Now I am just going to start this off by saying I have never had a negative happening with Amazon but I only bought through them for about 2 years through a friends account.
Ok so Amazon v.s. Ebay. Which one is better? This might sound lame but, both. I have found it really depends on what you are doing and looking to purchase. I believe Amazon lets in much less smaller sellers and has a process they have to go through in order to vend from their site. Ebay does not. Anyone can go on ebay with an unblocked ip and set up a sales post. This is a big deal and can be a big factor on your decision. Amazon products also sometimes get sent in and reviews by Amazon. Not ebay. When I started amazoning I used to ebay and actually I was quite addicted and made far too many dumb purchases just because I thought the stuff was "cool". I did end up scoring some interesting stuff though. Nascar rims for under $500 lol. which I might ad were stolen by my old land lord. Anywoot I had my fare share of ebaying back in the day and only bought. I still only buy and I save money man. Amazon in my experience would basically be retail. The only thing is it's kind of convenient if the item you are looking for isn't in stock near you. The big turn off for me on Amazon is you have to purcase Amazon Prime to receive free shipping on most items. Shipping on Amazon total kills the buzz on "deal" hunting it starts to not look so cheap after you see the shipping fee. Also I am too much of a cheap ass to pay $100 or so a year just to spend the same amount on Amazon.( I am pretty sure its around $100 don't take my word on that) Again going back to ebay that is a nice feature being able to "make an offer" on some items. Not only do you basically have to pay for amazons "free shipping" Ebay offers ebay bucks. Which basically means you get 1% back on all purchases withing a quarter if you sign up. its free plus you can get up to 10% back on orders during some holidays. (They send you an e-mail) except on precious metal bullion . Which kind of sucks because you don't get money back off huge silver purchases if you want to but again that brings us all the way back to Amazon. Go check out jmbullion.com and check out how much they charge over spot for an American Eagle Silver 1 ounce round. Then mosey on over to Amazon.com and see how much a 1 ounce round is with their premium + shipping. The results will make you sick. Ebay is not the best place to buy precious metal either if not from a business with 100% good feedback so I guess it comes down to you decide. Try both but without an Amazon prime membership. For me Ebay wins hands down also amazon doesn't even do auctions as far as I know.