Why the truth is not in them ??

I believe in pre haggling by messaging or emails. The condition and operation of the relevant equipment should be exposed and then agreed to. Then any shipping costs investigated and agreed to. Once a deal has been agreed to, ie the order/invoice paperwork is agreed to by both parties or intermediary, the funds are transferred, or what ever the safest way comfortable by BOTH parties.
As long as there is no dishonesties (unfortunately not guaranteed), both parties should be mostly be satisfied. As long as there is specific documentation accompanying the transaction as should be well. It also is essential to be honest and upfront about sellers and buyers expectations. (Who am I teaching?).
I have been done over once. My fault for being inexperienced and gullible. Once bitten, twice shy.

 I now see myself as honest as I predict the second party to be. Now way will I rip someone off. Neither would I expect to be done over either. 🇦🇺 

I believe most people are honest and show at least some level of empathy. We help each other to achieve better things.

Then there are few people who do not look at you as a person but rather as a mark/asset ready to be exploited. They even come with silver tongues, masters at lies and deception. Sometimes you’ll find many with a short period of time. But don’t make the mistake of assuming this represents people as a whole - don’t let these few self centered people define your world view.

There is absolutely no benefit from stressing about it so don’t. All we can do is plan and screen the best that we can then sometimes roll the dice. Most/all of us have been fooled/snookered at least sometime, and chances are it may happen again. Don’t beat yourself up either. Don’t live in paranoid fear.

It’s easy to get angry when somebody wrongs you, but I try to understand the root cause to better to deal with them and is better for my mental health. I look at the world as endless potential wealth. If we came from huts, clubs, caves, where did all this stuff we enjoy come from? But some people look at the world as having limited pie slices, so they better hustle to get theirs before someone else, sometimes using decent. Often they think in terms of lack, glass half empty than half full. Something in their life programmed them to think this way, often negative.

Noromance:  There is no such thing as a 'Democratic Socialist' nation.  Because the Socialist government can always be removed in an election.  What changes the people when the Socialists are in power?  Or are you thinking about the many nations that say they are democracies but are not.  Truth is, if you count the real democratic nations of the world you won't get to 25.  Its never been more than that.  Probably never will be.

Why restrict the criticism to eBayers?  40 or 50 years ago all the big companies were basically honest most of the time.  Now they are basically dishonest all of the time.  Volkswagen.  Big banks defrauding LIBOR.  Utility companies charging more to long-time customers.  Bank and insurance company mis-selling.  Lawyers protecting their own backside instead of putting the client first.  Drug companies sellng dangerous products and knowing it.  Lies about organic foods and ingredients.  Pretending to be green.   etc etc.  There is no end to it.

Yes, and we can all thank the neoliberal idea of ’shareholder value’ for this unfortunate trend.

It’s a disturbing sign of the times that some people - as seems to be the case here - believe that this type of greedy cynicism (corporate or otherwise) should be blamed on Marx (either Karl or Groucho). Jeeezzz....

kennyc,

’All we can do is plan and screen the best that we can then sometimes roll the dice. Most/all of us have been fooled /snookered at least sometime, and chances are it may happen again.’


You’re right, but I wish I still your faith in people (fellow audiophiles largely excepted).

One scam that I’ve fallen for on numerous occasions is buying something used which has replaceable batteries. Far too many times I’ve discovered that although the batteries had leaked and virtually destroyed their contacts, the seller has forgotten to mention this.

Another time I bought used Dell Optiplex 9020 where the seller had forgotten to mention the missing I/O shields. Easy enough to get some aftermarket replacements but as I’d paid a decent price for it, I kind of expected better.

Books and used smartphones have also been a problem area. I once had a graphic novel described as very good condition delivered which was only fit for the bin.

On the other hand there have been some brilliant sellers who went out of their way to be helpful as possible - all the way from their honest and factual adverts to the packaging of the items.

One bookseller, when I told her how pleasantly surprised I was by the condition of the hardback I bought off her, told me she tries to underplay the condition of her books to avoid customer disappointment.

As you say, planning and screening are all important. And as ever, be especially wary of chasing the ultimate bargain. I had a lifetime of watching my dad get regularly stung that way.

I'm not too sure whether he knows any better today!