March 11, 2004
Beware of Scams in Ebay
One of the greatest inventions in the Internet is Ebay. If you are a seller, where can you go and post your items so that everyone in the United States or the world can see what you are selling? If you are a buyer, where can you go and find assortment of items that you might be interested in buying? I'm actually new to Ebay, but I have recently sold a number of items, and I personally think this concept rocks.
However, as with anything else these days, you have to careful not to fall prey to a scam perpetuated by unscrupulous buyers and sellers. I came across a scam recently, and I feel fortunate that I didn't fall prey to it.
The scam works something like this:
1. You get an e-mail saying that he/she would like to buy your product and ask you to close your auction early.
2. Then he/she will ask you to ship the product to an international location (e.g., it's a gift). He/she usually insists that you ship by International Express Mail the same day you receive your payment and asks you to forward the tracking number when you ship it.
3. You get a paypal payment (usually via credit card).
4. You ship the product as requested and send him/her the tracking number.
5. A few hours after you send them the tracking number, he/she reverses the charge on the payment (you usually get notified by Paypal).
Of course, by this time, you would have lost your money and the item (since the package is already on the way to an international location). In other words, you've been duped and you will never see your product again and never receive your money.
Recently, I almost fell prey to this scam, and fortunately for me, the product wasn't physically shipped (only the tracking number was generated). So, I just did not ship the product. Of course, I never heard from the buyer again. I'm sure this is not an isolated incident.
So, if you want to do business in Ebay, I suggest you protect yourself by
1. selling only to US customers.
2. shipping only to a confirmed address (especially credit card purchases)
3. getting e-check payments (or direct transfer from bank account)
4. shipping UPS ground a day after the payment is received (so there is one day buffer and also few days in transit)
This way you and your buyer will also be protected by Paypal/Ebay seller/buyer protection, and you won't fall prey to the scams out there.
Happy E-baying!
Being a Canadian, I'm not sure I would agree with your only selling to US customers.
Posted by Tristan at March 11, 2004 01:19 AMUnfotunately, you only get seller/buyer protection from PayPal/Ebay if you ship to an US address.
Posted by Ken at March 11, 2004 04:48 AMAlso as a Canadian and a large buyer via Ebay, I get very frustrated when I see that the seller only ships within the US.
Those sellers that limit their auctions are not getting the best selling price they can get. I have watched a number of auctions go by where I would have been the highest bidder if not for the shipping restrictions.
So, instead of restricting based on location, stipulate that you only accept international bids from buyers with high ratings.
Posted by Jeff at March 11, 2004 07:53 AMActually as a long-time eBayer, my policy is to only deal with people with adequate feedback ratings. Many experienced sellers will include a warning that people with low ratings or a certain level of negative feedback should not bid and if they do, the bid will be deleted. Yes, it discriminates agains eBay newbies (sorry, Ken) but it helps avoid potential scams.
Also, as another Canadian, I'm disappointed to see US-only auctions but with a high, perfect feedback rating and PayPal Verified status, I can usually contact the seller and get an exception. Plan B is to ship to a friend in the US ;)
Hmm, I wonder if eBay feedback ratings is where Cory Doctorow got the idea for "whuffie" :)
Posted by Dan at March 11, 2004 02:54 PMTo leave a comment or read updated entries, please visit GearBits' current site. Thanks.