Never ship out of the country to an unconfirmed address if you are a seller, especially when they do have a confirmed address in the States.

Originally Posted by archygirl

Here's a good tip I found in another thread...before bidding or selling check eBay users on www.Toolhaus.org--this would have saved me much grief back in February when I purchased Gucci shoes from seller who, now that I see them on toolhaus, is less than legit (has habit of selling items that are not as described or takes REALLY long time--or never--contacts buyers) Thanx Margaritaxmix!

This link dosent work... Has this link been removed? Does anyone know what is the updated link to check the credibility of sellers?

Thanks!

^^ The site should work (it is a GREAT one, btw!) Here it is again: http://toolhaus.org/

Originally Posted by Coach Superfan

^^ The site should work (it is a GREAT one, btw!) Here it is again: http://toolhaus.org/

Thank you!!! This advice is priceless!

Hi I'm not sure if this is right place for this post but I wanted to ask if anyone else has experienced this. Is it true that after you spend a certain amount now as a new paypal member on eBay (or maybe just with paypal) that you get issued with a special 'verification code' by paypal and you can't use your paypal registered credit cards (ie the ones you have used to buy things there before without any probs) until you have received this number from your bank, not paypal itself? This happened to me almost 2 months ago now and I haven't received the dumb number I have looked on the paypal site and it appears real (they talk about needing a code), I have called Paypal and they want me to send all my bank details to them (which I don't want to do in case it's a scam) but my bank has heard nothing about the new verification codes and think it's all a scam.

I am in France so I don't know if it has any bearing on things. I find Paypal a real pain it is so badly thought out and not versatile for the global age and this is just another example. Basically I haven't been able to buy anything I have been watching on ebay for 2 months as it will be without paypal 'protection'!!! If anyone can tell me if it's legitimate I'd appreciate it heaps! Best

oooo great thread...very informative...i can go e-bay crazy somestimes :P

Originally Posted by sac

Hi I'm not sure if this is right place for this post but I wanted to ask if anyone else has experienced this. Is it true that after you spend a certain amount now as a new paypal member on eBay (or maybe just with paypal) that you get issued with a special 'verification code' by paypal and you can't use your paypal registered credit cards (ie the ones you have used to buy things there before without any probs) until you have received this number from your bank, not paypal itself? This happened to me almost 2 months ago now and I haven't received the dumb number I have looked on the paypal site and it appears real (they talk about needing a code), I have called Paypal and they want me to send all my bank details to them (which I don't want to do in case it's a scam) but my bank has heard nothing about the new verification codes and think it's all a scam. I am in France so I don't know if it has any bearing on things. I find Paypal a real pain it is so badly thought out and not versatile for the global age and this is just another example. Basically I haven't been able to buy anything I have been watching on ebay for 2 months as it will be without paypal 'protection'!!! If anyone can tell me if it's legitimate I'd appreciate it heaps! Best

In order to use your credit card via PayPal (PP), you need to be verified; which means eBay will charge you $1.95 (or something like that) to your credit card. On your credit card statement for that charge, there will be a 4-digit number listed. As long as you enter that 4-digit code onto your PP, PP will refund you $1.95 and your PP is verified. PP is doing so to make sure that credit card account is valid; otherwise you will not be able to use your credit card on PayPal.

Thanks for the clarification Handbag angel, you ebay gurus are very helpful! I posted it as it's own seperate thread and got heaps of useful replies and have now got the info I needed from my bank in France which had never come across it before.
Best

please advice....
should i bring the purse i bought from ebay to a department store to authenticate again, even if i had done so on TPF and many of you lovely ladies said it is fine?
and seller did not mention about return policy, does that mean i will not be able to return the item if it's fake (touch wood)??

so how do you know what right amount to charge for shipping. without losing or being hated for it

Look and see what others are charging

Do your research, and be smart. If you know the item could not for any reason start off at .99 don't bid on it. Chance are high it's fake. Read the seller's feedback as far back it will let you. Especially if there are some marks on his record, read those in particular to get more of an idea of who you're dealing with.

I have a bid problem that I hope someone here can help me with! I recently sold a Matt and Nat Clarice in baby blue to a buyer in Texas. It was in absolutely perfect condition when I sold it. I shipped it to her and she received it, says that it is dirty, the hoops are broken and torn on the inside!! What do I do when a buyer is absolutely non-cooperative and damages the bag when received to make it look like I sold her a used bag?? I am very upset about this! She escalated it to a claim when I told her I would absolutely NOT refund her any money until I receive the bag back from her in the condition that I mailed it to her in-which was brand new and unused. She is demanding that I pay her to ship it back to me too-what??

She is also saying that I sold her a 'fake' Matt and Nat handbag...are you kidding me?? They are all PVC-they do not make leather bags, I thought that was the whole point of buying this brand of bag. Here is the auction if anyone would like to see it.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MESO:IT&ih=001

What can sellers do to protect themselves against 'buyer fraud'?? Help...this is crazy and I think I'm stuck dealing with a total loony...

As a *bayer since 1998, the rules that both protect buyers and sellers have changed. Much of the recent rules have changed regarding the sake of buyers who find themselves involved in transactions with sellers who are not truthful and to protect them from that. My advice below is from my personal experiences, as well as years of being on the *bay discussion boards and other's worse-for-wear past purchases.

That said, it is beneficial to protect yourself besides the tools provided by auction sites like *bay and others. Use methods for your purchases that allow you the ability to get your $ back in the case you find that the item you purchased never arrived or arrived not as described. Be it a protected purchase company who handles internet transaction, or other, make sure you protect yourself first before you engage on any site or online auction house. There are less protection options with cashiers check, personal check or money orders, keep that in mind that even tho ease of payment does not mean ease of getting $$ back in the case of fraud.

If you choose to buy from such sites as *bay, some find it best to pay with a credit card (or even a pre-paid credit card can offer some of the same features) no matter the type of payment method/company used. Keep all documentation, pictures, and be sure of your rights extended on whatever site you used. Reacting to quickly to a situation that your item hasn't arrived yet can land you in a slippery situation that can easily be used to a sellers advantage. Please realize that not all sellers are out to rip someone off, but the hope is that as rules change that they will continue to make those type of situations harder to occur as they might previously had been.

Be clear about your rights, with *bay, you can sometimes find limits based on payment method used when needing to get money back for a transaction gone bad. Same thing can be said if you file 'item not received' might limit your choices if item is sent and then 'significantly not as described' later on, as you can only file one grievance per auction. Sometimes people have had packages arrive with delivery conf. but it's empty, or full of rocks. If you have to return something, deliv. conf. hasn't always stood up to the requirements of sites like p@ypal, but signature conf. hasn't always proved anything either (and hasn't always supported a buyers claim for return either).

And please, if you have doubts about the validity of the computers you use or that your passwords might not be that secure, then take the extra step. For $5 you can buy a RSA type of security key to use for both your EBAY and PAYPAL accounts from Paypal themselves. I've shown what the FOB KEY looks like as an attachment. This key is generated every 30 sec (or so) and changes, you add it to your normal password whenever you log in to either site. Yes it's a pain to make sure it's with you, but isn't it worth having that extra step (especially if you are worried about a keylogger getting your information?)?

Well...now the buyer has left me negative fedback and I have NO way of retaliation with equal negative feedback. That is not fair as an honest seller, so I think it's going to get a lot harder for sellers who get duped by inexperienced/dishonest buyers.

Sellers can no longer leave negative OR neutral feedback, even when completely justified. So if I am just a buyer on ebay, I can do whatever I want without the fear of ever receiving negative feedback, how is that fair? What if the buyer doesn't pay?? What if the buyer is being unreasonable?? Now we can do nothing and that is really sad as Ebay used to be fun...