Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

id like to thank everyone who has participate thus far and urge you to share this thread ith any friends whom have had these issues before.

to buyers/collectors, dont lose hope in your searches on ebay and amazon for those hard to find figures. remember that those sites offer help with our satisfaction when required.

to the honest sellers, thank you for your integrity.

for those who have burned people, just remember someday you maybe on the end of the urge to leave negative feed back.

we all have those impulses to leap at a good buy, and sometimes no matter how well the reviews of a seller are, we may still get burned. theres always ways to fix it.

good luck and happy hunting.

I haven't really had any bad experiences on ebay... with Transformers anyway. But I will also admit I've only bought about two dozen or so items on there, so my experience is limited compared to most.

My only bad experience on that site was several years ago when I bought a season of an anime. I received a bootleg instead of the legit thing. Left a negative feedback and moved on. The DVD's worked and had been fairly cheap so it wasn't worth paying the shipping to send it back.

Everything else has been pretty smooth.

Right now is what I call a "dry" period. There is nothing in the stores that will entice me, I've already got them. In these times I catch up on older TFs. I just shopped victoriously and received a G1 Bruticus…"complete" out of box…I didn't want a box, but I would have liked a ramp and Blast-offs guns. I contacted the seller, and apparently it didn't come with that…even though I am staring at it in the instructions. I'm not too upset considering the price I paid, but complete does have a definition. I have sold TF's on Ebay and been contacted that I forgot to ship something…and I send it. EXAMPLE: Universe Devastator, I shipped everything except a smoke stack piece. Buyer contacted me…I found it and sent…simple mistake, no harm done.

One thing I will say, any time a seller says "…don't know much about…Look closely at (out of focus) photo", I run away screaming.
On that same note, I have bought some absolutely beautiful items on Ebay

Its a bit like that of Forrest Gump syndrome. The box of chocolates you receive but never know just what it is you will get.

Of all my TF purchases, I got burned a bit on a loose Wheeljack (G1) The ebay seller was lucky a didn't wake up on the wrong side of the bed.

G1 WJ, loose, no accessories.It was a certified genuine item. Got it for US$ 35.00++. The pics looked legit and he had a 100% feedback. But he failed to take a picture of WJs right side fender. The paint was chipped off! A small chip but that was omitted from the description. Overall the fig was above very good and almost near mint but the paint chip could have knocked off a few bucks off the price.

I didn't return it but politely reminded him to be more "accurate" and "honest" when describing his wares (what the heck, I threw him a bone and gave him a perfect score)

Being Canadian, with most of the eBay sellers coming from the states, I tend to haunt BBTS's vintage items waiting for figures that I want. In the end I know that I'm getting something that's been checked, is 98% of the time in the condition it's listed in, and with my Pile of Loot I save a huge amount in shipping charges. Granted I have to pay some of it in the form of tariffs when I do get the package but I ran the numbers once and they have literally saved me over 1,000 dollars over the last 5 years. Not too shabby really.

I turn to eBay when there are things that I cannot get easily at BBTS such as Botcon exclusives, the odd accessory or Transformers custom figures. I'm pleased to say I've yet to have been burned by a seller - at least to my knowledge. I think I may have overpaid or have been shill-bidded once or twice but most of the time I have a hard limit and I won't break it.

I always extend my sympathies to those who've seen the bad side of human beings by buying and selling online, but there are ways to protect yourself too so one would hope that those who are burned aren't burned again.

RhA wrote:...and feedback is the way I check up on sellers. I buy nothing form people with less than 97% feedback and no recent negative reactions (about 6 months).

You're more lenient than I am, RhA. And by no means is that a discredit on the way you choose to do business. I don't give anybody on eBay a second look unless they have 100% +. I reason that if they have a perfect record, they'd do whatever it is to keep it that way.

I agree with the above, on certain items I also haunt BBTS vintage section because I just don't want to trust Ebay with them. And have faith in BBTS to check items over and describe them properly.

As for Ebay directly, I have bought must be a dozen or more figures since I started collecting.

The worst one I got was a G1 Superion. The description and pictures were what I what expect for an old toy, supposed to be in good shape but not perfect. And I won for fairly cheap. So I was pleased.

And then it arrived, and I found out it was loose as possible, a couple of the jets must have been stepped on at some point, they had stress marks on the tail fins. And Silverbolt had one leg re-attached to his body with an old wood screw. I found that out when I was trying to transform them all checking them over.

I wasn't as familiar with Ebay then as I am now. I just let it go and grabbed another Silverbolt cheap to fix it up. And since I won it cheap enough I didn't think more of it. But, looking back I would still keep it. But I should have hit him in the feedback in case he tried it with other people.

I've been brunt before on a MOSC universe Ironhide. It was not not sealed and was resealed... talked to him and he insists its sealed.. i just left a bad feedback.
I've also been bid up on a RTS Grapple by the seller(Paid $50 for it), but that was my fault cause it was Friday and I had a few drinks and I just kept bidding on my phone... (not a good idea) but the worst part is he never included the box that the auction is suppose to come with..

Finally on the other side. I've sold some figures that I no longer want and described it the best I can. I sold a Revenge of the Fallen movie Hoist (two pack with mixmaster in G1 colors) it was in mint condition but lose. buyer complained that they cant transform it and that pieces break off.... I kindly explained to buyer its a balljoint and can be snapped back on and linked them to a youtube review to explain transformation.
Ebay can be a hassle..

I just recently had my first mishap concerning eBay and Transformers.
I bought a Cybertron Supreme Class Starscream. As per description, it came without the Cyberkeys.
Fair enough, but it also came without the missile / projectile for his arm-mounted launcher.
And he suffers from a slight case of discoloration.

But then, I only paid 10 Euros for him, so I didn't fuss...