| Of the millions of transactions that transpire on | | | | examine their products. If you find theyre fakes, |
| eBay each day, only an infinitesimally small | | | | youve learned your lesson at a minimal cost. |
| percentage are fraudulent. However, even that | | | | 3. Counterfeit cashiers checks and money orders. |
| small percentage means that fraud does still | | | | Be particularly careful with international buyers |
| occur. How do you, as a seller, avoid becoming | | | | who need you to send an expensive item to an |
| the victim of a scam? By recognizing common | | | | agent along with an exorbitant fee. |
| signs of fraud: | | | | Before you send out a buyers item, or forward |
| 1. Phishing expeditions. According to eBay guru | | | | any agents fees from their check, take that |
| Skip McGath ( phishers send out mass emails, | | | | check to your bank and have them call the issuing |
| posing as eBay, or any company, and asking the | | | | bank and verify the check is good. If its not, |
| recipient to confirm their password, which they | | | | youve saved yourself a lot of money. And if they |
| use to hijack their account. | | | | tell you its good and turn out to be wrong, you |
| Advises McGrath, Any email thats really from | | | | arent the one taking the loss. |
| eBay will be on your My eBay page under your | | | | 4. Sites or auctions that dont accept PayPal or |
| My Messages, NOT in your inbox. | | | | credit cards. |
| Always log into eBayor any password protected | | | | PayPal performs very thorough background |
| siteby going to the site from your favorites bar, | | | | checks and is committed to going after |
| or by typing in the URL yourself. Never log in on a | | | | perpetrators of fraud, and credit cards let you file |
| page you opened through an email link! No matter | | | | charge backs. |
| how authentic the page looks, theres a good | | | | If a supplier insists on being paid with a cashiers |
| chance youve been redirected to a phony site. | | | | check or money order, that may be an indicator |
| 2. Unauthorized suppliers. You need to verify your | | | | that theyre not a good product source. |
| suppliersnot everyone that claims to be selling | | | | Dont let a few dishonest people scare you off of |
| wholesale products is legitimate. | | | | eBay altogether. There are plenty of genuine |
| If someone claims to be selling you wholesale | | | | suppliers there, and not every user is trying to |
| items, but doesnt require your Tax ID number, | | | | cheat you. You just need to be aware of whats |
| theyre not legitimate. | | | | out there, and proceed with caution. The vast |
| If you see a drop ship site with name brand logos | | | | majority of transactions that happen on eBay are |
| plastered everywhere, theyre very likely NOT an | | | | completely above board: its one of the safest |
| authorized dealeraccounts with large brand | | | | e-commerce platforms around. Assures McGrath, |
| companies are extremely difficult to establish, and | | | | You can buy $10,000 Breitling watches on eBay |
| the logos are copyrighted material. | | | | that are perfectly legitimate. Just take those |
| If youre using a new supplier, start out with a | | | | steps, and make sure you know who youre |
| very small order to test their service and | | | | buying from. |