How do I know a scam?

[lxgrandma]

I just bought a product for $20 which in reality is anywhere from 150.00 up to 300.00.  After buying it, I checked in to seller--says from another country and just got on EB this month.  How do I know this is a scam?  Would EB screen them first before getting that seller on here?

[southern*sweet*tea]

---

wrote:

I just bought a product for $20 which in reality is anywhere from 150.00 up to 300.00. If it sounds too good to be true.....  After buying it, I checked in to seller--says from another country and just got on EB this month.  Feedback is there for buyers to vet their sellers BEFORE they buy, NOT after. How do I know this is a scam?  You don't, but a foreign seller selling things waaaaay below market price is a dead giveaway.Would EB screen them first before getting that seller on here? Ebay has almost thirty MILLION sellers. How would you suggest Ebay screen them? Ebay depends on buyers to use their common sense, and to report bad sellers if it comes down to that.

---

[dougsue123b]

If it was an auction it is probably legit. 

[slippinjimmy]

---

wrote:

I just bought a product for $20 which in reality is anywhere from 150.00 up to 300.00.  After buying it, I checked in to seller--says from another country and just got on EB this month.  How do I know this is a scam?  Would EB screen them first before getting that seller on here?

---

You left out some important, maybe critical bits of information.............

Where is the seller located?

What type of "product"?

[takikawa4]

@lxgrandma

You'll know it's a scam if (1) you don't receive the item or (2) the item is not as described (which includes something completely different than shown). 

If either happens to you, read and abide the the policies listed in ebay's Money Back Guarantee.

[swenson8781]

You bought an item, so you can only do your part and make payment and wait to receive said item.  You have no way of knowing until then, neither does eBay.  We must, at least initially, give people the benefit of the doubt.

As another poster said, if the item never arrives (or arrives beyond the estimated delivery date), or if the item is NOT what you ordered, or NOT in the condition listed, then there are actions you can take to ensure that you don't lose any money on the transaction.

For now, all you can do is have a bit of patience, and I'll cross my fingers for you that you simply got a great deal 

[castlemagicmemories]

---

wrote:

I just bought a product for $20 which in reality is anywhere from 150.00 up to 300.00.  After buying it, I checked in to seller--says from another country and just got on EB this month.  How do I know this is a scam?  Would EB screen them first before getting that seller on here?

---

Many times if it seems to good to be true...it means exactly that.  It really is not true.

[yuzuha]

If you have to ask that question, it's probably a scam.

[dadmw3066_t7auqlbznu]

Sellers need to be worried of scam on ebay, buyers not so much.  If you get something different than described, then you return it for refund on the seller's dime.

[thallidguy]

---

wrote:

---

wrote:

I just bought a product for $20 which in reality is anywhere from 150.00 up to 300.00. If it sounds too good to be true..... 

---

Let's say it all together now....

[thallidguy]

---

wrote:

Would EB screen them first before getting that seller on here?

---

I don't know of a single ecommerce site that screens sellers. eBay never looked into my background, nor did Amazon, nor did Etsy.

And even then, it wouldn't be foolproof. For everyone who has racked up a criminal record, there is always a first offense.

[southernfriedbelle]

---

wrote:

---

wrote:

---

wrote:

I just bought a product for $20 which in reality is anywhere from 150.00 up to 300.00. If it sounds too good to be true..... 

---

Let's say it all together now....

---

True dat, @thallidguy. And if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and leaves droppings you inevitably step in while walking out to the mailbox, it's usually a duck.

[dktoss]

---

wrote:

Sellers need to be worried of scam on ebay, buyers not so much.  If you get something different than described, then you return it for refund on the seller's dime.

---

Only if they actually get the package, and not have something like a blank sheet of paper sent to some random address in your zip code.

[takikawa4]

As a buyer, there's a way around that, too.

[castlemagicmemories]

---

wrote:

---

wrote:

---

wrote:

---

wrote:

I just bought a product for $20 which in reality is anywhere from 150.00 up to 300.00. If it sounds too good to be true..... 

---

Let's say it all together now....

---

True dat, @thallidguy. And if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and leaves droppings you inevitably step in while walking out to the mailbox, it's usually a duck.

---

Absolutely!  I have said that for years, just without the droppings part, LOL!