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SAFE BIDDING QUIZ
Can you answer nearly 100% of these questions correctly? If not, you're an easy scam victim.
(Questions #A to #E are not really related to scamming but can be related to good shopping and so can be missed.)
After reading my site, you should be able to readily answer this quiz.
1) The questions are mainly in this form: What do you think of these statements? Are these possible scams? Yes or No? If they're scams, HOW are they possible scams? A question can have more than one answer.
2) Some statements will ask you directly the question(s) you need to answer.
How do you grade the quiz-test? Each question is worth arbitrarily so many points. If you do not exactly answer the question correctly, you can estimate.
(For example for #2, the entire question is totally worth 50 points. If you get only a few answers correct, like only 4 of the choices are the only ones you can explain, then you only score 4 for that question.)
(For example for #3, the entire question is totally worth 161 points. For each seller, each CLUE LINE is worth 1 point and the total number of clue lines is usually 9 though not always. Whether to deal with, avoid, or still undecided about the seller is worth an additional 1 point. Why you made your decision/if undecided, what to do is worth an additional 1 point. For EACH seller, the total # of points is listed.)
The Total number of points for the quiz is 574 points. #A to #F are considered extra credit with 40 points.
a) cashier's check
2.
a) high priced luxury items or high consumer demand items in a 1-day, 3-day or BIN auction
3.
SELLER #1
SELLER #2
SELLER #3
SELLER #4
SELLER #5
SELLER #6
SELLER #7
SELLER #8
SELLER #9
SELLER #10
SELLER #11
SELLER #12
SELLER #13
SELLER #14
SELLER #14
SELLER #15
3B.
3C.
3D.
4. I should be able to click anywhere on the seller's auction ad on ebay since every link on ebay is safe.
5. Once a scammer is kicked off ebay, they can't come back again because ebay will be watching.
6. Buying a giftcard is as safe as buying a CD on ebay.
7. The item's location is in the U.S., so the seller MUST be in the U.S.
8. Ebay says they will suspend me if I don't enter my correct password into the email.
9. My Credit Card company will suspend me if I don't enter my correct password into the email.
10. It's o.k. that my password is my pet's name.
11. Paypal says they will suspend me if I don't enter my correct password into the email.
12. I got ripped off by the scam seller. Ebay & paypal &/or bidpay will give me the scammer's info if I tell them.
13. Once a scammer is kicked off ebay, they can't come back again because ebay will be watching.
14. Sellers on ebay go through strict verification such that they must have up to 70% cash deposited with ebay for each item (based on market value) they list to sell up to and including having to go through a PERSONAL INTERVIEW in San Jose, CA and be identified by a notary and go thru tests for DNA and finger printing up to and including ebay calling sellers once every week to check if they are who and where they say they are.
15. A seller is limited to running only a certain number of auctions depending on his feedback.
16. If I get results from a search engine, any of those businesses is reputable to deal with.
17. My seller is from the UK. That's an o.k. location since the UK is not the third world but a progressive advanced country.
18. Square Trade will help in resolving problems. I should pay $20.
19. I bought a watch (valued at $15 outside of ebay) for only $5 at ebay but seller charges s/h $100.
b) Western Union or other money wire transfer like Moneygram or Egold
c) postal money order
d) money order from 7-11 or other store
e) any Credit Card or Debit card
f) a Credit Card or debit card (with low $ amount that you can afford to lose forever if ripped off) that has policies favorable to the buyer in case of misrepresentation or nondelivery; this card is dedicated only for online purchases
g) paypal thru your paypal money account
h) straight cash in the envelope
i) bidpay
j) personal check
k) seller's website payment site
l) seller's website payment site using details from the type of payment in f) whose FB & contact info you have thoroughly researched/verified while you are watching for the security icon and "https" in the corner of the browser. You also have a secure firewall, very good anti-virus software, constantly update any patches needed for your Windows (or other) operating system and Internet Explorer (or other browser.)
m) seller's website payment without doing any of the other details in k)
n) escrow site suggested by seller
o) escrow site suggested by yourself which you have done thorough research/verification
p) call/email the seller if you can visit their house or a location in their area to examine the item, then visit (or have someone you know nearby the seller visit the seller) & examine the object and THEN pay for the item.
q) www.escrow.com and making sure to NEVER TRUST ANY EMAIL OR PHONE CALL from anyone purporting to be escrow.com or ebay or any other agency of ebay no matter how "professional" the website or person sounds but instead YOU calling directly escrow.com's WORLD WELL-KNOWN PHONE NUMBER AND SPEAKING DIRECTLY TO THEM for any verifications or confirmations or agreements no matter how minor.
r) C.O.D.
b) auctions that end on a weekend
c) seller asks for payment by Western Union, other money wire transfer, direct deposit into their account, escrow suggested by seller
d) seller says to send payment to Europe (because he's on a business trip) when his ad lists him located in the US
e) seller uses an anonymous email like yahoo or hotmail
f) seller uses a P.O. Box or a Suite# or Mailboxes etc. type of address
g) seller's address, phone number and business name do not exactly match in the white or yellow pages phone directory or with the phone operator
h) seller's neighbors are surprised when you tell them the seller you're doing business with HAS a business
i) the government where the seller is located has no records of that seller paying taxes for their business
j) the government where the seller is located has no records of that seller having a business license to operate as a business within their locale
k) the seller's phone number is an answering machine or a cell phone number
l) you ask the neighbors what the seller's business is like and they say the seller has usually 0 to 3 people coming into his "business" each day and whose "shop" has 0 to virtually few items for sale.
m) seller tells you not to email to his email listed on ebay and instead email him at his "other" email address
n) seller will give you free s/h for a car or other heavy item from Europe
o) auction is pre-approval
p) auction & seller feedback are private
q) any items that are 3-digit or more $$$
r) seller has 0 or low feedback numbers
s) seller has 94% positive feedback and the negative feedbacks are serious
t) seller has 94% positive feedback and the negative feedbacks are minor
u) seller who has negative type comments in their positive feedback
v) seller who hasn't done business in the past 3 months
w) seller who sold lingerie in the past but now sells Plasma TV's & laptops & XBoxes & cars
x) seller whose feedback profile is mainly a buyer of low priced items or cooking recipes
y) seller whose feedback profile has many 0 & low feedback bidders
z) seller who has been a member for less than 2 months with very few sales
za) seller is in another country
zb) seller who has bad english
zc) category has 75% or more fraud
zd) has 13 pages of auctions and yet in the past sold very few items
ze) seller willing to end auction early as long as you pay him fast
zf) auctions with stock photos or photos copied from other sellers on ebay or other auctions OR retailer website OR manufacturer website
zg) Seller Terms Of Service and description details are in the picture.
zh) Seller lists his location as "The Indigo Island USA".
zi) You call up the seller which matches the business name/address/phone number in the white/yellow pages of the phone directory or phone operator, BUT when you call, the person who answers knows nothing about listing any auction on ebay
zj) seller in a far away state
zk) retail value of $2,000 brand item NEW this year model laptop computer for only $200 on ebay
zl) NEW this year designer item purse worth $500 is on ebay for only $200
zm) seller in auction ad and/or the person you're sending payment to is named "Dave" and yet his old FB from over 5 months ago says "Robert."
zn) you call up seller for info about payment and he says he knows nothing about the company; they just send him a check every month so that they can use his eBay account and/or paypal account.
zo) you receive your BRAND NEW item from the seller and the item LOOKS LIKE it was SHIPPED DIRECT from a brand new Amazon or other brand new merchant box all excellently packaged, complete with airbags for cushioning inside
zp) you call up the seller's neighbors and they all say he's lived there for a long time but they don't know much about him or his business
zq) New sellers or sellers who have been members for a long time, but not as active sellers
zr) Seller is emailing me a second chance offer or other type of email deal
zs) most or all of the other bidders have 0 or low feedback and are bidding to UNREALISTICALLY HIGH BIDS & sometimes have funny user names like DO-NOT-BID-DUMMY
zt)Seller emails you before the auction ends to cut a deal
zu)Auction ad says "MINT", "as is", you don't get a FULL view of the item in the pic
zv)Feedback on seller says, "bad experience. Seller is a dropshipper."
zw)Seller says payment/shipping is thru "UPS Third Party Escrow" and for you to expect an email from UPS once they've sent the item to UPS
zx)Seller emails you to send payment to Nigeria, Africa, Singapore, Indonesia, Romania, Andorra, Estonia, Russia, other Eastern Europe country
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