Fraudulent sellers scamming buyers on eBay

I thought the recent cases of fraudulent sellers on Amazon had made me more cautious when it comes to purchasing items. However, I felt a false sense of security and recently made the same mistake on eBay. If an item seems like it's a bargain, sometimes it is and most of the time it's probably too good to be true. Eventually, I'll probably get a full refund for the purchase price and shipping. The lost time and effort to resolve such issues is something which can't be returned or credited.

The seller I purchased these items from had several different listings and all of them appeared legitimate. Each listing used stock photos for product listing, which is not unusual for sellers who might not have the time or ability to take photos of each individual item. This particular seller's feedback rating was very low, a 10 with all positive feedback. Just the other day, I noticed a negative feedback left by a buyer who purchased an item from them and never received a response after messaging them. That buyer left a negative feedback for the seller, which stated something along the lines of "seller won't respond. possibly a scam."

These fraudulent sellers are adding listings typically for new merchandise at unreasonably low prices, although they never actually intend to ship the product. The fake seller pretends to ship the item to a buyer using a false or incorrect tracking number. In order for the item to be shipped by the seller and received by the buyer, eBay and Amazon allows for a certain window of time. Long before the first date when a concerned buyer is allowed to file their first initial complaint, the scammer has withdrawn available funds from received payments. In cases where the scammers are operating from remote or international locations, this makes matters even more complicated.

 

There is a big crowd of these sellers who seemed to have gotten on Amazon recently, and sell items with no delivery. They rack up the negatives and end up kicked off of course. But I can't see how they could make off with very much cash before the refunds are granted through A-Z complaints. I got hooked by a low cost high end mouse pad. The low price meant that there would not be much money for the scammer even if they got away with it. I don't get where the real money is in these petty items with fake tracking? Many of these are not marked as shipped, so seller could not collect anyway?

 

I see lots of listings for the Dylan 1966 Live Recordings box set for cheap(ish) prices but all the sellers are in China. Think it's wise to be wary.

 

As in all things in life: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Same with eBay.

The scam sellers you describe are typically selling new condition current merchandise at prices far below wholesale, and far below what they could easily sell it for. You can ask yourself "why would a legitimate seller sell a laptop that everyone else is asking $800 for for $100?" The answer is: No legitimate seller would do that.

Yes, eBay/PayPal protect you, but the process can be a long hassle. And you also have only a limited number of such protections per account/year/lifetime.

The bottom line: Use your brain and stay away.

 

The ones from Russia pasting LP covers onto tape reel boxes and calling it "master" HAVE to be the most pathetically crooked.

 

Yep, I just got scammed. I ordered a dehumidifier for my music room from a seller in "Canada". It was about 2/3 retail price. I thought something was fishy when it shipped from Germany. Yesterday I got delivery notification that the item was delivered to my MAILBOX. A 30 pint dehumidifier ain't fitting in my mailbox. There was a small envelope in the mailbox, and when I opened it there was one friggin' BEAD inside the envelope.

Shady shady shady. I contacted Ebay and they are starting the process of refunding me, but I have to fill out a bunch of paperwork. Luckily it was only 100 bucks, but still...

 

I think paypal is on your side here. The weight of the package will be the giveaway.