Buying Games Off Ebay

[Keltis]

Was just wondering if its a good idea to buy those hard to find games off of ebay? I've some horrible stories about getting scammed and etc, anyone have any advice as to if I should or not and what to look out for if I do?

[MadCrom]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

I for one bought my copy of FFXI (super hard to find on PS2) 5 months ago off ebay......Just make sure the seller has good feedback and Seller Rating and you shouldn't have a problem. I buy off Ebay Quite often, two days ago i bought CoP!!

Yeah there are horror stories about getting scammed and all, but if you do a little research (looking at there Pos and Neg feedback and overall rating) on the person you are thinking of buying from you shouldn't have a problem.

As for the Feedback part, you can look to see how much Positive and Negative Feedback the seller has..........if there are Negative FB then you can look to see why it was Negative. Alot of the times the comments are just Impatient people who didn't get there item fast enough so they leave Neg FB.

And if Ebay still bugs you there is GameLiquidations.com and you can find alot of things there as well........They are big sellers on Ebay so if you find something on Ebay that they are selling i would check them out.

[Van'derfel]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

Yeah what h said. I just bought my copy and all the expansions off of ebay last week. I am an avid ebay user and i never get scammed(anymore). Just check their feedback and compare to others and you will be set. Also dont foreget to check the shipping cost and the payment methods, some shipping is over priced.

[MadCrom]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

Also dont foreget to check the shipping cost and the payment methods, some shipping is over priced.

I totally didn't even think of that.

Some people charge WAAAAAAY!!! to much for shipping, sure the price might be good but they might have the shipping up to 30 dollars........i did that once /cry.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

I buy and sell games on Ebay all the time. With PC games or games like FFXI for PS2/360 that require codes to play, make sure that the game is new. Otherwise games such as regular PS2, 360, GC, DS, PSP, etc are fine to buy. Read the description throughly though and listen to all the advice previously posted.

Ebay can be a positive experience but you do have to do a bit of reading and paying attention for it to be.

[Zauth]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

Well I can't speak for getting FFXI off of Ebay ( I personally wouldn't trust it) I can speak for hard to find games for older consoles such as Dreamcast, Gensis etc. Do some research and look for some eBay stores, many of them are excellent and you will get great service and support.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

I've been using eBay since I was about 14, and I've never had a bad transaction. As long as you look at who you're buying from, you'll be fine. eBay has all the measures you need to have a safe transaction, and even more in the rare event that something goes wrong.

[Caspian]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

Only had one bad transaction in the last however many years. Bought some poker chips from a guy with a lot of sells and a high seller rate. Right after I buy them, the guy ups and disappears. Gets like 20 negative remarks about him over the next couple weeks, and paypal returned my money because of it. Was weird though, like the guy died or just disappeared off the face of the earth. Can't see someone spending years making legit transactions, just so he can scam 1 or 2 thousand years later that he'll end up using since he preferred paypal.
Anyway, bought lots of games off of ebay and never had any problems. The one thing you will have to watch out for if you buy cartridge games are the ones that use batteries. (i.e. the Zelda games, FF's, etc.) I think they have something like a 10-15 year life span, and people are starting to see their batteries dieing and losing saved games. There is a fix, but it requires you to do cartridge surgery. So just be aware of that. (There's a website somewhere that shows you exactly what you need and how to replace a game battery, try googling it if you need it.)

[Ayrlie]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

research your seller before placing a bid

if in doubt don't bid on the item

[MadCrom]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

Only had one bad transaction in the last however many years. Bought some poker chips from a guy with a lot of sells and a high seller rate. Right after I buy them, the guy ups and disappears. Gets like 20 negative remarks about him over the next couple weeks, and paypal returned my money because of it. Was weird though, like the guy died or just disappeared off the face of the earth. Can't see someone spending years making legit transactions, just so he can scam 1 or 2 thousand years later that he'll end up using since he preferred paypal.

That is quite Strange......

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

Only had one bad transaction in the last however many years. Bought some poker chips from a guy with a lot of sells and a high seller rate. Right after I buy them, the guy ups and disappears. Gets like 20 negative remarks about him over the next couple weeks, and paypal returned my money because of it. Was weird though, like the guy died or just disappeared off the face of the earth. Can't see someone spending years making legit transactions, just so he can scam 1 or 2 thousand years later that he'll end up using since he preferred paypal.
Anyway, bought lots of games off of ebay and never had any problems. The one thing you will have to watch out for if you buy cartridge games are the ones that use batteries. (i.e. the Zelda games, FF's, etc.) I think they have something like a 10-15 year life span, and people are starting to see their batteries dieing and losing saved games. There is a fix, but it requires you to do cartridge surgery. So just be aware of that. (There's a website somewhere that shows you exactly what you need and how to replace a game battery, try googling it if you need it.)

Yep that happened to me too Caspian, while it is rare it does happen. I've been on Ebay since it began and I've had my fair share of bad deals but the good ones far outweigh them. I've gotten some pretty nice FF collectibles and made my fair share of $$ too.

[Mog]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

It's quite simple.

If it states that it's guaranteed to work and it doesn't, you get your money back no questions asked. It's fairly safe to buy games and such off ebay.

However, I personally wouldn't buy FF11, or any other game that requires a certain code (that hasn't previously been used) to play the game. So....I would suggest you stay safe and buy it new from EB or another reliable place.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

The guarantee for your money back is misleading. For smaller items like games etc it is worthless. They cover anything over $200 or $250. So if you get stiffed on a $50 dollar game, you are out of your money period. Been there, done that!

[Mog]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

The guarantee for your money back is misleading. For smaller items like games etc it is worthless. They cover anything over $200 or $250. So if you get stiffed on a $50 dollar game, you are out of your money period. Been there, done that!

hm, if it's so misleading, what's to say the seller doesn't try to sell broken games? Unless you have a way of checking what kind of person he is, he can be ripping you off with a damaged game, no? Sounds like a risk if it's an ordinary video game.

Edit: sorry, didn't read before. Probably the best way is checking the person's reviews from other people, etc.

[Caspian]

Re: Buying Games Off Ebay

Paypal will cover just about anything. I think they may take a small percentage, but if so it isn't much.
Had a friend buy a snowboard a few years ago off Ebay, for a really good deal. Turns out it was some kid who got it for Christmas or his birthday or something and just put it up to make some easy money w/o actually selling it. Some way or another my friend ends up with the kids telephone number and starts calling, a lot. Eventually he ends up talking to the kid's mom and she tells him it was a present and he wasnt supposed to sell it, but since he did decide to put it up and it sold, that she would send my friend the snowboard. Funny part was how pissed she was at her kid, I think the kid ended up getting whooped for it too.