I was in the market for a laptop and eBay was my first stop. I checked there several times over the course of a week or two, but couldn’t find what I wanted. A concern I had was that one person’s definition of ‘great condition’ would include a cracked screen and a broken ‘e’ button and when dealing with an individual person, it’s hard to know what their return policy will be like. After reading this article, it seems my fears weren’t entirely unfounded. Although it’s rare, fraud occurs on eBay and can leave buyers with little recourse.

I thought it rather presumptuous of eBay to declare that they don’t need any help with fraud. If it’s still occurring, they don’t have the situation completely under control and the vigilantes are offering to help out. I for one would love to have someone inform me that a seller had a history of committing fraud before I found out through my own unpleasant experience.

In the end, I was unable to find a deal that satisfied me on eBay so I turned to Overstock.com and found one a refurbished IBM Thinkpad with a 90-day factory warranty. Shipping was only $2.95, making the total less than many of the used laptops I had thought about buying on eBay.

The laptop arrived last night, is in good condition and so far is working like a charm. I also like knowing that if anything does go wrong, I can return it for a full refund, no questions asked.