My experience with Ebay as a buyer and as a limited seller has actually been good. Here’s what I know: As a buyer: I have been able to get rare, vintage things I never would have been able to get before, for really, really inexpensive prices. IIt’s also an outlet for me to get things used that I want, but don’t necessarily need to have ‘new’ like household things. It’s also a way for me to find cut-rate prices or make deals on brand new things. I can often get new beauty supplies or out-of-stock items for less than half of the retail price – which makes luxury items a lot more within my grasp. So far all of my buying experiences, save some late shipments have been positive and the item has been as represented accurately. Sure, it can be a good junk exchange but it also hold amazing treasures like antiques, vintage watches, rarities, long-lost board games and tons of other things you may enjoy if you’re into that kind of thing. It all depends on what you like and what your hobbies are. As a seller: I have been able to connect people with items they never would have found before- like vintage home goods, watches, accessories etc. I love finding this stuff and can actually make a huge profit if I put time and effort into it. Sometimes, you can make a few hundred dollars on an item with a very small monetary investment. Where you can sometimes lose some value is in the time it takes to find, post and ship these items, but if you have a natural talent for it, and can do it quickly – it could wind up being really profitable. All around, it’s been a great and fun experience on both ends. I’d also defer to Peedub’s expertise on this, so I hope he weighs in. He has a thriving vintage business and a lot of experience with buying, selling and Ebay ops. (Those are anecdotal, though. I’m sure there are a lot of books out there on Ebay…it was kind of heralded as a phenomenon years ago and I’m sure someone’s studied it)