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Consumer Watch: Check eBay seller reputation before bidding on 'treasure'
I’ve bid on eBay “treasures” and won several items. Last time I won a watch auction and my winning bid wasn’t a cheap one, either. The seller asked for a wire transfer and I stupidly did what he asked. Needless to say, I lost those funds and the watch for my husband, who didn’t receive the birthday gift I had planned and now thinks I’m a total idiot. Can I do anything to get back my money? — Vicky Victim
Dear Mrs. Victim: Been there, done that! While I sent a money order rather than a wire transfer for a particular item a couple of years ago, the seller never mailed me my purchase and, worse, eBay did nothing to assist me. I ended up in conversation with a New Jersey Deputy Attorney General before eBay settled the matter, even though I wasn’t compensated for my purchase. (This definitely was a case of “Do as I say and not as I do”!) Those of us who enjoy online auctions must go into the adventure with eyes wide open and the knowledge that we can’t always count on the giant household auction names to protect us from rip-offs.
My very first piece of advice is always to pay by credit card and, even better, with the online “bank,” Paypal. If you use either source, you’ve got recourse in the event that Charley Crook awaits you in the wings. As noted in prior columns, a credit card purchase protects you from unauthorized purchases or orders that never arrive; just make sure you check those monthly statements. Additionally, you can pay safely from your bank account or credit card when you sign up as a Paypal user, and it protects you up to $2,000 if an item doesn’t turn up. Most auction sellers and buyers prefer Paypal — certainly the majority of legitimate folks do. Even if really honest sellers only accept cash in whatever form, it’s better to be safe than sorry; in fact, I only utilize Paypal’s credit card authorization. Believe me, before you know it, a similar or better item soon will come along with payment stipulation about which you can breathe a sigh of relief!
Before placing the first bid, check the seller’s feedback comments. While it might not be fair to ignore those people just starting out, I never place a bid unless the seller has at least a few hundred recent comments, and I thoroughly read them before I’m satisfied. If you have any questions about the piece, email the seller through the link on the auction page, again before placing the first bid. These days, it just can’t hurt to be as cautious as possible.
Finally, when checking your e-mail messages, never trust one that purports to be from eBay or a similar auction site. Just as you’d never rely on an e-mail communication from your bank, credit card or any company or person wanting personal information, the same holds true in this instance. Any messages sent to you will appear on your account’s message section. (Actually, never click on a link sent to you via e-mail; it could be a sham. Type in the address yourself to go to the actual Web site.)
Happy shopping!
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Comments
Sorry Vicky Victim, but I think you are a little behind on the new ebay policies. Paypal is NOW the most unsecure form of payment. Sellers are getting ripped off, left and right. And now, since they no longer allow sellers to leave neutral or negative feedback, the scamming buyers are coming out of the woodwork. People are winning auctions, ignoring emails, not paying and then leaving negative feedback. Buyers are also winning, paying and saying they never recieved the item and then doing chargebacks. This leaves the seller without the money or the item. I don't call that safe, at all.
You can just stop by the ebay feedback discussion board and see seller, after seller, after seller, being ripped off, by paypal.
I have been boycotting since May 18th, the day the new changes took affect. On May 28th, paypal charged me for some subscription service that they offer, that I didn't order. I would not give ebay one red cent, much less go in and place a subscription for some kind of billing agreement. I called paypal and they told me it was an unauthorized charge and refunded it. So, I really think you are giving people the wrong advice. You should check things out first, before subjecting someone to a service, where there's a good chance of being ripped off.
You can check here and see all the sellers, who are boycotting the new changes and the ones who are getting ripped off and abused by the new changes.
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/forum.jspa?fo...
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Hi Ellen,
Your advice is good, as you probably know. eBay and PayPal take many precautions to try to make the exchange between buyer and seller as safe as it can be.
Do things get crossed at times, yes, BUT in most cases there is a lot more to the situation than we see in the heated e-mails. I speak from the experience of a Power Seller and as an Education Specialist trained by eBay. I am not employed by eBay, just trained by them.
As a teacher I get e-mails from my students and local people in the Shelbyville, TN area who know what I do, asking for advice on their particular scenario. 100% of the time, I do not get the full story until I ask questions and then it turns out that they did not cross their Ts or dot their Is.
It would be nice if eBay allowed certified people to help individuals with their claims, but to date, no one gets access to their information, except the direct customer. There are many good reasons for that and with 200 million or more members, it could probably get out of hand quickly.
Does eBay do everything I think they should or want? You can guess that answer, but no, they do not. But I do not see what they do, nor have the huge job they have. I do however, trust that they are acting in what they believe is the best for the trading platform. It might not be best for me and as you see from the previous post, they do not think it is the best for them, but I do not agree that eBay or PayPal are trying to "rip someone off".
By the way, I am sure you understand but it is good to clarify that eBay is just the go between for buyer and seller. eBay does not rip off a buyer. They might not be able to protect you all the time, but they try very hard. They will cancel any listing they find that requests cash or wire transfers and if a seller persists, they will shut down their account.
The old say of "the devil is in the details" probably applies for all of the issues people have. Something was not documented or handled accordingly and therefore legal hands are tied.
Legal considerations heavily regulate what eBay or PayPal can say to you or advise. I discussed their Trust & Safety issues with them at eBay Live this year and they are legally "hogtied".
If you would like to discuss this more, feel free to contact me.
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You can go here and see what people are doing. They are even recording it.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_qu...
You need to go to the link in the first post as well, to see all the people, who are getting ripped off, not just reply with your OPINION and say paypal is fine, because it isn't! Very poor advice!
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It is not just an opinion. If you noticed in the beginning of my statement I mentioned that I am a Powerseller on eBay which means we sell a lot and 90% of that is with PayPal. We have had issues with PayPal but in all cases it worked out.
If we had not paid attention to eBay's and PayPal's approved process, we would have lost some money, but we didn't and neither did any of our customers.
When I research individual's claims, I find out that they ignored or did not read different items. There has to come a time when we accept responsibility for our actions and sometimes they are not smart. I have seen it from the buyer side and seller side.
A buyer who did not read the terms of the listing became upset when they wanted to return something and it was clearly stated, no returns. A seller was warned about selling designer clothes without proper identification, had their listing shut-down and warned not to list again without documentation and did it anyway. They lost their rights to sell on eBay.
Were they mad? Sure, but who's fault was it. To hear their story they got screwed by eBay. The blankity blank so and so did this and that. They get on the boards you refer to and vent. That is fine, but take it with a pound of salt and consider that you are not hearing “the rest of the story”.
Today you hear about eBay being ordered to pay 60 million dollars for not doing enough to stop knock-offs, or counterfeit sales of designer items. Then you read on the boards how eBay should not restrict our right to sell. How do you win?
I question anyone to tell me a safer way for strangers to buy and sell than PayPal. It isn't Visa, since I have my own story about how they did not back me up on a $1,300 camera sale. It sure isn't cash or wire transfer and as a bricks and mortar merchant, we have had money orders that were no good and checks with similar problems.
We had more loss from checks, counterfeit money and bad credit exchanges than I have EVER had with PayPal. You just have to follow the rules.
I hear the gripes all the time and feel that it is time for someone to stand up and say while nothing is ever perfect, it is the best I have seen. IN stead of just griping, I challenge these folks to tell us what is the perfect answer for safe trading?
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