tv, that showed some scary stuff

which makes me scared in trying ebay out...

[turtle]

I hope so too, i saw a documentary on tv, that showed some scary stuff

which makes me scared in trying ebay out...

In a lot of areas eBay is an online black market. In a lot they are more like a garage sale online. Just pay attention to the sellers feedback and you should be fine.

If the iPod is stolen and you try to register it, I have no idea what would happen.

[flail]

if so, and i end up with a stolen ipod, when i try to register it, will something happen to me?

No. The warranty (if it is still even in effect) is attached to the serial number, or the iPod, itself, not to the person who's name it was registered before. In some extreme case the serial number is scratched off and the warranty is still in affect, you may have trouble getting it serviced.

[torifile]

I hope so too, i saw a documentary on tv, that showed some scary stuff

which makes me scared in trying ebay out...
You watched a documentary and now you're scared to use ebay? Come on. A little common sense and care will go a long way to making things fine. Email the seller. Read their feedback. It's not hard to quickly get a sense of who's honest and who's not.

[Yontsey]

I bought lots of stuff off of eBay and only had a problem once about 3.5 years ago. Paypal promptly refunded my money and went after the seller.

Ive used eBay and MacNN and have always been comfortable with them. I bought a 4gig nano two christmas' ago off of MacNN and it couldnt have with smoother.

Basically, if youre smart about who you buy from (watch out for seller rating, feedback, ect) you will be fine and will not have a problem. Just dont go in blindly bidding on shit and you should have no trouble.

[torifile]

And use a credit card! Don't pay using paypal funds. It's ok to use paypal, but make sure you pay using your credit card. Paypal couldn't care less if you get scammed but your c.c. will go to bat for you if something goes wrong. The only time I've ever been scammed, I happened to use paypal funds, too. I hate paypal. It's a necessary evil right now, but I hope google checkout gets more popularity.

[dmegatool]

I've been fucked one time. The seller never sent my item... Paypal refund my money. I'm still confident about eBay and I will surely buy again.

Like others said, look at the feedback, seller rating, etc.

[Windswept]

If you do a quick search, we have a few older threads on this topic.

Here's one about paypal:

http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?t=21503

And another:

http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?t=11992&highlight=paypal+safe

About ebay:

http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?t=20425&highlight=paypal+safe

http://forums.applenova.com/showthread.php?t=3333&highlight=paypal+safe

[kretara]

I have been buying and selling on ebay for years. I have yet to get f'ed over. The key is to do your homework.
If you are going to buy something, check out the sellers feedback and see what kinds of things they have sold in the past (if possible). If you see somebody selling tons of less than $1 stuff you should be very wary about buying anything expensive from them.

Always use a credit card even if buying via paypal. Never do a bank transfer. I won't even bid on an item if the seller won't take credit card (paypal type) payments.