Bought on Ebay

Okay, I was reading something the other day – a woman buying a vibrator. Well, the vibrator was "out of stock." She mentioned that she could not find one on Ebay, and that statement sent a bad shiver up my spine. Which led to this post.

Things I would never purchase on Ebay:

Vibrator
If the vibrator was "seldom used", my original thought would be, "what is wrong with the thing." Now I have never used a vibrator, but from what I gather, with a couple of AA-batteries (or C-batteries, giggle, are there D batteries – or dreaming, car batteries?), you can replace your man. Well, except for squashing spiders and taking out the garbage, because after a few years of marriage, the after-sex chit-chat is, well, pretty pathetic.

This was the item that made me write this entry.

Automobile
I am not saying that you get good or bad deals on autos. But I know, every time I purchase an auto, I get screwed. And I am not talking about in the backseat during the test drive. To get a good deal on an auto, you need more data than the person selling the car. At an auto dealership, they have a heck of a lot more information than I have. And that is just with new cars. For used cars, which I assume are most of the Ebay cars, you need more information – was the car in a flood? What kind of miles did the car have – mostly city (read: hard) driving? In short, I know I would get the raw end of the deal.

Land
You can actually buy land on Ebay. Okay, I have never bought land, but if I did, I would think that location would be of primary importance. Plus, I have read stories of people purchasing computers on Ebay, and without reading the fine print, they were actually bidding on pictures of computers. Nice. Well, I think this scam would work with land as well. I like a pretty photo, but I don't want to spend a couple of thousand on a picture of land. Unless it was painted by Van Gogh. If that were the case, I would be in.

Paintings
I have actually looked at paintings on Ebay, and they are impressive. You can purchase paintings from the 17th century – with magnificent gold leaf frames – sort of on the cheap. Well, a few hundred dollars. And I can't imagine these paintings selling that cheaply. Plus, I don't trust the pictures. Not that people are deceptive, but I have taking pictures of paintings in the past, and the photos look nothing like the original. Okay, I may be an amateur photographer, but even famous paintings in books look different in museums than in books.

Computers
For those really smart about computers, you probably can pick up some bargains on Ebay. I am not that adept at computers, plus I like purchasing near top of the line computers and holding onto them for years. Never top of the line – because there is generally not good value associated with them, but with near top of the line, a few months on the market, then you can buy something that may have value.

There was a funny computer story about Ebay recently – someone was selling a monitor, and took a pic for Ebay. Well, the monitor was reflective, and the seller was, um, in the buff. Not sure if he was proud of his profile or dim-witted. I did not know what the monitor sold for – or if Ebay made him replace the photo.

Software
I have no pirated software on my home computer (or work computer, but I don't go to jail for stuff on my work computer). Some of the deals on Ebay look like the software is . . . suspect. For instance, "Copy of Windows 2000. For backup purposes only." Seems to me that if I had the original software and for some reason I broke the CD, the company replaces it for a nominal fee. Many companies do this. Why would I spend $50 on a copy that you can't register?

Or why purchase software from someone who probably loaded it on his/her machine, made a copy, and is selling it on Ebay? Seems unethical to me. Now I don't know a lot about licensure – each company has its own rules. It seems to me that if you uninstall, you should be able to sell/give the software away. If I have an audio CD I get tired with, I can simply give it to someone (as long as I don't have it on my iPod). Or a bookcase, I can sell after using it. Software to me doesn't seem too much different, but sometimes is. I prefer to purchase from a large company, register and use. And I have very little software. But the way, I have seen some low-cost software (Gimp, Open Office), and I tell you, it is as good or better than the commercial equivalent. That was not always the case.

Now, I don't hate Ebay – I really don't. I love looking for stuff on Ebay. But there are certain things I just won't buy there. Just like I won't buy drinks at fast food restaurants (for other reasons).