As long as ebay are raking in their fees, nothing else matters - certainly not our SAFETY!

That's the impression I get anyway... read on!

A month or two ago, I was selling my old washing machine. I had no idea what it was worth, so I set a "buy it now" price and included the "best offer" option for potential buyers to make me an offer. I spent a fair bit of time writing a long & detailed description & I added several photo's.

The following day, I couldn't find my auction! Ebay had removed it for infringement of their policy! Luckily, I had it saved as a template, so I re-listed it. Sure enough, it was removed again!

This time, I wrote to them to ask why??? It's a washing machine. The description is full, detailed & accurate. There are several clear photo's & I paid extra for their picture package.

Well, it was because apparently I was trying to avoid fees by making a sale off ebay!! What a load of crap! I had a "buy it now" auction with "best offer" - I stated in the description "I have no idea what it's worth, if you think it's too much - make me an offer" i.e. click on the "submit best offer" button, type in what you want to pay & press send...

Anyway, they were quick enough to jump on me through fear of losing out on a couple of quid in fees... but what about the fraudsters & scammers on ebay???

Last week, I came across a yellow 2003 Seat Leon Cupra R for sale. I've seen the same one a few times now. I had a look, and the "buy it now" price was £3500!! Incase you don't know, these cars of that age should sell for around £10,000.

The photo's & description are an exact copy of the car which was sold a few months ago, with the exception of the first line:

" WONDERFULL CONDITION. MORE DETAILS? ASK ME A QUESTION"

Also, most of the important information is missing, like previous owners, first registration, V5, MOT etc. Well, I suppose they didn't fill it in because they don't know this information - it's not their car!

The seller is a newbie with zero feedback & registered the same day as listing the fake auction. This auction is clearly a fake, so I reported it to ebay on 19th January.

The same seller is selling a 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VI, for the same £3500 "buy it now" price. The description:

 "This car is a real headturner. It works and looks great. There is really nothing I can say about it, the picture speak more than enough. For more details contact me"

I also reported this fake auction on 19th January.

The following day, I came across the same yellow 2003 Seat Leon Cupra R - only this time, it's a different seller selling the same thing!! Same photo's, same description... with the exception of:

"Im an old fogey who likes his cars so it has never been messed with or hammered, just used for fun with only 36500 genuine miles with full service history."

That really did make me laugh! What sort of "old fogey" would write that crap?!

Anyway, yet another newbie with zero feedback, registered the same day as listing the fake auction - reported to ebay on 20th January.

Now, back to the original question - DOES EBAY REALLY CARE ABOUT OUR SAFETY?

Well, apparently not! These auctions are still going strong nearly 4 days after being reported!

Not only that, they were listed as 28 day auctions - they only have 8 days left to run. So, after 20 days, why haven't ebay picked up on them and done something about it?!

So, they don't like genuine sellers using certain words like "offer" in their listings & end them immediately - they could potentially lose a few quid in fees! Maybe the same has happened to you?

But, fake auctions that are painfully easy to spot, listed by fraudsters get reported TWICE in 4 DAYS and the auctions are STILL THERE!! Genuine buyers new to ebay could end up as victims of fraud - and ebay is doing nothing about it!!

Ask yourselves... does ebay really give a damn about us & our safety??? 

Quick update... do a search for 'yellow Seat Leon' They're both STILL listed... 14 DAYS after my original report to ebay!

The auctions have been running for over 2 weeks, & have been reported now 5 times by myself (and no doubt by others) - and each time I have provided ebay with negative feedback to show my dissatisfaction through their trust & safety survey which followed each report!!

Also, if you search for "yellow seat leon, you will find a THIRD auction - EXACTLY THE SAME!! Same photo's, same description... not only that, on one of the car forums I use regularly, there are threads entitled "ebay bargain car of the week!". Currently, the THREE identical yellow Cupra R's are talked about, as well as the Mitsubishi Evo, a Golf R32 & an Audi RS4 which is selling for an unbelievable £15k - not a bad saving on a £50k car!!

As a "goodwill" gesture you will most likely be asked for a £200 deposit via paypal to "secure the deal" then the seller will disappear off the face of the earth, along with your money - and of course, a car which is not for sale! 

The worst thing about these SCAMS is that EBAY ARE DOING NOTHING ABOUT IT!!

Thank you for reading. If you agree with any of the above, please vote YES!