THE BUYER

Our first introduction to a fraudulent transaction unfortunately involved a Motorola Razr, which, as most people will appreciate, is a very high value item. The item was sent out next day following payment, but the credit card used was stolen. We were lucky as the post office stopped delivery. But it taught us a valuable lesson. "Require immediate payment" will not help prevent you from becoming a stolen credit card victim, although it does help cut down on non-paying bidders for high value items.

Any item worth more than £5 should always be sent recorded. This only costs 68p, but is worth every penny for the increased security and reduced hassle.

We now always follow a standard 3 point procedure.

1. Check that the address is verified/confirmed. If it is, as long as you send your item using a trackable service, to that address, you will be covered by Paypal.
2. If the address is not registered, check that the addressee is the same name as the name on the card used to pay. If not, e mail the buyer and ask why. Inform your buyer that you will wait 72 hours for Paypal to confirm the payment. We stipulate this on all our high price listings, and in our about me page. It is not difficult for a buyer to get his address confirmed, and it makes life easier for the seller.
3. Check out what the buyer has been buying recently. Stolen cards are usually used a lot, in a short period of time. At the top right hand corner on the ebay page, click on the "advanced search" link. In the far left hand column, under "find items" click on "items by bidder". Paste the buyers ID and tick the 1st 2 boxes (include completed listings & even if not the highest bidder). Have a look at the buyers activity, and for completed listings, check to see if the seller left feedback for your buyer.

THE SELLER

Before you commit to buy an item, check out the seller's history.

The feedback system is for your information, and to assist you in choosing whether or not to risk your money. If you ignore other peoples comments, then you may be throwing money away. For every negative comment, there are probably 4 people who would have left negative if they were not concerned about retaliatory feedback.

Just because someone only gets 5 negatives for every 100 items that they sell, does not make them a safe bet. It could be you that loses out. Can you afford it?

Trailing through pages of feedback is tedious, so eBay have provided a shortcut.

1. On the sellers profile/feedback page, on the right hand side above the first line of feedback, is a box that says "period". Scroll down to "past 12 months" and click "go"
2. A new page will open and now along the top line you will see 

Show: All | positive (646) |neutral (1) | Negative (0) | Withdrawn (0)

Click on Negative, and it will display just the negative feedback. Have a good read, and click on the item number to see what the seller sold that caused the negative to be left.

It is well worth reading the neutral comments, and the withdrawn comments, as they are the first reaction of the buyer, and usually a good idea of the hassle that the buyer experienced.

Another trick is to click on the "ID history" link on the profile page. Has the seller changed his ID regularly, and if so why?.

I hope that these tips help.

At the end of the day, people are still losing money to sellers who have horrendous negative feedback. You only have yourself to blame if you don't take the time to check out the seller.

EBAY can be a wonderful trading experience, or it can be a nightmare. A seller can state what they like in a listing, such as guaranteed refund if not completely happy.

But do they honour this promise? Do they answer e mails? How many items are lost in the post? Will you have to pay postage to return a faulty product, or a wrong item? Their feedback will tell you far more than what they put in their listings. A score of 5,000 does not make a good seller, if 1 in 25 buyers loose out. It could be you! Can you afford it? There are plenty of sellers with 100% feedback, who will truly value your custom. You are in control and have the choice as buyers. Don't let the con-men win!!

13/04/07-The new distance selling regs mean that you have additional protection if you buy an item using the BUY IT NOW feature, and the seller is A BUSINESS SELLER. You have the right to cancel your order, return the item and have a FULL REFUND INCLUDING POSTGE within 10 days of receipt of the item. You are responsible for the cost of safe return. They are NOT ALLOWED to deduct a handling, postage or restocking fee. Personal sellers have an obligation under the misrepresentation and Sale of goods Act, so don't let them deny you your rights if the item is not as decribed.

Good luck, and happy buying or selling.

Please tick the box if you found this helpful. CHEERS