photo credit: quickshipelectronics

Earlier today I claimed myself an iPod Touch online through eBay, which I’m immensely excited to have.  I’ve been watching some of their sales on the site for a few days to see the average price they go for and decided that it was well worth it.  I just hope I’m in the 99.8% positive review side of things, or else it can get complicated and ugly dealing with it overseas.  Thankfully, I have my mom to handle things on the home front, so she can help check the item before sending it to me.  In doing this whole transaction (only the second time I’ve used the site), I found that people I told all asked me the same questions, having the same concerns.

First of all, they asked about price.  Was the difference in price enough to justify the purchase versus buying it from a store?  Well, it’s a $100 difference, which in the Apple store also means the difference between a 16GB and a 32GB.  Plus, they would wonder… is it new?  Well, no, it’s refurbished, but it would only have minor scuffs and I’m willing to compromise that for the money saved.  If it’s extremely worn or dysfunctional, I can always send it in to be exchanged.

Then they would ask, is it safe?  Is it reliable?  And that launched me into an explanation about how yes, there is the off chance that I get screwed, but 1. being governed by American law, they can’t get too crazy and send me rocks like some cases in other countries, 2. they have sold over 57,000 electronic items and people would have reported them a long time ago, and 3. not only were they not reported, but they have a 99.8% positive feedback rate, which is quite high considering the bulk of sales.  I read reviews where people talking about their item that was faulty or incorrect and they got the issue resolved, so at worst it may be a bit of a hassle, but I can track down a suitable item.

Finally, they would start to settle their worries and would then wonder… uhhh how are you going to get it?  Well, that’s the beauty of a mother in the right country.  😛  She helped me bid on it as I slept and she’ll help me mail it out when it arrives.  I’m quite pleased, since any Apple product sold internationally is dead expensive (in Singapore the 32GB goes for about 468 USD, whereas in the states it’s a cool $399)!  I may not have gotten the absolute best price, but it was close and still saved me tons for what I wanted.  Plus, I got it pretty much the day I decided I was going to go for it.  But it made me wonder: do people feel wary of using eBay?