EBay Safety Tips

[Youngbrands]

Very, Very Important.

Cashier's checks (even issued from a major bank) can be forged, stolen or purchased through identity theft. If you receive one, treat it like a personal check. Call the issuing bank to confirm funds and if you have any doubt, or there are any red flags regarding the transaction, still wait 10 days for the check to clear before shipping the item.

I've been selling on Ebay for over seven years and have thousands of sales under my belt. This one got me. Fortunately, I was able to get the item recalled by the USPS minutes before it was delivered.

Anyone who needs information on how to recall an item can contact me. I'm now an expert and I had to learn really fast.

[upswife]

For Sellers:
1. If you accept Money Orders, only accept USPS Money Orders. I take the MO to the Post Office, cash it, and then ship the package once I have cash in hand. I wouldn't accept any other kind of Money Order.

2. Recently learned from Allison, if you are having your handbag listings limited per week, list through Auctiva and you can get around the listing limit.

For Buyers:
Check your eBay Messages for any Second Chance Offers. Do NOT click on emails forwarded to your regular email. Make sure the SCO is truly from the person who was running the auction.

For All:
Don't click on any links sent to your personal email from eBay or eBay Members. All of those should also be in your eBay Message box. This is how many people get their account scammed. If you receive an email where someone is trying to make it look like eBay sent it, but they really didn't, forward the email with long headers showing to spoof@eBay.com.

[Youngbrands]

This post pertains to both Buyers and Sellers on Ebay

I am sorry to say that all too frequently, I receive emails from Ebayer's who think they purchased an item from us through a second chance offer. It is very disturbing to me to learn that the offer was fraudulent and indeed was never presented by us at all.

Ebay professes vehemently that they do all they can to enforce security and safety for both buyers and sellers. My opinion on this matter is moot, however, I have resorted to adding a warning on our listings. The warning is in red, in a large font and in the first paragraph directly under the photos. It reads:

Very Important Information to Read Before Bidding & Shop Safely and Wisely on Ebay

We will never ask you to respond to an email or second chance offer outside of Ebay. If you receive an email asking you to respond to an address outside of My Messages in Ebay, do not respond but do report it to Ebay. If you are uncertain of an email in your My Messages, feel free to contact us through the Ask the Seller a question link. For your protection and ours, we communicate with our Ebay customers through Ebay only. Please do not send emails outside of this system.


We have reduced the amount of fraudulent offers taken up by unsuspecting bidders by doing so. I welcome any seller to copy and paste it or something similar into their listings. Personally I would much rather receive 40 "My Message" communications a week from ebayers asking if the offer they received is valid, then just one saying, "I want to return the fake bag you sold me." or "Where is the item you sold me?" when we DID NOT sell or offer the item to them in the first place. It is much easier to provide 39 responses saying, "Good Catch! No the offer was not from us, please report it to Ebay."

[megahapa]

I bought my Balenciaga City off of Ebay. I made sure that the seller had 100% positive Ebay feedback and was an established member. I also forwarded the auction pix to Altier Naff, who said that the bag/seller looked legit. Additionally, I asked a ton of questions. I would suggest only purchasing a bag that comes with the original receipt, if you are going to do it at all.

[maye]

I received this email from eBay today: Just my .25 cents for a better world!!

For those sellers out there that receive questions through "Ask the seller a question" or Contact eBay member alert:
Our records indicate that you received an email from (the fraudulent ) through our Contact eBay Member or Ask Seller a Question feature. Please be aware that the email might contain a fraudulent offer to purchase or sell an item outside of eBay. We recommend not responding to the sender because the email might be an attempt to obtain your email address.

If you have already completed a transaction with a person who has asked that you take the transaction outside of eBay or if you are a seller who has already shipped an item to the buyer and the transaction was completed outside of eBay, we suggest you take the following steps:

1. Contact the payment service that you used to make the purchase. If you paid by credit card, most card issuers provide consumer protection in online fraud cases.

2. Please complete the Item Bought Outside of eBay form or the Item Sold Outside of eBay form. To access these forms, go to:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/isgw-fraud-non-ebay.html

Click the "Item Bought Outside of eBay form" or the "Item Sold Outside of eBay form" link. Enter your information in the following page and then click the "Submit" button. The information you provide will allow us to work more effectively with law enforcement in case an investigation occurs.

3. If you were the seller and shipped the item to a fraudulent buyer, contact the shipping carrier that you used because the company may be able to assist you further. If you sent the item through the U.S. Postal Service, file a mail fraud claim. To do so, please visit:

http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/

4. Contact the local law enforcement where you sent your payment or where you sent the item. The authorities where the seller or the buyer lives might be able to provide additional assistance. To find local law enforcement, visit:

http://www.usacops.com/
To protect your email and your eBay account, we recommend that you follow these safety tips:

- Do *not* respond to the sender either through the eBay system or your email account. An offer to buy or sell an item outside of eBay is against our policies, might be fraudulent, and will not be covered by eBay protection programs.

- If you received what appears to be a Second Chance Offer for an item that you recently bid on, check My Messages to confirm whether the offer is legitimate. Valid Second Chance Offers appear in My Messages with a blue background and a subject stating, "eBay Second Chance Offer for Item...." If you receive a Second Chance Offer directly in your personal email and it is not in My Messages, that means it is not a legitimate offer. If a Second Chance Offer appears in My Messages with a subject line of "Message from eBay Member," it is not a legitimate Second Chance Offer. Before responding to a Second Chance Offer, make sure it contains both the blue background in My Messages and the subject line of "eBay Second Chance Offer for Item.."

- Never pay for an eBay item using instant cash, wire transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram. It's against the eBay Accepted Payments policy for a seller to request payment using these methods. They are unsafe, especially if you're paying someone whom you don't know.
Regards,
eBay Trust & Safety

[ginamarie]

this is fab!

[lorihmatthews]

Always pay for items with a credit card through paypal, and do not use an existing balance that you have in your paypal account. Withdraw the amount first so your account is at zero and then pay for the item.

Reason? If you have a dispute and paypal doesn't side with you, you can still do a chargeback with your credit card for the full amount. If paypal takes the money out of your account, you're out of luck. I prefer American Express for my more expensive purchases. They have helped me out of more than one bad deal!

[cherll]

great thread!

[paris5]

i have a debit card on file.. is that good enough?


what about the paypal card? would that defeat the purpose of adding a credit card?

[JoV]

Originally Posted by paris5

i have a debit card on file.. is that good enough? what about the paypal card? would that defeat the purpose of adding a credit card?

A debit card is connected to your bank account. A credit card offers more protection. The cc company freezes the charge until their investigation is finished. For buying on Ebay a credit card is better.

[Hyacinth]

Some steps to keep your Ebay account more secure and prevent your ID or password from being stolen:


Use "hard" passwords - random combinations of numbers, letters and symbols, and change them regularly

NEVER use your selling ID as part of your Ebay email address - scammers can use automated programs to pull bidders' and winners' names from auction pages, add an @ plus the most popular ISPs like AOL, Comcast, etc, and send their "Scam and Spam" emails

Never click on links in ANY email, even if it came through Ebay Messages

NEVER log in at what looks like an Ebay log-in page if the page came up when you clicked on a link in a seller's listing or "Me" page, those log-in pages are fake and designed to steal your information

Use a GOOD anti-spyware program or security suite - an antivirus program by itself doesn't give you any protection against this kind of password theft or from keyloggers

NEVER log into Ebay (or any sensitive site like your bank or credit card company) from a public computer, especially on an unknown wireless network like Internet cafes, hotel rooms, etc. Wireless networks are notoriously insecure unless set up correctly which many public places never bother to do, and public computers may have had keylogger programs or hardware installed without the owner's knowledge

[ebayer]

Well basically two self explanitory links:
Tips for buying on ebay

Ebay Scams

Helped me ALOT with my ebaying, just stuff that everyone should make sure to avoid

[tlloveshim]

Thank you for this thread! I just had a buyer ask me to forego the signature confirmation as it is inconvenient for her to get to her PO and her mailman knows where to put her packages. I told her no, I couldn't do as she asked and promptly found this thread which supported my decision. My advice is to read this thread and be informed. Being nice is not going to protect you from scammers. Be firm and proactive! Know how to use Paypal appropriately as a seller (and buyer) and what you need to do to protect yourself. Thanks again for this thread and everyone's contributions!

[Luv2BuyBags]

I too have a separate bank acount for paypal/ebay. When I receive funds thru paypal I transfer the funds right away to the bank. Then when it gets deposited I withdrawl the $ and then ship. I only keep $2 in that account as I have heard paypal will take your funds out. So this way they cant get blood from a stone.

I also only accept US Postal money orders but be careful they are getting copied now too.

Also this was really important to me, it can take a money order as long as 30 days to go thru the whole system to clear. They tell you it could take 10 for out of state BUT when I had a conversation with a bank manager she said that they have to send the hard copy back to the issuer etc and even after the normal clearance time it could still come back around to bite you. You can also call the issuer and have it verified too for date and amount.

If its an expensive item I would NOT use the Postal system as they can not track an item. UPS and Fedex know where the package is at all times. My mailman delivered a package to me with signature confirmation and he just left it in my mailbox, so they make mistakes. I have been told by sellers that some people at paypal will not accept Delivery Confirmation as proof of delivery, so I dont use it anymore.

I also put my camera on the highest resolution and take loads of photos so this way if a person got an item and put a hole in it or ripped it, I have proof how it left my house.

When shipping overseas send registered to get a signature. If I cant get tracking for paypal then I would rather keep the item and lose the sale versus getting ripped off.

I am skeptical of sellers that use Auth instead of Authentic, I look at it as a loophole.

I never pay from a paypal balance or a transfer, everything is on the credit card so I have some recourse. But if its expensive call your CC to verify how well your protected. Some CC companies are cracking down as to how far they will go to help you. You need paperwork.

If you havent received your item on that 44th day remember to file your paypal claim.

Its sad that we have to be schooled how NOT to get ripped off.

[momof4darlings]

Wow, great thread. I obviously have lots of homework to do before I sell my pce haul...