Ebay scammers/price pushers - Page 2

Jysin-DW · 11-25-2007, 06:40 PM

I just recently sold a processor on Ebay. I had quite a few bids with F***p or whatever. I assumed it was protecting the real ebay name or something. In the end the processor sold. I had the money in Paypal within an hour of it ending and that money is now in my bank account. I wouldnt sweat it.

You can see my auction bidding history here:
eBay.com Item Bid History

All the names when bidding were with *** in the middle. After the auction they all come up perfectly normal.

Aegdaien · 11-25-2007, 07:02 PM

Mmm...that processor would sure supe up my old AMD 64 3700+ rig...

Ronne · 11-25-2007, 07:16 PM

I dunno, friend of mine does a lot of business on Ebay and the amount of screwage on there is insane. There is exactly 0 seller protection, I doubt I'd ever sell anything on there.

Aegdaien · 11-25-2007, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronne

I dunno, friend of mine does a lot of business on Ebay and the amount of screwage on there is insane. There is exactly 0 seller protection, I doubt I'd ever sell anything on there.

Exactly. It's just fine to buy on ebay, just don't ever sell. I sold a pair of 6600GTs way back that worked fine and got screwed because the kid who bought them apparently didn't want them after 2 months. He ripped off a couple of the capacitors then filed a claim with Paypal. Needless to say he won without a fight. Then there's also the case of when I sold my EQ1 character and Paypal locked my account for 6 months with the money until I sent in a copy of my social security card, utility/credit card bill, certified copy of a drivers license/etc...just enough of my shit to conduct some severe identity theft if someone wanted. Fuck paypal.

Phoenix · 11-25-2007, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jysin-DW

I just recently sold a processor on Ebay. I had quite a few bids with F***p or whatever. I assumed it was protecting the real ebay name or something. In the end the processor sold. I had the money in Paypal within an hour of it ending and that money is now in my bank account. I wouldnt sweat it.

You can see my auction bidding history here:
eBay.com Item Bid History

All the names when bidding were with *** in the middle. After the auction they all come up perfectly normal.

WTF?! You sold a FX60 for $400?

Millie · 11-25-2007, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goliath

Okay so I've come across a few extra Wiis that I'm going to sell this season to make an extra buck. I've been checking Ebay and they are going pretty high, but I am noticing a trend on almost every ending auction. There are 15-30 bids and 90% of them are Ebay members with less than 30 feedback, a lot of the times 0 feedback, and names like this:

2***a
3***c
l***2
m***s

Are these Ebay scammers trying to inflate the price of the Wii more gradually as the season approaches? Anyone have experience with this? What's going on? The x***x names never win the auction though, a normal name with low feedback, sometimes, often times, 0 feedback wins it.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated, for curiosity's sake.

Seems very suspicious to me. It's far more common than it should be on eBay. Especially with sought-after, rare, or big ticket items.

A bunch of bids in rapid succession from dummy accounts with less than 50 feedback ratings is usually a hint -- if not necessarily a guarantee -- that something is fishy. And as a rule, I would almost never trust an item that has a bunch of bids in a row from accounts with less than 10 feedback.

eBay is rigged very heavily in favor of the seller. Perhaps that's a topic for a whole different discussion on eBay. But it's worth keeping in mind. If the seller fake-bids his own item out of an acceptable price range and no one ends up buying it, all it costs him is a couple dollars to run a new listing. But for you, it could cost quite a bit if you win an item that's been artificially inflated.

Arbitrary · 11-25-2007, 10:08 PM

As a seller I have problems on about 20 percent of all auctions and there really is essentially nothing I can do.

My best advice -

1. If you smell a problem file a complaint through eBay first. So far 100% (every fucking one) of disputes have gone in favor of whoever filed first.

2. Do not accept Paypal from any country that you cannot get Delivery Confirmation for. Essentially that is Canada, Japan, and some of Europe. Insurance is not good enough, if they leave positive feedback that isn't good enough, emails are not good enough. You need to flat out have Delivery Fucking Confirmation or you are going to lose the fight with Paypal.

k^M · 11-26-2007, 12:24 AM

cannot be emphasized enough with any company, get delivery confirmation even its extra and your cheap. working for a company that hotspare/rts's a lot of broken machines for IT to fix at central HQ i can say how often they get screwed cause some penny pincher high up was like 'oh we dont need confirmation, they've always gotten there alright in the past' and then got bent over.

Jysin-DW · 11-26-2007, 08:29 AM

You guys make me worry about my transaction now. This is the first I have ever sold anything, but I do have the $405 in my bank account. Hmmm...

Algol Devilstar · 11-26-2007, 08:34 AM

LoL I strolled into Fred Meyers in Lake City (suburb of Seattle) and bought one. Guy there told me they had over 150 in stock and have never sold out between weekly shipments. All the electronics stores in the area were sold out. Haha!

Millie · 11-26-2007, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arbitrary

So far 100% (every fucking one) of disputes have gone in favor of whoever filed first.

I've experienced roughly the same thing. eBay's dispute system heavily favors the filer of the dispute, even if the dispute is totally baseless. For instance, there have been several times where I've purchased an item, never received it, then had the seller open a "buyer never paid" dispute with eBay as part of some sort of scam. It's infuriating to watch the dispute process slowly escalate, while you sit there totally powerless to stop it. The dispute process is meant to "get the two parties to communicate." But that's not going to happen with a party who is bent on abusing the system or scamming you. So you'll sit there, forced to let the dispute play itself out, and then receive a strike on your account when it's over. You'll have to go through the hassle of contacting customer service and convincing them that the dispute was BS in order to get the strike removed. Meanwhile, the seller gets away scott free.

The same thing can happen to sellers with buyers who pay and then claim they never received the item.

eBay's dispute system is total crap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arbitrary

2. Do not accept Paypal from any country that you cannot get Delivery Confirmation for. Essentially that is Canada, Japan, and some of Europe. Insurance is not good enough, if they leave positive feedback that isn't good enough, emails are not good enough. You need to flat out have Delivery Fucking Confirmation or you are going to lose the fight with Paypal.

Heh. This is bringing back such vivid memories of the crap I went through trying to sell stuff on eBay back in the day. One time I sold a game to some guy in Canada, he paid for it, and I sent it Express Mail (1-2 day delivery) to his house. I never heard from him for a couple weeks, until all of the sudden he left me negative feedback and opens a dispute claiming that he never got the game, and that he wants his money back. Well, I've got a shipping receipt, insurance, and a tracking history on hand to give to eBay and PayPal. Not good enough. The scammer gets his game, I'm forced to refund him his money, and I've got negative feedback. Thanks, eBay!

Aegdaien · 11-26-2007, 09:35 AM

Let this thread serve as a lesson to anyone trying to sell something.

Never sell using Ebay or Paypal. Never.

Eomer · 11-26-2007, 09:40 AM

Never buy? Or never sell? I won't buy anything without using my CC because of the protection it offers, but haven't had any issues. I haven't bought a lot on ebay, but I haven't had a single issue with the dozen or so items I've bought. And most were big ticket items like cameras, skis, motorcyle gear, and so on for hundreds or thousands of dollars.

But yeah, selling shit on ebay seems like a gigantic, massive pain in the ass fraught with problems. Buying though? If I don't get my shit or if it's broken, I call up my CC and have them stop payment. Simple.

Ashes Emberblade · 11-26-2007, 09:46 AM

What Eomer said. I've bought $1k+ items off ebay without any problems. You can find some really nice deals on new appliances there if you watch the listings.

Arbitrary · 11-26-2007, 09:53 AM

Ok, I was at Wal-Mart this morning and they had two Nintendo Wii consoles.

Should I be driving back there right now to buy them?

edit - Speaking of credit cards.

I had a chick try a charge back through her credit card on an auction that we mutually agreed to cancel right after she bought it. She paid with Paypal and I refunded her the money that same night and two months later I got a dispute claim. I have all the evidence I need in black and white that I refunded her the money but it scared me to see that Paypal's policy puts all fees on my shoulder, they may choose not to fight the dispute if it looks like a loser, and they might not be able to do anything anyway.

I was mighty shocked to have my rock proof shaken so soundly.

11-25-2007, 06:40 PM	#16 (permalink)
Jysin-DW Registered User Join Date: May 2003 Location: Abroad... Posts: 879 +4 Internets	I just recently sold a processor on Ebay. I had quite a few bids with F*p or whatever. I assumed it was protecting the real ebay name or something. In the end the processor sold. I had the money in Paypal within an hour of it ending and that money is now in my bank account. I wouldnt sweat it. You can see my auction bidding history here: eBay.com Item Bid History All the names when bidding were with * in the middle. After the auction they all come up perfectly normal. __________________ Retired Guardian of Xanadu - EQ2 Retired Overlord of Darkwind - EQ1

11-25-2007, 07:16 PM	#18 (permalink)
Ronne King for a night Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Harvard IL Posts: 5,013 +13 Internets	I dunno, friend of mine does a lot of business on Ebay and the amount of screwage on there is insane. There is exactly 0 seller protection, I doubt I'd ever sell anything on there. __________________ Put your gamertag here too.

11-26-2007, 08:29 AM	#24 (permalink)
Jysin-DW Registered User Join Date: May 2003 Location: Abroad... Posts: 879 +4 Internets	You guys make me worry about my transaction now. This is the first I have ever sold anything, but I do have the $405 in my bank account. Hmmm... __________________ Retired Guardian of Xanadu - EQ2 Retired Overlord of Darkwind - EQ1

11-26-2007, 09:35 AM	#27 (permalink)
Aegdaien Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 1,311 -17 Internets	Let this thread serve as a lesson to anyone trying to sell something. Never sell using Ebay or Paypal. Never. Last edited by Aegdaien; 11-26-2007 at 12:59 PM.. Reason: Oops, thanks Eomer!

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11-25-2007, 07:02 PM	#17 (permalink)
Aegdaien Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 1,311 -17 Internets	Mmm...that processor would sure supe up my old AMD 64 3700+ rig...

11-26-2007, 12:24 AM	#23 (permalink)
k^M AoE Hazzard Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 738 -37 Internets	cannot be emphasized enough with any company, get delivery confirmation even its extra and your cheap. working for a company that hotspare/rts's a lot of broken machines for IT to fix at central HQ i can say how often they get screwed cause some penny pincher high up was like 'oh we dont need confirmation, they've always gotten there alright in the past' and then got bent over.

11-26-2007, 08:34 AM	#25 (permalink)
Algol Devilstar Registered User Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: The NW Posts: 3,497 +0 Internets	LoL I strolled into Fred Meyers in Lake City (suburb of Seattle) and bought one. Guy there told me they had over 150 in stock and have never sold out between weekly shipments. All the electronics stores in the area were sold out. Haha!

11-26-2007, 09:40 AM	#28 (permalink)
Eomer You mean I can change this? Neat! Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 12,975 +66 Internets	Never buy? Or never sell? I won't buy anything without using my CC because of the protection it offers, but haven't had any issues. I haven't bought a lot on ebay, but I haven't had a single issue with the dozen or so items I've bought. And most were big ticket items like cameras, skis, motorcyle gear, and so on for hundreds or thousands of dollars. But yeah, selling shit on ebay seems like a gigantic, massive pain in the ass fraught with problems. Buying though? If I don't get my shit or if it's broken, I call up my CC and have them stop payment. Simple.

11-26-2007, 09:46 AM	#29 (permalink)
Ashes Emberblade I Do It For The Negs Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: NOLA Posts: 1,809 -83 Internets	What Eomer said. I've bought $1k+ items off ebay without any problems. You can find some really nice deals on new appliances there if you watch the listings.