similar to your auction, but this IS NOT FOOL-PROOF. Here's the case of a bidder who "won" to the tune of $3,450.00 and then some++$$$$ on a 1985 Jeep with a seller
(here's the seller's feedback with certain deletions) with only 4 feedbacks who has only been a member since May of this year, but all 4 feedbacks(current enough to be clickable for auction details) indicated the seller also sold cars worth more than this jeep the poor bidder won.

I immediately sent a paypal deposit of $500.00 as directed on his listing.

I also opened an escrow account as directed in the listing.

seller told me that he doesn't accept either of these methods of payment. He said that he had forgotten his Paypal password and never used escrow.

I was on my way into the city to pick up the Jeep at that point.

I called my credit card to cancel the paypal payment and was informed that they could not do that. I was told I had to wait until seller did not accept the payment in order for the transaction to end.

I paid cash for the Jeep. It stated in his listing that the Jeep "runs great" I also asked him specifically if it ran well and he said yes. I have the emails stating this.

The reason I did not test drive the Jeep first is, yes...I'm an idiot obviously. But when I got into NYC the Jeep was getting a tune up and new tires. I spoke with the mechanics and they informed me they had been working on the Jeep for a couple days and it did run great and they were almost done tuning it up and then I could take it. Also I was in the heart of Brooklyn and frankly unnerved by the traffic etc and afraid to test drive it there. Honestly I just wanted out of that situation.

I attempted to drive the Jeep home and only made it 30 miles before it stalled and would not start. During that 30 miles it never would drive over 30 miles an hour. I was calling him from my cell phone to inform him of the driving difficulties but never got an answer. The Jeep was jumping all over the road with each bump and the brakes barely worked. I was on the Belt parkway and was unable to pull over. Finally when it stalled completely I again attempted to reach seller but to no avail.

I had to be towed the next 100 miles home.

I have spent $600.00 on mechanics and $300.00 on towing so far and the Jeep still does not run. My mechanic claims it has water in the gas tank and needs to pull the gas tank off.

So all in all I paid $3450.00 for the Jeep. Spent $900.00 to tow it and have fuel filter, fuel pump replaced (still doesn't run) and now seller has accepted the Paypal payment over and over my payment in full~!!!!!!! YES! He accepted the Paypal deposit of 500 dollars over and above the full cash price I paid in the city! I have been emailing and calling him all to no avail.He has left the state and is in Florida now.

I feel that this item was completely misrepresented and I want to get my money back.

I've filed with Paypal but they claim there is nothing they can do. My credit card company can do nothing either.

Is there anything at all that I can do?

I feel too stupid to live so please don't be too harsh on me.

I've been researching the Lemon Law for my state and it seems my Jeep may be exempt due to it having over 100,000 miles and seller having written a receipt for only $1,000.00 and writing AS IS on it. (I didn't carefully read it till later).

Ohhhhh...... I was sooooo stupid with this one. Stupid and trusting.

MINOR SCAMS--What most experienced ebayers know of as minor scams:

1. PICTURE ONLY: Some scammers put most or all the TOS and auction ad details in a picture of .jpg or .gif. Once you bid, the seller can just change the picture or delete it. MAKE SURE ALL THE TOS AND DETAILS ARE IN THE TEXT, NOT JUST IN THE PICTURE. Also, the scammer can put in fine print "you are bidding only on the picture" and when you receive the item, you only get a photo or drawing of it instead of the real item!!

2. TOS scams:When you're looking at ebay ads, FULLY READ the TOS, even if the TOS is lengthy. Last year there were a lot of scams involving Playstation 2 game systems. The title would read "PLAYSTATION 2" and the TOS would say "You are bidding on a Playstation 2 Box" meaning you are paying for a BOX, NOT THE GAME STATION, so you'd see people paying over $300 to have an empty box sent to them.

Other TOS scams will only give you links such as "You are bidding on a link to Designer brand...." or "picture only" such as "You are bidding on a picture of ....."

Sometimes, bad sellers will put part of the TOS in really small size or light colored font, also.

CLICK HERE FOR SERIOUS ILLUSTRATION

3. MATRIX OR PYRAMID SCHEMES: there are matrix scams that are just trying to sell you information instead of the item or else they say you can pay a ridiculously low $ amount and as long as you list other auctions to sell to others, you'll get the item. SCAM!! just another pyramid scheme. These are easy to see and most ebayers don't scream about them. Click here for more info on matrix type of scams.

4. SELLER SHILLING THEIR AUCTIONS: Again, Shilling is seriously illegal on eBay and also a felony in the US. Bid Shilling means the seller bids (by using fake i.d.'s) or has accomplices (his family & close friends & other scam seller friends) who bid on his auctions with no real intention of winning but used as a GOAD so that naive bidders (who know nothing about shilling or how to spot a shill auction) keep bidding "against each other" or "against the shillers" resulting in the final value for the bidder (you or me) being at an extremely high value that the seller wants. To me, shilling doesn't play a big factor since I keep my max low and stick to it which means i'm not a reactive bidder, just a bidder who knows and keeps to the limit she wants to pay and no more and I make sure I know what the market value is. The only way I really hate shilling is when it's used to "pad" and "shill" the seller's feedback so that you have very little idea how the seller got his last 200 or so feedbacks unless you do DEEP DIGGING INVESTIGATION EMAILING & CALLING BIDDERS. -----------A seller can also retract his bid leaving you to hold the bag but again, you can control your bidding and decide what's the max you want to pay based on ebay market conditions and web price/quality conditions.

Even though I list "Seller Shilling" as a "Minor Scam", it still has a big effect on bidding. is one good source for shill bidding.

5. x DAYS FREE TRIAL: Stay away from this type of "scam". Even reputable companies will carry this type of "scam" out. AT&T or AOL anyone?? A company will offer so many days free trial and once you bid or make contact with them, they ask for your CC info. You give it and even though you want to cancel then or later, you won't be able to do it and the company keeps charging your card every month.

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