Avoid eBay Scammers

welcome!

today i want to talk about the rise of scammers on eBay.  now this entry isnt some official data or published article, this is just from my personal observation an reports from other users;  basically about the rise of scammers online in general, not just ebay or amazon.  however, ebay is a common place we all use, so i'll foucus on that.  i'll give you some tips on how to shop safely on ebay.  sounds good?
 
as the economy goes down, the scammers go up.  lol, they're inversely proportional.  the average rate to be scammed on ebay for the average user is maybe once every 2+ years.  now you are likely to get scammed every few months.  i know, becaues i shop on ebay a lot (i love shopping in general !!) and when teh auction ends, i always like to bookmark it to follow up to see if the buyer actually got the item

a lot of scammers are obvious.  they set their prices incredibly low or have inventory for items that wont be available for another 2 months.  duh!  with incredibly low prices and tempting sales,  people fall for them...

other scammers are tricky.  they have good feedback, their sale looks legit, but they suddenly turn to the darkside for whatever reason.  perhaps because their in some financial trouble and need quick $$$, thats why.  this is a common reason for scams--quick cash


how can we identify and  protect ourselves from these scammers?  i have tips to help you from getting scammed.  oh, theyre tried and true.  :)

tips to avoid ebay scammers:

1) use Paypal!  you are protected and have a way to recover money.  make sure the seller accepts paypal!  do not send cash, money orders, or checks to sellers.  use paypal.  it's quick , easy, and safer than physically mailing something out.  also , paypal keeps records, so should you forget about a sale, you can look it up.  if paypal fails, you can also file a claim w/ ebay,  so you'e got 2 securities.  remember: you have 45 days to open up a claim after date of payment when paying w/ Paypal!

2) if something looks too good to be true, it probably is!  know the price of the item, know details about it.  for example, if you buy an new xbox 360 (current msrp is $299.99 for elite) and it is $199.99, be suspicious.  know the contents of the xbox 360!  if the console includes 8 parts but this sale only has 6 parts, somethign is fishy.  dont be lured by low prices!  is the low price really worth the hassle of filing claims and frudulent sellers?  no!


3) check seller feedback and dates!  some sellers are tricky these days.  before buying, click the sellers' name and check "feedback as a seller".  check how they're doing as a seller.  a lot of sellers may have 1000 feedback, but 995 of them were them buying stuff w/ only 5 actually as a seller.  you want to look at those 5 and read carefully.  and look at the dates of the feedback!!  if a seller received a (+) on 2/2/10 but their sale ended 2/1/10, then it is likely that the buyer and seller are the same person who gave feedback to one another to boost feedback scores.  usually it takes a week from a sale ends to the time the seller actually gets the feedback


4) check item description!  some sellers dont even know what theyire listing (because they're scammers).  they might even leave nothing in the item description.  for example, if someone's selling an xbox 360, read the description to make sure it is a 360.  some sellers do not actually have a 360 and do not even know what it is, so they leave nothig for the description (or leave a very poor description or default description).  what they do know is that the 360 is a hot-seller, so listing it will get a sale.  remmeber: the more knowledgeable the description is, the more likely the seller knows the item and acutally has the item in hand.  poor descriptions tend to be sellers who are in a rush to list it, or do not actually have it

5) communicate!  if you're wary if the seller is legit, ask a question on the item.  with this method you can see if the seller is still alive or not (should be alive lol) and if they have customer service.  sellers who do not answer your questions do not deserve your business.  and dont ask a generic question, ask a question that only the seller would know if they have the item.  for example, if buying a playstation 3, ask them "does this come w/ a dual shock 3 controller or sixaxis?"  the seller should know this  :)  if they dont, ask them "is this a fat or slim ps3?  how many GB?"  this they HAVE to know.  if not, skip them

6) make sure the item is in hand!  if a seller does not have the item in hand at the time of the sale, forget them.  some sellers say things like "will ship 10 days after payment received" or "this is a preorder, will ship in 1 month(!!)"  sellers with thise messages are usually shady, and i avoid them.  there are many sales like this btw.  about 7 times out of 10 are scams.  i dont know about you, but i would not take my chances.  some sellers are sneaky and try to say 1 month.  they are basically trying to push you out of your 45-day paypal claim date as mentioned in tip #1.  so be wise and dont wait .  i dont know about you, but when i pay, i want the item right away, lol

7) check the sellers' join date!  this is easy.  click the seller's name and see "member since" date.  you do not want a seller who just joined ebay.  you want a seller with reputable business.  sellers who recently join are those who want to make a quick cash.  dont let that happen to you

8) check what other items the seller has!  the more items the seller has listed, the safer you are.  why?  because if every buyer got scammed, it would be an easy case to file against them.  paypal observes records and if they see a certain seller has 10 complaints , it is much easier to win the dispute than to file alone.  remember that a seller does not necesarily need to have a lot of items on sale to be considered a "legit seller", as indivdiual sellers (like you and i) may list only a few items at a time.  in that case, look at the seller's feedback to see if similar items have been sold

there once was a legit seller years ago with thousands of positive feedback.  one day he became corrupt and suddenly scammed everyone.  not sure why.  all the people he scammed filed complaints and they all got their money back.  in fact, so many complaints were filed that the police became involved to help retrieve money.  even buyers who actually got their items (including me) were contacted saying "if you did not get your item, you are able to receive a refund."  basically even if you actually got your item , you could even get a refund.  thats how bad the seller became.  i didnt take the refund though, i'm an honest buyer  :)

9) check item location!  to the right side of the sale, under the seller info, check where the item is located.  if it's located overseas (especially hong kong, china, etc) then it is suspicious.  hong kong and china are notorious for having bootlegged software, so watch out.  if you're buying an NTSC (USA, Cananda) software, there is little reason it should come from hong kong.  o.O!!  if the item happens to be in hong kong/china though, it had better have a good reason (like some american seller moved to hong kong and is selling his USA dvds), or make sure the software is actually the Asian version.  yes, "asian version" (as described by sellers) belong in those countries.  USA/canada software (ntsc) ususally do not belong there

10) make sure your item is compatible with all hardware!  this is a good tip.  basically you can avoid buying bootlegged/fake software.  for example, all nintendo DS games are compatible with all DS consoles.  if a seller says that the game being sold is not compatible with a certain nintendo DS model (like the DSi), then it's a fake 100%.  so many buyers do not know this tip.  while this tip requires knowledge from the buyer (in this case, that fake DS games are not compatible on DSi), it is a fantastic tip to keep in mind.  remember: research beforehand the product youre buying.  make sure it matches what is being sold in stores!



with these tips, you've have knowledge to avoid being scammed online.  while a scammer may not fit all the criteria listed, they usually will fit in many of them.  be aware, be alert, and remember to use common sense when shopping.  if something doesnt feel right, then somethings probably not right.  remember that a low inticing price is not worth the hassle of filing a claim and dealing with a fraudulent seller

keep these tips in mind and please stay safe!

~KittyHeart






questions?  comments?  want to add a tip?  please drop by my guestbook and leave your comments!  reviisions may be added to this article if necessary.  thank you

[written march 21, 2010]
[updated march 22, 2010]