eBay is a very large marketplace that has grown too quickly for it's own good, the majority of people using eBay should know what to look out for when buying or selling a product. There are a number of things to be weary about when shopping on eBay here is a list of so called "Red Flags" to watch out for when buying items on eBay.

Red Flag #1: The sellers feedback is the most important aspect of eBay, even though the system needs serious work, it helps narrow down the good sellers from the bad sellers, Always check the sellers feedback before bidding and if there feedback is below 90%, I suggest moving on to someone else.

Red Flag #2: Bad communication with the buyer, communication on eBay is just as important then the sellers feedback, before you bid on an item always ask any questions you may have about the product, even if you dont have a question try to make a good one up, if you feel the seller has responded to your question in a timely manner and has tried his/her best to answer the question then this is a good sign, if there is a real lack of proffessionalism with the seller, then I suggest moving on.

Red Flag #3: Empty promises, if the seller has the Pay Pal logo on there listing they have to accept all forms of payment that comes with Pay Pal, some sellers will say Pay Pal accepted but they dont realise that some buyers pay with credit cards and echecks and the seller is responsible (Under eBay TOS) to upgrade there Pay Pal account to a business account so that they can accept this form of payment, this is up to the seller so if the seller tries to tell you that they accept Pay Pal but dont accept credit card tranactions then inform them to read eBay's TOS which states they must accept all form's of Pay Pal payment and are required to upgrade there Pay Pal account.

Well these are some of the main things to keep an eye out for, basicly just use common sense, if the individual is rude or somehow seem's unfair then do not bid on their item, there are a lot of things on eBay and I bet with a little more of a search you can find that same item from a seller who is willing to take there time to help his/her customer.

I have been selling on eBay for almost two years now and I have only had one non-paying individual but my selling philosophy is to treat my potential bidders with respect and to help them through the process if they are new, this gives me a good name and customers come back.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention BEWARE of people from NIGERIA, whatever happens sellers and bidders do NOT buy or sell things to someone from NIGERIA, there are way too many scammers from that use that part of the world for business, and also beware that some bidders will ask you to ship the item to nigeria when the auction is over, do NOT ship your item there because once you do in a couple weeks your Pay Pal account will retract your payment and you will be out on your money and out of your product.

I know that above paragraph may seem kind of harsh but it's the reality that surrounds eBay right now and I severely appoligize to anyone from nigera who are 100% ligitiment.

Learn more about this author, Adam Losier.
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