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Author	Topic: More Buyer Beware!!
doc Posts: 728 Registered: Jul 2003	posted 02-02-2004 02:35 PM I have another Ebay related buyer beware. I was recently the underbidder on an item of silver. A couple of weeks later, I received an email regarding the sale, with a link to the Ebay item. The person told me that the winning bidder had difficulty paying, and offered me the opportunity to buy the item at a 10% discount. I was somewhat surprised, as the winning bidder was someone who I often lose out to, but I emailed back and asked for a quote on shipping. When I didn't hear back after a week, I went through Ebay directly to contact the seller. Needless to say, the seller had no idea what I was talking about-they had had a successful transaction with the buyer on the item. I checked the email against Ebay's member information, and found (not surprisingly) that there is no one with the email address listed as an Ebay member. I am going to report the incident to Ebay, but thought you all should be aware of this. IP: Logged
Arg(um)entum Posts: 304 Registered: Apr 2002	posted 02-02-2004 03:16 PM I'm not an "eBayer" so I don't speak from personal experience. But your story reminds me of an extensive exchange on a watch forum, the gist of which was that several of the knowlegeable posters were convinced that many of the less ethical sellers on eBay operate with an extra handle under which they buy their own items. Subsequently, they then contact the underbidder with some story like yours and try to sell it for whatever they can. Since this then is not an official eBay transaction, the buyer after finding out he was duped, has no way of registering a negative comment. And so we have these vendors with wonderful records that keep offering stuff that reeks. I repeat that I have no personal experience but I had followed that board for long enough to feel confidence in some of those posters. FWIW IP: Logged
doc Posts: 728 Registered: Jul 2003	posted 02-02-2004 04:36 PM In this case, it was even more obvious, once I did a little checking, as the email address that was from the "seller" was not registered on Ebay. For those not familiar with Ebay, you can check out the record of an email address to see if they are registered and if so, the feedback record of this person. The other giveaway was that the location of the real seller of the item was in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the email sent me from the scam artist included a link to Ebay's Canada site. This is not meant as a slam against Ebay, as I have had many successful transactions, both as a buyer and a seller, although I have a price limit that I am willing to lose, and will not buy items on Ebay above that price. I have also contacted AOL, as the email was from an AOL account holder. IP: Logged
swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 Registered: May 2003	posted 02-02-2004 05:59 PM Ebay has a provision for concluding such sales legitimately. It is called a "second chance offer," and comes in a legimate email forwarded from the seller. It is used if a winner backs out, or if the seller has one or more identical items to sell. If you choose to accept the offer and so notify the seller, you will recelve a reply from the seller with a link to a reserved "Buy it Now" listing by the seller, and payment can be forwarded through ebay's usual channels. Any offer coming from a seller unknown to the buyer from outside this channel should be viewed with caution. Obvious violations should be reported to ebay, which will follow up as they see fit - forward the offending email with all its headings intact to fraud@ebay.com. IP: Logged

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