Yahoo became famous as a way to get access to items located only in Japan, but it was also famous for the "honest Seller" doing business the way it should be done. That's still true to some extent, but as Yahoo has grown the number of Buyers and Sellers have grown and with that the risks have grown. As with eBay or any website the initial members buy in to the concept and play by the rules. But over time as the user base grows it starts to attract the wrong kind of people and Yahoo is no exception.
What's still largely true these days is the fact that you most likely will not get scammed. I've bought thousands of items on Yahoo and I can count on one hand the number of times the item didn't show up. It doesn't happen very often, not often enough for an educated Buyer to really worry about it. If you're careless and bid on an obviously bogus listing then your odds will increase, but nowadays people have enough sense to pass on items when the Seller looks a bit dodgy. eBay and Yahoo are the same in that respect; use your head as a Buyer and you'll be OK in the end.
Yahoo might not have the pure scammer, the one who takes your money and sends you nothing in return, but more often than not it has Sellers who don't feel much obligation to handle disputes after the sale. Why? Because there's no claims process. Getting a refund means having them transfer money back to your back account. It's their choice. You can leave them negative feeback if you want, but they'll do the same, just like on eBay. In the end they could just ignore all of your emails and there's nothing you can do about it.
No Claim No Return
A normal problem involves getting an item that isn't properly described. Something is missing, or one part isn't working well, or the item isn't working overall. Some Sellers will help out in that situation, others wont. The main problem is the "No Claim No Return" disclaimer that most Sellers use. Often times you'll get a Seller who thinks that by adding that claim he's not responsible for anything. The auction can say that it works or that it's in good condition, but upon receiving it you find out it's not. You send him an email and he throws up the "No Claim No Return" wall as the first defense. A lot of Sellers seem to think that disclaimer covers auction misrepresentations, especially when they say it works when in reality it doesn't.
I once bought a Nintendo Famicom Box for $350. The auction had a picture of the console plus screenshots of the console working. I received the console and when I tested it out the color was bad. The image on the screen looked like a rainbow. I sent the Seller an email saying I wanted to return it since he auction says it's working and he even included screenshots. His response? No claim no return. I tried to explain that that doesn't apply when he makes false statements and he sent the same email back, "No claim no return."
Did he scam me? Not really. I got an item. He had many of them so he tested one out and got some screen shots and used those for all of his auctions. Had this been eBay I could have filed a Significantly Not As Described claim and gotten a hold placed on the PayPal money. But this isn't eBay. It's Yahoo. In the end all I could do was leave him negative feedback and eat the loss.
Although the chances of getting scammed on Yahoo are much less, there's little to nothing you can do when it happens. You can decide if that's better or not.
The Good with the Bad...
Despite the lack of Buyer protection, Yahoo is a safe place overall just because of the way Japanese society works. It's built on first-class service. On average you're going to get people who do want to do a good job, moreso than what you'll find on eBay. Items are usually packaged very well with a lot of protection. Items are usually shipped out in a couple of days and with the efficiency of Japan Post you get everything quickly with tracking numbers. Japan Post is so good that you can even send items wrapped in just bubble wrap (no outer box) and be reasonably assured that it will arrive undamaged. In all my years on Yahoo I've had one item arrive damaged and the shipping company took it back and the Seller gave me a refund. The total process took about 3 days. Compare that with 3-4 months with the US post office.
Buyers are sellers are usually polite and educated. I actually bought another Famicom Box from a different Seller and I had the same video problem. I returned it to him and he gave me a full refund. He then called me to personally apologize because he didn't want me to think he was a bad Seller. Has that ever happened to you?
The Times are Changing...
All of the above may be true, but since Yahoo is so big and famous now the level of trust has dropped a bit in favor or protection. I'm starting to see a lot of the discalimers on Yahoo that I see on eBay. A lot of Sellers are saying that you must contact them within a certain time period and payment must be made within a certain time period. A couple of years ago that was unheard of. A lot of Sellers are also including language saying they will not work with someone who has zero feedback or too much negative feedback. All of these measures are done when a site matures and the risks start to be exposed, and Yahoo is no different. Over the last few years Yahoo has turned into a much more cynical site, but it's still much better then other auction sites overall. I often read threads on message boards where people assume it's a paradise with little to no risk, but that's not the case these days. Still much better, but you can't be careless.
