I have bought on eBay for about 5 years. Unfortunately, they haven't been without problems. To me, eBay is a store, flea market, garage sale and antique mart all in one. I've able to easily locate things more easily than if I had to look for them outside of the internet. I have bought some nice merchandise from reputable sellers at what I considereed to be a good price and have been lucky to purchase some hard-to-find items.
Yes, there have been problems. An eBayer should know their prices. Just because its on eBay doesn't mean its a good deal. As with the regular marketplace, there is price gouging. Research your seller....check out his her rating....pay careful attention to a seller's negative and neutral ratings. If necessary, contact a particular buyer who left a negative rating for a seller to get more particulars if the buyer will share them with you.
Since purchases on eBay usually require shipment, the buyer pays entirely for shipping and handling. Beware! Sellers can charge exorbitant amounts for shipping and handling. You can buy something for $1 that can have shipping and handling charges of $25. Ask yourself....is this now a bargain? If shipping and handling charges are not stated in the listing, e-mail the seller to ask what the ALL INCLUSIVE shipping and handling charges are to your particular zip code. Don't assume anything! Once you bid on item, you've entered into a contract. If you win, you are responsible for the cost of the item plus all shipping and handling charges no matter how outrageous they are. I avoid sellers who are either secretive or evasive about their shipping/handling charges as well as those who gouge on these costs. As an additional precaution, ask the seller, BEFORE YOU BID, if they will insure the item (you pay that fee too). If they ship something to you uninsured and it is lost in the mail or arrives damages, you're out of luck if there's no insurance on it. (I purchased some china pieces, and fortunately had them insured, because they arrived broken in about a hundred pieces. The seller poorly packed them and had too many pieces closely stuffed in one box. I received a full refund of my costs).
Protect your eBay sign-on password. There's all sorts of phishing scams going on. I must receive at least a dozen phony e-mails each week, supposedly from eBay, asking me to click on a hyperlink and update my account info. I'm threatened with eBay suspensions, told that purchases have been made on my account in foreign countries and they need to verify, etc. It's all scams! They used forged eBay headers and logs. Foward such e-mails to spoof@ebay.com.
Although I'm well aware of such scams, my account was hijacked four years ago before eBay had better security. I found out when I got an e-mail from someone inquiring about a computer I supposedly had listed for sale. I checked the eBay listing and yes, I was listed as the seller but I wasn't selling. The "seller" requested that a bank check for the purchase ($1500) be mailed to an address in London. I immediately notified the inquirer that I didn't have such an item for sale and also notified eBay who then pulled the listing and began an investigation. Luckily no one lost anything.
EBay is not a goldmine! It has its problems. You just have to keep one step ahead.