Help Stop Ebay Rip Offs

[TheDealer]

http://forums.godragracing.com/viewtopic.php?p=61246#61246

[merc406]

I do NO bussiness on E-Bay anymore.....

[LincMercLover]

I do bussiness on eBay. Gotta say... that does suck... I'd be pissed!

[Directedby]

I have gotten some great stuff off ebay. I have also been ripped off.

Example - Bought my new head unit stereo for $425.00. Local stereo store wanted $1,000. I felt good about buying it from the seller because he had over 1000 positive feedbacks. i also looked at his previous items and they were all car stereos.

When I got ripped off, the person claimed that the headlights (for Chevy) were new in the box and he had was a new seller with no feedback. They arrived in a new box, but were used and oned was broken. I threw them away - literally, when the seller laughed at me in an email and was proud he ripped me off.

If you are selective and do some homework as to who you are buying from, ebay can be great.

However, i woul dnever buy or bid on an item from a brand new seller.

[jgc61sr2002]

You should always check the feedback of the seller and the shipping costs before bidding. Be guided by what you find. I have made numerous transactions and haven't been burnt. I Received a defective product and the seller gladly gave me a refund. This happened twice. It takes all kinds Let the Buyer Beware.

[the fat bastid]

i use ebay. you must stay sharp on it.

my last buy was a mm oem oil gauge. when i got it i found it already had the autometer face on it! the seller didnt seem to know about it and thought it was new. after i explained what the hell i was talking about he gladly gave me my money back.

some scumbags.
some stand up people.

[RCSignals]

eBay used to be much better at taking care of crooks. You could e-mail safe harbour directly with a problem and get a real response from a real person, Now you have to fill out an on-line boilerplate form, and you just get an automated response.
eBay rarely does anything, they hardly ever suspend accounts, or ban users, at least like they used to. It's really a joke, and the entire onus for security is on the buyer.

[woaface]

My mom and I run a business on E-bay (nothing automotive, but I won't say any more). She does comment from time to time on how some people there are very unfair in their business affairs.

[TheDealer]

My friend asked me to post this. RAY


orangess1 CAN YOU POST FOR ME..., Nov 22 2003, 11:05 PM




Group: Members
Posts: 156
Joined: 16-October 03

CAN YOU POST THIS FOR ME ON SITES THAT U USED:

THIS IS THE DUMBASS WHO TRUSTED THIS GUY TOM TO DO SEND THE TRAILER AFTER SENDING HIM A DEPOIST...

LIKE ALL OF USE I MADE A MISTAKE IN TRUSTING MY FOLLOW MAN. YOU SEE MY GRANDMOTHER DIED THE DAY BEFORE THE AUCTION ENDED. SHE IS THE LAST FAMILY MEMBER I HAD LEFT... I REALLY WASNT THINKING I JUST WANTED SOMETHING TO CHEER ME UP. I WAS LEARY ON DOING BUSINESS BUT THE MAN SEEMED TRUSTING ON THE PHONE BUT MOST SCAM ARTIST ARE... I MADE A BIG MISTAKE LIKE WE ALL DO ONE TIME IN OUR LIFE. I WANT TO THANK ALL THE PEOPLE (LIKE RAY) WHO ARE CALLING THIS GUY AND MAKING HIS PHONE RING OFF THE HOOK. THE WI POLICE HAS BEEN VERY COOL AND INVESTGATING THIS CASE HARD... THERE REALLY LOOKING FOR THIS MAN... SO FAR HE (TOM) HAS 4 FED WARRENTS. IN TIME I KNOW HE WILL BE CAUGHT... GOD AND TIME ARE ON MY SIDE... AGAIN THANKS...

--------------------


305 CID SMALL BLOCK*200R TRANS*10 BOLT REAR*16.50 IN 1/4 MILE.

[Bigdogjim]

Like a dealings you have, you must be carefull!

I have done business on e-bay as a buyer and seller with no problems. Check feed back on seller's.

Good luck.

[duhtroll]

Be careful with just checking feedback. It can be and is hacked all the time. With a bit of time and patience one can build up their own feedback rating with multiple accounts bidding on/winning their own items. Sure it's against rules, but ebay won't be watching things that aren't causing a fuss.

I was burned once, and it wasn't on the product but the subsequent service. I found out the sleazebag had MANY negative feedbacks but was somehow getting in and either having them removed or removing them himself. (followed his ID around for several months after and saw negatives appear and disappear - also saw many positives from addresses with similar IPs, even the same email addresses - all new users with less than 10 ratings, hmm?) My auction eventually worked out OK, but many others did not.

Check the items they have bought/sold. Check the buyers and sellers and their items. Look for a variety of feedback ratings and avoid those that have lots of similar comments from people with similar ratings. You can find out what people have been bidding on and not just what they have won via the search feature. Email the contact address with a question. Call the phone number in the info section with same. Contact another bidder that won one of their auctions. If it's real it means someone at least is checking the address regularly and probably isn't a dummy account used only for ebay scams.

I am real geek when it comes to researching this stuff. If it's a big purchase, I don't go through anyone selling anything out of their basement - I go with someone that has a storefront somewhere and a verifiable physical address. With this information you can acquire a phone number and call it to verify that what they say exists there is actually real.

Use your credit card if you have protection on the account. If they don't take one, you can do it thru PayPal. Some sellers say they won't accept PayPal accounts linked to a credit card -- only direct to bank accounts (probably because PayPal can and is hacked also). Tell them it's a debit card. It's worked at least once.

And if they answer the phone "FlyByNite, Incorporated," hang up. :)

Thanks,
-A

[jgc61sr2002]

duhtroll - Very interesting. I guess there is always a way to beat the system.

[duhtroll]

I was amazed at what I could find out just thru ebay's system. All you need is someone's user ID and you can find out everything they have bid on, bought, and sold in the last few months. I was a bit annoyed that there is no privacy as a bidder as anyone who knows your user ID can find out what you buy and sell on ebay, but then again it really helps when researching the parties with whom you are transacting.

Ya gotta make up a separate ID for those drug/gun/porn purchases.

:lol:

Then of course there's all that other research you can do about someone just thru their contact information.

You can be private on the 'net - it just takes time and effort on your part.

Thanks,
-A

[MAD-3R]

When I go to bid on an Item and I know the seller has a couple of negative or Nutrual feed backs, I search those out to see what the probelm was. It can tell you alot about the seller. But it is the ultimate site of buyer beware

[dwasson]

I think that I've bought about 50 items from eBay and only had trouble once. That one cost me $15 I think. With my impulse control problem that is actually a slightly better ratio than my success at buying locally.