A Cautionary tale about eBay
Posted by: smiglass on 26 February 2007
Due to financial considerations, I found myself trying to sell my CDS3 head unit, having already sold the XPS2 and HiLine on A’gon. I listed the CDS3 on A’gon also, but there were two other units listed, so I thought I would try eBay. Well, I listed it with a partial serial number and several pictures and the following happened:
1. A few days after I listed my player, another CDS3 was offered at a ridiculously low starting price with no reserve for 3 days. The description was full of inaccuracies and misspelling and the pictures were lifted from elsewhere on the net. It “sold” for about $1200
2. There were several bids by someone called “naimcanada” with zero feedback and having joined eBay for less than one day! This bidder placed several bids against himself, falsely driving up the cost.
3. I received several phishing emails through the eBay system saying my listing had been seen on eBay before and offered a link to the webpage. When the link was activated, it led to an eBay “sign-in” page. I reported the first one but I got so many that I gave up trying to police them. I even got one after the auction was over.
Needless to say that I will not be doing serious business with eBay again! It is fraught with scam and fraud and I do not think it is trustworthy unless you know the vendor you are dealing with, ie, Gene Rubin Audio or Real HiFi, who are exemplary in their business dealings. I am posting this to make my fellow forum members aware.
BTW, I did not sell the CDS3 and will keep it and later this year,when things have improved, I will get the 555PS and a new HiLine.
Regards,
Anthony
1. A few days after I listed my player, another CDS3 was offered at a ridiculously low starting price with no reserve for 3 days. The description was full of inaccuracies and misspelling and the pictures were lifted from elsewhere on the net. It “sold” for about $1200
2. There were several bids by someone called “naimcanada” with zero feedback and having joined eBay for less than one day! This bidder placed several bids against himself, falsely driving up the cost.
3. I received several phishing emails through the eBay system saying my listing had been seen on eBay before and offered a link to the webpage. When the link was activated, it led to an eBay “sign-in” page. I reported the first one but I got so many that I gave up trying to police them. I even got one after the auction was over.
Needless to say that I will not be doing serious business with eBay again! It is fraught with scam and fraud and I do not think it is trustworthy unless you know the vendor you are dealing with, ie, Gene Rubin Audio or Real HiFi, who are exemplary in their business dealings. I am posting this to make my fellow forum members aware.
BTW, I did not sell the CDS3 and will keep it and later this year,when things have improved, I will get the 555PS and a new HiLine.
Regards,
Anthony
quote:Originally posted by Graeme Hutton:
Similar happened to me after I'd sold my CDX. These scams are usually easy enough to spot and it hasn't stopped me conducting lots of successful transactions on ebay.
Also, I find them good if you do report a problem.
So, yes scammers are out there but most folks are honest in my experience. Ebay shows us that we can have a degree of faith in humanity after all.
You are right,Graeme, I am just disgruntled at this time.
Anthony
quote:Never buy anything really expensive off anyone unless you can walk up and put your foot on it/them.
exactly - joe90 at least we agree once
