eBay Begins Plan To Recapture Reputation From Scam Central
from the we're-not-so-bad,-really dept
Over the last few years, it seems like stories about eBay related scams have become so common, that many insist that doing business on eBay is a risk not worth taking. It appears that the folks at eBay have finally realized that this perception was damaging their business. They claim that they're beginning a big program to crack down on scams of all kinds. Of course, many will argue it's too little, too late. It's good that the company recognizes there's a big problem out there (whether real or perceived), but this is the type of thing that people are going to really need to see results on before they buy it. It's easy to say you're going to crack down on fraud. Actually doing so is a lot more complex. While it sounds like the focus is (as it should be) on the big scams, they're even including much more subtle issues, such as people who charge ridiculously exorbitant shipping fees to make up for selling goods that appear cheap. While it's good that eBay clearly wants to tackle this problem, results are going to speak a lot louder than a press release.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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And it's so hard to show results
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ebay fraud
It's interesting to see how the 419 scammers now reply to my posted items for sale on other classifieds online every time I post there, everywhere I post things for sale, and they are so obvious, so pathetic.
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abolish paypal
If eBay sold paypal and allowed all companies to fairly compete for market share of ebay transacations then each transaction company (paypal, google checkout, etc..) would be motivated to have the best service available or loose business. This competition would then increase the safety of buying/selling on ebay because there would be motivation for all parties to ensure happy customers. Right now ebay/paypal are solely interested in closing as many transactions as possible.
Anyone who has used ebay/paypal long enough has had some kind of dispute, and paypal doesn't care to resolve the issue fairly, but rather close it as quickly as possible since either way they choose to resovle it, they are still getting paid.
Check out paypalsucks.com
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No fees on shipping
There fees not scams are what are out of control.
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Who's scamming whom?
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eBay's real motive
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Rip Offs
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Not addressing the real problem.
Real solution: Combine Escrow into every transaction and streamline the payment methods. Forces both sides to be honest, or do business somewhere else. “Simpson’s did it!” www.eBonza.com
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Not addressing the real problem.
Real solution: Combine Escrow into every transaction and streamline the payment methods. Forces both sides to be honest, or do business somewhere else. www.eBonza.com
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eBay police
I suspect that the period of rigorous enforcement actually cost eBay some money, because they backed off after a few weeks (now, the scammers that were selling the $10 violins with $60 shipping -- actual cost of shipping & handling: about $18 -- are selling the same violins for $30 with $40 shipping -- big whoop).
The primary function of the eBay 'police' appears to be to eradicate any mention of yahoo auctions, blujay.com, or wagglepop. Or even PowerSellersUnite.com. If you mention any of those (even with any variation in spelling, or even in a .GIF or .JPG to avoid auto-detection) in a listing, it will get taken down in minutes. OTOH, the obvious scams run to conclusion with no notice by the eBay 'police'.
I have pretty much stopped selling on eBay, except for one or two listings at a time for small stuff, and that only to increase the hits on my own website. I no longer consider eBay a sales venue, but an advertising expense. That expense now runs about $3/month, compared with the $450/month I was spending before they decided to screw the folks that they suckered into opening an eBay 'store' last Spring.
Any action they take against scams is likely to be more form than substance, because eBay makes a LOT of money from those scams, and cutting them out would put a noticeable dent in the bottom line. Even though it might help in the long run, eBay is focused solely on the end of the current quarter.
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Violins and Accessories
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0.01%???
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I no longer sell violins on eBay!
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I agree with the other posters, this part isn't a scam, it is survival. Keep in mind you have some cost for obtaining the item, till you pay the listing fee, the final value fee, and the paypal fee, just how much do you have left from a $10 sale? Not enough to bother as far as I'm concerned, I just give stuff like that away now, rather than work for pennies per hour.
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Beyond Legalities
TechDirt Article: The Blame MySpace Movement Gathers Steam
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Re: Beyond Legalities
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?.......
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Fees
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eBay Not Having a Good Week
http://firemeg.blogspot.com
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