How To Avoid Scams on eBay
With eBay, anything is possible. And yes, unfortunately that also means the World Wide Web of scamming. While eBay should remain a fun and entertaining site where anything is up for grabs, unfortunately too many petty criminals find eBay as an easy way to make a cheap buck. However, you can avoid these pointless scams with a little knowledge on the subject and the appropriate precautions.
Here’s a quick overview of the two most popular eBay scams:
Bidding Scams
The first red flag is when you place a bid on a product and the seller ends the bidding early, especially if the seller then attempts to contact you and bargain further. The reason this is a cause for a red flag is eBay can only control bidding while the bidding period is open. As soon as the seller closes bidding and discusses pricing and payment with the potential buyer, the conversation and activity is no longer supervised by eBay.
Always ignore these offers for further pricing discussion and never settle on a bid outside the eBay bidding period. These scammers try to make a deal outside the supervision of eBay and ultimately rob you of your money.
Escrow Scams
Escrow is a safe way to transfer the price of the product to a neutral site, which then releases the money to the seller once the product arrives. However not all escrow sites are legit. Officially, eBay only endorses Escrow.com. Sellers who want to use another Escrow service are likely scammers.
Some other Escrow sites will work as well, but always remain skeptical. Only do business with sites that have the padlock label on the bottom of the page. But even sometimes that is not enough, as Escrow scam sites will simply paste that logo on the bottom. Another way to verify the site is to search the site’s name through Google. Legit sites have multiple search results on Google while fake sites only have one or nothing listed.
So what steps should you take for extra security?
First off, I highly recommend you use PayPal for all eBay transactions. PayPal is one of the leading sites on the web for safety and properly handling money between two parties. The site is safe, because it does not give out personal information to the seller. The only information the seller will receive after a payment is made, is the name of the buyer and the amount paid.
PayPal is also really nice for refunds, assuming the product never arrived or was not exactly what you expected. The seller must present proof to PayPal that the item was shipped and arrived in the condition you expected or PayPal is at the mercy of refunding your account.
Sellers can also protect their products through PayPal. If the seller does not use PayPal, they risk the chance of receiving a bad check or having the buyer dispute the credit card charge. Sellers can also dispute the claim that the product did not arrive as desired and at least request the product be shipped back to the seller before they refund the buyer.
Sellers should also set a “reserve price” on all bids. The reason you want to do this is because some scams incorporate two accounts (ran by the same individual), each bidding on the same project. The first bid placed is very low while the second bid placed is very high. The high bidder cancels his bid directly before the sale ends, making the extremely low bidder the winner. Avoid this rip-off scam by setting a “reserve price” which states that the product is only awarded if the lowest bid meets the reserve price you designated.
One last disclaimer inside another disclaimer!
As an eBay seller you have the right to place a disclaimer on the sales page, stating you can rebuke any sales if you suspect a potential scam. This is a great idea and doesn’t cost you an extra penny.
[photo by toastyken]