Scams Appear In Many Forms On Ebay- As A Seller Learn How To Recognize And Protect Yourself While Selling Your Items

You are vulnerable to scams. Especially when selling items on ebay.

The world wide web is a nest for crooks, and ebay is no exception. In fact, ebay has a reputation of breeding scammers. As a seller, you must posses the ability to be able to spot a scam when you see one, or you risk joining the ranks of burned merchants who have lost money to ebay scams.

Scammers look for those who look vulnerable. Like a bandit at night, they stand from afar, observing you and waiting patiently for you to expose yourself, before they pounce.

As a seller, are you doing enough to protect yourself?

Listed below are methods crooks employ in order to rob you of your ebay profts and investments, as well as procedures you can take to steer clear of their grasp.

There is no limit to the methods a scammer will use to deceive you on ebay. Such methods include counterfeit payment, phishing, switching products, and extortion. In order to be able to identify these methods, lets look at them in more detail.

• Counterfeit money orders- This is when a scammer sends you a fake check to trick you into shipping the item. Sometimes they purposefully send you more than the amount they owe you, and then ask that you return the remaining amount by wire transfer. If you come across a check that is significantly higher than the cost of the item, do yourself a favor and throw it out. No reasonable person will overpay you with a check.

• Phishing- This is when the scammer sends you a fake email in order to steal your ebay or paypal information. They then use your information to scam others. Be extremely careful, because the email will look like an official email, but leads to other login pages that are fake but look legitimate.

• Extortion- This is when the scammer boldly threatens to give you a seller negative feedback unless you send them a partial refund. Sometimes they find something that is wrong with your item and demand a refund. If you come across problematic buyers who exhibit such behavior, report them immediately.

• Switching Product- This is when a buyer tampers with your product in order to return it. A great way to avoid this is to take good pictures of your products, so that you can compare them with returned items.

• Keep A Weather Eye- There is no such thing as being too paranoid, especially when money is involved. Handle every purchase a buyer makes with care. If you even think that something fishy is going on, it most likely is. This is not to say that you should run in guns blazing by blaming every problem on the buyer. Sometimes misunderstandings occur as a result of a new buyer not really accustomed to the procedures of ebay. Use common sense when interacting with your buyers and report anyone who is suspicious to ebay.
• Only Accept Paypal- This is biggie. Don't accept money orders, personal checks, credit cards or any other payment other than paypal. If you don't have a paypal account its free and very easy to set up.
• Save Your Proof Of Shipment And Delivery- This is another big one. When someone opens a case against you on paypal, you are given the chance to send in all forms of document to prove that you were in fact acting responsible. Having proof of shipment and delivery on hand is one solid piece of evidence. Without it, I'm not sure there is anything else to prove your innocence. So next time you ship an item to a buyer, be sure to keep your receipt and delivery confirmation number.