Ten Tips To Avoid Fraud On EBay
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Who hasn’t heard of eBay? Perhaps newborn infants and ancient, illiterate crones in the Kazakh back country, but for just about everybody else, particularly if you go shopping online, it is most definitely a known entity.
But you may not know this: eBay is NOT all powerful. Yes, it is a powerful online shopping venue, but there are even higher powers, like your mother-in-law or your neighbor’s barking dog. Anyway, unfortunately, criminal activity in the form of fraud has been known to plague the eBay user, and although eBay does what it can to prevent this kind of crime from taking place, like I say, it is not all powerful and some fraud prevails at times.
So how powerful is eBay then? Well, numerous eBay visitors do not shop online very often but will visit eBay if by chance they decide to buy a certain consumer item on the Internet. Shopping on eBay is just too easy and shopper-friendly to bother with any other online shopping malls for such folk. If you include yourself in this group of people but still have concerns about getting ripped off, here are ten things that can help you to avoid fraudulent attacks on eBay (or any other online auction-bid-buy-sell sites as well if you are not satisfied with eBay, like Big Value Depot, or for the big ticket items you feel you really need to buy, Big Ticket Depot).
One) What type of feedback is this seller getting? A seller with better than 95% positive feedback is most likely someone who can be considered to be in the “positive” grouping. But maybe you already knew that. If so, then don’t forget it. And if this next point is also just way too obvious, that is another point you are well advised to never forget — a lot of recent negative feedback indicates the seller is the total opposite of positive, in other words, you guessed it, DON’T GO THERE AND DON’T BUY THAT. As well, if it’s negative feedback you unearth concerning this seller, make sure to read everything in order to decide if it is justified in the first place or if this seller is being criticised for some unfair reason. How does the seller respond to this criticism? Does the seller put up a good defense against false accusations of impropriety? Visitors to eBay, especially new buyers, are at times a somewhat suspicious group, leaving negative feedback because they are living in a state of fear, saying something that hurts the seller unfairly which the visitor may later regret but never repair because they also later sink into self-loathing and wanton drug abuse. Well, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit. Also, check it out; does the seller take a reasonable stance in self defense? Of course, if there are tons of negative comments and are all more or less in the same vein, then there is probably some truth to the sentiment that this seller is a jerk. In that case, buyer beware.
Two) In particular if you are purchasing a costly piece of merchandise, keep in mind that a dependable seller will show some sort of identification, like a recognition seal or a Paypal verified stamp, or perhaps a Powerseller seal, on the listing page.
Three) Do not hesitate to ask the seller pertinent questions before you begin bidding on an item. If you are working with a dependable seller, she or he will reply quite promptly to your questions. This also helps ensure that the seller really has the item, uh, in question; otherwise your questions will go unanswered.
Four) The place to go to get a seller’s contact information is this website: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQtZvbQQsofindtypeZ9. On this web site inside eBay, once you have logged in to your eBay account and made a request, the address and phone number of the seller is provided. Your address and phone number will be provided to the seller as well.
Five) You should see a photograph together with the listing to ascertain that the item is not broken, missing a part or defective in some way, or even to make sure that the seller really has this item for sale. Of course there may not be a photograph if what you are purchasing is a service as opposed to a product, but if you are buying a tangible object, the only reason that there might not be a picture is thatthe seller was just too lazy to bother, or the seller is actually committing fraud. Most sellers will put at least one picture of the item on the page, but if the item is truly there but there is no picture because the seller was just too lazy to bother with placing a picture on the site, do you really want to deal with such a careless creep?
Six) What kind of description has the seller given for the item? It’s a good idea to compare this description with descriptions of the same item or similar items on other shopping sites. Shopping websites you could visit for this task are shopping.msn.com and shopping.yahoo.com. The eBay description should be about the same as the item description on these sites.
Seven) The website shopping.yahoo.com is also good for doing a bit of research on the prices being listed on eBay for the item on sale. If it is a pair of WWII-issue aviator sunglasses on sale, then look for these spectacles on Yahoo, or elsewhere if Yahoo does not have them. If they are selling for about $50 on Yahoo, but on eBay the seller is asking for $5, then these shades may not be authentic! This item is very popular with people who have seen Top Gun nigh on a thousand times, so at $5 a pop, there is quite likely something fishy going on. Can you say “Fraud!”? There is a lot of fraud on sites like eBay when it comes to popular fashion items such as this one, and although eBay works hard to stop such nonsense, this unfortunately is a snafu for the serious buyer to beware of.
Eight) Gettingclear instructions about shipping and handling before you start bidding on an item is a prerequisite. In any number of auction advertisements, the seller states how shipping and handling will only be given to the winning bidder. It is rather a surprise that there are then actually many bids on the item. If you participate as a bidder too, then you are accepting the terms and condition of the seller, so it is more difficult for you to negotiate the shipping and handling fee later on.
Nine) If there is not a refund information indicated on the website, then you could be facing a less than reliable seller because a reliable seller will almost always tell you directly and very clearly what the refund is. If for any reason there is no such policy indicated, then ask the seller about it, and if there is no refund policy, don’t begin bidding on the item. You can also ask the seller to email the refund information to you if the policy is not stated on the listing page so that you can get the information concerning this urgent auction aspect.
Ten) Has this person sold other products on eBay? If so, take a look at these past sales to find out whether the seller has sold similar items before. In order to do this, you need to access the Advanced Search Page, where you can click on items by seller link and type with the seller’s ID and by checking the box for Include Completed Listing. It is important to check this whenever you plan to buy expensive merchandise via eBay.
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