Interested to know DO YOU BUY ON LINE?

[rod@plasterbrok]

If yes:

From Online Auctions,
Which one?
Have you been ripped off online?

If no:

Why not?
Would you ever?

Any other comments?

[Harry72]

Where's the poll?

Yes, I buy just about everything WW online, no I've never had any trouble...

[rod@plasterbrok]

Sorry Harry never done one of these before.

Interested in seeing how many people are against buying online and why?Cheers

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

An emphatic NO, for three reasons.

First off: security. Sure, they say all details are encrypted/secured, but are they really? RC5 & PGP are pretty solid, but I can't say I know anyone who has gone through the tedious processs of creating their own private/public keys before or during an online transaction. So, you're relying solely on their keys and if their 'putas are so safe then what's all this fuss about hackers? I know damed well that their systems aren't as secure as they'd like you to believe. DAMHIKT.

Secondly, SPAM! Have you ever logged on to a site and simply requested a catalogue, then been inundated with a sh!tload of spam when you'd rarely seen any previously? Ever wondered just how you got onto the spammers' mailing list? There's money in them thar lists nowadays and even supposedly "honest" businesses aren't above making extra coin from non-product sales.

Thirdly, until I can caress, lick and otherwise fondle the item I'm considering purchasing, how do I know that it's the one I want? All too often I'll sort through several packs of apparently identical items on a shelf until I find the one that say "take me home..."

Call me paranoid, hell you can call me insane if you will, but there's certain personal financial (and otherwise) info that will never even see my keyboard, let alone be broadcast over the virtual winds... There's already more personal info about me available to any git with a keyboard and a modem than I'll ever be even remotely comfortable with.

[Ramps]

Yeah all the time
from sites all over the world
Ebay a couple of times but mainly from the online bookstores and the like as well as I like to support the maker, designer, musician etc from them directly as I feel they get more of the $$ this way and I still get it at a comparable price. I do try to look after a local guy if they have the products, SUPPORT & KNOWLEDGE if they don't have all these things I can often get a better price on line.
Skew you don't have to join the 21st century don't feel lonely but going your door in the morning is a risk too:eek: . Relaxxxxxx go and create some sawdust...

[Lignum]

I do all the time and have no problem. I also have a seperate credit card with a $500 limit i use just on line, so if their is problems it wont cost me the earth, plus the banks will cover genuine fraud.

Thirdly, until I can caress, lick and otherwise fondle the item I'm considering purchasing, how do I know that it's the one I want? All too often I'll sort through several packs of apparently identical items on a shelf until I find the one that say "take me home..."

It was my understanding that the big European and Yank sites security is as tight as a thumb in a bum. They have some of the best electronic security available, so dont be so paranoid Skew, go for it

[Stuart]

If yes:

From Online Auctions,
Which one?
Have you been ripped off online?

If no:

Why not?
Would you ever?

Any other comments?

Online auctions: NO. Happy to sell via online auctions, but won't buy from them.

Have bought books from Amazon, from Fox Chapel, from Choice, software from Norton (Ghost), and all sorts of different suppliers (eg disk management tools etc), router bits, can't remember what else. Oh yeah - Ubeaut!

Never been ripped off, never had a purchase result in an inundation of spam. Course, using Thunderbird, I don't see 99% of the spam I receive anyway.

[Coldamus]

Yes. I buy on eBay often. Don't generally buy from other websites but will if I can pay by direct bank deposit or PayPal rather than credit card. I don't ever give my credit card details over the web. I also sell on eBay. A couple of members here bought Mujis from me. (No, I don't have any more.)

I use a bank account that is not linked to any others and never has more than a couple of hundred dollars in it.

A couple of items I bought turned out to be junk but at the price it didn't matter. On the whole I would be way in front.

I would have to be very confident in the seller before paying anything over, say, $500 on eBay or on the web generally. In other words, I never risk any more than I can afford to lose.

regards
Coldamus

[echnidna]

I buy far more online than I sell online.
Has been primarily through Greedbay, but no more
I also buy from online book stores such as Amazon and Alibris

Skew,
My Visa debit card is tied to a bank account that only has a limited amount of money in it at any time so exposure is very limited. By checking statements problems indentify easily and the banks are extremely fast at reversing bodgy stuff.

I buy worldwide using paypal and have even got some stuff that just cannot be got in oz.

[Zed]

yeah, right... I buy online all the time!!!

heres my bank : xxxx

heres my account number : xxx xxxx xxxxx xxx xx

heres my pin code : xxxx

the key to my house is under the front door mat

[craigb]

I've bought lots of stuff online. Never had a problem.

I tend only to buy from "reputable" sites though that have some sort of "secure" transaction service. Of course, nothing is ever completely secure, there is a bit of risk involved but if you deal with the bigger companies it's pretty slight I reckon.

When buying off ebay I like to go the direct debit method to the sellers account (I haven't bought from overseas ebay sites).

Zed, I'm curious, have you ever paid for a meal with a credit card?
You've got just as much chance of your details being nicked by the restaurant worker as you have of being ripped of online.

[Zed]

Zed, I'm curious, have you ever paid for a meal with a credit card?
You've got just as much chance of your details being nicked by the restaurant worker as you have of being ripped of online.

not quite Craig, a mate of mine got scammed a while ago... I've always been very particular about my credit card - I NEVER let it out of my sight and I ALWAYS WATCH them put it thru the machine - if they let me I always try to do the swipe myself... call me luddite:eek: as you know im a "largish bloke" and I can be quite intimidating - so far so good - a few strange looks but who gives a rats, they aint gunna spit in my food after i've eaten it!

[craigb]

not quite Craig, a mate of mine got scammed a while ago... I've always been very particular about my credit card - I NEVER let it out of my sight and I ALWAYS WATCH them put it thru the machine - if they let me I always try to do the swipe myself... call me luddite:eek: as you know im a "largish bloke" and I can be quite intimidating - so far so good - a few strange looks but who gives a rats, they aint gunna spit in my food after i've eaten it!

Differnt strokes for different folks (and chimps ) I guess.

[Clinton1]

Online auctions: mostly ePay, also Trademe.
Ripped off: once.
I've bought via a telephone call after browsing a website, as well as ordered online.

I prefer using Paypal, but also use a card that has the $ transferred to it, and is left empty the rest of the time.
Hope it helps.

[Jon]

I have bought a few things via ebay and only been stung once buying a used item that was faulty from a seller with a no return policy.
I have also bought one thing and be sent a cheaper model but that was fixed up after a couple of emails.
I am very wary of buying something that I have not actually seen in the flesh so that I can gauge it's quality first.
I pay by direct deposit.

Jon