How To Avoid eBay Fraud
Posted by Harrace, Senior Internet Marketing Coach
Because of the 5 Million Hong Kong Dollar eBay fraud just surfaced in the news in the last 2 days, we are reminded of the seriousness of this matter, which is in fact happening everyday! So the question is: Is there any way to avoid or at least reduce the risks of eBay fraud?
In fact, there are ways you can protect yourself against the fraudster. Here I am speaking from my 7 years’ of personal experience of selling online.
1. Know the Seller
Before and while bidding for the Seller’s products, check out the Seller information, including the address, phone no. What about the seller’s ratings? You can use this as a reference only as this is not conclusive of the seller’s credibility or reliability. Certainly, a high rating seller looks more credible than a lower rating seller. However, there are various ways for the seller to pump up the ratings, such as:
- Offering incentives to the buyers to give positive feedback
- The Seller opening other eBay accounts to bid for his own products and leave positive feedback.
So it’s not just a matter of reading the ratings of the seller. It would be prudent to read the individual feedback, and to spot any dubious ones, such as feedback by the same person repeatedly. You should also read negative or even neutral feedback, as some buyers are reluctant to give negative feedback, for fear of retaliation by the seller (by returning negative feedback to the buyer)
What is the use of getting the Seller’s address and phone no? If the final bidding price of the product is more than a few hundred dollars, it would be prudent to call the seller to confirm whether this is a real person, and whether the phone no. is genuine and can reach the seller.
2. Know the Products
Read the description of the products carefully. For example, for jewelry, whether it is genuine, or “genuine man-made”. I’ve seen some listings where the seller is selling you over 1,000 carats of ruby at a Buy It Now price of US$15.95 only. But all that the seller can show a picture of a gunny sac, as shown below.
If you want the fish in your aquarium to swim with “rubies” stones, then this may be a good deal for you!
3. Know the Price
Research for the normal market price of the products. If it’s too good to be true, then may be it is. However, some fraudsters are now more clever, like those Hong Kong eBay sellers, as they are selling at the normal price or just slightly below the market price. So buying at the normal price doesn’t mean you are protected.
4. Know the Payment Mode
Normally, there are the following ways to pay the seller:
(i) TT or wire the money to the Seller
(ii) Pay by Paypal via your bank account or Paypal account balance
(iii) Pay by credit card
(iv) COD (cash on delivery - this is more popular in places like China, or Hong Kong when both the seller and buyer are in the same vicinity)
For payment mode (i), you should avoid using this mode of payment, unless the Seller is a reputable company, manufacturer, or supplier.
I normally transfer the deposit (usually 30% of the total price) to the manufacturer’s bank account for the products I ordered, after I have investigated the products and checked out the background of the manufacturer, and confirmed the order. When the products were done, then I would remit the balance price, before the manufacturer would deliver the products to me. In these cases, I am dealing with reputable companies, not individual sellers, so the risk of fraud would be low.
For payment mode (ii), Paypal offers limited protection up to US$2,000 but you have to read the fine print here to see whether your case is covered. In any event, this would only cover payment for physical and tangible goods. Payment for services, digital contents, and even air flight tickets are not covered.
Even if the case is covered by this Paypal protection program, the claim process is long and tedious, and at times can be frustrating.
Payment mode (iii) offers the best protection. When you pay by your credit card (even via your Paypal account), if you don’t receive the goods, or services not performed, and whether the purchase is for tangible or intangible goods, you can request your bank or credit card company to chargeback the Seller’s account and have the money refunded back to your credit card. Most of the banks or credit card companies would protect the card holders, and would have no problem in acceding your request for the refund.
However, if your complaint is the goods are defective, or you are not satisfied with the services, then this would be a matter between you and the seller, and in these circumstances, the bank or credit card company would not chargeback the seller account and refund the money to you.
Though this list cannot avoid eBay fraud 100%, at least, this will serve to reduce the risk of fraud. Sometimes it’s common sense.
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