How safe is it to buy on ebay?

[funnyasduck]

I've just seen a piece of jewellery I'd like on Ebay. Never had much to do with Ebay before but am aware of some negative comments. It's an expensive piece. Should it be safe to buy. Seller has 100% reviews.

positive reviews.

I buy lots of stuff from eBay, but wouldn't buy expensive jewellery, or designer goods, as there is no way of checking if real. I always pay with PayPal, as do feel this offers some protection.

Wondered if I might hijack this thread to ask an eBay related question. I live in Surrey, England, and every so often I get a notification on eBay saying that there's been an unauthorised login, and was this me? The person who did it seems to live, almost always, in a Welsh town I have never heard of. Now, I know they don't always opt for the exact town I'm at, if they said 'London' or something I wouldn't take that literally, but this is so far away, I wonder if someone Welsh is figuring out my password. If so, why, as I'm unaware of any unauthorised purchases on eBay, I don't see how they benefit.

Any thoughts? As for OP, I rarely buy anything over £100 on eBay I must admit, what is the seller's Returns policy?

@NewspaperTaxis I recently had an item I had never viewed come up as 'outbid' - was really odd - so I changed my password and notified ebay (just realised they didn't reply). Can't figure it out. It was a shirt by the way, nothing exotic. So in your case, I'd change my password too.

I buy lots on eBay and have only had a few problems over the years. I would buy an expensive item on eBay, but not a purchase that could easily go wrong eg something that could be faked or broken. I wouldn't buy an expensive piece of jewellery on eBay, even if the seller had 100% positive feedback.

I gave up after buying a load of clothes last year and putting every single item straight in the charity bag. These were good quality brands, advertised as barely worn/as new condition and were all so badly worn/grubby that I wouldn't have contemplated wearing them, even for walking the dog.

I certainly wouldn't buy anything of significant value.

I ‘bought’ a Hobbs coat on 6.1.22. ...it was due to arrive on 11.1.21 via Royal Mail....I contacted both eBay and seller on 17.1.21 as it had not arrived....Seller sent a message with tracking details.....said it would arrive in 2 more days....eBay sent a message saying message again on 21.1.22......I messaged eBay agin yesterday ( 23.1.22) ....eBay sent me a message 4 hours later stating seller had provided incorrect tracking details therefore they ( eBay) will be refunding my money plus postage paid....today I get a paypal alert to say I have been sent a refund.
I’m pretty impressed to be fair....the coat was 35 quid but nice to get it back.
Every other purchase I have made on eBay has gone through fine.... most expensive thing I have bought is an ercol table for 300£ plus delivery .....again this arrived fine

22 not 21

30 day return guarantee if it fully satisfied.
I’ve also since found out they have physical shop which appears to have a good reputation. The piece appears on their website at the same price as on EBay. Going to investigate more tomorrow.

Ignoring the specific item you are thinking of buying (and the fact they have a physical shop is a good thing) as long as you buy using PayPal then you have cover. eBay can be horrible for sellers now but as a buyer you have a lot of protection