In this day and age virtually everyone seems to shop online; it is as common as drinking a cup of coffee it seems. Ecommerce truly has come a long way over the years, and it is only getting more secure as time goes on. However, I still hear a good deal of stories about people getting ripped off when buying electronics online, especially on eBay. This is mainly the case when you buy used electronics, especially used computers, which often end up having worn out, failing hard drives, or don’t even have the original hardware in them that they shipped with.
Basically you are pretty safe purchasing electronics from most of the big online retail stores (walmart.com, bestbuy.com, staples.com, and so on). However, it is places like craigslist.org and eBay that you have to be a bit more cautious about, at least when purchasing electronics. But know this: these are probably the 2 cheapest places you will ever find on the internet for the most part. However, if you do not use a good deal of caution, and a good amount of common sense, then even if you do get a great deal, it still will not be worth much if you get a broken piece of hardware.
We will just cover eBay in this article, since Craigslist doesn’t generally offer many electric based products. The most important thing to look for by far when using eBay, is the user feedback rating of the person you are purchasing from. If they don’t have a feedback of at least 100 or more, and a positive rating of at lest 98.5% or greater, then you should seriously consider moving on. Generally if a person has a feedback rating lower than that, then there is probably a good reason for that, and obviously many of their customers had a bad experience with them.
Another important thing to consider when buying on eBay, is the return policy, which is always listed in the auction details. Certain items, such as the Chinese made electric airsoft guns, for example, have a really high defect rate, so knowing the return policy BEFORE you buy is highly recommended. Also, look for the item location in the top right of the auction screen; this will tell you where the item is being shipped from, which determines how fast you will get it.
Lastly, be sure to fully read an auction description before you make a purchase. Unfortunately eBay is rather notorious for having sellers that use somewhat (or sometimes downright) misleading auction titles, especially when it comes to electronics. Basically just be sure that there are no hidden surprises buried within the details of an auction description (especially the longer ones). For example, look for defects or flaws in a product, which is rarely ever mentioned in the auction title. In other words, it is just a matter of common sense, and reading the fine print; if you follow this simple rule, you will be safe 99% of the time or more. Waffen online in Deutschland kaufen