talkmagic.co.uk

Hey all,

Never really been a fan of buying effects from ebay/the selling magic section on this forum, but im starting to realise what bargains im missing out on. Im just rather concerned about the whole process and wondered what kind of security is involved and how safe the whole transaction actually is. I mean there have been a couple of items I have wanted to buy, but have held back due to stories of friends buying through paypal/sending cheques - the money going through and no items being sent. And what if you are not satisfied with the purchase ie you buy a coin effect and perhaps the coins are in poor condition so as they dont work as smoothly as they should. The security seems good for the seller as they only send off the item when the money goes through (as long as they take the necessary precaution to send the item as registered and get the purchasor to sign on purchase arrival), but what about the buyer?

Thanks again everyone

Alex,

With both, your best bet is to read the descriptions of the items carefully (ie. is it a genuine gibson/whatever, or a copy), make sure you understand the condition of the item, and any postage costs and times.

It's quite common to see listings referring to "coin unique" for example, when it's not a genuine gibson. In my experience, the listings are generally truthful, but look for the information omissions. Check the listing carefully, and if necessary contact the seller through the ebay system.

After you fully understand what you're buying, check the reputation of the seller. On Ebay, you have a feedback system to use, so you can see whether the persons past transactions have worked well or not. Check the positive feedback is high (95% should be about the minimum, the more feedback, the better). Read what the customers have been happy and unhappy with, and check that the person has got the feedback by selling items of that type before (ie. if the seller has a good transaction history of selling socks, and then suddenly lists a load of laptop computers, avoid them like the plague).

Always pay with paypal where possible, never send cheques or whatever, especially outside europe. Never use payment systems you haven't heard of and used before. Be careful to know the proper retail price, and not get carried away with bidding.

When you pay with paypal/ebay, there are some protections in case of fraud, but they are often not very worthwhile for small sums (less than £50 or so, check the policies). Generally the feedback system, and community spirit is good enough to keep good traders honest, and alert people to bad traders/scammers.

With transactions on here, I can't comment with authority, as I've never bought anything from anyone on this forum, but generally you'd be best off paying with paypal, and only buying from people who have a good posting record - meaning they have been around here for awhile, and are generally well regarded. Bear in mind that it's fairly easy to register an account here without anyone really knowing who you are.

Be careful, but there are some good bargains to get, and it is worth doing.

Out of curiosity - does Eddie Gibson mark his work in some way, to prove authenticity? I know guys like Schoolcraft and Lassen imprint their logos on the gaffs to ensure such things. Just wondering if Eddie Gibson did it, too.

Dunno about the eddie gibson thing, i don't think my coin unique is real but it is damn the same, absolutely perfect!

As for buying off the internet, eBay is fine because it is really safe, only EVER pay through paypal though. I would NEVER send money or cheques in the post. In the buying section on this forum people have been scammed by sending cheques. It's not this sites fault in any means, it happens all the time but using paypal on ebay is fine.

Thanks a lot for all the response guys, but say I use paypal for an item on this forum and the person does not send the item. What kind of come back do I get?

thanks again,

Alex

Pay pal has security features for these kinds of situations.

Basically - if there is a dispute (items not shipped, etc) then you inform pay pal, who opens up an inquiry and sends letters out to both parties. The seller then has a certain amount of time (not sure how long) to fix the situation. If the deadline passes without response or activity, pay pal refunds the buyers' money.

My fiance had a problem like this back during Christmas. It was annoying, but she eventually got her money back.

Ebay is usually pretty good about going after people who do these kinds of things, as well.

Hmm, I'm not sure what would happen with that but if the same thing happened with eBay, then they'd help you. I'm not sure if much could be done But then i don't know much about just paypal. i would reccomend you to only buy something off someone on here if they are known well on the forum and have like, i dunno about more than 700 posts or something. Just to know that they are not some person that has just registered to scam people. There must be some sort of protection though if they did not send the item, you could probably get access to their details like phone number, address etc. Have a look on Paypals website.

[Have a look on this page as it has alot about their security: http://www.paypal.com/uk/cgi-bin/webscr ... er-outside]

Buying from an established dealer or someone that you know, such as an establised TM member with numerous posts - then generally you can't go much wrong.

ebay, can be risky. Paypal's protection is as much use as a chocolate teapot and I know from experience. If you're ripped off on ebay then you're on your own.

I had an interesting experience on ebay recently. I ordered something as a present for a friend. They said they'd send it once the payment cleared. sure enough the item arrived 10 days later. Then I started receiving emails about not paying for the item. So I went to paypal and found something to put the payment through. I got more emails saygin that some kind of discussion had been opened between us because of this lack of payment. I got onto this discussion and said I have a bank statement and paypal receipt that say I've paid. And he replied saying "I'm not accusing you of not paying, I said the payment was waiting to clear and I'll despatch it when it has." But I've already received the damn item. I have no idea whats going on with it. Haven't had any emails for a while, perhaps it's sorted itself out.

ebay/PP don't give a *&$% about you. Or the sellers. Which is why if you lodge a complaint on PP, 99% of the time you'll get an auto-refund. In fact the seller risks losing $ even if they can prove the sent you the item - depending whether a human on PP views the case. You will never pay and get nothing.

otoh, never buy gaffs off ebay. Stick to retail products where quality is guaranteed. There are many posts here about defective gaffs etc off ebay.

If I find a gaff I want on ebay, I use the price match guarantee on www.MJMMagic.com
so I get the best of price and good service.

Option wrote:otoh, never buy gaffs off ebay. Stick to retail products where quality is guaranteed. There are many posts here about defective gaffs etc off ebay

It is a risk, however it's one I've taken on several occassions and come off smiling. Although it's not 'a gaff' my Straitjacket came off ebay and was the best investment I've ever made (three years use and counting)... I've brought plenty of top items from there, and saved bundles of cash (I recently brought a prop for £26 that retails at £180), I have had a couple of dodgy items but on the whole I'm pretty pleased. I guess often you just have to decide if you're feeling lucky and if you think the seller can be trusted...

Demitri wrote:Out of curiosity - does Eddie Gibson mark his work in some way, to prove authenticity? I know guys like Schoolcraft and Lassen imprint their logos on the gaffs to ensure such things. Just wondering if Eddie Gibson did it, too.

I don't think Gibson gaffs are marked. They do come with an instruction sheet/sheets detailing the effects, and that has the name on it, but they're photocopied, so they wouldn't be hard to reproduce if someone were trying to pass off a copy.

Roy Kueppers seems to mark his work with his initials scratched (apparently by hand) into the reverse/inside, but again, it doesn't look like it would be hard for someone to fake.

Delude wrote: In the buying section on this forum people have been scammed by sending cheques. It's not this sites fault in any means, it happens all the time but using paypal on ebay is fine.

I am unaware of this ever having happened, though I don't check every post in that area. If anyone is aware of someone untrustworthy trading on this forum please inform a mod, we might not be able to get your money back but we can ban the member responsible.

As everyone else has stated, it is important to check that the member has good standing here before trading with them. We are looking at implementing a minimum post threshold before the trading forum becomes available but even now we delete first posts which appear there.

i believe that dat had a problem, i read in a post the other day that an item never got sent.

it's probably also worth pointing out that if you buy from established online shops, you usually get a very competetive price, and are generally very safe from fraud. Check the advert links at the bottom of the forum pages, and keep an eye out for recommendations by established members.

The "old" saying is that it's safer than using a credit card at a restaurant, where they take it away to swipe it. Maybe slightly less relevant in these days of chip and pin, but still worth considering.