Some ebay auctions baffle me

[ceejay74]

This still don't make sense to me... why not order for the potato chips directly.

Unless gift cards being used on the website gives extra discounts on their product, I dont see purchasing gift cards in order to order online.

Also getting a Visa gift card enable us to purchase almost anything we want, I rather not buy over face value and use that instead.

My husband sold a GPS device to someone in Australia--this guy said you can't buy it direct from the manufacturer or distributor, so the only way for them to get these is from private buyers. Thus he was willing to pay full price plus shipping--he could sell it for more than that in his country if he wanted to.

[cptacek]

My husband sold a GPS device to someone in Australia--this guy said you can't buy it direct from the manufacturer or distributor, so the only way for them to get these is from private buyers. Thus he was willing to pay full price plus shipping--he could sell it for more than that in his country if he wanted to.

Aren't individuals held to ITAR and EAR restrictions like corporations? What I mean is, some software and hardware and other technologies are restricted to outside countries (Australia is probably not one of them, but Iran and North Korea and Cuba probably are), so couldn't an individual selling to someone in those countries get in trouble for this? Not saying that your husband did anything wrong in this particular situation, but there is a potential for trouble there.

[marvholly]

To me Many auctions are TOTALLY puzzling. Several years ago I followed some cruise auctions. By the time you added up the bid price, port charges, taxes and fees it was FAR cheaper to just buy the cruise at a discount broker or even the cruise line's own web site.

People are just NOT well informed, consumer conscious.

[vinnieg24]

People will sell just about anything on these auction sites. I think they are an excellent source for purchasing and re selling text books though. I have never had a problem selling or buying books from there and are ten times cheaper than purchasing them in a school bookstore.