08-16-2013, 08:58 AM
(08-16-2013, 08:32 AM)Petie Wrote:(08-16-2013, 08:14 AM)Hexadecimal Wrote: ...I gotta admit I have more luck doing something a little shady.
If an item is expensive I keep a very close eye on it and watch how often it gets relisted. This happened with an ultra rare Morrigan figure that a seller ended up giving up on, so I contacted him and asked if he'd sell it to me directly through PayPal at a cheaper price to avoid eBay fees.
I saved myself $200 that way. No one else has gotten a better deal than me since; I've seen used ones sell for higher.
I'm glad it all worked out for you but you got lucky there. You need to be extremely careful when proposing deals like that as they are 100% against eBay's terms of service and offer you no protection should the seller decide not to send you your item. You would then have to take up your case with PayPal which is hit or miss at best.
Yes, I do understand that, and a seller did try to cheat me once. However, there was no tracking or proof the item was ever sent, so they ruled in my favor. Typically you're OK as long as you don't send payment as a gift.
I don't think eBay monitors messages at all because I've gotten away with this several times over the course of about two years.