Ebay now a waste of time

[lornemalvo]

I've been browsing classic cars on Ebay, but it's clearly a waste of time due to scammers. There is one scammer at the moment advertising over 500 cars. How is it even possible to put that many on? Some sort of AI bot? They are so obviously scams, how is it possible that ebay does not pick them out immediately?

[sixor8]

Because the users profile has been compromised, or password discovered, or similar. They don't have anyone reading every listing.

I agree they are obvious, often with email address. They are swiftly removed, I regularly report them. They appear on the search list, but if you click on it, there is nothing to see.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

Either that or they are cat n\s cars that "just needed a bumper". I have developed a sixth sense of spotting them just based on the price.

Still not as bad as Facebook marketplace, virtually every car on there is a scam.

There are still decent cars on there, but anything well priced will get purchased immediately, and most auction cars will be ended early.

You have to be willing to look at the car immediately. I have missed out on cars I had arranged to see the next morning because someone arranged to see it even earlier than me.

[Talay]

There is a growing number of chancers on ebay and Autotrader who don't actually have the cars to sell themselves but who are marketing cars (and furniture on ebay too) for others, even just scraping pictures from other adverts and then charging the real seller a fee.

A big like the arsewipes renting properties long term and trying to arbitrage them short term on Airbnb and the like to make a profit.

[ACCYSTAN]

EBay also becoming a waste of time for spare parts.

Either they are expensive or not available.

[fogbank]

ACCYSTAN said:

EBay also becoming a waste of time for spare parts.

Either they are expensive or not available.

The prices being asked by some breakers for parts that i would consign to the skip also puts me off, a few years ago i was able to by decent second had parts for the MINI, however in most cases, it’s now more cost effective to buy the new part.

[sixor8]

I bought a driver's door mirror off a breaker on eBay to fix my sister's 2018 Combo (dog van) because a chunk had been taken out of it and the indicator cover on it broken. It was up for £24.99, I offered £20 and it was delivered, postage included. Only had to swap across the painted cover.

Sellers are encouraged to list the spec / compatibility and correct fit for makes. You get your money back from business sellers if it doesn't fit, although lots are wrong (usually Chinese stuff). Type in TVR speedometer as a search for example.

[ChocolateFrog]

It's worth it for buyer protection. If something isn't exactly as described I'm getting my money back.

There's nothing the seller can do about it which is handy if you're dealing with stuff like used spares.

[Davie]

ChocolateFrog said:

It's worth it for buyer protection. If something isn't exactly as described I'm getting my money back.

There's nothing the seller can do about it which is handy if you're dealing with stuff like used spares.

I fear that may be part of the problem...

[minhaalex43]

I agree Ebay’s become frustrating for classic car buyers because of obvious scam listings and inflated prices on spare parts. While there’s good buyer protection, it seems compromised accounts and fake ads still slip through, making the search more of a hassle.