| Fraud runs rampant across the Internet and online auction sites are a magnet for those dishonest individuals who want to steal your money. From the mega-giants like eBay to the mom & pop auction sites, the scammers find their way there if they think there’s any chance of snatching a dime out of your pocket. Even with all the safeguards put in place by those sites trying to eliminate their presence, these rip-off artists still somehow find their way into your trust and then your pocketbook. Whether its international thieves from Nigeria and other countries, or simply delinquent kids here in the United States, the problem has reached serious proportions. It appears law enforcement agencies have very little time and minimal resources to combat the problem in any real depth. As CEO of UpperBid.com Online Auctions, I see the problem first hand, and I am writing this article in hopes it will help buyers avoid getting ripped off.
Spotting the Rip-off Seller
Fortunately for the buyer, identifying the rip-off seller is usually not a difficult task since most dishonest sellers tend to be sloppy, lazy and not very bright. Their success usually only comes off the gullibility and innocent trust of their victims.
The most obvious red flag in identifying the rip-off seller is when you are somehow able to purchase an item for way below the cost it is being sold for everyone else on the web. The scammers will usually place an item at a much lower price since their objective is close the sale and placing it close to the price of other sellers will most likely not produce any sales for them, especially on a different auction site other than eBay. They will usually focus on high-ticket items that are in high demand such as computers, video game systems, and phones. They are less likely to place something up for sale that will take a long time to sell, no matter how valuable. They want the quick buck and they want it now. The more in demand the high-ticket item you are buying is, the more scammers there are trying to pretend they have that item for sale. The wise saying, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is” definitely applies here. You simply are not going to get a computer or some other item for $500 that is selling everywhere else on the web for $1000.
In addition, look at a seller’s other auctions if the site allows you to. Scammers generally tend to have only a few auctions (usually dutch on each one when allowed by the site so they can get more sales on each listing) and these are almost always only for high-ticket items way below the going price. Since they tend to be the laziest bunch in society, you will usually not find more than a few auctions listed. They simply don’t like to do any real work. Of course, there are always exceptions to this, but it is rare.
Often with a scam seller, you will find sloppy and quickly pasted together titles and descriptions that ramble on that show very little skill in how to sell an item, but this in itself doesn’t mean it’s a rip-off seller. Also, they can sometimes have a very good description, but again, since they are usually lazy, they just cut and paste this from some legitimate auction somewhere. This sloppiness should only be considered if it is in conjunction with other signs.
One of the most important considerations when dealing with sellers is to look at their feedback provided on the site where they are selling. If there is no feedback, there is of course more risk to you. Seldom will you find a scam seller with feedback on a legitimate auction site, though there are exceptions to this. Even when there is feedback, check the dates of the feedback and see how recent or old the feedback is. If you see a long-term steady stream of feedback over many months to present, that is a good sign that it is probably a legitimate seller. Scammers do sometimes sell a couple of items at a low price to get good feedback or may use another second account to generate fake feedback, so if all the feedback is recent, then the feedback becomes less valuable for determining validity. Having said this, there are a lot of legitimate new sellers who don’t have any feedback yet and feedback alone should not deter you from making a purchase unless you see a lot of the other signs mentioned here.
Another sign often found with scammers is their insistence of urgency in paying for the auction item since they are worried about getting caught or discovered and not getting the money. They may even use the words “immediately” or “as soon as possible” when asking for payment. Sometimes you can see this in their auction listing itself.
Most sellers are honest, hardworking individuals who have great products and services. It is only the small minority of dishonest sellers who make these steps necessary. |
