I am looking into adding some things to make "cake collection"... I read all the time about buying from e bay...has anyone done this??
Anyone have tips to offer a newbie?? Or some scary stories that might make me change my mind?? Anything positive or negative would be appreciated!!

TIA

Hi
I've been buying and selling on ebay for a while now. I see you are from Ontario(as am I). Unless the shipping is clearly stated to Canada-ASK BEFOREHAND!!! Some sellers make an extra few dollars with "handling" charges.
Don't be afraid to ask questions before you bid.
Check out the person's feedback record. You can tell a lot by the feedback. Research before you buy. I know I've bought some pans used for the same price as I can get them new.
I use paypal to pay and they are pretty good-I've been refunded a couple of times when the sellar didn't send the goods(yes, I should have checked the feedback better LOL).

Have fun. 99% of my transactions have gone smoothly.

Sandra

I agree with everything that momlovestocook said. I always check the feedback record frist and I check the shipping charges. Some things are the same price as a new item and some things the shipping is crazy.

Other that that I love ebay. Set a price limit and stick to it. You can end up paying way to much for something that you can get else where and for a cheaper price.


Take Care,

And make certain that the seller, if in the U.S. understands that the Declaration Value for Custom's purposes is not the same thing as the Insured value. The Declared Value is the purchase price, what your final bid was and does not include shipping and handling. Otherwise you will get nailed for Customs fees, which are 15% of the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. dollar declared value and an additional handling fee that is usually $5. You will still likely be charge Customs, usually they only charge on items of over $20, but sometimes on everything. But since the minimum insurance value is usually $100, you can really be nailed if they don't get the Declared Value right.
Often your shipping and handling will be $30 U.S. in addition to your purchase price, plus Custom's fees. Sometimes this really makes for an expensive transaction.
Often too, you will pay for a more expensive shipping method and the seller will send the cheapest way and pocket the difference. This has happened to me more times than not.
Hugs Squirrelly

I use Ebay all the time.

The biggest trend lately to watch for seems to be charging very high shipping & handling to get the "bid" price low.

Make sure you look at the total price to get it to your door before bidding.

Several times I have bought an item for $1 bid price with $12 s&h (shipping was really only about $3 of that) because the total price was lower. Sellers use the method as a legal bait and switch that you could never see at a physical store

I forgot to mention-don't let the seller ship UPS-they charge something like 20 dollars just for taking the item over the border!!! I've had that happen once or twice. Make sure it's shipped by the post office.

Sandra

Thanks you guys..

The reason why i am thinking about e baying is because they have pay pal... I do not own credit cards (thank god!!) so my internet ordering options are slim... it sure does sound scary though...does any one know of any where to order from that acccepts pay pal, instead of credit card besides e bay??

thanks for all the info...

I cant stress enough to ask for shipping prices if you are in Canada. As a seller, it is frustrating to me because everything I ship I require insurance. Often times in order to insure you have to go for a more expensive shipping method. It makes shipping prices too high (at least for me) and often times the buyers dont ask this question prior to bidding. But other then that, just watch feedback, that is a true indicator as to whether the transaction will go smooth!

You can order from cake central and use paypal.
Also, I noticed that golda's kitchen accepts paypal as well(they are Canadian)
http://www.goldaskitchen.com/index.ihtml

Sandra
ps you don't have to be afraid of ebay-just aware of the pitfalls. Like I said, 99% of the time, it's great

thanks Sandra!!! I did not know that....great...thanks so much all of you...

www.ebay.ca - Ebay Canada style baby!
When you search for what you're looking for, hit the highlighted tab at the top of the items displayed marked "Country/Region", and it will give you all of the Canadian sellers first!

I'm not from Canada, so don't ask me how I know that. However, if you aren't in a big rush, like you said, just building up some supplies, wait for a Canadian seller to list the item. Or check the "Ebay Stores" in Canada.

Canada, oh Canada.

Ok there, I said Canada 5 times...oh no! 6 times!!

Robyn - The keeper of useless Canadian info.. (my ex lives in Barrie, ON)

Oh no, I am his neighbour...hey I do have a pretty good shot...let me know...JUST KIDDING...

Thanks for that info!!

Do you really? Hmm...I might just have to take you up on that...

You're so lucky, that's a beautiful area!!!!!!!!!!!

charleydog,

I am also a seller and buyer on e-bay.

Just be careful of the prices...can be outrageous.

I have a case pending now against someone.

Brought a 12x18 sheet cake pan for $2.26 and a 11x15 for $1.99 from the same person and that was over a month ago and still have not received the pans even through they claimed that they shipped them out.

When I ship people their items, I always ship through Paypal so that a tracking number can be purchased which I pay for.

Too funny,

As you were typing... i was e baying...and you're right!!! WOW can things be really expensive.... thanks for the tips.... I see Antonia74 bids on things there too!!! Well, at least I'm not in a hurry for anything...just checking things out for now, I am such an internet chicken #@$%...

Thanks again!!

I can't believe how much the Care Bears, My Little Pony and Thomas the Tank is going for.

So wanted a My Little Pony pan but couldn't see myself paying all that money. Went into the Thrift Store about 3 weeks ago and found one for $2.98...couldn't believe my luck!!!

Ok that's enough for me....at least for now

I can't seem to find anything that after s/h is still worth my while.. youch.. some of those prices made me choke on my diet coke!!!

Ok..off to find something else to amuse me for the night...LOL

thanks for all the responses...

I can't blame you there...I have bought several cake pans on ebay...and have got caught with outrageous shipping. I have tried for Ariel and the bowling cake pan...but always quit bidding because it goes too high...and then with shipping...I'm like NO WAY!!!! I also wonder why I bought so my character pans on ebay...as I really HATE doing character cakes!!!!!

As everyone said, watch the shipping, and shop around before you buy. If you do have a source near you, then I wouldn't buy anything off E-bay that you can buy there unless it is alot cheaper. After you add shipping, it can often not be worth it.

Shop other auctions for the same things, before you bid. Sometimes you can find one auction that is for $10 and another that is only $2.

Look at peoples ratings, if they have negative feedback, read it to see what it says. It can often be a warning on how your experince with them may go.

Shop in lots when you can or buy things from the same sellers. Usually in lots you are getting more for your money.

And lastly, be ware Ebay can be addicting! I started looking for old Wilton Yearbooks, then wanted pans from those yearbooks. From there it went to candy molds. After that I decided to take a break and haven't been back in a while. Sometimes we get caught up in buying and aren't really buying anything we really need or will ever use.

Well, the problem with only looking at sellers from Canada is, a lot of them are in the same boat, they couldn't get the stuff they want from Canada, so they may not be selling the stuff we are looking for that you cannot get in Canada, haha, if that makes sense. Heehee, and trust me, we have some strange sellers here too. Did I tell you the one about the chandelier that came packed in dirty old clothes and all of the lovely old candle covers were broken? Haha, don't get me started. You can have 50 good dealings and then have ten bad ones and good luck trying to get anywhere. I used to go by the seller ratings until I discovered that people rarely give a seller a bad rating in case he turns around and gives the buyer a bad rating. Anyway, that was my experience. A lot of it has to do with luck!
Hugs Squirrelly

Amen to that Squirrelly.

All points taken...

I guess I just always assumed it was cheaper... i do have many suppliers here, I am just new here and chicken to drive... I guess though my motivation is now either drive or pay twice as much on E Bay ( and hubby may have something to say about the latter) (SP??)

Thanks all...ya learn something new everyday... I guess I'll just have to hang out here more...new city..no friends...and really shouldn't make anymore cakes for myself eat so CC it is!!!

Know how you feel Charleydog,
I am also an ebay chicken, have never bought anything over the internet at all, not even sure what paypal is !
Besides Michaels with their coupon, I get most of my pans from secon hand stores and garage sales for great prices.
Wanted to try ebay so I could get some Americolor colors as they are not sold here. But now I don't have to as I emailed Americolor and found out they sell them in Edmonton... YAY
So for now I will continue as an ebay virgin, and not cross over to the dark side !

One thing I would recommend is to put the item that you are looking at in your "watched" items. That way you can watch the price and if it gets too high for you -- you aren't obligated to purchase. E-bay is really good about notifying you when something is close to being done. You can also put mutiple auctions of the same item (different sellers) and that way you're keeping an eye on many things. I buy from e-bay all the time. That's where I got the almost all my cake items. You also have to be aware of how much it would cost you by going to the store and purchasing this item. Is it still cheaper once you add the shipping and handling? Most sellers are really honest people. Don't let the fear stop you. IT IS ADDICTING!!!!

Yeah, I have bought several items off of e-bay and ended up paying way to much. But what really got my goat was I paid $7.00 for a $1.38 book from K-Mart! You do really have to be careful. I got my wedding cake pan set off of e-bay for around $30 which I did not feel was to bad. Yeah I would check around before I got anything off e-bay they generally make up for what they are losing on the shipping it is ridiculous! And if anyone has not noticed the cake decorating items are real popular there.

I AM NOT KNOCKING E-BAY! I AM STILL A MEMBER OF THAT COMMUNITY THERE! JUST ASK THE SELLER QUESTIONS, HUNDREDS IF YOU HAVE TO! LIKE SOMEONE SAID MOST ARE HONEST PEOPLE AND WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW!

I like Ebay for the fact they have just about every pan, especially in some of the "stores", and they ship ALOT quicker than Wilton, and charge the same or less in shipping. I had to wait like two weeks to get something from Wilton but I got something from an Ebay store in like two or three days.

If you have to buy a specific pan, its often the way to go.

I think that every seller should have to print shipping labels through Paypal in order to receive a tracking number, this will insure the buyer that the item was shipped.

I have this feeling that when some sellers do not get a high bid, they use the excuse that the package was lost in the mail when they didn't even mail it out.

Anyone else feel this way?

I have feedback of like 260 and I have rarely had that happen... it might depend on what you order and who you order from. I almost always order from people with exceptional feedback, usually they bend over backwards to please.

I have only had a handful of bad experiences.

I completely agree with you! For example, I bid on the Wilton 55 piece decorating tip set. Bidding started at 9.99 and I put a max bid of 20 dollars. Well, the I read through the sellers feedback. Half of the people didn't ever recieve their items! So I tried to contact everyone who was bidding on that auction, and tell them what my max bid was so they could outbid me. The seller NEVER contacted me, and FINALLY in the last 10 seconds, someone out bid me by .50 cents. I was so relieved. The seller was in Canada, and always used that excuse as why items never got to the buyers.

I think its exactly as Stephanie214 says..some sellers don't get the money they want, so they just say "whoops" and its a perfectly legit reason as far as Ebay and PayPal are concerned.

Stephanie214 - You should contact Ebay and PayPal about that idea! I think its wonderful!!!!!

Like many have said, you have to watch the reviews and the shipping. But ebay is fun and very addictive!!! (speaking from experience)
When I fist got into cake decorating, I stayed on ebay all the time, now I stay on ebay half the time and on CC the other half...LOL But I have gotten some really good deals on ebay, most of the pans I have, I got off ebay. In fact I just got 12 pans for $29. thats including shipping. I was so thrilled, but I always get excited when I find a great deal!!! My husband is about to throw me and my pans out, he said we have no more room!!!!! LOL!!!!!