If you have fraudulent eBay emails we have several here for you to look at.
Warning, Wired Funds, Bank Transfers or Cashiers' Check are the NUMBER ONE SCAM on eBay You will be Ripped Off. If they do not take PayPal, or Credit Cards, do not buy, at least with PayPal or a Credit card you have some recourse.
eBay can do very little to keep these people off their site and they know what the rip off tricks are, however when the rip off is blatant eBay will remove them as soon as it is made know to them.
Due to the overwhelming calls over our broadcast on the dangers of fraud and scams on EBay we are including how we researched this broadcast. Almost all of the information contained in the broadcast was found on the internet. A simple search on Google or AltaVista for EBay fraud and rip-offs will find many areas on the internet that have an abundance of information concerning these actions.
Look them up and read them. These people have been ripped off and they are sharing their experiences with you. Learn from their mistakes. Notice the commonality between many of them before you go shopping. Look at many of the complaints that have appeared. One of the most common is excess shipping charges. This is where many will make the money. There are actually people who make a living just on shipping and handling fees. They could give you the product for free but the shipping charges alone, insure them a tidy profit. An excellent example of this is memory for computers and such. Many of the buyers could give the memory out for free, just pay the shipping and they would make a profit. Another good example of this is DVD's It cost less than a dollar to send one in the mail, but wait until you see what people charge for shipping. We never like to put in a plug for a competitor, but try Amazon.com for DVD's, usually a much better price and shipping is realistic.
Check some of the shipping prices on eBay, some DVD's are as much as $9.95. Some DVD Cameras can cost as much as $40 to ship one pound. Always check out the shipping costs. Unbelievable what some charge. Stay away from any dealer who has an excessive shipping charge, this is where they make their money. One final comment on shipping and this applies to almost all. Always remember, whenever someone offers you some thing for free, just pay the shipping and handling, they are making a profit, which shows how cheap a lot of items really are.
Always pay where you have some sort of recourse. PayPal is a good choice to use. Never send money orders or cashiers checks but also beware of some payment services. Bid Pay is for example is legitimate but expensive. Stay away from people who use these services. It costs them nothing but costs you even more in additional costs, and when you are sending a money order you have no recourse.
Feedback on eBay is a totally different matter. A person with a zero rating in feedback, living in a foreign country should cause concern. The same hold true for a person changing identities. Why are they changing? Negative feedback is a different matter. Most people will advice you to check for negative feedback but more important is to look at the feedback itself. What caused the negative feedback. Was it personality or did they have a justifiable excuse? Many people leave negative feedback as retaliation, and many people will never leave negative feedback regardless of reasons. Feedback won't always help you.
(© 2010 Normandie)