eBay advice - Have a look here

[Synthacon]

There seems to be alot of eBay related posts at the moment regarding suspect Auctions, so I thought I would post a few little ideas in the hope that we can rid the Forum of needless questions.

1 - If the Auction looks too good to be true IT IS

2 - NEVER pay using Western Union, that is sending cash. Even Western Union will advise you against this.

3 - Ask for more pictures of the unit, if they had a camera to put up a picture in the first place they will be able to do this.

4 - Ask Questions only an owner would know.

5 - Do not risk Zero Feedback sellers, many are scam artists.

6 - Do not deal with people who post an email address on their advert saying they get spam via eBay, they are CROOKS

7 - Try not to sell to people who are in Singapore, many use stolen Credit Cards.

8 - Stay away from sellers who are registered in one Country but the item is in another.

9 - Please try not post every item you think is a scam, if you/other people follow simple rules they should be able to spot a scam as well.

10 - Ask for a sellers telephone number and get them to play a few notes down the phone if your still unsure!

11 - Accounts can be hijacked, so check Feedback and see when the account was last used.

12 - Some sellers also just buy a few cheap things so they get a few Positive Feedbacks, this is easy to check.

13 - Watch auctions where the bidders name is hidden, often suspect.

14 - If you can not satisfy yourself DO NOT take the risk. A cheap deal can turn in to a heavy loss.

[Mr Rich]

Well said.

I think that this one is worth a sticky.

[Klantan]

7 - Try not to sell to people who are in Singapore, many use stolen Credit Cards.

I wouldnt sell outside one's own country. And if you are using Paypal and are selling vintage gear, be sure to remove paypal's default "buyer protection" feature. Ever have your gear purchased, gutted, disputed, and then sent back to you unsaleable?

[AstroDan]

Ebay's big enough now, they really need to set up some third party shipping/receiving/cash on delivery type service. As in: I send the item I just sold to the Transaction Center, and the buyer sends the payment to the Transaction Center, and someone there says "Item looks good. Payment looks good. Okay. Everything's verified." I'm certain it would be more complicated and troublesome than that. But as Ebay gets bigger, and the scamming too, the days are numbered for unregulated peer-to-peer dealing.

So go start one. Right now. Get off the GX1 and go.

Or not.

[peter]

Some Great tips.. This is a GOOD Thread!

[tez]

I really want to dispute the point regarding avoiding zero feedback sellers. Although there may be a notable percentage of untrustworthy sellers with zero feedback, I highly doubt the number warrants avoiding zero feedback sellers altogether. Everyone has to start somewhere.

On that topic, it should be easy enough to identify suspicious zero feedback sellers, and there are plenty of ways to ensure your safety, i.e. requesting (detailed) contact info, requesting specific pictures, getting in contact with the seller outside of ebay and email... etc

In a nutshell, while it is useful to be aware of zero feedback sellers, you certainly don't need to avoid them.

Cheers,
tez

[piRoN]

Also, add items you're interested in to your 'watched items' list. Do this for two reasons. One is that obviously it just makes it easier to find each time, but secondly it means that after the bid is done you can still view the item description. A couple of times I've seen the same picture show up on several different items, and a quick look through my watched items list lets me pick up on reused photos.

[Wiglaf]

Everyone has to start somewhere.

Amen. I made the same point you did in another thread.

[stillearning]

Don't know if this has been mentioned, but if I'm the least bit suspicious, or if it's a high priced item, I'll usually contact the seller and arrange for local pickup. Even if I have no intention of driving or flying the distance, I sometimes just want to gauge their reaction to the suggestion. I then try to get a home phone # and verify it. I know it's not foolproof, but it sometimes helps.

And I think there is a service like the one mentioned by AstroDan. I believe it's a type of escrow, although I've never used it. I believe the payment is sent to escrow, and is only sent to the seller after delivery has been confirmed by the buyer.

[Synthacon]

Asking to collect things is fun. You soon realise they are a scam.

Some Escrow companies are also fake, but I think eBay do list a few if you needed to use them.

[bigbadbarns]

Yeah, really watch out for escrow companies. ONLY use the one's recommended on ebay, and never follow a seller's link to an escrow company- my girlfriend was the highest bidder for a Canon EOS 5d camera (worth about $5000), was sent an escrow site which claimed to be a subsidiary of escrow.com, and looked completely official. I emailed escrow.com and they said they had nothing to do with that company, and it was a fraud. The guy had something like 200 positive feedbacks, but it was all for cheap s**t, obviously working up to a big scam like the $5000 camera.

This happened twice in the space of a few days. I'm really wary of buying anything of ebay now.

[synthgeek5108]

Ebay's big enough now, they really need to set up some third party shipping/receiving/cash on delivery type service. As in: I send the item I just sold to the Transaction Center, and the buyer sends the payment to the Transaction Center, and someone there says "Item looks good. Payment looks good. Okay. Everything's verified." I'm certain it would be more complicated and troublesome than that. But as Ebay gets bigger, and the scamming too, the days are numbered for unregulated peer-to-peer dealing.

So go start one. Right now. Get off the GX1 and go.

Or not.

That's a good idea. However, it'd most likely be something that you'd have to pay for.
Not to knock the idea, it's just selling stuff on ebay is hard enough as it is.

I'm trying to sell vinyl albums (rare ones mind you) on there for 2 bucks each, and even then, I'm getting no hits for those items.

[DX]

Hi guys.:
Last days I am watching so many items from CHINA with the comments in English, and they always are users called Ja0s4, g3h6s, 8dl3h, v4k5h, etc. who are ebay beginners with no previous deals.

Always Western Union is required, neither paypal nor another safe way.

It smells bad deals, doesn't it?

[Mush]

It smells bad deals, doesn't it?

Does Dolly Parton sleep on her back?
Is there rice in China?

[Dissolution_99]

Hi guys.:
Last days I am watching so many items from CHINA with the comments in English, and they always are users called Ja0s4, g3h6s, 8dl3h, v4k5h, etc. who are ebay beginners with no previous deals.

Always Western Union is required, neither paypal nor another safe way.

It smells bad deals, doesn't it?

if you buy anything from then, i will fly to your housem and SLAP you, what are they selling anyways?