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Laundry
I've seen several posts about money laundering being conducted here on eBay. I find it amusing that eBay themselves never responds to any of the posts. Clearly, they're aware of the problem, but 15% is 15%. When the day comes that being ethical is profitable, I'm sure eBay will get on board. Until then, I suppose it'll business as usual.
15 comments
lagarto_electronico
·1 year agoEither there is money laundering or a person would actually pay $1000 for a 486 processor with bent pins or moldy shoe for $500.
There are people here that obviously believe the latter.
mudshark61369
·1 year ago@lagarto_electronico,
Thank you for replying to a topic from over a year ago. It will soon be locked.
Sellers are allowed to ask any price they want for an item, but whether or not people will pay those prices, is another story. Usually, if the price is too low, it is a scam, to steal money from people, but it is not money laundering. If an item is ridiculously over priced, it most likely will not sell, but some people fall into the category mentioned in my signature below.
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoA small amount of research will show you that you are wrong. Look at these outrageous sales – and then look to see if they were fully executed. They aren’t – the buyer doesn’t pay. Money laundering through eBay would be silly. That it occurs on eBay. It’s just a knitting circle rumor.
annadryl
·2 years agoDo you have even one listing to share here as example of money laundering?
Even just one might be worth a thread...
Mere hearsay is just more spam on the boards.
varebelrose
·2 years agoAnyone else remember the moldy shower curtain that sold multiple times for thousands of dollars?
I remember a few years ago when I was researching a vintage abacus for pricing, and there were quite a few mysteriously selling for thousands of dollars (for a $20-40 item).
Vastly overpriced items, that are listed as sold, are easy to find here, but I'm not going to call any of them out with accusations. Just saying they are there if you look for them.
krazzykats
·2 years agoI don't remember it clearly, but reselling something like a moldy shower curtain for thousands of dollars would be a good example. And then, how many times was it resold?
I think you could do this with any item, sell it outrageously high, then the buyer pays for it even though the item itself is worthless... an interesting way to send large amounts of money without any oversight??
And all for 15%.
mudshark61369
·2 years ago@mr.wholeass2012,
Before posting your topic, did you even bother to look up how "money laundering" works? While there may be some who use a triangulation scam to make money on ebay, the company itself is not involved, beyond being the platform where an item is listed. The criminal activity takes place outside of ebay, and usually involves another retail outlet.
Some who have no clue of what they are talking about, confuse buying an item on ebay, that is delivered by Amazon as a form of arbitrage when it is not, if the seller also lists their items on Amazon and uses their fulfillment system to do the shipping. Look up Amazon's FBA system.
If a seller lists an item, then uses their Amazon Prime membership to purchase it, after it is bought on ebay and is paid for, and have it delivered as a gift. eBay would not be aware of that unless it is reported, and actually the report should go to Amazon for the seller's abuse of their Prime membership.
As krazykats pointed out, with millions of new listings being posted daily from around the world, there is absolutely no way for ebay to vet each and everyone of them. Below is a simple example of how a triangulation scam might work, Add "from ebay" under "order with payment" in the gray box. The Legitimate ecommerce site, could be Walmart, Home Depot, or any other online retailer. Note that the "unsuspecting customer" does receive their item, just not from the supposed seller.
doc-holmes
·2 years agoEven if there was money laundering going on, and eBay was called out on these forums, their lawyers would plotz if they responded to it here.
house*of*paws
·2 years agoHi @mr.wholeass2012
You’re amused that eBay doesn’t respond to posts in a member-to-member forum? Now, that’s amusing. 🤗
kathiec
·2 years agoI hate to break it to you, but the majority of posts you see on the forums concerning money laundering, or shilling, or retail arbitrage, or any number of illegal/unethical practices are made by people who don't understand the term and/or know how eBay works. So they have no basis in fact. It's kind of like the internet -- you can't believe everything you read.
krazzykats
·2 years agoI disagree. If eBay was investigating an account, I doubt any of us would know about it. With millions and millions of people using eBay, it's almost impossible to catch all the scofflaws. One pops up, as one is removed. Maybe ten pop up for every one they remove, who knows?
There is no money laundering on eBay. No self-respecting criminal would pay 15% and then be liable for income tax. Money laundering on PayPal when they had the $20,000 limit, sure, but not on today's eBay.
varebelrose
·2 years agoOh, you better believe criminals would be very glad to pay those fees to make illegal money "legal". Thats a small amount.
tinsoldierunderground
·2 years agoAbout the only interest ebay has in these forums, is that they act as a buffer zone for people having problems and needing help, without ebay having to staff them with paid employees. Beyond that, they couldn't care less.
mtgraves7984
·2 years agoWell, eBay doesn't monitor the Forums. You have some great listings up, by the way... good luck to you!