how safe is buying on eBay?

Jul 12, 2012

Valeria P.

I want to buy some make up, but how safe is purchasing online? Please tell me!

Jul 12, 2012

Sana R.

Buying makeup online is always kind of a gamble. However, to optimize your safety, you'll want to check out a few things:

1. How is the buyer rated? Do they have many reviews? Are they mostly positive? If there are any bad reviews, what are they?

2. Is the price too good to be true? Compare the price the seller is selling for to the retail cost and to what other sellers are selling the same thing for. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

3. How many photos of the product are there? Granted, photos can be faked or not of the actual product but if there is only one photo of the item in question, it's probably a little dodgy.

4. What is the return policy? If the item isn't what you expected, can you return it? If you can't, why not?

5. Why is the buyer listing this item? Do they have their own shop that sells products? Or are they also a consumer? Why do they not want to keep the product for themselves?

I think those are probably the six questions you should try to answer before purchasing any items online if you're not using the company's website so you can ensure your safety as much as possible.

Good luck! :)

Jul 12, 2012

Valeria P.

Thanks! :D

Jul 12, 2012

Kayleigh W.

There's been an article in the daily mail (uk) about people selling fake make up on eBay containing a high amount of lead, enough to kill a baby! So no i wouldn't buy unless you can be guaranteed that it is the real deal! People have been arrested for seeking fake make up.

Jul 12, 2012

Kayleigh W.

Selling*

Jul 12, 2012

Rikki P.

If you're wanting MAC and high end things, TheSublimeAgent has a video on who sells real MAC and such. For Asian cosmetics, I always turn to rubyruby76.

Jul 12, 2012

Shelley W.

My MIL in bought a classic Jeep CJ from Ebay. She swears by it but when I told her about the make-up she said "heck no". Her argument being you don't know if the stuff is fake and clock full of deadly chemicals or what. 

Jul 13, 2012

Robert P.

Ebay is as safe or safer than any other online place to shop (as far as security, disputes etc, maybe not for buying makeup in particular?). It comes down to the individual seller you're dealing with. As mentioned above, check their feedback, return policy etc.

As far as buying/saving on eBay goes:

If you see an item that you want listed in auction format, send the seller a message asking if they will accept $x to end the auction early and sell the item to you. If that doesn’t work, use a sniping service such as Bidball.com to bid for you. It’ll bid in the last few seconds, helping to save $ and avoid shill bidding.

If there is a particular item that you want that is relatively rare on eBay or goes fast when one is listed, use ebuyersedge.com to set up a saved eBay search for it. You’d get an e-mail whenever a match is listed. You can use the price, category, exclude word, etc. filters to narrow down the results that you get in the e-mails. Excellent for “Buy It Now”s priced right.

If the item that you’re looking for is difficult to spell, try a misspelling search site like Typojoe.com to find some deals with items that have main keywords misspelled in the title. Other interested buyers may never see them.

Jul 13, 2012

Yasmin R.

Hi Sana, I love buying stuff online but so far as eBay goes it really varies. I tend to find a lot of fake makeup there especially when it's priced really low. I would stray away from eBay and just check out those legit makeup retailers like drugstore.com, beauty.com, Sephora, Ulta and others. They do have a lot of offers going on every now and then.

Miss Madd
http://missmadd.com

Jul 17, 2012

Elysia B.

I personally wouldn't. You don't know who handles it and what they do to it.. I suggest not(: