Mercedesshop Ebay Legitimacy Squad

[Thai GI]

1. Any of youall been burned through ebay transactions?

2. Here’s my short story: won item (bra for my 260E), sent check, the seller sends me email every-other day to make sure I sent it, check clears, waited 6 weeks (the MAX time for mail from US to me, but average is only 1 1/2 weeks), no reply emails, ask ebay for contact number, call and seller give me some excuse about package was not sent back because not package properly and will resend, waited another 6 weeks, call again hangs-up and leave the phone off the hook. The time has elapse for ebay to list the item so I can do a feedback.

3. If this ever happens to you and I remember one of you all said “I be in town this summer and just wait” I would like to propose our own “Mercedesshop Ebay Legitimacy Squad” a volunteer-base service for all of us to go check on these thieves when we can’t be there at that town.

4. It’ll be like the “carfax check” we request here all the time but it be like “ebay check”

5. What do youall think?

Thai GI sends…

I have seen Ebay squads on other car forums. They mainly monitor to verify the authenticity of a listing. I don't think that would help your situation.

Never use checks on Ebay, unless it is something real cheap. Use a Money Order so there is no time needed to clear the bank. If they don't present evidence that the product shipped you can act sooner.

[elau]

That's why I stop buying from eBay. I got burned awhile back although no money was lost. I e-mailed the seller for questions and he replied if I buy the item now , it will be xx amount and told me to pay to a certain account. I was just asking question, and the seller wrote to eBay for non-payment after the auction was over. I copied eBay all the emails between me and the seller but eBay did not do anything and proceeded to put a negative mark on my account. Now I stop looking at eBay altogether.

I think doing business on-line is a great thing. I pay bills on line but using eBay left me a bad taste on purchasing things on-line.

[Ashman]

I havent been burned on ebay yet.

But I rarely buy anything that costs more than $30.00

I always pay through an online payment system like paypal, because it offers some protection.

if I were you, I would contact the sellers local authorities, and inform them you were robbed by the seller. Tell them the whole story, and see if they will check up on it for you.

I would keep contacting the seller, until he either refunds your money or sends you your item.

I would also report him to ebay's fraud department.

I hope you get things worked out. perhaps some of the members here want to call him on your behalf to ask him why he hasn't sent you your product.

Alon

[Bruce B]

I have bought one item on e-bay for my stepson, had no problems. A friend of mine does e-bay all the time and has had no problems to my knowledge. For myself though, I am a "hands on" buyer, I have to see in person what I'm laying my hard earned cash on and if I see something that interests me enough that is reasonably close by enough I'd travel to make an offer in person. So far nothing much on e-bay has tripped my travel trigger. My .02 worth.

[CJ]

Thai GI
I say that when somebody burns a member we should post his e-mail, name, phone number and what state he lives in. This way we can all chip in and go after him.

[need2speed]

I think we have the right idea about being aggressive with eBay frauds...it is a "community" after all and neighbours look after each other, right?

I have more experience with buying and selling watches on eBay and often spot fakes. An email to the high bidder usually results in a thank-you response and they often tell me they've received several warnings...not just mine.

The smart fraudsters now use Private Auctions to hide buyer's identities. This feature was started by eBay because other sellers would try to poach sales by offering lower prices on someone else's auctions.

eBay has responded quickly when notified of fraudulent sales...if you can prove what you're saying. They will cancel an auction and suspend the seller but nothing will stop crooks from re-registering or selling as UNREGISTERED, which eBay allows.

Its quite interesting to find a fraud artist at work. They build up good feedback with a bunch of cheap purchases as "buyers". Their descriptions are vague and have hidden disclaimers. Finally, they have the worst fuzzy unfocused pictures. Yet people still are willing to trust them...go figure!

CAVEAT EMPTOR

[Jon Hrut]

I use Ebay on a regular basis to look for and sometimes purchase antequarian books. This is difficult because the buyer faces the same potential problems as stamp collectors do.

That said, I have never had a bad experience on Ebay. The product was always as advertised; seller responded to specific questions I would have about the book (is there a partial flaw on the first word of line 4, page 43....); I usually pay by money order and books have always been wrapped wonderfully.

We are not talking your regular bookstore values here either: I have bought books on Ebay in the 5 figure range (although as the price goes up, I begin to request digitial pictures of known flaws in a book).

For ANYONE who buys and sells on Ebay, they have a rating system. You can click on the name of the person and it will bring up any negative ratings they have received. In addition, you can see the comments that were provided. I usually only deal with sellers who have bookstores and have more than 500 transactions. But I have also bot books from people just starting out (20 or 40 sales) and have been pleased. You have to decide what "limit" you are comfortable with. I think that if you ask questions to the seller about the product, you can sometimes get a feel also for how the transaction will work out (that is pure specualtion on my part--although I have developed good book contacts thru these emails on Ebay).

How much money was involved in the purchase of the bra, if I may ask? And was the person selling more than one?

As one of the posters said CAVEAT EMPTOR!

Hope all is well now

[Botnst]

In the past 10 years I've bought a couple of computers and some peripherals and software. All transactiosn were legit, but none were for much ($400, max). I've been very pleased and found the sellers responsive. I've given very positive feedbacks.

Also, I've seen folk on this MB forum and on another forum check-out M-B's that are not too far away. I think that is a great service and would volunteer to do it.

Narwhal (and other attorneys), do you think would that expose the volunteer, even if he acted in good faith?

Botnst

[The Warden]

I've bought a few things on eBay. I've never truly been burned, although there have been a couple of transactions where I got worried; in spite of repeated E-mails, I never heard a response from the seller...in each case, though, the item came. It just took a while (to the point where I was one day away from notifying eBay of a fraud).

[sfloriII]

I haven't had any problem with the things I've bought through e-bay, but I haven't bought a lot either.

My most pleasant online purchases have been from fellow members of our beloved forum:

1. My E-320 from engatwork
2. My wheels from omegabenz
3. My sunshield (don't remember the member's name though)

Each transaction was great and I'd readily do business with either of them again.

[Mercedes Fred]

im unsure how pay pal works, but perhaps ebay should act as an intermediary whereby payment goes to ebay, merchandise gets shipped to ebay, and when the two items arrive, the vendor gets paid and the purchaser gets object.

or that purolator or fedex delivers the cheque at the same time as picks up the sale item. if the item is not available, the cheque does not get deliverred.

or that ebay forms a elite sales board whereby the items and sellers are more carefully scrutinized, backed by credit card, etc. if people want a higher verification

however, in neither case can the intermediary verify the quality of merchandise

[Limited Edition]

I bought my last 3 Mercedes off eBay and have been satisfied with all of them. I ask a lot of questions and read eBay feedback.

[need2speed]

Originally posted by Mercedes Fred
im unsure how pay pal works, but perhaps ebay should act as an intermediary whereby payment goes to ebay, merchandise gets shipped to ebay, and when the two items arrive, the vendor gets paid and the purchaser gets object.

That is essentially how escrow works, you send money to the escrow service, who notifies the seller to ship the merchandise. Once it arrives and you are happy, the escrow service releases the money to the seller. Of course, there is a fee for escrow, but PayPal's fee doesn't provide very much insurance coverage so you are much better off paying for escrow on anything over $500. If you offer to pay the escrow fee but the seller refuses....be suspicious!

Watch out for fake escrow services....a new scam where fraudsters create a fake website and set up fake auctions to get your money. Poof....money and merchandise gone!! I've had one auction try that just six months ago.