Many more scammers and frauds on eBay ..?

[pimpgeist]

Has eBay gotten worse in the past year or two? Or do I just have crummy luck? It seems like buyers can get away with ANYTHING and you’re completely at their mercy. And now PayPal is out of the picture. What are your thoughts please. 

[mtgraves7984]

I think you already get the gist. Upward and onward, blah, blah, blah...

[lamber9347]

Well you've given no facts so nothing to go by.... For me nothing has gotten worse in the past year, but that doesn't mean there aren't bad buyers, as well as bad sellers out there. If you have specific issues you'd like to discuss or get a perspective on please post....

[dbfolks166mt]

     The whole world has changed in the last couple of years. It would be hard to say if eBay has gotten worse during that timeframe and it depends on what you consider to be "worse". I am sure eBay collects data on the adverse issues they have, INR's, SNAD's, chargebacks, etc. but they do not make that public nor do they include that type of data in any of their quarterly or annual reports and why would they those reports are intended to pain a rosy picture for their shareholders. 

     I do get the feeling that sellers have become a bit more risk adverse as far as selling on eBay which may have something to do with the announcement the eBay CEO about "Backing Higher listing prices" but first they have to find a way to encourage both sellers and buyers to be willing to list and purchase those higher priced items. Wall Street has indicated in several articles that the ecommerce market place is becoming increasingly competitive and the giants that once ruled the market place are facing increasing competition. Survival in a highly competitive market place depends on a companies ability to adapt in a manner that is appealing to both the seller and the buyer community. As to whether eBay has done that or can do that will play out in the long run. 

     I read the eBay quarterly and annual reports as well as the Wall Street analysis and see some points that stand out but there is not enough information/details to draw a solid conclusion as to which way the company is headed. Only time will tell. 

[katzrul15]

Fraud is on the rise everywhere - unprecented times.  Cut off 1 head, 2 grow back.

Desperate people do desperate things.  Not everything that can be sold here, should be sold here.  Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I haven't been noticing more scams. Mainly, I've just had lower sales ever since the new year. There's just so much instability in the world... 

[eburtonlab]

Keep in mind that a single person can send out thousands of "kindly text me" scam messages using different accounts; a single person can list hundreds of too-good-to-be-true listings; a single person can hijack multiple legitimate accounts and use them for scams.

eBay can close scam accounts and remove scam listings, but cannot actually stop a person from opening new accounts with fraudulent credentials or prevent other users from falling for phishing scams.

There may very well be more scammers on eBay; but you may also be running into the same scammer(s) multiple times.

Keep in mind also that in about thirty years the internet has gone from an exclusive communications network for an elite group of university academics and high tech company employees with personal computers and modems at a time when such things were expensive and rare, to something available to literally almost anyone in the world with a phone. In other words, the barriers to entry have been all but eliminated for everyone, including scammers.

[american-photography]

 . . . eBay can close scam accounts and remove scam listings, but cannot actually stop a person from opening new accounts with fraudulent credentials or prevent other users from falling for phishing scams . . .

Wrong . . . Ebay can permanently ban the same scammers from opening new accounts by identifying them through the same IP address over different accounts.

In other words, the barriers to entry have been all but eliminated for everyone, including scammers.

The term barriers to entry is only used in the business world relating to how difficult it is to enter a particular line of business.

[eburtonlab]

Wrong . . . Ebay can permanently ban the same scammers from opening new accounts by identifying them through the same IP address over different accounts.

eBay can't make scammers keep using the same IP address, or identify individual scammers that use IP addresses shared with other users. Not everyone uses a fixed IP address.

[titipeo]

Spend a week just browsing only through the posts in here and you will certainly see a substantial amount of post about scammers. However, to me, one thing I find interesting is the amount of individuals that have no idea what to do when something happen. 

[bbravo65]

...millions sellers and buyers here, on eBay...

...no one can predict how many scams happen every day...

...no one knows for sure (behind the door or curtain) what strategy eBay is using to defeat scammers but evidently witnesses eBay sided with them instead...

[Anonymous]

I've noticed a lot more fraud complaints on these community forums, and the problem can all be traced back to Ebay's refusal to take any meaningful step in eliminating fraud.  

There are two basic scenarios I see about, all revolving around mail fraud

1. The buyer purchases an item, files a not as described case, and mails back an empty box
2. The seller sells an item for $100 - $300 under what the item should sell for, and then mail the buyer an empty box

In almost every case, Ebay always sides with the person committing the scam, and has done so for over 6 years.   People always rise up to defend ebay, though I'm not sure how it's defensible to have this problem and completely ignore it for 6 years.  

[joycecooperjoyce]

I've sold for 10 years - I have never had the problems I've had in the last 6 months. E bay does nothing to support the seller. Buyer (the ones I've had are absolute thief's) gets whatever they want. E bay doesn't even allow you to file appeals now when I have had definite proof that the buyer is scamming. I think it's time to broaden my horizons - I'm honest, have good items & describe in detail - surely someone wants those qualities - eBay doesn't value your loyalty to them & their constant changes - it's gotten a lot worse since managed payments.

[dbfolks166mt]

     The only problem with 2 is that the buyer simply files a SNAD and returns the same empty box back to the seller and gets their money refunded or they file a chargeback with their CC company and still get their money back. The buyers have 99% of the protection on eBay.