watch out for eBay wackos

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Logansfury
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watch out for eBay wackos

Post by Logansfury » May 5th, 2016, 8:38 pm

So out of curiousity I surfed around eBay looking at Collector's Editions I dont have and saw a range of prices and a range of really vague product descriptions.

I messaged a seller of one of these CE's and asked "Is the code to upgrade to CE still unused and available in your item for sale?"

The answer I got back: "I dont know. I just buy and resell stuff on eBay."

Wow. Just.....wow.

So I'm just supposed to fork over cash and hope for the best from someone I get the feeling had to struggle to compose a two sentence paragraph??? >.<

I also got a followup email from the seller I bought my Cata CE from, explaining to me that he had just sold another US Cata CE code - to a buyer in Europe that cant use it to upgrade his EU account that has all his pets on it, so how could he go about reselling it WITHOUT THE EU GUY FINDING OUT. I had to explain to him it was now an owned code that he couldnt resell as the person he revealed it to (whos money he said he'd kept) now owned it, and was probably looking for a US client owner to resell it to, to recoup his loss.

Bottom line is on eBay some merchants dont necessarily know the particulars of what they have for sale, or dont know enough about the pet codes to protect you from buying for the wrong region, but are more than ready to take your money.

If anyone is trying to complete their collection on eBay, id suggest more than a little caution and ask plenty of questions of the seller - and have nothing to do with sellers that cant give reasonable answers.
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FuxieDK
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Re: watch out for eBay wackos

Post by FuxieDK » May 6th, 2016, 1:07 am

I saw a TBC CE where the description said "The key might or might not have been used"....

Great way to cover your ass, when selling "damaged goods"....

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Logansfury
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Re: watch out for eBay wackos

Post by Logansfury » May 6th, 2016, 2:39 am

FuxieDK wrote:I saw a TBC CE where the description said "The key might or might not have been used"....

Great way to cover your ass, when selling "damaged goods"....
thats literally almost painful to read lol! Some "merchants"...
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Re: watch out for eBay wackos

Post by Sikoya » May 6th, 2016, 8:30 am

I've bought a couple of pets through eBay lately and so far, my experiences have only been positive :)

That being said, I also have my eBay-related pet peeves. For instance, I find those sellers a little irritating that describe their collector's editions as BRAND NEW or FACTORY SEALED in the titles only to clarify in the description (sometimes in rather unobtrusive places) that they're only selling the extras. Or those sellers that don't describe (as in using words) what they're putting up for auction and just state something like "you get what's in the pictures".

On a related note, I find the individuals trying to sell their collector's edition's "original empty box" rather hilarious^^

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Re: watch out for eBay wackos

Post by Madja » May 6th, 2016, 9:08 am

Sikoya wrote:I've bought a couple of pets through eBay lately and so far, my experiences have only been positive :)

That being said, I also have my eBay-related pet peeves. For instance, I find those sellers a little irritating that describe their collector's editions as BRAND NEW or FACTORY SEALED in the titles only to clarify in the description (sometimes in rather unobtrusive places) that they're only selling the extras. Or those sellers that don't describe (as in using words) what they're putting up for auction and just state something like "you get what's in the pictures".

Indeed. Those are quite annoying ^^ I've bought a lot of stuff from eBay, not only for myself, but for the raffles and my friends as well. I've yet to be scammed, but you do need to make sure you read the entire description. Some will say "New" if the codes are used, others will have a really cheap item but then charge 6-7 times the items price in shipping. Some will list that the game is included, but by this they mean the CD itself.
It can be really confusing :)

I stay away from the ones that state they don't know whether the code has been used or not.
It is possible, though, to contact Blizzard and ask them to confirm whether a code is still valid. I've done this multiple times. Simply ask the seller to do this and if they refuse then don't buy from them.
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Logansfury
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Re: watch out for eBay wackos

Post by Logansfury » May 6th, 2016, 9:12 am

Madja wrote:I stay away from the ones that state they don't know whether the code has been used or not.
It is possible, though, to contact Blizzard and ask them to confirm whether a code is still valid. I've done this multiple times. Simply ask the seller to do this and if they refuse then don't buy from them.
EXCELLENT suggestion, tyvm Madja
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Re: watch out for eBay wackos

Post by Mehetabel » May 6th, 2016, 10:33 am

There was also a period where sellers were selling the US CE of TBC on the European ebay . . . knowing that it couldn't be used to get the murloc pet but selling it for the same price and hoping no one noticed! :?

I've bought most of my TBC pets and Vanilla and TBC CE's on ebay though, thankfully with no problems. You just have to be really careful!
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Re: watch out for eBay wackos

Post by Fanaticdreamer » May 6th, 2016, 11:59 am

I hate people like that!

I was recently browsing ebay for TCG pet codes and I saw a lot of pets (5 of them) for like... 40-50 dollars. Not bad, I thought. I checked the description and I saw something that gave me pause. There was a disclaimer that said:

"we are are only responsible for the trading cards and not the codes at the bottom."

...why put that if they're unscratched/unused as you list in the title of your auction?

Fishy. And I didn't buy. Lol.

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Re: watch out for eBay wackos

Post by Logansfury » May 6th, 2016, 3:26 pm

Ive also been fortunate and not had a bad experience. Everything ive bought so far has been as advertised and I was happy with the buys - just all of a sudden the last few weeks im running into the oddest product descriptions and weird seller behavior.
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Re: watch out for eBay wackos

Post by Sarahwills31 » May 8th, 2016, 7:07 am

i have 3 sellers in europe i trust, as i have had good experience from them, all 3 are in germany.

Always happy to buy from them, but yes there are a lot of dodgy sellers on ebay, always interesting as well to read the buyers feedback as well before you purchase.

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Re: watch out for eBay wackos

Post by Logansfury » May 8th, 2016, 7:12 am

Sarahwills31 wrote:i have 3 sellers in europe i trust, as i have had good experience from them, all 3 are in germany.

Always happy to buy from them, but yes there are a lot of dodgy sellers on ebay, always interesting as well to read the buyers feedback as well before you purchase.
Thats what made this so wierd. The guy that suddenly wanted to sell the same code twice had nothing but positive remarks. The lady that "didnt know, I just resell stuff" had over 2K positive remarks!
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