eBollocks

This week I have mostly been searching eBay for a new car, because mine has developed an oil leak from the side of the engine and requires the torrey canyon to keep running. It’s been a few years since I last used eBay, and I have noticed a few things that make it a little different to the concept of eBaying.
First, and most annoying, is the ability to post an auction but not actually offer anything to bid on. We’ve all seen it. “Bugatti Veyron, £1.” You have to click on the link, only to be told to email them about a brochure for this car, and not to bid, because if you do you will receive a wheel nut. This is particularly annoying because half of the items worth more then a pound are being sold this way.
Secondly, eBay users have decided to become less then honest. In one week I won a nice VW Passat for a humble £61, only to be told it had been stolen whilst the auction had gone on. The reality is a lot more obvious, in that the seller decided he didn’t want to sell the car for that price. I spoke to him on the phone, pulled up all other items that he had for sale and offered him the same money for them, but he repeatedly fobbed me off with each and everyone not being a runner.
A great way to make stupendous money is charge extortionate postage and packing. For example, a simple DVD in its box would quite happily fit in a medium sized jiffy bag. This wouldn’t cost more then 40p to mail and the jiffy bag won’t cost much more then that. So the seller charges £4.99 (!). Even worse are some of the delightful companies abroad who mysteriously appear on UK listings. I can’t remember how many companies I have seen selling from Hong Kong or Singapore, and charging £30 postage for a memory card the size of a 2p coin.
In the meantime poor suckers will continue to bag a bargain from there, and I say good luck to them.