Strategies for Identifying and Avoiding Scammers on eBay
Many community members have raised concerns about encountering scammers on eBay. What specific strategies or tools have you found most effective in identifying and avoiding scams when buying or selling? Have certain warning signs or patterns helped you stay safe? Please share your experiences and any advice you can offer to fellow eBayers looking to protect themselves from potential scams.
6 comments
eburtonlab
·3 weeks ago@2bigteeth
Buyers can avoid many problems by choosing to only do business with experienced sellers that have a proven track record of selling and delivering what was described as reflected in feedback comments from actual buyers for similarly-priced transactions.
Not every new seller is a scammer, but scammers are vastly overrepresented among new seller accounts, and are vastly underrepresented among experienced seller accounts with good feedback for selling. Legitimate sellers gain experience and positive feedback over time, while scammers keep having to start over after getting negative feedback or getting booted by eBay.
Buyers should avoid deals that are obviously "too good to be true", and avoid sellers that show signs of being drop-shippers or that have drastically changed selling behavior recently, as that can be a sign of a hijacked account.
roccotacodad54
·3 weeks ago · Edited#1-I usually only buy domestic and if I do stray from that never from countries in Asia, Africa or South America.
#2-I read reviews.
#3-If the price is "too good to be true" it is.
#4-I avoid precious metals, cell phones, expensive running shoes etc. (high scam items).
#5-I look at estimated delivery dates.
These have been my rule of thumb for quite some time and I've had relatively few problems buying on eBay.......................
mr_lincoln
·3 weeks ago@2bigteeth
What type of scams, be MORE specific. Your question is too general.
2bigteeth
OP3 weeks agoI'm the seller. A buyer was very aggressive with me on selling him some items. Then they wanted me to process the order right so that the status will state that the order was processed, even though it was already late in the evening. This is the address below.
Adib Zakwan MYPPGMMP
16339 NE Cameron Blvd
Portland, OR 97230-5030
I did a searched on that address and found a forum here about another seller that got scammed by that buyer. The seller said they lost money. I just want people and eBay to be aware.
eburtonlab
·3 weeks agoThe address is likely that of a freight forwarder. Freight forwarders are used by many people around the world, the vast majority legitimate buyers, and a few scammers. The legitimate sales go unremarked, while the scams get reported, and the address is unfairly linked to the scams online by sellers that publish the address, thinking it belongs to the scammers.
Just because a someone uses a particular freight forwarder and someone else claims that the address was used by a scammer does not mean that a person using that address is actually a scammer.
You may or may not have been dealing with a scammer, but the use of that address is not evidence one way or the other, and you have not cited any other reasons other than your characterization of the buyer's behavior as "aggressive".
2bigteeth
OP3 weeks agoYou're a very good buyer.