The safe and not so safe side to Ebay.

As many of you may or may not know I have become slightly addicted to eBay over the last year, what ever I can find in the house, if I can't make a use for it, I will stick on eBay; jeans, televisions and printers.

But it makes you wonder how would you ever trust me if you have never bought anything from me before. Recently I had one customer who recently purchased a product from me. Having tested it before I sent it (as that is the usual norm) she received it and said it wasn't working. Having gone through testing the item and even when the product was sent back it was still working. In the end I gave the customer a refund as she was saying one thing and I was saying something completely different.

Can eBay be questioned as safe then?

EBay has over 68 million shoppers is an attraction to all offering bargains and huge outlet discounts. When you purchase something through eBay you are only shown the item description and small thumbnail of the product. Is this enough to go on, to convince you that the product is working? Not for items like MP3's then and television receivers too. Maybe they need to launch a video method to prove it is actually working?

This customer probably won't buy anything from me again and maybe not even from eBay in the future.

Apart from that then why would someone buy something from eBay? After all you aren't covered by other consumer laws that protect you when shopping on the high street. Neither are you protected by the sales of good act, which says everything you buy should be fit for the purpose. Its a question of trusting the seller.

So how can a customer trust you? After all he has never met you and you have never met him…..

· Well according to Thisismoney, you should always research the customer or company. This can be done easily by reading there sellers ratings and feedback scores.

· Never give out your credit card details to anyone. Use eBay’s preferred payment method PayPal to prevent fraudulent behaviour.

· Finally to make sure you know exactly what you are looking for ask the seller questions directly about the product.

Would you buy something from eBay? Tell me your views and opinions or experiences you have had with the online phenomenon.