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[Pokemonluver]

Do you trust ebay with tamagotchis?
I once bought a tama off of ebay and waited weeks for it but it was a fake      






[edited: changed title and stickied -kat]

[alicetwasbrillig]

You can trust ebay as long as you go to the right sellers.  Check their rating and comments before you buy anything or go to a seller that other people trust.

I would personally suggest Jason's store, he ships very fast and everything is authentic.

[Apollo13766]

The only item that is tamagotchi like that I have purchased off of ebay is a Dragon Quest Slime.  I bought it from Jason's Store. Like Alice I was also pleased.

[Mimitchi]

Like others said, you just have to be selective and careful.

When you find an auction you are interested, take extra look at the seller. What other items is he selling, does he have at least 50 or more positive feedback. Take a look at all the negative feedback (if any) if comments are made like "wrong item, or item was not what i was expecting" etc.. than it might be a big red flag if the seller has many of these kinds of comments. I tend to avoid any seller with more then 2 or 3 negative feedback (if they have more then 500 sales a little more is alright - things happen).

Trust your instincts though... if it looks too good to be true or you don't trust the images or the seller, just look at another auction. It's not worth the hassle of being scammed if you can avoid it.

Read every bit of text, especially the fine print. Some people will list their items low but try and get 20 bucks on shipping - make sure that 20 bucks is really what shipping would cost. Unless you are doing 2 day first class mail a tamagotchi won't cost 20 to ship to most places.

Look at the pictures very close - make sure the item you are looking at has a Bandai logo on it - that is a dead giveaway if you are looking at a bandai product. If the package has Bandai but the product inside looks different - check other images from other auctions of the same item - if it doesn't look the same it might not be trustworthy.

Just a bit of research and time and extra care to attention and you'll get what you need. Never rush into anything, rushing only leads to missing important text within the auction.

eBay is to be trusted - it's a matter of making sure the seller you are buying from is trustworthy. Best bet is to go with someone with at least 100+ positives. Those people don't want to ruin their business reputation and are not likely to scam.

And like others before me stated - Jason is trustworthy and fast, if you can find what you want with him go with his auctions.

Good luck!

[mrsPiggy]

I have been ebaying for the last 10 years and they are pretty safe especially if you uses paypal and CC. Anything bad from the transaction, you can file a fileback/dispute via paypal or CC company. If you pay cash/cheque, please make sure the seller is legit, but before you bid, you should do research on the Seller.

I normally use http://www.toolhaus.org/ and key in the seller's name and you should see all the negative feedback. If you don't like his feedback, then avoid the seller.

If the seller has 0 or low feedback, you may want to re-consider bidding on the item.
Another method is to see what other members recommend, based on their experience, you should be able to decide if you want to buy from that seller.

G'luck!

[CBM]

eBay is very much to be trusted, you just have to know what to look for, and if you have any doubt, don't risk buying it.

I'm new to the tamagotchi scene though, where can I find this Jason person's store?

[Dragontchi]

CBM: Try typing in 'Japanese Tamagotchi' at the bottom where the eBay shops are, you should see one called 'Jason's Store'. I believe this is the one you want.

It depends on what you're looking for. Careful research and annalysis of the item is always good. If it's possible to supersize the image, you might try it. Look at the packaging. If it looks phony (like there's a non-Tama character or it says something like Tomagotchi and things are misspelled that on a package you'd see in a store ARE NOT), it's most likely a fake unless they say something in the description about having pre-played it, lost the packaging and stuck it in something else. If they did though, it should have an opening, that's most likely been taped. If they show all sides and you can see NO sign of opening, I doubt it's some other packaging. Look for the Bandai logo too.

Like Mimitchi and mrsPiggy said, look for a TRUSTED seller. I'd make sure their rating is at least 95.

Look at the shape of the antenna if it has one. If it says the Tama's a V4 and it has a V3 antenna, they either made a mistake or it's a fake version.

Look at the title of the auction. If it's for a V5-V__ (insert number above five in the blank), it's a fake, UNTIL Bandai releases one.

Look at the color. Before buying, try and find a chart of the colors of that version released. If it's not one of those colors it's either Japanese or a Connexion (or Connection if you found a Connexion chart). If the seller says they painted it, either don't buy (in case the paint got in it and wrecked it, email them and ask if it still works, or look at the picture. If it doesn't look painted or you can't see any brush strokes it's probably not.) Make sure even if the shell matches, the buttons, frame around the screen and 'Tamagotchi Connection' at the top are the same color too.

Look at the buttons. Count them. If there are two, or four or more (with the exception of the 'easy Tama' which has three on bottom and three on top) it's fake. If there are three buttons, but they have an A, B and C above them respectively, unless Bandai releases/has released a Tama with that pattern it's a telltale sign.

If the Tama is still in an un-phony looking package, which has not been switched, look at the sticker that should have a Tama on it. On connections, I THINK (I'm not sure) that it's Mametchi. If it has a picture of something like a cow or a chicken on it, unless there's something said about that in the description, it's fake.

The shape. If all's good on the potential item up until now, look at the basic shape. If it's a Tama, it should be an egg-shape. Some versions have antennas, but make sure if they say it's a Morino or something if it has an antenna, it's fake. Look very carefully at the plastic case of the Tamagotchi in question. If it is PERFECTLY smooth, the Tamagotchi is fake.

Generally if a Tama has just been released, the price on eBay will be around 30-100 USD. If someone's selling a brand new, just released this week Tama for a total (including shipping) of 1.00 USD it's almost SURELY fake (unless it has about ten days to go, in which case the seller hopes that bidders will bring the price up). It's almost POSITIVE to be fake if it has a total of 1 USD Buy it Now price.

Watch out for JD Tamas and Honeylovers. As far as I'm concerned, they're FAKE!

Now for the most obvious. If you read the description and it says right in it something along the lines of 'This is NOT made by Bandai' then it WOULD be a fake.

I hope this helped with Tama shopping delemas.

[CBM]

Thanks, found it!

I think I'll be purchasing angel tamagotchi from there once I get paid.

[stevomin1996]

Ebay is pretty good. I bought a v3 from there and it wasn't fake.

[Without]

You could've been lucky, or you know what it looks like.

Half of the people who sell 'Tamagotchis' don't even know what they are. They just assume that it is one because the package probably says 'TAMAGOTCHI!!' or something along those lines.

But, eBay is pretty safe, but there are alot of fakes and you won't know it. And sometimes they copy the whole package, but instead of 'Tamagotchi Connection' they have 'Tomagotchi', and the font looks like an 'A' rather then an 'O'