AI reviews summary
Recent feedback indicates a significant decline in user trust and platform reliability. Long-term users report that eBay has transitioned from a community-focused marketplace into a platform dominated by drop-shippers and automated systems. A primary recurring theme is the perceived failure of the "Money Back Guarantee," with many buyers left out of pocket for counterfeit, faulty, or non-delivered items due to strict 30-day windows that do not account for shipping delays or long-term warranties.
Pros
Cons
Verdict
eBay is currently described by many long-term users as a high-risk platform that prioritises automated efficiency and corporate profit over consumer protection. While it may still function for low-value, non-urgent purchases, the high prevalence of counterfeit goods and the lack of human intervention in disputes make it increasingly unreliable for high-ticket items or professional selling.
I have been on eBay as a seller and customer for years. Nothing but the best service if things go wrong. Mostly things go right! Nothing but praise for the setup for selling and ease of use being an ex IT analyst. Love this platform and so grateful it exists for honest sellers and buyers! Show details
Amazing site for buying and selling anything. For me the main issue with ebay.com.au is you have overseas sellers, with very long maximum delivery times, pretending they are from Australia, so when you order a product you receive it 3-4weeks later from a seller that claims they are in only in the next state. This is why you need to buy from… Read more
sellers that have max Estimated delivery date of less than 7-10days, anything longer is an overseas seller. They also have found a way to hide the overseas tracking information before it gets to Australia, so it says nothing for 2 weeks while its traveling overseas.
Selling on eBay to the US? Beware of the Fees! If you're selling items on eBay to buyers in the US, be aware that you can lose more than 40% of the sale price in fees and charges. Here's what happened to me: eBay collects 10% GST from the buyer. When you lodge the parcel with Australia Post, you're asked to declare the sale value, and GST is… Read more
factored into the transaction. eBay then charges its commission on the total amount, including the GST collected. However, eBay does not reimburse the GST it collected, meaning you're effectively paying fees on money you never receive.
Before selling to US buyers, make sure you fully understand all the fees, taxes, shipping costs, and commissions involved. The total deductions can be surprisingly high and significantly reduce your profit.
Seller beware—check the numbers before listing your item.
Reviews with attachments
I order a needoh I ordered the needoh nice cube and I didn’t get what I exactly wanted the needoh feels sticky and it’s not the needoh nice cube I would like a refund and then the packaging is destroy I’m not that happy thank you.
Got broken pram from eBays seller & no help from ebay .totally ripped off – Bought a pram from ( babyobay_ltd) from eBay. Got it on time with tracking details but after using it first time & tyres got stuck & after that it didn’t move , both tyres from back was not working . I complain to seller & he promised that he will send a new stroller but he didn’t sent me any tracking details & keep on lying that he send it but I… Read more
never got it . He was making me fool but complain about this to eBay & next day I received a message from eBay that seller has send u tracking detail but when I checked that tracking number was old stroller tracking number . That seller made eBay fool aswell by sending old tracking number. However I tried again to contact eBay but there was window or place wher I can message them or ask for help & I doubt they also deleted my purchase list , where no proof of buying that stroller . They cheated me
Unable to leave feedback eBay Australia – Purchased two faulty bags from eBay on 7 Sep 22, left negative feedback for the vendor imart-au, eBay removed my negative feedback for NOT reason. Show details
Very bad customer service – I recently sold a GPU on eBay the seller decided to return it claiming it's faulty I told eBay I took a video straight B4 sending it showing that it works and took another one after I received it and yet they charged me $66 between fees and postage and simply told me to relist it like I'm ever gonna use eBay again Show details
Their site made my listings hard to find and delete when I sold them elsewhere. This enables a buyer to buy a product that should of been removed but could not be found. As a result, they charged me higher fees around 23%. They protect the coin sellers selling over graded coins as well. They charged those 23% fees for postage as well to me,… Read more
making the buyer angry at postage costs and making it look like your making profit from postage. Don't sell or buy coins on eBay. eBay has lost my business for life. See the fee break down below. On top of all this they charged me around $27 per month for my eBay shop. Good bye eBay and you will lose many coin buyers and sellers.
I won an auction that ran its complete and full time. The page asked to be reloaded while it determined the winner, it reloaded and said I was the winner. I was very excited to have won the auction. As always I immediately clicked on the pay now link on the page. The page loaded a page of similar items (photographic gear) and not checkout. I was a… Read more
little bewildered at first but went to my eBay and refreshed the page to find no notification saying pay now and the auction not listed under my purchased items. Then I received a text from the seller Akashic -camera, a Japanese based seller saying the item had already been sold and the auction was running by mistake. LIAR. The seller obviously did not like the price the auction concluded for and reneged on his and eBays duty to fulfil the auction terms. I contacted eBay through the "Tell us what you think" link and told them what happened. I highly doubt they could careless and I highly doubt I will hear anything back from them. I replied to the sellers cowardly message and told him he was a coward and a liar.
Also to do with user trust on eBay I left negative feedback for a different seller who thoroughly deserved it (something I rarely ever do) and eBay removed the negative feedback when the seller had a little cry to them about it. I did not use bad language or anything of the sort, I just stated the facts of what the seller had done. I gather from this that eBay abuse their ownership of the platform to protect making them money against all else.
Thought I would give this "sell for free" on ebay after they straight up stole from me last time I used them. Well first sale and already lied and stolen from me. Sale $267 - payout - $183!!! Someone please explain to me, how is nearly $80 taken "FREE" PUK THIS STEALING COMPANY. of course I never hear back from them!!! Show details
The stupidity of ebay au got worst ! probably running by far leftist !!! The reason why many sellers left ebay for elsewhere to sell more n sell faster n less commissions charge!! Show details
I’ve felt this way for a while now, but eBay is an e-commerce platform that protects the seller’s interests far more than the buyer’s (consumer's). Even when the item I ordered never reached me and was delivered to the wrong address, simply because the seller provided a tracking number—even though it was for a wrong delivery—eBay made the refund… Read more
process incredibly complicated and difficult. What I’ve learned and experienced this time is that the platform has so many loopholes. (I won't go into detail to prevent other sellers from copying it, but) if a seller deliberately decides to scam someone, they can easily make free money by exploiting eBay's seller protection policies and system. Furthermore, if a plumbing part I purchased (like a shower hose) starts leaking in less than a year, the seller is completely off the hook as long as they choose to simply ignore my messages. For a seller to be held accountable, the product—which should normally last for years without any issues—would have to fail almost immediately after purchase. Even then, there is still no guarantee that eBay would protect the buyer.
Find out how eBay compares to other Auction Shops
Know better, choose better.
- +1
I am writing to formally complain about eBay’s handling of my defective item case. I purchased a brand new TaylorMade Qi10 MAX Driver from seller “mega hit japan” on April 4, 2026 for AU $525.50. After a few rounds of normal use, the clubhead catastrophically failed and completely split apart during a standard tee shot — a clear manufacturing… Read more
defect.
When I contacted the seller they refused all responsibility. When I contacted eBay, I was told nothing could be done and was directed to contact my bank.
This is completely unacceptable. eBay’s Money Back Guarantee explicitly covers defective items. A 60-day return window does not override consumer rights regarding defective goods. I have photographic evidence clearly showing the structural failure of this club.
Overnight (June 10 2026) I was out of nowhere charged $4.99 for an ebay plus subscription I cancelled last year and never used! Now they tell me flatly that this charge is non refundable and will not provide any explanation at least as to how this happened. It's a small amount but none of us can have any amount of money be taken from our bank… Read more
accounts out of the blue, no invoice or receipt etc. My confidence is blown and I'm incredulous at the defiance I've met in raising this.
I would give them 0 stars. I’m a seller and I sent two packages to Germany worth very big money. The items were taken out of the box in transit or from the buyer. They have not protected me. Do not do business with eBay. I will never sell here again. Absolutely disgusting service. I am am furious. Taking food off my plate and my family. I repeat… Read more
do not sell with eBay. I will take them to small claims court and the escalate it I have to. I have exhausted all avenues and I have been abused as a seller.
I am a long term and satisfied customer of eBay and I have seen many tricks some seller use. However, the latest trick is in so far the best. A seller zafbay advertises an item on eBay with photo and in reality the photo and the item is not sold but ordered by the seller on Amazon Australia. The eBay advertised price by zafbay is far higher than… Read more
advertised on Amazon and the eBay seller makes a good profit if the item is sold on eBay. There are no postage costs involved either as the seller is an Amazon Prime customer, so the dishonest seller makes on eBay a double profit, first with an inflated price and secondly there is no postage fee. For sure this is blatant fraud and I have reported the Chinese scammer to eBay and to Amazon. Result: Make sure that you always check the rating of a seller on eBay and do not purchase if you see the same item on Amazon or somewhere else. This is another scam one has to be aware about.
Purchased a Growatt 5kw hybrid inverter from PowerCore Solutions on eBay in 2025 https://www.ebay.com/str/anjonlinestore (Order number: 18-12778-30815) which failed after less than 1 year. They refuse to respond to my messages for support, totally ignoring my many messages. Buyer beware!!! Show details
- +1
A trustworthy melbourne based seller MZYGT-H7 I chose right sizing by 4 pairs mens..however after 4 weeks found them too soft esp soles/ heels with little firm support..& only good for housewear..laces need replacing too firm up fit..Easy payment processing with a contactable seller.Arrived promptly brisbane postage with ARAMEX COURIER Show details
Latest follow-ups
On 18th May I bought a DVD from Ebay. This DVD was supposed to be delivered between 26th May and 2nd June. Here it is now 3rd June and no delivery yet. The odd things is this DVD has no tracking information available. Yet the sender of this DVD… Read more
says, He has a problem with Australia Post and he is waiting for tracking information to be updated on his end. I've found from experience of buying 500 DVDs from Ebay in roughly 8 years, that Ebay basically don't ever take action against a seller who violates their policies. I'll include a screenshot of my purchase that clearly says, No Tracking Available.
Follow-up · The seller communicated clearly to me. But what bothers me is this seller twice now has not sent a DVD I ordered from them. So there is a pattern here, which Ebay should be investigating but Ebay don't care. It's a numbers game to Ebay, I've just avoided this seller from now on. It's very unusual to buy a $45 DVD and have no tracking information… Read more
eBay.com.au is finished now. Have been a buyer for over decades but in recent years their buyer protection policies from fraudsters have gotten so watered down that now all they do is offer a 30-day money back guarantee (and thats for eBay plus… Read more
members!!!) and also they thereafter allow the Seller to be in full command and decide what happens when a buyer purchases a product that ends up being defective after 30-days of use. Even spoke to their customer service to seek eBay intervention under Aust Consumer Law, apparently eBay do not follow the Aust Consumer Law, and they have an eBay.com.au website to sell within Australia? How does that work? So end of eBay, please do not buy or sell on here, its a place for fraudsters and scammers now. In this case, the product bought was a LAptop bag, meant to be anti-theft n all but its zippers broke upon 35days of normal use. And when i raised a Return request with the seller, the request got declined by Seller and now i have no control or help for this fraud seller selling a defective product not fit for its purpose! Order page says Return request completed (see pic attached) but actually the return request got declined and closed as it was raised after 30 days of policy period! Not acceptable!
Follow-up · I tried reaching out to eBay support and they refused to do anything further or help in any way. Due to this I have stopped using eBay all together now!
Careful buyer experience – I bought an item on eBay which hasn’t arrived and opened a request for a refund and eBay keeps on dragging the date further for delivery and kept my request on hold and I can’t write to them or unable to contact the seller. Very unprofessionals and misleading. Will never buy on eBay again. Show details
Follow-up · Can't recall what happened for the previous one but have since bought one item on ebay and without any issue and the product came on time.
Find out how eBay compares to other Auction Shops
Know better, choose better.
Positive reviews
I recently purchased a 100ml bottle of Christian Dior Eau Sauvage Elixir from this Ebay supplier. It was at a considerable discount to normal retail as one would expect. However having purchased an Armani fragrance thru Ebay I wasn't anxious about authenticity. Delivery was slow but it duly arrived intact and in packaging that looked genuine. … Read more
On opening and trying it, it was immediately obvious that it wasn't the real article, in other words it was fake or counterfeit. The initial notes were faint and faded to nothing after a few moments. Given that Elixir is supposed to be very strong and last for hours this is nothing short of fraud. Efforts to involve Ebay corporate have met with a dismissive nothing that violates their rules response. As for aimer.au-99 the actual supplier, there's no response at all. This is a salutary reminder that the Ebay money back guarantee is meaningless. Even feedback which on this supplier is supposedly 92% positive is no guide and unreliable. Beware of this vendor people.
One of the best ebay interactions I've ever had. Initially purchased the wrong item, sent them a message regarding this and no questions ask it was refunded without delay. Purchased the correct item, could not believe the speed in processing, very… Read more
fast delivery during Christmas new year. Follow up emails through out, and to top it all off was an unexpected $100 gift voucher for wine.... what the lol well done guys, this is how it's ment to be
Follow-up · The included gift voucher for wine claiming $100 dollars of free wine i found to be misleading. To obtain the $100 i needed to spend $86 in a bulk purchase, really didn't want the wine, but inlight of growers hardship over past months i completed the purchase. But the insta 360 pro 2 is still in my opinion at the top of the list for ease of use and quality build, the store and staff were amazing
I bought a router on eBay from Interstate with 10 day delivery. I later found Amazon could deliver it in three days. I asked eBay for a refund and they refunded my money within an hour ... unbelievable...Thank you so very much! Show details
Negative reviews
Do not buy from this mob.A recent return and refund was nothing but a joke and total disregard of their customers.Is this Australia!!!!!! Still fighting for my refund but they don,t care.STAY AWAY!!!!!! Show details
Apple product purchase on eBay -Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation | USB-C - were first found to be faulty but the seller would not respond. As 30 days had passed, eBay would not assist other than to take a report about the seller even when the product was found to be counterfeit. The counterfiet status of the product was confirmed by… Read more
the local Apple when the product was taken for repir. eBay says counterfeit product is not allowed to be sold on their site but they don't take any action to assist the buyer when a counterfeit product is detected and reported. DO NOT TRUST EBAY TO HELP when a counterfeit product is purchased.
Bought one of these on ebay from Kogan and they sent a non-working unit. Been getting the run around just trying to get it returned. Their so called help is none at all. Unless you call being treated as if you are a moron help.
Recent reviews
Just when you thought that eBay could not get any worse, they have now managed to take penny pinching to another level. So what is it this time? If you had insurance or other commercial product, you may have found that they also offered benefits of reduced movie vouchers, or even eBay voucher discounts. OK, at 3% discount for the eBay vouchers, it… Read more
wasn't a lot, but as we all know with prices around us, every small amount counts. Given the large profits that eBay are making, it would only be a very small, trivial amount that it would be costing eBay. But in their penny-pinching, miserly wisdom, eBay have now decided to stop this, as of July 2026. Can you get anyone from their area to discuss this, no. The people who make these decisions hide behind their chatbot staff, staff who don't know anything about resolving issues apart from shallow comments about trying to resolve matters, when in fact they have no ability to do so. They just go through the motions, a falsehood of offering customer service. When you talk to the marketing people from the impacted organisations that are pulling this benefit, they are at least honest and upfront about the decision to pull the promotion, acknowledging that they have no say in the matter, it is purely run from the eBay marketing team. Unlike eBay marketing staff who just hide, and won't acknowledge or respond to any complaints about the way that they conduct themselves. We all know how bad eBay is, and this is yet another example of how they have absolutely no interest in customer service or in providing any kind of value-add for their customers.
I purchased an item from this outlet due to their advertised location being Australia and free shipping. My location is Major Rural, with an Australia Post Shop, and numerous global courier companies servicing the town. The store advised they could not send my item to my postal address for some reason and asked for an alternate address. I then… Read more
gave them my residential address which they likewise said was not able to be serviced.They then asked me to pay more to cover the free shipping??? NO LONGER FREE??? I refused and advised that if they couldn’t honour their Free Shipping statement that they should then give me back my money. They agreed to the refund in principal, but then advised the next day that they were unable to process the refund unless I cancelled the order. They repeatedly said they had been trying to process the refund but were unable to do so. I suggested to them that the issue perhaps was due to the fact that if they cancelled the order due to non compliance with stated shipping terms that they would be black marked by EBay. They repeatedly denied this and kept asking me to cancel. I eventually contacted EBay who immediately concurred with my thoughts and who immmediately advised DIVERSEDISTRICT to refund my money. They complied the next day. The reason for the review is that these people were dishonest in their advice regarding the refund, dishonest in the free shipping statement, dishonest in regard to the reason why they couldn’t process my refund….what else are they dishonest about. My advice if you come across this company, RUN…. Read the reviews and buy from only reputable companies.
Extra Information
ProductReview.com.au has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence our content moderation policies in any way, though ProductReview.com.au may earn commissions for products/services purchased via affiliate links.