I didn't say I bet on it..., nor did I "rate" it. I just said they have arbitration in place. It's better than nothing, i.e... the auction in question. Ebay is still based on trust if you think about it. The customer feedback is weak in my opinion, because half the time if I got something that wasn't quite like he/she described in the ad and I left a poor feedback, they'd just turn right around and slander me in my feedback, which in turn would cause me to retract my negative and they do likewise. Like I said several posts ago, I don't bid on anything too expensive (that I can't inspect). That way, once I receive it and look it over and find it's not up to par, I'm not out too much $. I don't prefer losing any money, but a hundred is a lot easier pill to swallow than several hundred...much less several thousand.
Paypal is so-so. Nothing is fullproof. Even if you are on-sight and buy it after inspecting, you're likely to find something wrong once you get home or in a few weeks of operation. That's the "downfall" of buying used. You just don't know how the previous owner treated it, unless it's a close friend or neighbor.
As for Ebay, if you find something you like and they take Amex, use it. Amex has one of the best, if not the best, customer fraud/protection plans on the market. I've used them twice and both times after they investigated, I wasn't liable for the charges. Once, the charge was for $1019.00, although it wasn't an Ebay charge, but rather a moving company based out of S. FL. They promised the world and then after I put the retainer down, I never heard back from them....yada, yada, yada. When I asked them to credit my Amex, they refused. One call to Amex for services not rendered by the moving company and that's all it took. After 60 days, I received a letter from Amex stating they are sorry for the problem and I owed nothing. All money was recovered from said shady-movers.
