IF00015
Playing It Safe
On eBay And Other Auctions!
It's fun, it's exciting, and it's rife with fraud. Knowing how to buy and sell
carefully can save you money and aggravation.
For buyers, check the seller's feedback and location. Do they have any negative
feedback? This isn't always bad, since things happen, but see what they were
selling at the time, and where. A vendor could have 1,000 positive feedback
points for selling $2 knick knacks, but a couple $250 PC’s they sold never
arrived. Be wary of a new seller. Everyone has to start somewhere, but someone
with 0 feedback points selling just about anything for half its value may not be
the most reliable source.
Never send cash, or wire money with Western Union, as they are basically
untraceable. Many sellers ask for Money orders only, which are difficult to
trace or get refunds. If your seller is reputable, there is no problem. Be very
careful dealing with international sales and escrow services. An escrow service
is supposedly a middleman for a transaction. You sent them the money, they tell
the seller the money's there, and to ship the item. You then tell the escrow
service you got the item, and they release the money to seller. Simple, safe?
Not necessarily. A current scam is where the seller sets up a bogus escrow
service and asks you wire the money using Western Union, or another service.
They then take the money and skip. By the time you realize there's a problem,
they're long gone. The scams are usually on big-ticket items that would commonly
be escrowed.
Let me know if you need anything else.
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