Shilling The most frequent scam. The sellers and their cohorts
bidding the price of an item higher so that the winning buyer (you)
ends up paying for the item at a higher price than you would otherwise
have. Bid
Shielding - A buyer places a low bid and is then followed by other
buyers (partners) who take the bidding up very high compared to the
real value of the item, at the last moment the high bidders withdraw
their bids and leave only the initial low bid remaining. Basically you
end up selling the item for a lower than expected price and no one
else has bid because of the high bids that have been withdrawn. Faked
Photos - Its so easy to make something look good or even replace
it entirely and take a picture. Once the image is digitized further
enhancements can be made. Look at the picture carefully, does it look
like a stock shot? Does it have any areas of blur or fuzziness? (a
sure sign it has been tampered with) Does it match the description?
Print it out and also save it to disc, you may need it later
Untrue/Misleading Descriptions - Again anything can
be written about anything. When did you last buy a car, was that dent,
rust, bad paint job in the description of the ad, of course not,
sellers may fail to mention things they see as minor but you see as
major faults and of course the same goes for auctions. Does the
description match the picture? Is it a detailed description or just
the make and model, sellers should give detailed descriptions and even
point out faults, if you contact a seller before bidding and find that
a lot of bad stuff has been left out of the description ask yourself
if you want to do business with this person. Failure
to Deliver Merchandise - Usually online auctions require the buyer
pay for the merchandise before receiving the goods. So you have paid,
the check has been cashed and you have not received your goods. First
contact the seller, if you get no response contact the auction site
hosting the auction, tell them the situation and request any details
they may be able to give you. Be sure to keep a record of all
conversations, correspondence and cancelled checks. Many auction sites
now require sellers to give credit card details for identification
before they can sell, for obvious reasons choose your auction site
carefully. In the US this is a crime and is classed as mail fraud so
take legal advice. If the item is expensive use an Escrow service.
Does the auction site provide insurance, if so it can save you money. False
Feedback - Visit the online auction's buyer feedback page. Sellers
are rated by past buyers. The feedback systems can be easily
manipulated by the seller using false user accounts and/or by their
partners. If a seller has a perfect feedback rating this can mean they
are either totally honest and timely with their sales or they are
dishonestly posting false feedback, there is no easy way to spot false
feedback, although, an average rating is probably a good thing, after
all very few people are perfect. If you get burned be sure to let
others know by using the feedback sections. Switch
and Return - You as a seller have sent your goods to the buyer,
the buyer then switches your goods for older, copied or broken goods
of the same nature and contacts you saying they are not satisfied with
the goods and demanding a refund. You do not know this until the
goods have been returned to you, so what do you do? Do not give
refunds until you have the goods back. Before sending the goods take
photos of them, describe them and note any model numbers, serial
numbers or unique identifying marks. Contact the buyer and let them
know you know and the evidence you have, then offer to return the
goods to them when you receive payment for re-shipping.
Pirated
or Stolen Goods - If you think the goods may be pirated or stolen
contact the seller and ask for details of where and how they acquired
the goods, then contact the original supplier to confirm. Software is
particularly susceptible to this.
Copyright 1997-2006 (c)
Blue Hound Auctions, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
All other logos & information used copyright the perspective copyright
owners
NCAFL 8325 - 5917 Waterworn Court - Fuquay Varina, NC - 27526
