Do you use eBay?

Like many, I quit ebay about 2004 or so when the scammers took over. I even got my credit card to reverse the PayPal fees, which eBay and PayPal refused to refund. Consequently I'm still banned from PayPal to this day.

These days, I will buy the occasional item if it's priced well and I don't have to use PayPal. But I don't buy much. A car charger, some swimming gear, a metals-testing kit. This in the past 5 years.

I was never scammed on eBay. The worst that ever happened was a kid bidding on a car that he couldn't pay for, and broken Fiestaware because the seller tried to make the shipping cheaper.

I still buy the occasional piece of old Fiestaware.

It's for businesses and power sellers now. They don't seem to want individual sellers who are clearing out an attic.

eBay got hacked into a few years ago.

I still use it, though.

I don’t bid on stuff, only use “Buy It Now.” I do look for top-rated sellers.

I used it I think 2-3 times in the past five years, every time with the "Buy Now" option, whereas I used to bid and buy stuff on there extensively until 2010 or so. It's kind of useless these days, you can find most of the stuff sold there elsewhere at better prices and in better condition. Plus, it seems that eBay accounts are very easily hacked into: the last couple of times I used it, I would get an email saying that there was activity related to my account they found suspicious, that I needed to change my login credentials, etc. It seems that individual accounts store an inordinate amount of personal info that is not very well protected.

I don't buy that much on eBay, but I still use it. I've bought some unusual orchids on eBay, and a huperzia (a type of tropical clubmoss). There are some other rare plants that I keep looking for (a lapageria, for example). I've also bought some vintage parfums, which is sort of a crapshoot, but I've only ever bought one that had 'turned'. I don't believe in buyer's remorse, so I didn't attempt to return it. I've had good luck with Etsy. I want to buy a vintage scarf from Hermes or Liberty of London, but I have yet to figure out how to display it.