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Mar 26, 2007 -- Criminals rip off all kinds of eBay buyers
Criminals have figured out how to rip off not only inexperienced buyers on eBay but also very experienced buyers. How are they doing it? As you know, many buyers rely on seller ratings when theyre buying on eBay. When it happens, there is an assumption that the person is a safe seller. So these criminals are capitalizing on that. They set up a site selling hundreds of very expensive items while offering great customer service. After a period of time, the seller gets a power selling rating and starts selling more expensive items. Its usually electronics such as cameras and computers that are sold for a great price. People start buying up all kinds of these items and they trust the seller because of the outstanding rating. But there are no electronics. The seller collects the money and takes off, leaving hundreds of people victimized. When asked about this practice, eBay had no response. Just make sure youre being careful on the site. Clark always makes sure he never buys anything more expensive than what he is willing to lose. Know your price point and be willing to lose it, because it very well could happen.
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Thanks for informing the general public about consumer fraud on eBay. There's a flip side happening now and criminals are capitalizing on good and honest eBay sellers who have a great rating who want to keep it that way. They are creating new accounts on eBay and then ordering items and saying they never received them -- or that something was missing. Then they leave a negative or neutral rating and get the seller again through PayPal. You see, all a buyer has to do is say "item not as described" and PayPal will side with the buyer. Fraud is rampant on eBay now more than ever since they instituted the "no negative feedback policy on buyers." It means buyers are free to extort sellers, as long as they are clever and use the right words.
Incidentally, we closed our eBay listings and will not sell on eBay until it's safe to return.
Here are some tips for handlng online fraud: http://www.mermaidmonkey.com/handlingfraud.html