How to Avoid Giving Sales to Fraudsters

[stevemartin60]

I have been buying/selling art here for well over a decade, and have personally taken out a couple blatant fraudsters here after much painstaking effort and by speaking to people at the V.P. level at corporate.

Here are some things to watch for when buying expensive art here...

1.  Fraudsters often will not take personal messages.

2.  Fraudsters will often just say "signed by _______" rather than "by _______" in order to skirt the intent of the policies and to get you to think their offering is by somebody important without actually saying so.

3. They will often choose a user name with "mod" in the name or a short series of letters and numbers, like "1kul77."

4. They will often fail to provide photos of the backside so you can see the piece is too fresh to be by their purported artist.

5. They will attempt to sell pieces as "original" that are reproductions or prints.  If in doubt, google the artist, click "images" and see if their offering is already out there.

6. They will often offer "modern art" that needs no real artistic talent or time to create.

7.  They will choose artists who have signatures that are simple to replicate, such as signatures in all block style, or simple monograms.

8. If they are selling non-"modern art" pieces that actually took some time and talent, be sure the signature was not added to an existing older piece.  Check the signature under blacklight if you do buy it, and return it immediately if it floureces stongly under black light.

9.  Be wary of sellers who deal only in pieces by very important artists, (i.e. average auction results over a couple thousand dollars) and whose listings always skirt the policies by saying "signed ______."

10.  Fraudsters will often sell by doing everything possible to make you think it is by an important artist without actually saying so...like adding pictures and bios of the artist, repeating their name a bunch of times in the description, adding real or fake auction house labels to the back, etc.

There are several fraudsters still here right now selling far more in dollar volume than many honest dealers, and you can't report them to eBay because, technically, they are not violating policies.

Still, be forewarned, and maybe this posting will save you some time and money.  But as always "caveat emptor" reigns supreme, as in any marketplace.

[maxine*j]

That is all excellent advice.

I would add to your list the old adage that if something sounds too good to be true, it is not true; ergo, it is extraordinarily unlikely that someone will offer an important piece of art on eBay at all, much less at a bargain price.

I would also add that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a nice piece of "factory art" for decor, most of which is skillfully done and pleasant to look at -- but learn to recognize it when you see it and never pay more than the very modest price its worth.

I wish more people who want to collect art, antiques, and antiquities would educate themselves before plunging into those markets -- in which fakes and repros have been a plague forever, but never more so than now with today's technologies and global marketplaces.

I wish more people who think they're interested in art really were -- and would take a few classes in art, art history, art appreciation;  would spend time in galleries and museums looking at art;  would use the incredible learning resources available on the internet.

I wish more people who are just interested in art just for profit (sad, to me, but there you are) would accept that they're going to need expert opinion to make art work as an investment unless they're willing to immerse themselves in learning as above.

-

[stevemartin60]

Thanks.  I appreciate those comments.

One thing I should add is a plea for others who see this activity and have solid proof of anyone intentionally crossing the lines (i.e. repeatedly claiming something is actually BY an important artist when it isn't) to please report it to the fraud department, and not to wait, or to expect that others will do it.

It's going to take all of us working together to clean this up.

[Anonymous]

So when can you take the people who run eBay?

Their scams involve billions of dollars over the course of years.

eBay was found guilty of stealing early online auction patents - they did not invent them.

All early innovations of eBay were all invented by other people, such as pictures in listings, eBay's own API, scheduled listings, listing software, electronic forms of payment and so on. eBay either stole these ideas from others or bought the company that invented the concept.

A history of never innovating. Old time eBayers knew Meg Whitman's move to HP would be a disaster as there she would not be able to steal the ideas of other people and companies.

A major portion of eBay's income is from scams these days to offset declining numbers in buyers and sellers.

Final Value Fees on shipping.

Promoting Free Shipping which results in higher priced item versus calculated shipping thus earning them more money. Higher priced goods sell less unless you think customers are too stupid to sort items by total cost.

Misusing a 1969 Universal Postal Union program designed to help poor people to instead line the pockets of eBay and its Chinese Communist Partners. This resulted in USPS losing billions of dollars. It forced the American public to subsidize eBay and its Chinese Communist partners. It destroyed manufacturing jobs of American due to items being dumped into the U.S. via out own post office. Its destroyed the jobs of U.S. based eBay sellers who could not compete due to the ultra low shipping prices form China.

Selling private shipping insurance. This means USPS will make less money on their insurance and thus be forced to raise prices, thus earning eBay more money.

Hiding listings and hiding shipping options on listings.

Promoted listings.

Getting rid of 30 day listing and replacing them with Good Til Cancelled. This forces sellers to cancel their listings each month before they automatically renew as opposed to being automatically cancelled each month. This is designed to earn more money for eBay as many listings are not caught in time due to the amount of work involved. eBay said this was done to force sellers to be more responsible for maintaining their wares, which of course was a lie since the 30 day listings automatically took care of that as unsold items would no longer be listed unless the seller decided to manually relist them.

Getting rid of promotional events in which sellers would be invited to list anywhere from 250 to 250,000 listings or more with no insertion fees. No reason to even have a store or pay insert fees at all if you used listing software to create your listings ahead of time. Ebay created these events due to declining insertion fees and tried to thus generate revenue on the back end using FVF. When this program failed they replaced it with FVF on shipping, a few free listings per month and store subscriptions.

eBay has now dropped to #3 behind Amazon and Shopify.

eBay has lost millions of customers due to their evil ways. Millions of other accounts are duplicate accounts used by the same person to sell, buy and post in the forum. Millions of other accounts are dormant.

[stevemartin60]

OK, but all that has nothing to do with this thread, except for the fact that they sure don't seem that interested in cacthing and removing fraudsters--which does speak to the general point you are making.

[stevemartin60]

FWIW...from the "ain't that a coincidence" department.

My views, "watch" numbers, and sales have disappeared since I posted this thread. 

Go figure....

Also, Googling "SteveMartin60" and "eBay" no longer brings up my item listings page.

[stevemartin60]

FYI....I sold nine paintings totalling over $3600 in the first few weeks of this year.

Since posting this message ten+ days ago, I have sold ZERO, and gained no watchers on my 115 listings.

Pure, coincidence, I'm sure.

[sonomabarn67]

Yeah, "they" are out to getcha. Has nothing to do with the desirability of the paintings.

[wor7745]

Here are some tips to avoid giving sales to fraudsters:

1. Verify the identity of the customer: Before making any sales, make sure to verify the identity of the customer. Ask for their name, address, and phone number. You can also ask for a photo ID to confirm their identity.

2. Use fraud detection software: Use fraud detection software to detect any suspicious activity or transactions. This software can help you identify potential fraudsters and prevent them from making purchases.

3. Verify the billing address: Make sure to verify the billing address provided by the customer. If the address doesn't match the address associated with the credit card, it could be a sign of fraud.

4. Use a payment gateway with fraud protection: Use a payment gateway that has fraud protection features built-in. This can help you detect and prevent fraudulent transactions.

5. Monitor your transactions: Keep an eye on your transactions and look for any unusual activity. If you notice any suspicious activity, contact the customer immediately to confirm the transaction.

6. Train your staff: Train your staff to be aware of potential fraudsters and to follow the proper procedures for verifying customer information.

7. Stay up-to-date on fraud trends: Stay informed about the latest fraud trends and techniques used by fraudsters. This will help you be better prepared to prevent fraud.

[chris13]

I will avoid wading into the topic of policies and enforcement...

Instead something I have encountered recently that isnt covered here.

Sellers are using listings to group a 'Lot' of items where only a few of a group of items are fake.

The same techniques to disguise things are used, but I found the seller (who has 100s of listings like this) was very responsive to messages with a response of 'I bought a storage locker full of memorabilia and it seems legit'

Combine 4 items worth $3 each with 2-3 fake items worth $50 ea and set BIN for $75 per lot.

These can be found quite easily in the Entertainment memorabilia category and to date only a few customers have spotted the scam.

Buyer beware. Best wishes.

[stevemartin60]

There can be no question my products are being shadow banned to a significant degree.  Not a single sale since posting this thread.

Please do what you can to help fight back.  Follow my account.  See if there are any among my 100+ listings that might be of interest to you.  Post if this has happened to you, also.  Whatever you can think to do.  TIA...

[stevemartin60]

I've stated before that "rockstars" are almost always apologists for the corruption.  Holding true in this thread, too.

(I was stunned to see a superstar actually back me up here, though....)