by Spencer Hawken

Created on: September 28, 2010

The trouble with Ebay is that it is a very short-sighted thing, the company as a whole not the concept. Four years ago after pressure to protect buyers from unscrupulous sellers, Ebay removed the ability for sellers to leave buyers negative feedback. In Ebay’s mind the feedback aspect so important to their community will only show on a sellers account, this way buyers can make a decision whether to trust a seller. The trouble with protecting buyers from sellers is that more often than not, it’s the buyers that cause the biggest problems. Join me on my rant as I look at the problems with buyers, and give you the seller some hints for protection, as well as some clues for issues that will within a period of time be sure to arise.

liewcf via Flickr

If you are selling something of high value, unless the buyer has a high feedback level (a hundred or so) do not post an item out in less than a couple of days of the buyer purchasing, especially if you are under financial hardship. There are some things that Paypal wont protect you from, even if you have a tracking number. For example, a buyer could purchase something then claim there credit card is stolen to their provider, rather than Paypal. 9 times out of 10 you know your credit card is missing or your spending has increased without your consent within 48 hours. If a buyer claims theft of a card or card number in the first 48 hours after payment the chances are Paypal will be forced to refund them by the credit card company.

Keep checking your Paypal account, and do not go a day without checking the email address attached to your Paypalaccount. Most fraudulent buyers tend to make claims without talking to you, I have encountered hundreds of people who have lost money by not keeping a close eye on their Paypal account.

Finally the most despicable form of buyer might claim an item is not as described, even though you know it is. In my time on Ebay (ten years) on five occasions I have had people allegedly return things not as described to discover when the item is returned, all they have in fact returned is an empty envelope with a tracking number on it. Paypal require a tracking number for buyers returning items, and some think they have discovered a loophole. There is only one solution if this happens, and that is the police because this is fraud. Another thing they might try is to send a different item back or to have deliberately vandalised an item to get money back. Always take more pictures than you are prepared to use I your listing, this way you have evidence should the buyer “try it on!”

Finally…

I hope you have found this useful, I have traded on Ebay now for ten years, and I think at some point I have been subject to almost every sort of con, if you have been a subject of a con, feel free to make contact with me and I’ll try to help you as best I can.

Learn more about this author, Spencer Hawken.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.