Thursday, January 5, 2017

eBay and Craigslist

eBay and Craigslist can be a senior’s great friend, WITH CARE!


The secret is to care about whom you're dealing with, research the items, and the buyers or sellers, and be completely upright, honest, and in your dealings.


Nobody can do it for you.  There are plenty of videos and help pages to show you how to do it, but you have to do it yourself.


Injecting a third-party exposes to all kinds of communication problems, such as undervaluing or overvaluing an item.     


So is it worth it?    Absolutely!


If you ever needed a hard to find part, or an item no longer sold in the stores, or something inexpensive from overseas, eBay is your source.   Paying through PayPal make it safe. You pay when the item ships and you are anonymous.


Or someone may want those things you no longer want or can dispose of locally.  You are also paid when the item ships.


Is eBay reliable?   Certainly eBay itself does everything possible to produce the quality of transactions, such as providing the history of a particular seller or buyer.     But then it is up to you to go further by communicating with the buyer or seller to get an idea of who you're dealing with.    And read the offering very carefully indeed.


With Craigslist it is easy to establish a communication without anyone knowing who you are.   All communications go anonymously through Craigslist until you feel comfortable with the person you are dealing with and make a more direct contact.


You can always meet them in a public place. If you do need to go to a specific address, you can scout it out ahead of time and go there with someone else or simply meet first in a public area.


Also,  with Craigslist, you will need to have cash on hand to complete the transaction.    I have never bargained with anyone on Craigslist. if the price is not what I want to pay for the item as described,  I pass it up.


On eBay, on the other hand, I look for items where I can make an offer, and often do so on the most recently listed items.


It has often been enjoyable to deal with buyers and sellers.   One woman who bought two bikes drove up in a red truck and, and getting out, explained that she didn't need any more bikes, but she couldn't help herself renovating them and giving them to others.


In another case,  I was looking for a piano, having sold my old Baldwin Acrosonic years ago and missing it.    After talking on the phone with the seller, we drove to an immaculate  Mennonite Farm where a piano mover had a few pianos stored in a winterized  barn.     


There was a lonely Baldwin Acrosonic which showed few signs of ever having been played but quite a few vacuum cleaner bumps. I bought it on the spot for cash, delivered.   It was so sad to see it unwanted and unplayed.   


In all my buying, I have fared as well as buying direct from the most reputable stores, such as JCPenney and L.L.Bean.


Wherever there is a problem I have bent over backwards to rectify it,  so that everyone will know it is safe to buy from or sell to me.  The buyer is always right.

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