Ebay sells nothing. You are dealing with private sellers. Some are good, some are not. The best way to determine this is to check the feedback.
I personally never buy from anyone who has a feedback lower than 90%.
96% is considered bad, by Ebay. Take that with a grain of salt. Ebay management is nuts.

Had a buyer purchase something from our store... the buyer wanted a refund and we agreed-ed but did not want to pay the return shipping for our measurements were correct.the buyer sent us threatening messages demanding the refund and wanted to keep our item. A case was opened and ebay ruled in our favor for the customer did not mail back our item.the case was closed and later on that night ebay marked our store below standard and restricted our sales... we list 2000 a month and ebay restricted our listings to 500.2 sales this month... 163 per month all the other months before this incident. After 20 calls talking to representatives absolutely nothing was resolved! All ebay can say to us is that a bad mistake was made, sorry and nothing can be done to rectify it.To top things off the buyer continued to harass us that even after the case was closed to get her to go away I refunded the money out of my own pocket.The buyer gets to keep the money and keep the item and we are left with a restricted store and a bad mark because of it. I have no respect for ebay... if you can sell your items somewhere else DO IT!

Never buy from a seller with a rating less than 98.9% as you will never get a refund if there is a problem. I will no longer buy from any Chinese seller with less than100 sales as too many of them are scammers. I never buy anything marked as "authentic" because it probably is a copy.

Yes most are, however ask lots of questions. I bought a purse, I knew it was used but I didn't think to ask if it was a smoke free environment. It took months to get that oder out of that purse. This answer is coming from a non smoker. Because the item listed as used the seller would not give me a refund and eBay refused to give me a refund or wouldn't allow me to leave what happened or give a negative review even though I explained that I had asthma. If you got anywhere new that purse it just wreaked of smoke. So all negative reviews are not reflected on the sellers score. Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions!

Yes most are and you check their feedback scores and sellers description of product

Most are!

Depends On Who You Buy From. Some People Have No Scruples, They Will Sell Anything That They Think Will Make Them Money. I NO Longer Sell On eBay. They're A Bunch Of Crooks. I Am Selling Now On Tradesy & Bonanza.

EBay?
It depends on the seller - majority (except China stuff) are authentic but it's your duty as a buyer to ask questions. I only use, buy or sell authentic.

You are welcome to check my store at:

http://www.stores.ebay.com/mdnewsmiami

I've been doing this for some time(12 years next month). HIERARCHY OF SELLER RATINGS: GROUP1.100% sellers with thousands of "SELLS"(No recent neutral transactions nor Very Recent Negatives: Believe it or not, sellers with 100% and ton of sells can also have a negative or negatives). The more positive sells the better. GROUP2.100% Sellers with 150+ "SELLS"(No recent neutral feedbacks). The more positives sells the better. This group typically doesn't have negatives. GROUP3. Then, Recent Feedbacks rule the day if a seller has a lot of them and all positives recently(Last 300 FEEDBACKS). GROUP4. There are some situations where you might want to give almost anyone a shot, if the item is cheap. I WOULD NOT DO OVERSEAS OR ITEMS THAT CAN BE FAKED FOR THOSE FALLING OUTSIDE OF THE 1ST 3 GROUPS, THOUGH. GROUP5. DESPITE WHAT YOU MAY BE THINKING, IF YOU BUY FROM THOSE WITH 100% FEEDBACK THAT HAVE LESS THAN 150 SELLER FEEDBACKS, THEN YOU MAY BE ASKING FOR TROUBLE. It is my theory that these people CAN leave a bad reputation at ebay(duplicate account) or somewhere else behind and seek a brand new start. I was scammed(DID NOT RECEIVE) by someone when I first started at ebay. If you buy from them, then see Group4.
A LAST PIECE OF ADVICE: STAY IN GROUP1 WHEN BUYING LIFE CHANGING AMOUNTS. WHEN IT GETS INTO THE THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, IT REQUIRES A SELLER THAT WOULD NEVER INTENTIONALLY CHEAT YOU. WE'RE TALKING SEVERAL THOUSANDS SELLER FEEDBACKS WITHOUT ERROR. AS THE PRICE GOES DOWN INTO THE HUNDREDS, YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER GROUP2, AS WELL. IN THE LOW HUNDREDS, YOU MIGHT CONSIDER GROUP3, AS WELL. ALSO, BE NICE, AS SOME SELLERS CAN BE GREAT, MOODY, HAVE A LOT GOING, AND/OR VENGEFUL! PRAY TO THE CHRISTIAN GOD IN THE NAME OF JESUS THAT ALL WORKS OUT! I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU WILL ALWAYS GET NOTHING FOR PAYING, THAT YOU WILL DEAL WITH BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE, ETC. WHEN YOU DO IT ANY OTHER WAY, BUT THIS WILL PRETTY MUCH PROVIDE HASSLE FREE EBAY BUYING.

Nothing about eBay is authentic. They don't know anything about the item selling on their site. They do not manage products. They only allow people to sell and buy and they collect all the financial benefits

It greatly depends on who you buy from. I have found that multiple times now people from foreign countries will take the money, not send you items and then change the dates of arrival constantly. Ebay wont do anything about it and Paypal says just wait or call the seller. I hate Ebay.

Like almost everyone has written, "Check Feedback". If the feedback is lower than 95% I definitely stay away. You must remember that Ebay sells nothing, everything sold is sold by individuals and their values will play a very big part in the type of items that represents. You can always E-mail the seller and make an offer that is lower than the asking price, to try and save some money.

You need to be careful and do your homework before purchasing anything. No protection for the buyers.

Agree with most of the others...
1- always check the feedback rating of each seller you want to deal with. Most sellers are honest and will genuinely help you however they can.
2- Make sure to read all of the description. If you have a question or need more info you can always send a msg to seller. If you get no answer, which has only happened to me once, that's your first clue to not deal with that particular seller.
3- If you get an item that's broken, damaged or wasn't exactly what you wanted, you must immediately send msg to seller and get the issue resolved. If the seller doesn't help you or you're unsatisfied, then you open a case in ebay. You can call ebay Customer Service also. I have only been unsatisfied three times in three years and all but one was resolved to my liking... the third case, the seller never responded to my many msgs. That's not ebay's fault, but the buyer's.
As in all online buying you have to be selective and careful. Ebay is no different that any other site and you will always see unhappy buyers.
Personally, I have bought cat pins for my collection, fabric for my quilting, speakers (new), 2 sewing machines I one new and one used), books, dvds, new and used (be careful with used), a room divider and several metal shelving units... In all cases I checked the seller ratings and would not buy buy from anyone with a 99.0% rating. So far, only one thing is very disappointing. Hope this helps.

The sharpening belts for my Worksharp Tool and Knife Sharpener Ken Onion were authentic. They were sold at the lowest price I could find. However, when it comes to high dollar items I would use a regular retail outlet or Amazon.

It's hit-and-miss with eBay with some sellers having high feedback but occasionally with products that aren't accurately/honestly described as I've found out. Personally I've had good and bad with very little to determine who's who and selling what. I also never buy from China nor from US sellers selling China products. The majority of eBay sellers take advantage of the fact that you can't see them or their products. Photos taken are not always accurate. A very big risk you take when you don't know the individual or his/her goods.

I think it is a little of both. Most sellers are honest, but some are not. It is a selling platform and each seller is an individual running his or her own business. You have to check the feedback and the number of negative feedback and decide if the seller is good or not. Ask questions if you have questions on the item. I buy tons of stuff from Ebay and almost always get what I purchased.

I never use ebay. I tried and was screwed over by the customer and ebay backed them up. I would never tell anyone to purchase anything from anybody off of ebay.

Most people on eBay are highy unreliable. Go to a normal store. Nothing on eBay is what it seems. Especially the people who run eBay. They are there to take your money. Go to a regular store and save yourself the hassle.

Thanks for your question, I believe most of the seller are honest on eBay, there are those that will scam a buyer. Before a person buy from a seller on eBay check there rating. If you have doubts you may, also use toolhaus.com to take a look at a sellers full profile ton include who left feedback for the seller and what type of feedback the sellers have left for others toolhaus. Come will give a potential buyer a full break down of a sellers account from the time that seller has been on eBay. I hope this helps.