Buying games off ebay.

[VashtaNerada]

So the other day a friend of mine told me ebay is a great way to get games for cheap. I've done this once before when God of War came out, and the disc did not work. Also a lot of the ones coming out of the china area are extremely cheap(like 50% off) that says they are factory sealed and brand new, could they be selling us bootlegged copies? Just wanted to get the general escapist public opinion on this, thanks!

 

[dragonburner]

I usually use Amazon or the local Best Buy. Ebay just feels weird to use for me.

 

[DoctorNick]

I usually go with Amazon also, they usually have the option to buy other copies from third party sellers who'll often have the game new but for cheaper.

 

[dragontiers]

Ebay policy forbids them from making any false claims, so if they say they are new and factory sealed, they probably are. Read the auction very carefully, though, because people tend to put "keywords" in their title line just to get people to look at their auction, even if it's not actually in the auction. I always double check their feedback, as well. Not just how many positives to negatives, but the reason people left a negative, just to see what "worst case scenario" I could be working with. And of course "buyer beware" are words to live by.

 

[42manZ]

I use Amazon to buy old games, better price range, more stable. But eBay also.

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

I use Ebay to get things I can't get normally such as special edition crap. I also get a good amount of musical instruments from Ebay as well.

 

[Piemaster]

As long as you are a bit careful, you can get some pretty good deals for games on ebay.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

e-bay is great, just don't buy from people with low feedback, and if the product is faulty make sure to flag them/demerit them - always check the feedback. I buy and sell on there a lot and feedback is the most important thing, it basically tells you if the person will fuck you over or not.

 

[RebelRising]

Buying Collectors Editions online is a haphazard experience, that's for damn sure. People will often outright lie about the contents of the item they're selling. It's just irritating. In general, Amazon is trustier than ebay, and bidding is not worth it.

EDIT: Yay! I've Gone Gonzo! *Happy Dance*

 

[MattyDienhoff]

I buy games on eBay. There is a lot of crap out there, but as long as you're careful it's a very small risk. Only buy from sellers with a good reputation, and try to avoid Asian sellers if you can.

I buy games from a shop in Melbourne that also operates on eBay, they sell new games in the hundreds so I can almost always find what I'm looking for, and I typically get things for $20-30 less than retail price, even after postage.

I don't recommend buying used games on eBay, though, especially not if it's multiplayer, the chances that the CD key is compromised are very high.

 

[noctifyre]

I buy video games off eBay all the time; probably about 40+ transactions this year alone, and for the most part all of them have been good experiences - Most everything I bought came as described, some are even better than advertised.

For the few things that... weren't, well... I just know never to buy from those people again.


eBay is a great place to find things at a bargain, even cheaper than Amazon at times.

Just, if possible, try to pay using PayPal, that way if an item is delivered and obviously misrepresented or doesn't work, you can always file a claim to get a refund (provided you send the seller back the item with DC)

I buy games on eBay. There is a lot of crap out there, but as long as you're careful it's a very small risk. Only buy from sellers with a good reputation, and try to avoid Asian sellers if you can.

I buy games from a shop in Melbourne that also operates on eBay, they sell new games in the hundreds so I can almost always find what I'm looking for, and I typically get things for $20-30 less than retail price, even after postage.

I don't recommend buying used games on eBay, though, especially not if it's multiplayer, the chances that the CD key is compromised are very high.

Would you possibly mind PMing me the name of the seller on eBay? Sounds like someone I need to check out. :3

 

[noctifyre]

-- ignore --

 

[Susan Arendt]

The only games I buy from eBay are older or more rare ones. Ones that I'll have trouble coming by in a local shop or at a convention. Always look for a seller with lots of positive feedback, and make sure you're paying a fair price. Asking for a picture of the flip side of the disc is perfectly reasonable. Granted, you won't necessarily see more minor scratches in a photo, but you'll see if it looks like someone has been playing hockey with the thing.

 

[B.cereus]

I use Amazon for games and media. I think of ebay for more tangible things.

 

[jonnypistolshot]

Thanks for adding Local shops - I buy mainly from local shops because it helps keep my Local gaming supplier stay in business and i can "talk shop" with the other gamers there. Online vendors are nice when you don't have a local source, (used to live with a two hour drive away from any gaming retailers) just watch those shipping charges.

 

[videot76]

I usually buy used games from Ebay UK - often fast shipping and the prices are MUCH lower than here in Sweden. I'm cautious though, and only buy from sellers with good reps.

Do NOT buy Hong Kong games. They *may* be genuine, but DLC won't work with them unless downloaded in the Hong Kong region. Found out that the hard way with Soul Calibur IV, which was LISTED as "UK seller, Item location: Canada" but that was just the location of a local office of "Ching Ding Dong Ltd." or something and the package was shipped from Hong Kong and naturally contained a Hong Kong release. Which looks genuine and works fine (except DLC doesn't work - wasted money), but I was still miffed because that sure is fraud.

Also "Factory sealed" should also always ring a warning bell - it may be sealed at a factory, but chances are high the "factory" is a pirate pressing plant. It's common to find anime releases with this description on Ebay - despite the fact that NO LEGITIMATE VERSION with "english subs" (btw, that ALWAYS means very, very, very bad engrish, if you are lucky) has ever been released.
So caution is advised!

 

[Saylek]

i bought 20 of my 40 xbox games of off eBay-amazon-play. great stuff so far the only problem was that i had one game in NTSC format which didn't work on my PAL xbox. Also sometimes it gets lost and you have to wait for a while before you receive it.

 

[DigitalSushi]

As long as you are a bit careful, you can get some pretty good deals for games on ebay.

Holy shit Sinistar!, RUN COWARDS!

OH, topic, sorry... a friends bought his son an Xbox360 from "eGay", with 30 "brand new sealed o"fish"all copies (bullshit).

The games were copies, the Xbox was a chinese model with the language set to Japanese (the dashboard was in kanji). Guess who had to sort it out for them? MUGGINGS OVER HERE!.

transfomers, new fuse, change plugs, fire the thing up... and its in Kanji?, go to the net to try to download instructions for changing the language, can't find any.

5hours 48 minutes later, I find the "english" setting, HOORAY!.

 

[The-Big-D]

Only use Ebay if its a final resort, for example im trying to find Kula World on the PS1 and its the last only possible action i have. But a PS1 game for £50 i dont think so some how.

 

[fix-the-spade]

5hours 48 minutes later, I find the "english" setting, HOORAY!.

This is a case of your friend being dumb rather than there being anything wrong with eBay.

Anyway, as long as you're careful, buying games off fleaBay is fine. Just avoid anything that's coming from outside your own country or dvd region, if it's marked as coming from Hong Kong or Singapore, avoid it like a T-Virus victim.