Digital Downloads on Ebay

[peakbagger]

I recently went through an interesting transaction on Ebay. There was a listing for a factory parts manual. It was a "digital download" which I have done in the past with no issues. The listing description was that they would send me a link to download the file. It was $11 and by a US Ebay seller so I figured what the heck. I completed the deal and then got a link to a Bittorrent site in NZ. I made sure my antivirus was on and downloaded the file which was 22KB in size, definitely not what I was expecting. Turns out that in order to download the real file I needed to download some way of downloading bit torrent. Bit Torrent files in general have a shaky reputation so have avoided them in the past. I contacted the seller and he sent me a link for what I needed. I clicked the link and what I ended up with was all sorts of bloatware loaded on my computer and still no program and a bunch of errors on bootup. It took me 3 hours of cleaning up getting rid of the files and I let the seller know it did not work and wanted a refund. He accused me of ripping him off trying to steal the software. Then after I replied that I wanted a refund again, he offered to do a remote login and "fix" my computer. I decided I didnt really have any interest in that and decided to go the Ebay guarantee route.

Somehow I ended up a Ebay concierge member so I talked to a helpful support guy in Ireland. He checked the listing out and informed me that Ebay does not allow digital downloads of software without accompanying software and license material. Since its an illegal listing they cant do a refund but suggested I pursue it with my credit card. He did ask that I report the listing. I did and then went to my credit card and disputed the charge and got a credit.

I have found quite a few digital downloads on Ebay over the years. Usually I am looking for factory service documentation that is unavailable, out of print or dealer only. Generally I stick to Ebay and usually US sellers as I am aware of pirated software but looks like Ebay is not too careful on reviewing listings. The same seller has multiple listings, so I expect its a game of whack a mole where the seller factors in occasionally getting caught.

Bummer as it was potentially handy reference.

 

[blades]

do not like digital downloads of manuals, hard copy or not at all

 

[mtcox1791]

I feel your pain. I have had trouble with an Ebay purchase in the past that was not a digital download. I purchased an item, but there was a delay in shipping. Per the sellers own email response, he was selling something he expected to purchase but didn't actually own. I found the ebay resolution center no help at all. I did a charge back through my credit card and that settled it. I recommend always using credit card through pay pal.
Also, the last manual I purchased on ebay was an out of date tractor shop manual. A guy in the Philippines ,who was an American sent me a CD with the manual on it. He sold all kinds of old manuals this way.

 

[festerw]

I feel your pain. I have had trouble with an Ebay purchase in the past that was not a digital download. I purchased an item, but there was a delay in shipping. Per the sellers own email response, he was selling something he expected to purchase but didn't actually own. I found the ebay resolution center no help at all. I did a charge back through my credit card and that settled it. I recommend always using credit card through pay pal.
Also, the last manual I purchased on ebay was an out of date tractor shop manual. A guy in the Philippines ,who was an American sent me a CD with the manual on it. He sold all kinds of old manuals this way.

That's good advice for basically any purchase you're making outside of cash. With all the data breaches is a good idea not to have your debit/bank account linked to anything.

I've gotten a few digital downloads from eBay but they've all been pdf files and emailed to me. Definitely wouldn't have used a torrent some random dude sent me or ever let him remotely control anything.

 

[shortys7777]

I bought a cell phone and got a black screen within 24 hours. Took it to 2-3 different stores and they said the phone is dead. Contacted the seller a few times with no response. Called the ebay support and sure enough the guy sent me an email back asap with a return postage. I also only use pay pal.

 

[begreen]

I have gotten more and more suspicious and unaccepting of files, pictures and videos from unknown sources. There are too many bad actors out there. I would do a deep scan of the drive and check for any sign of a rootkit with a rootkit scanner.