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Unrealistic price for a 2023 car
I'm thinking about purchasing a used car. I was on the site autotempest dot com which led me to an eBay listing. My question is how and why does eBay allow a seller to list a car for a price we all know isn't accurate?
The listing is for a 2023 Dodge Charger with a clean title (allegedly) and only 12 miles on the odometer. The asking price is $3,000. By price, I'm referring to the amount next to Buy Now. I did notice in the description that it says as little as $3,000 down.
So, am I to understand that eBay allows sellers to manipulate/game the system this way? A seller is allowed to list the down payment amount as the Buy Now price on a listing? The link to the listing is below. Any feedback from the community will be greatly appreciated.
inceptions
Mentor3 years agoMy sincere apologies. I missed seeing your link.
rap_2651
OP3 years agoNo worries. Hope you're having a great day today.
inceptions
Mentor3 years agoThis is a common scam, and you are dealing with a criminal who is trying to steal your money. There is no car - that's how the thief can sell it so cheaply. You'll pay him, and he'll disappear.
eBay has nothing to do with listings on other sites. If the item isn't listed on the eBay website and if you don't purchase it through the eBay listing, the transaction has nothing to do with eBay.
You can read eBay's warning here:
http://pages.motors.ebay.com/buy/security/index.html
You can read the FBI's warning here:
https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/online-vehicle-sale-fraud
Read about eBay gift card scams here:
https://pages.ebay.com/ebaygiftcard/
You can report the listing to the site where you found it.
rap_2651
OP3 years agoIn case you didn't notice, the link I shared IS eBay. I found the listing on a site that shows listings from multiple sites. However, the listing itself is, in fact, on eBay itself which you will see if you click on or just look at the link in my original message.
You have answered my main question which was whether eBay polices sellers' posts for accuracy or reasonableness. Clearly, the answer is no. I reported the post as soon as arrived on site. But, I have no faith that it will be removed any time soon.
I appreciate the effort despite your lack of thoroughness.
house*of*paws
Mentor3 years agoHi @rap_2651
eBay simply can NOT police its 1.7 Billion listings … and says so.
Vehicle sales on eBay are non-binding … meaning seller or buyer can walk away from the deal without penalty.
Sellers pay fees to eBay prior to listing vehicles so that they aren’t necessarily violating policies by posting tricky payment arrangements.
If you paid $3000 to the seller … thinking it was the full price … you can request a refund. If you can’t get it from the seller … then contact your credit card company.
I’m very sorry this happened. I dislike marketing tricks also. 🫤
rap_2651
OP3 years agoThanks for your reply.
Fortunately, I didn't fall for this ruse. The price was far too good to be true and I'm not a young buck with no experience in life, lol. However, algorithms and other smaller IT changes could go a long way in helping eliminate this type of trickery on eBay's site.
For example, if there were a confirmation of total price during the listing of a non-auction item (Buy Now) coupled with a significant penalty against the seller if this information proved to be false.
It bothers me (not in a major way like keeping me up at night) that in this day and age of advanced technology that some sites have their sh*t together to the point that there's little-to-no fraud on their platform, but a giant like eBay allows listings with blatant, misleading information.
If the Buy Now price isn't $3,000 it shouldn't be difficult to enforce honesty from the seller. At least, that's the way I'm seeing it.
Thanks again!