At 17.50 07.01.05, gpvb1@comcast.net wrote:
What if we applied 99% to other endeavors as being "good enough?" What if surgeons killed every 100th patient due to an error on their part? What if every 100th car blew up when you tried to start it the first time? In electronics, 99% reliability would put you out of business in short order.
Whoa, son. I was kinda, sorta with you a 1000% until here. :D I can't hold eBay (or any monetary transaction) to the same standard to which I would hold a medical procedure. Buying or selling something for a few bucks certainly isn't equivalent to my life. In a system where greed always lurks under the surface, s**t happens. Comes with the territory. You wallow with pigs, you're gonna get some mud on you.
With respect to cars and electronics, the problem is that those are rather simple to get right as opposed to dealing with ornery cantankerous human beings. [sarcasm]If you expect > 99% consistency and rational behavior from people, you probably also believe that cats can be herded successfully or you watch way too much Fox News [/sarcasm].
How much risk do you want to undertake? It's all up to you. As buyers on eBay, we have very few tools in our arsenal, but FB is almost always the most important one, no question.
Don't disagree, but the best tool in our arsenal is severely flawed. It still gets down to you pays yer money and you takes yer chances. Most of us who are frequent eBayers probably can recognize when a listing isn't quite right, even if it's something we can't put our fingers on. Like obscenity, we can't define it, but we know it when we see it. :-).
Phil Sieg
Knoxville, Tennessee
No way - sorry. "S happens" is a fatalistic view that I don't buy into. It makes you more likely to become a victim IMO. If you do your homework on eBay (it is *work* that takes time), you won't get burned, bottom line. If you "pays yer money and takes yer chances" then yes, you'll get burned eventually for sure (if not sooner)! 99% of the folks out there (on eBay and elsewhere) are 100% honest and well-intentioned (if not always well-informed).
You may need to learn how to read more into FB - IMO, how a seller deals with the inevitable problems that arise is much more important than the fact that they come up from time to time. Additionally, FB left by a seller for others is far more important than FB received, and on and on and on.....
As I said, it's all about risk - I don't like to take any if possible!!
Greg Parker
Ann Arbor, Michigan