Buyers Can Be eBay Scammers, Too

Some eBay Sellers Have Also Fallen Victim to Scams

Buyers are not the only ones who have to look out for scammers. EBay sellers have to deal with high selling fees, taking care of their customers, bad buyers and they also have to look out for scammers. Buyers themselves can cause a lot of problems with fraudulent auction sales.

Bait and Switch

When a buyer receives the item that they have won, the scammer will find some fault with it and send it back. You the seller will receive a product that looked like the one you sent but it is old, ripped, broken or simply does not work. You return the buyers money thinking that it must have been damaged during shipping. The truth is that there are people who go looking for a certain product and once they find it they will make the purchase. Once they have this new product in hand, they send you back an old one that was already at their home. You are now out of the product and money.

As a seller, if you are auctioning something with a serial number, write it down and take close up pictures of the item and serial number. This way if someone returns an item, you can easily check to see if it was the one that you sent. If there is no number or way to simply check, get yourself a pen that writes in invisible ink or put a mark in a place that is hard to see. When the buyer returns the product, look for the mark that you put on the item.

Counterfeit Money Orders, Checks and Cash

Buyers usually outside of the USA will try to send you fake payments for products that you are selling. They will usually send a check or money order and you will deposit it. Everything looks good and you quickly send out the item. After a few days or weeks you receive a call from your bank, who will tell you that the payment was a fake. You will once again lose both payment and product.

Laptops and Other Electronics