Some of these sellers have more front than Myers.
I'm looking for a mobile phone to replace my Samsung A501. Of interest are
the Motorola V series of phones. So, I'm looking at Ebay as one
possibility.
For example check out this guy's items.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/MOTOROLA-V3XX...hippingPayment
He insists on a $10 handling fee if you go into his shop to pay for it.
And that's for each item.
If you want it posted then it's $18 plus insurance. You can ship an item
like this for under $10 via Express Post.
And to top it off it's a used item. I don't care what he calls it - it's
been used by staff to demo the product to customers. So god only knows
what abuse it's copped.
So he's asking a fair bit for a used phone.
Other sellers have no refunds policies, or if a phone has to be returned
for any reason, say, warranty repairs, then the buyer has to foot all the
shipping costs.
When I last read up on this these costs were to be borne by the retailer.
Some of these guys must think that Australian Consumer Law doesn't apply
to them, or that Ebay is a law unto itself, sometimes.
Then there is this:
http://www.pcauthority.com.au/news.aspx?CIaNID=71129
PC Authority in this month's issue has an article on Ebay that it ran in
conjunction with Today Tonight (and yeah that doesn't do its credibility
much good for those who think that the show is rubbish).
While people generally have good experiences with Ebay there are those who
don't and the system doesn't seem to cater as much for them as it does for
the sellers. ie. there isn't a fair balance between the seller and buyer
as far as rights and protection goes.
I've bought probably 4 or 5 items off Ebay and I think that I've sold one
or two items. My wife however, has bought and sold shitloads of stuff.
Some of the experiences from both sides of the fence that she's had can be
also read about in the PC Authority article that other people have had
too.
I s'pose that in the end you look at the product, the sale price and the
extras tacked on and ask if it's worth it if the product is a dud and
weigh it up against the chances of a refund or replacement or buying it
from a normal retailer. If it can be sourced from a retailer locally, that
is.
More Front than Myers, some Ebay Sellers 
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