SolveYourProblem
Article Series:
Small Business Guide To Buying Items:
eBay Auctions
Avoid
Being Ripped Off on eBay: Top 10 Ways
by Jeff Cohen
It is important to remember that eBay is a
lot like a marketplace. There will always be a dodgy guy in
the corner, selling things that most people wouldn’t touch.
The trouble is that, on the Internet, these people can be a
little harder to spot. Here are ten tips to help you keep an
eye out for the rip-off merchants.
-
If
it seems too good to be true, it probably is: This holds
for everything in life, but especially for eBay. Things that
seem too cheap are usually too cheap for a reason – it might
be a complete scam, or the items might just be of extremely
poor quality. Investigate before you go further.
-
Know
the value of what you want to buy: There are people on eBay
who regularly bid such high prices for used cameras
that they might as well have gone out and bought them brand
new. Check around for prices first.
-
Only
bid on real things: eBay has plenty of people who are trying
to sell all sorts of schemes and scams. It is never
worth bidding for these, no matter how cheap they might be.
-
Don’t
do anything outside eBay: Occasionally people will ask you
to send them money outside eBay, to avoid the fees
eBay charges sellers. Any money you send this way is entirely
insecure – don’t do it.
-
Be
careful where you send payment: People may hack into others’
accounts, and ask you to send payment to addresses
that eBay has not confirmed as belonging to that account –
you might send your money and receive nothing in return.
-
Look
out for sellers who suddenly change what they sell: Sellers
can look like they’ve made lots of transactions, when
really they’ve never sold anything of worth. If they suddenly
start selling $1,000 televisions, steer clear – the chances
are they’re planning to run off with the money.
-
Beware
the shill bidder: If someone who doesn’t seem to have bought
anything before is constantly outbidding you on
a certain item, be suspicious. It might be a seller ‘shill
bidding’ to force up his item’s price.
-
Don’t
use the seller’s escrow service: If an escrow service is
recommended to you by a seller, it could well be owned and
run by them – and they’re quite likely to keep your money and
send you nothing.
-
Pay
electronically: You are more likely to be able to recover
any losses if you pay using a credit card instead of sending
out cheques and money orders – these low-tech payment methods
can’t be tracked as easily.
-
Buy
from reputable sellers: Each seller has a number next to
their name, which is their feedback rating. The higher this
rating, the more you can trust them.
On that last point, feedback ratings are the most important
way that buyers and sellers can protect themselves on eBay
– and you, as a buyer, have a rating too! Now that you won’t
get ripped off, the next email will be all about your rating,
and what you can do to make sure people know that you’re not
going to rip them off either.
# # # # # SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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