Aarrgghh! Bloody Scam Bidders!!!!!

dirtyred619

I'd say they are scammers. I've just sold 1 mobile on eBay and am currently trying to sell another one. I keep being bombarded with offers by e mail like "I'll give you $400 for the phone and also pay $150 dollars that I will arrange on my fedex account.....". I've also just had to relist this phone due to a last minute bid from a scammer, "Please you send to a mission in Nigeria.." etc etc.

Ebay is by no means set up well in realtion to customer service, but these idiots need to be banned or registration needs to be updated so that it may put these scammers off even registering, maybe you should have to have a paypal account or similar where you bank details are involved, it may just out them off.

beachbeth

How can you find out what people are bidding on? I thought you could only see what someone is selling?

stavros_2

beachbeth wrote:

How can you find out what people are bidding on? I thought you could only see what someone is selling?

go to buy -> advanced search -> items by bidder

HTH :beer:

BFG_2

Huggins wrote:

...the scammers actually make profit for e-bay - perhaps that explains why they are reluctant to put restrictions on bidders?!

I'd say that's a spot on diagnosis as to why ebay doesn't care!!!

I think that ebay is in real danger of losing (over the next few years) an awful lot of buyers because the numbers of scammers is only going to increase (exponentially) as every mugu gets access to a PC!!!

Once it becomes such a PITA to sell (especially high value items), people will stop doing it. No sellers = No buyers = end of ebay.

BFG_2

I believe it only a matter of time before ebay brings in a 'registration deposit' system or a 'registration cooling off period' (to allow better cc verification).

I agree that zero f/b bidders are normally OK, but I think they should have to make contact before you accept their bid.

In addition ebay need to tighten upsomehow on the nigerians registering as if 'in the UK'; if they did then you can just exclude overseas bidders from your sales.

Coiuld they not use IP address to determine geography? (I'm not a techie as you can tell!!!)

VH

Despite the onslaught of scamsters over the last few days, I'm happy to say I managed to beat them all! I have just sold the mobile successfully to a buyer with great feedback, and they paid immediately by Paypal! :):D:)
How tiring! I couldn't be bothered selling mobiles every week! I am ready for a beer now! :beer:

beachbeth

stavros wrote:

go to buy -> advanced search -> items by bidder

HTH :beer:

Thanks. I didn't know you could do that!

bleugh

VH wrote:

Despite the onslaught of scamsters over the last few days, I'm happy to say I managed to beat them all! I have just sold the mobile successfully to a buyer with great feedback, and they paid immediately by Paypal! :):D:)
How tiring! I couldn't be bothered selling mobiles every week! I am ready for a beer now! :beer:

oh dear, oh dear, that means you could still loose your phone AND money!

https://www.paypalwarning.com
https://www.paypalsucks.com
https://www.aboutpaypal.org

sorry to those that see me post these links regularly, it seems that some just dont read them.

VH

bleugh wrote:

oh dear, oh dear, that means you could still loose your phone AND money!

https://www.paypalwarning.com
https://www.paypalsucks.com
https://www.aboutpaypal.org

sorry to those that see me post these links regularly, it seems that some just dont read them.

I'm pleased to say I've never had a problem with Paypal in all my time on EBay. In fact I accept nothing else now. On the other hand - cheques, postal orders - had problems with all of them. Cheques in particular are a nightmare!

I always send high value items such as mobiles by Special Delivery as well, this way I have proof of delivery. This prevents the possibility of the buyer not claiming it arrived and allows me to prevent chargebacks for this excuse. I also empty my Paypal account immediately on receipt of payments to further prevent it.

I have seen all of the above sites before. Forgive me for being cynical, but I find it very suspicious that they offer their own alternatives to Paypal. I suspect these sites are set up to hook in disgruntled Paypal customers and make a few bob at the same time.

At the end of the day I simply could not cope without Paypal, if you don't accept it then most people simply don't bother with your auctions.

soolin

I agree with VH, a lot of the problems shown on the anti paypal sites is just due to sellers not reading the terms and conditions properly. Any rival to paypal is bound to try and knock th ebiggest competitior in th eonline money transfer field.

On the alt ebay groups you still get sellers posting that they have had funds withdrawn as they cannot prove delivery of an item. Sellers must protect themselves when using paypal. If you don't read the terms and conditions properly then you shouldn't be using paypal.

I prefer paypal, have used it over a thousand times without any problems at all. Cheques on the other hand are a nightmare. Also if you look at another recent thread on here it seems that some banks are charging sellers when they pay in a cheque from a buyer that subsequently bounces. The first time my bank charged me for a bounced cheque that I had paid in from a buyer is the time that I go to paypal only auctions for my safety.

Soo