- seller located in a State faraway from you the buyer
- auction is 7-day and ends on Wednesday
- ebayer 4 yrs, 250 FBs
- 98% pos, major negs, glanced thru pos have some major negs
- 80% seller feedbackers
- sold in the past mainly posters
- most of the buyer feedbackers have 0 to 10 FBs
- not active past 3 months
- will accept BP, PP thru PP account only, checks, money orders
Seller is located in a state faraway from you means difficulty(laws, since you're not a direct taxpayer within that state, it's harder to convince law enforcement, and most law enforcement won't take you seriously regarding internet fraud) with law enforcement and possibly expense(long distance calls, have to visit far away state for small claims court). AND LOOK AT THE NEGS!!!! HE HAS MAJOR NEGS MEANING MISREPRESENTATION AND/OR NONDELIVERY ISSUES. EVEN HIS GLANCED THRU POS FB HAS MAJOR NEGS THAT ARE HIDDEN. AS YOU CAN SEE, MANY EBAYERS DON'T WANT TO LEAVE NEG FB BECAUSE OF FEAR OF RETALIATION NEG FB AND SO WILL SOMETIMEES HIDE NEG FB IN THE POS FB. 80%seller feedbackers means he's mainly a BUYER, not a seller. What he's sold in the past is cheap posters and there may be FB shilling since the buyer feedbackers have low FB. Not active in the past 3 months as a seller can also be indicative of acct hijacking but since it's a 7-day auction, it's more than likely NOT HIJACKED. All of the payment methods are not unsafe, but neither are they the safest for the buyer. If you can't pay thru PP with your CC, then if the item is misrepresented or the seller sends you a phone book with delivery confirmation, you CAN NOT GET A FULL REFUND FROM PAYPAL NOR DO YOU HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR CC COMPANY TO DISPUTE THE CHARGES SINCE YOU OPTED TO PAY VIA YOUR PAYPAL ACCT INSTEAD OF VIA YOUR CC. JUST BASED ON THE MAJOR NEGS, I WOULD AVOID THIS BAD SELLER!! DON'T EVEN BOTHER CALLING HIM FOR CONTACT INFO. IT'S AS CLEAR AS THE NOSE ON YOUR FACE THAT THIS IDIOT IS A BAD SELLER!!
SELLER #3
DID YOU NOTICE HIS PAST AUCTIONS LISTED HIS LOCATION IN SOME OTHER STATE AND YET HE NOW LISTS IT AS ANOTHER STATE?? THAT'S A BIG SIGN OF ACCT HIJACKING. Fast auction but doesn't end on weekend. Possibly an acct hijacker. Only been an ebayer for 1 yr, mainly as a buyer and in the past sold only cheap items, with low FB of only 50. Not active past 3 months also adds to possibly an acct hijacker. There are other indications of acct hijacking(sold mainly garage sale items, 80% seller feedbackers meaning this EBAY ACCT IS OWNED MAINLY BY A BUYER, NOT A SELLER) Payment methods are ALL UNSAFE (escrowse.com is a false escrow website & the other 2 are like sending cash) WHICH IS THE DETERMINING FACTOR OF SCAMMING. AVOID THIS SCAM SELLER!! DON'T EVEN BOTHER CALLING HIM FOR CONTACT INFO. IT'S AS CLEAR AS THE NOSE ON YOUR FACE THAT THIS IDIOT IS A SCAMMER!!
SELLER #4
Seller is within your area for easier law enforcement help and small claims court help in case of misrepresentation and/or non-delivery. Ebayer has acceptable number of years with acceptable FB count. Most of his ratings come from buyers so his FB reflects him as a SELLER. He's sold expensive electronics in the past so has already has a trustworthy track record. Most of the buyers who left FB for him are more than likely not shills. He's been active in the past 3 months so less likely of acct hijacking. Best of all he accepts Paypal via CC. INITIALLY LOOKING AT HIS STATS, THIS IS A SELLER I WOULD THINK ABOUT DEALING WITH.
SELLER #5
The only problem is many of his buyers have low FB meaning possibly FB shilling. THE OTHER BIG PROBLEM IS THAT THE GLANCED THRU POS FB HAVE MAJOR NEGS HIDDEN IN THEM. WATCH OUT FOR THIS KIND OF MISREPRESENTING AND/OR NON-DELIVERY SELLER. I PERSONALLY WOULD AVOID THIS SELLER REAL FAST!! HE'LL JUST BE A WASTE OF YOUR TIME AND ENERGY.
SELLER #6
ALL GREAT STATS. INITIALLY LOOKING AT HIS STATS, THIS IS A SELLER I WOULD THINK ABOUT DEALING WITH.
SELLER #7
3-day BIN is suspicious but does not end on a weekend. Since this seller hasn't sold in a long time (NOT active past 3 months, past auction transaction details deleted by ebay), then you don't know what he's sold in the past, AND HE HASN'T BEEN ACTIVE IN THE PAST 3 MONTHS, it's hard to judge him, whether he's a bidpadder, bidshiller, acct hijacker, bad seller, etc I would personally avoid this seller unless i'm willing to go thru tedious work.
If you want to go ahead with this guy, here's the tedious work you have to do first:
Contact/Verify "Contact Info" and email his past bidders. Ask them for their phone numbers & addresses so you can call them up to make sure they're not just his other fake user ID name SHILLS or his friends/family who act as SHILLS. And ask them for his name, email, phone number, and address and see that they match with the seller emailed you and match exactly in the phone book/phone operator. If there are any tricks, suspicious phone numbers/addresses/discrepancies, too many anonymous emails, addresses that seem to be in only one general location, those are RED FLAGS! Ask the seller and other bidders what he sold in the past--IF HE DOESN'T AS A HABIT SELL EXPENSIVE ELECTRONICS OR OTHER TYPES OF EXPENSIVE ITEMS IN THE PAST, DON'T BUY THESE TYPES OF ITEMS FROM HIM. Check enough bidders to see if he is mainly a seller or a buyer if this is not readily apparent on the feedback profile.
YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU EVER DEALT WITH THIS SELLER. 0 FEEDBACK MEANS NO PAST RECORD TO JUDGE HIM ON. 3-DAY AUCTION IS FAST. REGISTERED LAST WEEK?----EEK!!! Sounds like a scammer who registered with a stolen CC. Sounds like this scam seller will pull a "Paypal Intermediary" Scam or ask for money wire transfer UNSAFE payment after the auction ends or else he'll cash your cashier's checks after the auction ends and send you nothing. I wouldn't even bother contacting him. More than likely, he has a "TEMPORARY" address which he ditches later once he gets your money. Now, there could be a seller with 0 FB which you can contact/verify for contact info, but he doesn't have a track record for you to determine how he's been as a seller before. He could be a "fly by night" seller who takes everyone's money and then runs to another state or country the next day. That's not to say that some sellers with hundreds and thousands of FBs won't be "fly by night" sellers since there ARE many "fly by night" sellers with lots of FBs, but with 0 FB, since a seller has nothing to risk BECAUSE HE HAS INVESTED ZERO TIME/ENERGY/MONEY for essentially NO FB, he'll MORE LIKELY be a "fly by night" seller or a bad seller or other type of scam seller.
AVOID THIS SCAM SELLER!! DON'T EVEN BOTHER CALLING HIM FOR CONTACT INFO. IT'S AS CLEAR AS THE NOSE ON YOUR FACE THAT THIS IDIOT IS A SCAMMER!!
SELLER #9
In the old days, 8 to 10 yrs ago, 100% usually meant a 100% seller--Great seller PERIOD and 100% positive FB isn't THAT hard to achieve--there are LOTS of EXCELLENT sellers with 100% positives. But, NOWADAYS especially if you're buying something expensive or 3-digit or more $$$$'s, scammers have gotten so sophisticated that all the FB for this seller could be FAKE. Notice also he has 80% seller feedbackers so MOST OF HIS FEEDBACK IS FROM SELLERS, NOT BUYERS. In the beginning, he could have just BOUGHT 1 cent recipes for his first 200 to 230 FBs. Then, he gets his 50 different user fake i.d.'s along with his friends and family and other scam seller friends as SHILLS which he uses to "buy" and "sell" with to give him his overall FB with "different" "buyers & sellers" in "different" locations.
Even if none of these tipoffs are obvious, again, it's hard to judge him, whether he's a bidpadder and/or bidshiller or just an excellent seller. I would personally avoid this seller unless i'm willing to go thru tedious work done for Seller #7.
This seller is just like Seller #9 except most of the feedback received was from BUYERS, so you supposedly should have good seller track record. BUT AGAIN, YOU DON'T KNOW IF THEY'RE ALL SHILLS. In the beginning, he could have just SOLD 1 cent recipes for his first 200 to 230 FBs to other would-be scam sellers or to his other 50 fake i.d.'s. Then, he gets his 50 different user fake i.d.'s along with his friends and family and other scam seller friends as SHILLS which he uses to "buy" and "sell" with to give him his overall FB with "different" "buyers & sellers" in "different" locations. Again, you have to go thru the tedious steps just like for Seller #9.
SELLER #11
This type of seller's only problem is he has LOW FB with only 12 FBs and only a member for 3 months. But, ALL of his FB comes from BUYERS. And, 12 FBs may not be a true indication of EXACTLY how many sales he completed. He could have had 19 customers in 25-30 transactions and only 12 buyers left FB and the other 7 buyers were too lazy to leave FB. His buyer feedbackers have low FB mainly because only the newbie ebayers will bid on his auctions since he's a newbie ebayer himself. Experienced ebay buyers usually stay away from 0 or low FB sellers. BUT AGAIN, HE COULD BE SHILLING just like above shill-like sellers. NOTICE ALSO THAT HE SELLS GOLF STUFF, NOT ELECTRONICS LIKE PALM PILOTS, PLAYSTATIONS, ETC. ALSO, HE DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH EXPERIENCE which would show you how well he handles customer complaint problems AND HE DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH OF A TRACK RECORD THAT HE'S INVESTED IN. If buying from this seller, keep your bidding low to under $10 or whatever low amount you can afford to lose forever AND DO NOT BUY ELECTRONICS FROM HIM UNLESS THEY ARE UNDER $10 AND HE'S NOT SELLING A WHOLEWAREHOUSE OF THEM WHICH IS HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS. Don't buy multiple items from this seller since HE IS NEW and just like he may be a shiller, he also may be a fencer of stolen goods which is why you would like to see a LONGER TRACK RECORD OF FB, AND A RECORD THAT DEALS WITH EXPENSIVE ELECTRONICS WHICH IS WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO BUY. Check back with this seller 6 months or a year or so later to see if he's still doing a great job if you'd like to buy more items and especially more expensive items from him.
SELLER #12
THIS SELLER IS IDEAL BEING AN EBAYER FOR A LONG TIME PAST 5 YRS, HE'S SOLD EXPENSIVE ELECTRONICS IN THE PAST AND AN ACTIVE SELLER IN THE PAST 3 MONTHS AND HAS 100% BUYER FEEDBACK AND THESE BUYERS HAVE HIGH FB NUMBERS. THE ONLY PROBLEM WITH THIS SELLER IS HE DOESN'T ACCEPT PAYPAL VIA CC OR HAVE A MERCHANT ACCOUNT WITH CC. Again, BE PICKY ABOUT YOUR SELLER. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MISREPRESENTATION AND/OR NON-DELIVERY, THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN EASILY GET YOUR MONEY BACK WITH THE CHOICES OF PAYMENT HE ONLY ACCEPTS. IF YOU WANT TO TAKE A CHANCE, KEEP YOUR BIDDING VERY LOW FIRST BUT ALWAYS KEEP IN THE FRONT OF YOUR MIND THAT HE'S NOT REQUIRED TO GIVE YOU YOUR MONEY BACK IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG. You could email some of his bidders to see how he handles replacements & refunds.
SELLER #13
On the surface, the seller's stats are ideal like #12, but look at where he lists his location now. Most NORMAL sellers will put their actual locations, not some stupid phrase like "Sunny America." Red Flag 1. Also, he says to not email him at his EBAY LISTED EMAIL. BIG RED FLAG 2. AUCTION IS 3-DAY OR BIN. RED FLAG 3. The seller hasn't been active in the last 3 months and he HAS NOT BEEN ACTIVE IN A LONG TIME SINCE WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HE SOLD IN THE PAST. BIGGEST RED FLAG 4. LOOK AT WHAT HE'S SOLD IN THE PAST, DESIGNER PURSES, A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CATEGORY FROM EXPENSIVE ELECTRONICS. AVOID THIS ACCT HIJACKING SCAM SELLER!! DON'T EVEN BOTHER CALLING HIM FOR CONTACT INFO. IT'S AS CLEAR AS THE NOSE ON YOUR FACE THAT THIS IDIOT IS A SCAMMER!!
SELLER #14
On the surface, the seller's stats are ideal like #12, but NOTICE THE AUCTIONS ARE PRIVATE AND PRE-APPROVAL, A STINKING GROUND FOR ACCOUNT HIJACKER SCAMMERS WHO WANT TO CON YOU OUTSIDE OF EBAY SO THEY DON'T GET KICKED OFF EBAY AND STILL BE ABLE TO USE THEIR USERNAME FOR AS LONG AS THEY CAN. AVOID THIS ACCT HIJACKING SCAM SELLER!! DON'T EVEN BOTHER CALLING HIM FOR CONTACT INFO. IT'S AS CLEAR AS THE NOSE ON YOUR FACE THAT THIS IDIOT IS A SCAMMER!!
HOWEVER, JUST TO BE FAIR, SOME SELLERS DO USE PREAPPROVAL AND PRIVATE AUCTIONS IF SAY THEY'RE SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS TO GUARD THEIR BIDDERS' PRIVACIES AWAY FROM COMPETITORS AND SCAMMERS. THIS SELLER ALSO HAS SOLD EXPENSIVE ELECTRONICS BEFORE, SO MAYBE HE USES THIS SYSTEM. THE PROBLEM IS WHAT WERE THE REASON FOR THE NEGS? DO YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE DEALING WITH A SELLER WHO'S KEEPING HIS FB PRIVATE? I WOULDN'T DEAL WITH THIS SELLER.
LET'S SAY YOU WANT TO GO AHEAD WITH THIS SELLER. HOW TO TELL IF HE'S A SCAMMER OR JUST A SELLER WHO HAS LIKES USING PREAPPROVAL/PRIVATE AUCTIONS? DO THE TEDIOUS WORK JUST AS FOR SELLERS #9 & #10. YOU MUST CLEAR HIM OF ACCT HIJACKING OR ELSE YOU'LL BE IN TROUBLE LATER.
SELLER #15
This seller is kind of like Seller #11, but only 43% of his FB is from BUYERS and most of these buyers have LOW FB. For the FB to be SOOOOO LOW at only 0 to 10 FBs means he's either "buyer" shilling or other higher FB ebayers are staying away from him for one or other reason. He's been on ebay 1 yr, long enough to run into lots of different FB ebayers, but not long enough to have experience/generated trustworthiness. The highest $item sold is LOW at only $14. DON'T EVEN BOTHER CALLING HIM FOR CONTACT INFO. IT'S AS CLEAR AS THE NOSE ON YOUR FACE THAT THIS IDIOT IS A SCAMMER!!
abbreviations:
3B. For those sellers that are acceptable in question #3, what else should you do BEFORE you bid on those sellers' auctions?
Contact/Verify "Contact Info"--Did you talk to him? Does he acknowledge the ad he put on ebay? Does the address match EXACTLY with the phone book or phone operator?
If there's something wrong, REJECT THE AUCTION, DO NOT PAY FOR THIS ITEM, give to ebay the explanation of "Invalid Contact Info" for this transaction as the reason for rejecting it.
If the contact info is o.k., continue confirming. What do his neighbors say about him and his business? Email his other bidders about how he's like as a seller. Ask the other bidders about the seller's email and phone number and address and if they match EXACTLY the info you have.
3C. What about further confirmation?
It's up to you how much confirmation you want. The more you're spending, the more confirmation you will want.
The next steps if you want more confirmation:
3D. What about if the seller tells you the terms of payment sudddenly change after the auction ends?
If his terms of payment suddenly change in the email or by phone such as:
FOR WHATEVER EXCUSE HE GIVES YOU (because he's on a business trip to London, Spain, Paris, etc. or he's visiting a relative in London, Spain, Paris, etc. or whatever other semi-valid or valid reason), ANY OF THESE ARE RED FLAGS!! REJECT THE AUCTION, DON'T PAY FOR THE AUCTION AND give ebay the reason as "Seller changed payment terms of service after the auction ended."
BP=Bidpay
C.O.D.=cash on delivery
FBs=feedbacks
MWT=money wire transfer
negs=negatives
pos=positives
Does he pay business taxes and have a business license? What do other ratings agencies say about his business? Better yet, is he bonded with an insurance company?
