eBay Shopping Secrets

Lee Mark asked:


Here is a checklist that can save you a great deal of time and irritation. Following these few suggestion can help you avoid scams on eBay. First rule when purchasing anything on eBay is to only buy items that have a photo of the product displayed. This way you can be confident that the seller has the product, if there is no photo it is a sign that the sale is a fraud. You should also verify the photo with photos in a catalog since most scammers use imaged from other auction sites and catalogs available online. Photos that are taken professionally are clearer and have better lightning. The users selling history should be validated by you, generally on the feedback page, and is detailed in the following manner. Member since: Thursday, Jun 23, 2002 Location: United States.

Sellers who have been members for a long duration or new sellers but not active ones commit the most auction scams. If the merchant has only some feedbacks or latest feedback as a buyer and not as a seller this may perhaps be a hint of a scammer. It is not difficult to get feedback for buying items that are not expensive. Have a look at what the seller has been selling and buying on eBay.

The auction and feedback page are interlinked and can be seen at the right side of the page. Perform a search for the seller’s auctions and include the auctions that have been completed. If you wish to purchase a similar item that had been auctioned you can ask the previous buyer if he received the goods. The next step you must ensure is that the payment address and seller’s listed eBay address are similar. If not, it is strong sign that the seller is a scammer. If you wish to buy an expensive item from the seller you can call him, placing a bid on the item will reveal the seller’s contact details. If you are uncomfortable about buying an item from the seller you can contact the seller. This is an excellent way of avoiding scams on eBay.

You can always get advice regarding eBay buying and selling from well-informed sources. You should also get an outline of the worth of collectibles or antiques when buying it from eBay. This is because the collectibles are mass-produced and gives you the option of purchasing it from other reliable sellers. You must inform yourself of the items you wish to purchase on eBay by visiting antique displays and stores. This is because when you consider factors like costs of shipping, insecurity of the items condition then buying them locally falls cheaper than on eBay. This way you will not become a victim of eBay scams and make friends with people you share similar interests with.

You can also use popular search engines to get more information on the items you are interested in. At times you might stumble on the same item on an online store other than eBay at a cheaper price. Or it another possibility that may arise is that the item is common and you can purchase it a lesser risk from the online store. As a buyer you have the right to ask the seller questions of the item that you have bid for and even for more photos of the item so that you can be more certain of the transactions. This is another way of avoiding being scammed on the Internet. The way the seller takes payments can say a whole lot about him, if the preferred payment method is a wire transfer, or money order, Buyer Beware!

Another thing you can do is to check the different methods of payments accepted. It may be an eBay scam if the person selling you the goods takes payment only via wire transfers and money orders. Paying for the products using your credit card will provide you with extra protection. This is because a credit card transaction can be reversed if you contact the issuing bank. As there are exceptions to every rule there is also to the scam involved in wire transfers. Many ask for transfers to avoid the hassle of bounced checks, but if the seller insists on only a wire transfer and nothing else then you can be sure it is a scam.

You must also check the manner in which the ad is placed. This means reading into the ad to see if the seller seems keen to sell or also to understand how much he/she knows about the product they are selling. There are different aspects of the item that makes it valuable. If the color increases its value then always ask for a picture of the item and use a common household item that will provide you the contrast.

Find out about the sellers return policy. Most sellers sell with a no return policy, but some allow for returns provided the item was not described properly. A no return policy on an item does not mean that the product cannot be returned if it is misrepresented only that it becomes harder for you to make a claim with eBay.

Be Sure to Only bid on eBay items that you actually need. People have a tendency to bid for unnecessary items on eBay. People do this with the motive to resell at a higher price. You also tend to buy items out of ignorance, as you do not know enough about it before purchasing.

You must be aware of the sellers as his goal is to sell he will make use of colorful words to tempt the buyers. There are a few items that are rare to come by, but this forms a very small share and so you must be careful not to fall into the scarcity complex. Many time the item that you do not think exists anywhere else may be available at another store, or website.

As a buyer you must know how much you are willing to loose in an auction. It may be $10 or even $100. However it is up to you to determine this amount. This will depend on your personal attitude and goals and how much you think you can spend with little effect on you. Also know when you have to make a big deal about your losses. If it was a $50 auction you might as well let it go as it takes to much time and effort. What you can do is leave a harmful feedback and also file a complaint with eBay. A word of advice, do not provide the seller with a feedback until you have received your product and also satisfied with it. Not leaving a feedback will help you get a return if the item is different as compared to the description. If you are unsatisfied or the seller is not co-operative to rectify his mistakes always ensure that you leave a negative feedback. This is one of the ways you can warn off other bidders.

Using different eBay accounts to buy and sell will ensure that you do not get any negative feedback from retaliators. They are likely to do so when you leave negative feedback on their accounts. Another tip is to keep getting new accounts. There is no need to build a connection with one and continue with it for a long time. Once you get about 30 or 40 feedbacks start another account. Keep in mind that sellers can also use this tactic. If you are buying items on eBay from a company, be sure to use the scam tools available in the product-sourcing tool available at NAWCA.org. If the company has wronged a seller in the past, and the seller posted information online, their tool will find dirt on them.

When you have been scammed you must not threaten the seller. eBay has a policy against this and will suspend you with effect immediately. Many scammers make use of this policy to their benefit by provoking you to threaten. The minute you do they will send this mail to eBay upon which your membership will be cancelled. In this way even if you send a complaint it will not be accessed by eBay as they cannot view complaints of non-members.

One way of making sure that your mails are not threatening is to seek the help of a friend. This way you will know that your letter is polite and within the requirements of eBay. It could be that the seller has made a genuine mistake and not intentionally. This is why your first mail should always be polite.

When you are unhappy with your purchase there is no need to demand a lower price once you have the item. Always start by telling the seller that you would like to return the item. Asking for a lower price once the item is with you puts you in bad light trying to drive a hard deal and looking like the scammer instead.

Most of these issues are common on eBay. These are items that you will come across over and over again. So there is no need for you to rush to make a purchase instead you can take your time and wait for the right item and seller with the right price.

This is a great place from where you can get your hands on very interesting collectibles and at low rates. There are chances you get scammed but this will be out of your own greed and impatience. Always find out more about the item and ask questions before placing your bid. This way you can save yourself from a lot of grief from when you loose your money.

Rajinder Kumar asked:


No one like it when they get no bids on there Ebay auction, but it happens.

Some auctions get hundreds of bids, but some go much more slowly, getting only a few bids or even none at all for days. Auctions are generally much slower during the summer months than they are in the winter - and sales on eBay are slowing each year, as more sellers than buyers sign up, hoping to get rich quick. There are a number of ways that you can take advantage of slower auctions to get the best price.

Wait to Bid.

If you bid, then everyone can see you’re interested - and that might make them interested too. Leaving the item alone for as long as you can bear will make it look less popular, and keep the price down so you can come in at the last minute and get a bargain.

Make an Offer.

If the seller is selling an item using ‘Buy it Now’ and it still hasn’t sold when the auction is about to end, use eBay’s ‘Best Offer’ service to make them an offer on it. The chances are they’ve listed the item two or three times before, and they’ll be so annoyed at the prospect of re-listing it yet again that they’ll accept your offer just to get rid of the thing.

Conspire with Other Buyers.

You might not have thought of this, but if there are two auctions for the same item and only you and one other buyer are bidding, why not get together and work out a ‘you take this one and I’ll take that one’ deal? This avoids you raising the price on both auctions just to get one each. If you make a few friends, you can even work together on auctions long-term, taking it in turns to bid.

Be Snobbish.

Send the seller emails asking questions about the condition of the item, and making it very clear that you are a discerning buyer and will only accept things of the highest quality. This will make them feel better about selling you their item for less.

Don’t Feel Guilty.

There really are too many sellers on eBay now, to the point where you can get common items at very low prices. Long-term, this will probably force those sellers out of business, but that’s the way a market works - it’s supply and demand.

Buy in Bulk.

When auctions are slow, many sellers will have had the same stock for a long time. If you offer to take ten things off their hands all at once then you can almost name your price - the chances are that they’ll fall over themselves to give you a good deal. If you come back again and buy another ten items then they’ll love you even more.

The longer you spend on eBay, the more experienced you’ll become - and the greater the chances are that you’ll stumble across an auction for something very odd, and quite unexpected. In the next email, you’ll hear all about the strangest eBay items ever sold.

In fact, there are all sorts of tricks you can use on eBay, if you want to get ahead of the game. Remember that most buyers on eBay are casual, and don’t know what they’re doing: a little knowledge can go a long way in getting you an advantage.

When your sellers aren’t in such good standing, though, you need to be careful to avoid being a victim of fraud. There are a few scams that you especially need to look out for - we’ll cover them in the next article.

N. Robbins asked:


Are you an eBay seller? If you have been conducting your business in this widely popular online auction site, then chances are, you would’ve experienced some fraudulent activities perpetrated against your enterprise. Scam artists are everywhere, it seems, and the sheer anonymity provided by the World Wide Web makes the virtual world a paradise for all sorts of unscrupulous folks.

Condemning them is one thing. But you do need to positively act on the real perils of getting scammed. You have take some precautionary steps and adjust the way you operate your online business to minimize, if not completely eliminate, the risks that these scam artists present.

Let’s enumerate the more famous, or should we say infamous, of these eBay scams and discuss some ways by which you could avoid them.

• Bid shielding. Bid shielding greatly compromises the profit you could derive from your auctions. Bid shielding occurs when a bidder uses two eBay accounts. One account would bid a low price for your auction. The other account would bid a very high price for the same, thus dissuading other people from competing for the same item. When the bidding period nears its end, the second account would withdraw his bid, leaving the first account to win the item at a very low price. Bid shielding gravely jeopardizes the integrity of eBay itself. This is why the site promptly acts on any reports about possible occurrences of this scam. Pinpointing possible bid shielding is quite easy. If the current bid is grossly higher than the most recent bid, then bid shielding is probably in operation. Report it immediately to eBay, so that they could conduct an investigation while the auction is ongoing. Additionally, add a disclaimer on your auction, allowing you to cancel any winning bid whenever bid shielding is apparent.

• Bad checks. If you will take checks as payment for your auction, then you will have to live with the danger of encountering checks that would eventually bounce because of lack of funds. The solution to this scam is simpler than the rest. Do not ship your items until the checks you received have cleared. It’s the most prudent course to take. Add a notice in your auction that payments made through checks would have to clear before the items can be delivered. This would serve as due earning for your bidders that they would have to wait longer for the auctions they have won.

• Stolen payment information. Credit card fraud is rampant these days, what with new hacking technology and the abundance of spyware all over the internet. A winning bidder may pay you trough a credit card which is not his. He’ll ask you to ship the item to a P.O. box. Once the item is delivered, he’ll then close the P.O. box address to cover his tracks. And you’re left with no means to retrieve what you have lost. The best way to protect yourself against credit card fraud is to require payment from confirmed addresses only. Since PayPal accepts credit card payments, you could easily inquire from the service if a payee has entered a verifiable address. You have the option to cancel the bid of someone who’s not paying with a confirmed address.

• Drop shipping scams. There is no denying the popularity of drop shippers in the eBay business. Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, wants to contact a drop shipper to increase his eBay offerings and profit. Some “enterprising” individuals have started to offer a list of drop shippers in eBay itself, as one of the many auctions in its pages. But eBay warned against these lists. 99% of them, according to eBay, would be filled with junk details like broken links, outdated information, and even fabricated entities. The solution? Do not purchase these lists. Look for your own drop shipper. You’d realize that finding one would only entail a little research of your own.

For many of us, eBay offers great income streams that serve us well. We must strive to protect the opportunity we have been given by being vigilant against scams and combating them through the implementation of precautionary measures for our every auction.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the “About The Author” resource box. Thanks! :-

Simon Fusco asked:


Why You Should Become an eBay Seller

Are you currently looking for ways to make money online?  If you are, you may have come across eBay.  eBay is known as an online auction website.  What is nice about eBay is that just about anyone can become an eBay seller, including you.  What does this mean for you?  Essentially, it means that if you have items to sell, you can do so on eBay; while making money at the same time.  So, if you are currently looking for ways to make money online, you are urged to examine becoming an eBay seller, as there are a number of reasons as to why you should.

Perhaps, the greatest reason as to why you should become an eBay seller is because there are no minimum auction requirements.  For you, this means that you could just test the waters if you wanted to.  If you were unsure as to whether or not you should rely on eBay to make money, you may want to sell a few items that you no longer need and see how it goes.  Should you like the eBay selling experience, you could continue on.  However, if you were not satisfied with the results, you could stop selling on eBay right away. eBay is flexible to all sellers, particularly those just getting started.

Another reason why you should become an eBay seller is because it is easy to do.  eBay has a relatively easy learning curve.  When listing an auction or selling an item on eBay, you are given step-by-step instructions on how you list your items and get your auctions up and running.  As long as you follow the instructions provided to you by eBay, you could have your items listed online in a matter of minutes.  It has been said that those with minimal computer experience are also able to sell on eBay, without any problems.

Speaking of the items that you want to sell on eBay, you will find that you can sell just about anything on eBay, within reason.  There are only a few restrictions, which include inappropriate content and such.  For a detailed list of prohibited eBay items, you will want to visit eBay’s help center.  Despite a few restrictions, there are a large number of items that can be sold on eBay.  These items include real estate, vehicles, clothing, toys, movies, books, gaming consoles, computers, beauty items, and much more.  Whether you are looking to sell something that you have in your home, something you bought from a yard sale or a thrift store, or something that can be dropped shipped from another company, you should be able to do so online with eBay.

The ability to make a profit is another one of the many reasons as to why you should become an eBay seller.  What is nice about eBay is that they let you set your own price for your auctions. In fact, if you would rather outright sell your products, instead of selling them in a bidding auction, you can do so with “Buy It Now,” listings.  The ability to set your own prices is one the many reasons why you should check out eBay.  Having the ability to set your own prices increases your chances of being able to make a profit on eBay. 

If you would like to become an eBay seller, and as previously mentioned there are a number of reasons as to why you should, you will want to register for a free eBay account.  Although your eBay account is free, it will cost a small amount of money to sell items on eBay. Your eBay selling fees will all depend on how much you list your items for, as well as how much they sell for.  Despite having to pay small fees, eBay is more than worth your time.  The least that you should do is give it a shot. As previously mentioned, if your eBay selling experience doesn’t go as well as you had originally hoped for, you can stop and look for other online money making opportunities.

For more info on how you can sell on eBay click here