Vigilantes attack eBay fraud

Many eBay members are stepping in to fight online auction fraud using tactics the company does not condone or appreciate.
The New York Times

The story "Vigilantes attack eBay fraud" published March 21, 2004 at 10:58 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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eBay Freight

I am unsure what to believe when I am told what freight is to ship a particular item. It almost seems at times that sellers will inflate the freight amount to cover an unacceptable bid amount. These sellers could put a reserve on their auctions, but that costs them an additional fee. I recently had paypal refund my payment to a seller for a pair of Snapon jackstands. Another auction for Snapon jackstands ended after mine in which the shipping amount was $15.70. My seller was charging $42.00. I then went to the Snapon website which was charging $8.95 UPS shipping/handling. When I presented this information to paypal and ebay, they initiated an investigation, and refunded my money. I usually contact sellers before I bid and simply ask, what is shipping to my zipcode. I usually get a response. I was unable to get a response in this case. I was also getting a lot of undeliverable email around this time, and I contact sellers using the eBay ask a question form.

Class action suit needed against EBAY

I would like to join a CLASS ACTION SUIT against EBAY, because they get a percentage of all sales, even the fraudulent ones. If, they merely provided advertisement space at a set rate, it would be a different case. Since, ebay profits, handsomely from fraud; I, believe they perpetuate fraudulent activity.
This would reign in the fraud that is rampant at EBAY.

[CMorris72]

Buyer auction protection

While there are several so called guarantees (from Ebay, PayPal, and SquareTrade), if you read their agreements they are all subject to deductibles and/or seller limits which can drastically reduce what you might receive as reimbursement. If a seller selling high-value items (electronics, jewelry) is fradulant, you would have to share the seller cap ($5,000 or $10,000) with ALL buyers.

The only buyer protection method that protects the entire amount of the transaction is www.buysafe.com. This is a new company which literally underwrites bonds for each transaction guaranteeing the performance of the seller. The bonds are written by The Hartford, a full-service insurance company. There is no cost to the buyer, the seller must go through strict screenings beforehand and they pay 1% of each auction for the protection. If buyers demand this type of protection from sellers, the legitimate ones will have no problem, and customers would likely even pay a bit more on the auctions if they were assured to be legitimate.

In my opinion, this is a really great way to address fraud. This has been featured in NY Times and the Washington Post, CNET should do an article.

Ebay fraud is rampant; company does little to resolve problems

Ebay has errected barriers for keeping buyers from resolving problems with fraudulent buyers. I believe it is designed to protect profits, as ebay profits from each sale. I would love to provide email accounts of the fraud. When a buyer seeks to have restitution from sellers who either sell damaged goods or do not send items that are fully paid.
Two recent scammers, under the ebay IDs of, hugochurchlady and gvovshik, sold items that were high priced camera items. You can type in the names on the feedback forum and get reviews of sellers. Hugochurghlady, sold me (ebay id: hezabomer)a zoom lens for $610 w/shipping. The estimate to bring the lens up to the condition that the seller had described as in,"execellent conditon". Seller now says the lens was good when he shipped it, with caps on both ends. A gouge was so deep on the rear glass, you could feel it through a cleaning cloth.. The focus rings of the lens were sticking and dragging. I have copies of all emails sent to the seller for restitution. He rejected the demand; have been battling ebay and the seller for the cost of the repair. The needed repair is $240 worth of work.