I've been scammed twice in the past 30 days...

[rolandwhite99]

bear with me. The scams I were a victim of were not on ebay, but had to do with my bank account and my debit card. I want to make a large purchase ($4000) on ebay but my recent experiences have me gunshy. The item I want to purchase is a bicycle and the seller hasn't had any activity in his account in over a year. Now all of a sudden, he has two very expensive bicycles for sale. How can I feel safe purchaing from him? Is ebay's guarantee good enough? Should I used an escrow service. Is there an escrow service for ebay? Thanks in advance.

Roland

[pburn]

@rolandwhite99 

I would think long and hard about making that purchase. The whole thing sounds very dodgy. You've laid out all the reasons not to buy from that seller in your own post. You don't need us to tell you not to go through with it. You already know it.

And, no--there's no escrow service for eBay.

[rolandwhite99]

So what is eBay buyer protection good for?

[pburn]

If you would like to go through with the purchase, you are certainly welcome to. I apparently misread your post--I thought you were asking whether it would be a wise decision to buy the bicycles from that seller.

Keep in mind that if, for example, the seller sends those bicycles to an address in your ZIP Code, but not to your specific house, you'll have a tough time proving to eBay that you didn't receive them--MBG or no MBG. You know, scams like that . . .

Good luck!

[cityslickercreations2004]

Ask the buyer some questions and gauge his/ her responses and response time. You are spending $4K based upon a picture and text. Surely you have a few questions??
There is buyer protection on E-bay but it is not fool proof.

[mudshark61369]

@rolandwhite99,

    "The item I want to purchase is a bicycle and the seller hasn't had any activity in his account in over a year. Now all of a sudden, he has two very expensive bicycles for sale."

What you are describing has all of the signs of a hi-jacked account.  If you go back to the seller's profile page and look again I'll bet you find

• Except for 1 or 2 purchases in the last year or 6 months no activity.
• Little or No selling feedback. Or if there is some it is not for items related to biking. 
• If you do a search of the photos, you'll probably find they have been used on other sites.
• The listing probably has an extended delivery time frame over 14 days as well.
• Because the seller hasn't sold in over a year PayPal will put a 21 day hold on the payment so even if this is a legitimate transaction, there could be problems.

  "How can I feel safe purchaing from him? Is ebay's guarantee good enough".

Yes the Guarantee is good enough.  However, if the scammer is good / devious enough,  getting the refund could take some time, and for that amount you may lose your protections for awhile.  If you haven't read the Guarantee's policy and  terms you  could make a mistake, making it harder to get a refund.  As others have said  eBay does not have escrow services. 

  You replied to @pburn , "So what is eBay buyer protection good for?"

 It is there to protect people who have issues.  Though there is a point where a buyer is expected to use their common sense.  You've been given some info that should help you make a decision. If a few of the Things I listed are what you are seeing, why risk your time and money.  You could miss out on a real deal.