What a streak! (bad Ebay experiences)

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,809
479
126
I don't believe in any superstitious stuff but here's my "luck" recently, when I purchased the following all within the last 40 days!

- Used i7-10700KF, the box/parcel arrived empty. Nothing inside. Seller insists they shipped a CPU. One end of the box appeared somewhat displaced and disheveled, like the fold-in panel had either loosened, or someone opened it and then folded back in without frank damage. I honestly thought the item was taken (or fell out) during transit but the only thing I know for certain is the box was empty when I receive it. I made the mistake of filing a claim with USPS first, because it was insured Priority Mail service. My case with USPS is on hold, waiting for documentation that was requested in a letter they sent me. I sent that documentation via Certified Mail on March 18th. Get this - it appears USPS has LOST my Certified Letter. It arrived in destination hub city (St. Louis MO) on the 21st, has not been delivered as of this writing and no further 'movement' logged. It appears I will need to file a missing mail report to locate my missing mail claim. HA! The jokes writing themselves. I did open a case with Ebay too last week, because I did not want any window to close on me while the case with USPS dragged out. But that was a mistake. As soon as I disclosed to Ebay that I have a pending claim with USPS, they decided against me and closed my claim. I can appeal but Ebay will probably defer to the pending claim I already open with USPS.

- Used Gigabyte mb, stated to be "B365M" DS3H four times in the listing header/title, item specifics, and item description. Instead of B365M, I received B360M and it was damaged, missing a CPU socket pin and several others bent none disclosed in the listing. Seller packed seriously inadequate, no antistatic bag, no socket cover, single boxed, no bubble wrap, just some thin sheets of styrofoam (not to mention the static electricity styrofoam is notorious for). The I/O shield was just flopping and rattling around freely inside the box in transit. Contacted the seller to request a refund, I made no secret that I was miffed. They were reciprocally pissy, noted the listing stated "Seller does not accept returns" (which doesn't apply when an item received is different from what is listed), but told me to open return and they would refund. I packed it all up BETTER than received it and put it in the mail. Then fired off a message to seller telling them when they receive it back, to note the PROPER way to pack an item for shipment, particularly a fragile circuit board or component. The seller replied 'please refrain from messaging me any further'. Seller received item back and opened a case with Ebay, falsely accusing me of returning a BOOK instead of the item they shipped. Ebay didn't fall for it, approved my return/refund, though the message I received did state "After reviewing your case, it appears that the item was returned in a different condition from how it was shipped. However, in this case, you'll still receive a refund." I don't know what they meant by this, but yes, the item was returned in different i.e. BETTER condition than received. It even cost me some extra packing materials, two nice boxes I had to use (a box inside a box) because the seller's box look like it washed up on a beach with the driftwood.

- Used Gigabyte B560M DS3H. Arrived well packed no complaints there. Worked for about 30 minutes then died. Two hours of troubleshooting, swapping CPU, RAM, PSU, blah blah, resetting CMOS, dead. Seller was good however, apologized and accepted return and refunded.

- Back plates for LGA 115X~1200 heatsinks. Seller shipped those adjustable universal ones even though the item photos were of the fixed solid type that only work for those Intel sockets. Seller refunded money, didn't have to return and I toss them in the trash. Ordered from a different seller.

- Used Gigabyte B365M DS3H to replace the B360M the other seller tried to scam me over. Different seller of course. A WIN this time, works fine so far.

- USB 3.0 A to B cable 6 foot two pack. Seller never shipped, no replies to messages. I wait over a week and open case with Ebay, seller never responded and got my refund. I think the seller died or something because he hasn't had ANY feeback or activity in over one year, despite having several items listed for sale the listing dates are all over one year old. Before ordering, I didn't check how recent his feedback was, I just saw over 30 feedbacks @ 98% positive.

I never had such a problem like this in 23 years and 400+ transactions. I am somewhat worried Ebay is gonna see all these cases I open in such a short period and think I'm the unethical actor!

I have a used Gigabyte H470M DS3H on the way as substitute for the returned B560M (different seller) since I could not find a decent price on another, but this H470M model supports both 10th and 11th gen which is what I wanted. Should be here Tuesday. Wish me luck!
 
Last edited:

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
59,090
9,508
126
You're braver than me. I can't think of anything that would get me to buy used computers that didn't go through some kind of professional inspection/refurbishment. I'd buy used from members here that I know, but that's about it. Saving money isn't worth dealing with headaches. I can make more money easier than dealing with bullshit.
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
Super Moderator
Aug 22, 2001
31,153
29,597
146
Last 3 Ebay used PC parts I bought -

2x8GB DDR4 kit, one stick was dead
RTX 3060 12GB code 43
PSU that was DOA

2 of the sellers made things easy, but the dead ram stick guy was a douche. I had to tell him either refund the money or I'd use the money back guarantee to get a refund.

I stick to for sale forums for used parts now. Almost 200 trades and yet to have a problem.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
21,706
6,139
136
I haven't purchased anything from Ebay in years. The few things I've looked for on Ebay have been listed at full retail price, why bother?
My last Ebay experience was buying Bobcat (skid steer loader) for several thousand dollars. I was actually a little surprised when I won the bid, but popped off a check and started arranging shipping. I requested the model and serial number from the seller so I could order fluids and filters. That's when I discovered it was a gray market machine, no parts or support of any kind in the U.S. The seller agreed that they had left out critical information and refunded my money.
The machine was relisted without any mention of it being a gray market.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
59,090
9,508
126
I don't buy much from ebay. Usually oddities, or stuff unavailable new. I think I got the igniter for my chipper off ebay, but I can't remember. The last two things I do remember was 200' of NOS Stihl saw chain. I paid <$500 for both, which was half price compared to my preferred sawshop, and way less than that compared to typical 'list price only' local dealers.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
7,902
9,004
136
Wow, you must be the negative dyad for all the good luck and money I've saved buying used off eBay.

Virtually my entire "main" PC in my sig as well as significant components of my Steam box all came in various states of used from eBay and they've all been solid.

I have over time gotten scammed and had a handful of bad parts show up from eBay, but it was practically less effort than returning a new part to a store to get my money back in those circumstances.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
39,942
9,626
136
Overall I've had pretty good luck with ebay. I've bought a few duds. I bought a used golf GPS from them around 2 years ago, it was like brand new, same model as the one I have used for over 10 years which is pretty beat up but still works. This newish one was cheap (it's been discontinued for many years). The ebay seller's listing said the buyer could update it by downloading course updates from the manufacturer. What I discovered was that the firmware on it didn't permit that, it was a very early version of the firmware and the manufacturer no longer supported upgrading the firmware. I complained to the seller, who was unaware of the issues and got my full refund. Had to send it back to them, which was OK. It was useless to me because it could only be used for one golf course in the country, the one next to them on the other coast!
 
Reactions: tcsenter

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
39,942
9,626
136
Wow, you must be the negative dyad for all the good luck and money I've saved buying used off eBay.

Virtually my entire "main" PC in my sig as well as significant components of my Steam box all came in various states of used from eBay and they've all been solid.

I have over time gotten scammed and had a handful of bad parts show up from eBay, but it was practically less effort than returning a new part to a store to get my money back in those circumstances.
Yeah, ebay is pretty good about returns particularly if you can document how the item doesn't measure up to the listing, something I try to be pretty sure about before I buy. For instance, if I buy a used book I want it to say it doesn't have underlines and hand written notes in the text.

You can develop an intuition concerning what you'll get. I have bought some used computer stuff but not a lot. A lot depends on what kind of stuff you're buying. A couple months ago the AC adapter I use for one of my laptops stopped working and I bought a replacement on ebay that's brand new for around $15. Lenovo wanted over $100.
 
Last edited:
Reactions: GodisanAtheist

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
69,726
13,343
126
www.betteroff.ca
That sounds like a pain to deal with. I've been fairly lucky with Ebay but I feel like every time I order any big ticket item from there I'm testing my fate. My last purchase from there was 2 SFF computers, 2 4-port nics and ram to max out the PCs, for a total of around $900 or so. If I had been screwed that would have been a huge loss. That kind of stuff tends to come from liquidators though so I usually feel a good "vibe" from the listing that it's safe. I tend to try to look for the listings where you can buy more than 1 of the same item as it means they have a big lot that they're selling. Those SFF machines are a steal though compared to self builds. I don't know if I can even justify building anymore wether it's for servers or desktop when I can get like 4-5 of those SFF machines for the cost of building 1 machine. Cluster all the things!
 

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
19,943
14,215
136
I routinely buy USB 2.0 motherboard header brackets off ebay to supplement PCs I build with extra USB ports. I was buying a lot of used Blurays from music magpie but they've increased their prices a lot so I'm barely looking at their selection any more.

The main experience I had that turned me off ebay I wrote up here:

Other than that I bought a sandy bridge era laptop off ebay for like £60 because a customer had trashed theirs significantly and it was cheaper to do things this way (if it worked), but I don't remember the exact issue with the laptop but I ended up filing a return straight away and the seller barely discussed anything at all, just authorised the return straight away and no issues.
 

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,809
479
126
I have a used Gigabyte H470M DS3H on the way as substitute for the returned B560M (different seller) since I could not find a decent price on another, but this H470M model supports both 10th and 11th gen which is what I wanted. Should be here Tuesday. Wish me luck!

AAAAANNND here is what I see upon unpacking:




Does anything immediately draw your attention to some area? I knew it would....





Pin is either bent out of place or missing altogether. I haven't determined which yet. Gonna bust out the scope.

It came well packed except for NO socket cover/protector. Other than that one most important piece of protection for these LGA boards, it was otherwise very well packed. Waiting on seller to respond to my message.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
69,726
13,343
126
www.betteroff.ca
Ouch that sucks, but yeah if lucky maybe it's not an important pin.

I found this diagram: https://www.gadget-manual.com/pinout-cpu/lga-1700/

I'm just not 100% sure how to read the diagram, ex: am I looking at the cpu or at the socket so not sure what side is what on the socket. But if it's one of the VSS or VCORE pins you're probably fine, I assume those are all connected together and they just use that many pins to spread out power draw. You could use a multimeter on the cpu itself to check continuity between pins to see if that's the case.
 
Reactions: tcsenter

Shmee

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 13, 2008
8,034
2,980
146
AAAAANNND here is what I see upon unpacking:

View attachment 121614


Does anything immediately draw your attention to some area? I knew it would....


View attachment 121615


Pin is either bent out of place or missing altogether. I haven't determined which yet. Gonna bust out the scope.

It came well packed except for NO socket cover/protector. Other than that one most important piece of protection for these LGA boards, it was otherwise very well packed. Waiting on seller to respond to my message.
I would definitely return it, unless it was sold as for parts only.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
65,618
14,000
146
I got burned twice on EBay in the same year,, more than 20 years ago. I haven't given them a dime since.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
7,902
9,004
136
Yeah couple tips with eBay:

1) If the listing is using a generic image for the item, you gon get scammed (especially if it's the white background with the card shopped on).

2) If the item is a really, really, stupid good price... You gon get scammed.

3) Both of those things and it's shipping from China? Yo ass bout to get scammed real gud.

4) If the picture and description don't match, keep on moving (picture shows a 3060 6gb and the listing says 3060ti, for example).

5) Make sure you pay close attention to the item description. eBay very clearly categorizes new/used/open box/ for parts not working/ refurbishes etc. if what you get isn't what they sold it as (and that's a problem to you) return it.

6) Read the item description. If it's blank or has some generic copy paste card spec nonsense in there, just keep moving.

7) Don't waste time contacting the seller blah blah blah, just open the case with eBay ASAP and go through the return process. If you get a damaged part, use "item not as described" and indicate that it should have been listed as "for parts not working".
 
Reactions: DAPUNISHER

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,809
479
126
Ouch that sucks, but yeah if lucky maybe it's not an important pin.

I found this diagram: https://www.gadget-manual.com/pinout-cpu/lga-1700/

I'm just not 100% sure how to read the diagram, ex: am I looking at the cpu or at the socket so not sure what side is what on the socket. But if it's one of the VSS or VCORE pins you're probably fine, I assume those are all connected together and they just use that many pins to spread out power draw. You could use a multimeter on the cpu itself to check continuity between pins to see if that's the case.

Thanks, it's either VSS or VCC pin depending if I have my orientation correct. One or the other. And confirmed pin is missing altogether. Traumatically, looks like it kinda roughed up a couple pins nearby, bent those ones a bit.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
69,726
13,343
126
www.betteroff.ca
You might be fine then, I would check for continuity between different pins labeled the same, just to confirm, but I would guess they are all coupled either at the CPU or at the socket.
 
Reactions: tcsenter

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
Super Moderator
Aug 22, 2001
31,153
29,597
146
My books from Ebay came in today. All are in good shape and one is even a hardcover. I missed that detail if it was listed. Never have any problems with items outside of used PC parts.
 

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,809
479
126
You might be fine then, I would check for continuity between different pins labeled the same, just to confirm, but I would guess they are all coupled either at the CPU or at the socket.

Nahhh not worth it. I'm in no hurry, really. Just developing the fatigue of it all, but not in any hurry. Seller appears to have multiple for sale, we'll see what they want to do, but I'm not keeping this one.
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
Super Moderator
Aug 22, 2001
31,153
29,597
146
Tell them if they are going to ship you another one without a socket cover, don't even bother. Get a refund and find a seller that isn't a goofy goober.
 

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,809
479
126
Tell them if they are going to ship you another one without a socket cover, don't even bother. Get a refund and find a seller that isn't a goofy goober.

This seller does a lot of trade in computer parts, too. I mean why are socket covers so elusive to many? I bought a 20 pack for $22 delivered.
 

tcsenter

Lifer
Sep 7, 2001
18,809
479
126
Seller refunded, no return requirement. I did a thing, too. Purchased a board from AliExpress! First timer.

Could my luck be any worse with AliExpress? Seller with good rep, 2000+ transactions, good (clear) return policy, warrantied for 60 days.
 
Last edited:
sale-70-410-exam    | Exam-200-125-pdf    | we-sale-70-410-exam    | hot-sale-70-410-exam    | Latest-exam-700-603-Dumps    | Dumps-98-363-exams-date    | Certs-200-125-date    | Dumps-300-075-exams-date    | hot-sale-book-C8010-726-book    | Hot-Sale-200-310-Exam    | Exam-Description-200-310-dumps?    | hot-sale-book-200-125-book    | Latest-Updated-300-209-Exam    | Dumps-210-260-exams-date    | Download-200-125-Exam-PDF    | Exam-Description-300-101-dumps    | Certs-300-101-date    | Hot-Sale-300-075-Exam    | Latest-exam-200-125-Dumps    | Exam-Description-200-125-dumps    | Latest-Updated-300-075-Exam    | hot-sale-book-210-260-book    | Dumps-200-901-exams-date    | Certs-200-901-date    | Latest-exam-1Z0-062-Dumps    | Hot-Sale-1Z0-062-Exam    | Certs-CSSLP-date    | 100%-Pass-70-383-Exams    | Latest-JN0-360-real-exam-questions    | 100%-Pass-4A0-100-Real-Exam-Questions    | Dumps-300-135-exams-date    | Passed-200-105-Tech-Exams    | Latest-Updated-200-310-Exam    | Download-300-070-Exam-PDF    | Hot-Sale-JN0-360-Exam    | 100%-Pass-JN0-360-Exams    | 100%-Pass-JN0-360-Real-Exam-Questions    | Dumps-JN0-360-exams-date    | Exam-Description-1Z0-876-dumps    | Latest-exam-1Z0-876-Dumps    | Dumps-HPE0-Y53-exams-date    | 2017-Latest-HPE0-Y53-Exam    | 100%-Pass-HPE0-Y53-Real-Exam-Questions    | Pass-4A0-100-Exam    | Latest-4A0-100-Questions    | Dumps-98-365-exams-date    | 2017-Latest-98-365-Exam    | 100%-Pass-VCS-254-Exams    | 2017-Latest-VCS-273-Exam    | Dumps-200-355-exams-date    | 2017-Latest-300-320-Exam    | Pass-300-101-Exam    | 100%-Pass-300-115-Exams    |
http://www.portvapes.co.uk/    | http://www.portvapes.co.uk/    |