Chinese fraud and my buying preference

[yooperdude2000]

Been getting scammed by fraudulent chinese scams lately.  I know this has been covered before, but I would like to add my voice to the choir: I'd use Ebay more if they had a "North America Only" default for search results.  I hate to keep scrolling and clicking the same filter to get what might actually be a genuine North American seller/product.  Seems that Ebay won't endorse this sort of default/permanent filter due to the almighty dollar being more important than the wishes of it's buyers.  Suppose they will be complicit in chinese scams if there's money in it for them.  Or, perhaps they can actually preserve some integrity and make sure that those of us who prefer North America Only get what they want.  

[reallynicestamps]

Instead of using Lowest Price plus Shipping or Best Match, switch to Highest Price plus Shipping.

Since the worst of the scammers are in the low price/low value range, you can avoid all those and drift down to your price point.

It also helps to use your Watch List before buying, to compare listings and see which don't make sense. Like two US sellers with approximately the same cost (price+shipping) and one whose price is much much lower. Careful reading can show why. (The seller is new and started an auction waaaay below what he would be willing to sell for. The seller is not actually selling the same thing as the others. The seller is shipping from a low income/cheap shipping country, etc.)

Overseas sellers faced with buyers unhappy with slow shipping, tried opening US warehouses, but two problems came up.

One was duty. US residents have an $800 duty free allowance. So importing a $10 doohickey was cheap for the buyer. But when a 25% tariff was added to the warehouse's container of 10,000 doohickeys, there was duty to be paid and prices rose.

In addition, the warehouse was now paying USPS shipping rates. Sales dropped.

Some of those sellers, having closed their warehouses and returned to shipping from their home country, corrected the location of the product. But others, carelessly or deliberately, did not.

If you feel strongly about this, you can open a Dispute on every purchase advertised as shipping from the USA which is actually coming from overseas.  The reason is Not As Described, since it is described as being shipped from the USA.

Feel strongly, because, while you will win the Dispute and will be refunded, it will take time and you will have to use the seller's return shipping and show that the item is back with him before you are refunded.

[mudshark61369]

@yooperdude2000,

The search advice given by @reallynicestamps  actuallly works, in terms of eliminating the chinese sellers from the beginning of the results page(s).   However, it may not get rid of all of them.  No matter what the item location says, you should check each seller's feedback profile.  There may be other indications on the listing page itself as well.  Below is a link of things to check, that could help you eliminate more chinese sellers giving false item locations.

(must be nice to finally be free in the U.P.)

Indications on listing pages;

1. Item location not giving a city and state Ex. Ca. /USA, Many places USA, USA/USA.
2. Extended delivery or handling time frames. Especially, from supposed U.S. based sellers.
3. Very low prices w/ Free shipping
4. American flag symbols and many statements of being a U.S. Seller
5. The same photos and listing templates used by many other sellers
6. Measurements that are both metric and inches.
7. Use of Asian models in photos
8. Verbiage in descriptions that do not sound like they were written by a person whose first language is English

On feedback profile pages;

1. Country of registration ... sometimes.
2. Very high volume seller registered between 2010 and now.
3. Feedback percentages below 98.9%
4. Neutral and negative feedback sometimes in the hundreds  (you can click on those numbers to read only those comments)  look for slow shipping, non delivery,  partial orders received, and items shipped from China comments, as well as poor quality ones.
5. Replies to non positive feedback that indicate English is not the persons first language
6. Repetitive replies to non-positive feedback

[yooperdude2000]

Thanks for the responses.  Already doing much of that.  Wish that I could permanently set my preferences for North America Only.  Sifting through searches isn't the best use of my time.  Another wish is that there were a counterpart to the Captcha proof:  Something that users had to perform to assure that English was a first language perhaps, or maybe something that only North Americans would know.  Anyway, got scammed recently on a Yahoo-sanctioned advertisement.  Apparently they'll take money from anyone regardless of ill intent.  Come to find out that it's a well-known scam and they just look the other way.  Money is money to the greedy.  Gotta prop up that stock price. 

[reallynicestamps]

Something that users had to perform to assure that English was a first language perhaps, or maybe something that only North Americans would know.

That would kick out North Americans in Canada and Mexico.

And 20% of our Canadian population speaks French as a first language. Because we actively welcome both immigrants and refugees, nearly 30% of our population was born elsewhere-- including me. It gets closer to 50 % in Toronto and Vancouver.

Given that - I'm not sure if there would be anything that all North Americans would know that would be a blank for those overseas. Leave sportsball out to begin with. And most Mexican history. And the location of US states- personally I have trouble with Idaho and Iowa.