| Everyone else has mentioned good points, but it's imperative that you understand the way Paypal and filing claims works. I buy almost everything on eBay (designer clothes, DVDs, sunglasses, school supplies, and yes, sometimes pearls). Since eBay changed its policies regarding feedback, auctions have never been safer for buyers and more dangerous for sellers. Paypal almost always sides with buyers (claims for misrepresented items, delivery issues, etc). In fact, about 90-95% of auctions that I see for pearls (since most are located internationally) would be an easy claim-win for buyers. Buy pearls, wait for the extremely slow shipping, file an "item not received" claim, and with no tracking (even with tracking- doesn't recognize some carriers and don't get me started on DC), seller has no proof, buyer's win, and full refund plus item. With no negative feedback option for buyers, buyers can easily defraud pearl sellers. eBay also started this nifty little thing of giving out coupons to "random" accounts (although I highly suspect they use them to try and entice buyers who have filed disputes to re-buy), they're even rewarding this sort of behavior.
Bottom line: know how paypal works, and you've got eBay and Paypal on your side for almost any purchase. Most sellers either don't know this stuff or simply don't take measures to protect themselves.
On another note, I've been very happy with druzydesigns.
Last edited by callire; 08-17-2008 at 11:29 PM.
|