EBay’s tough talk on fraud doesn’t withstand scrutiny

[pricescope]

Here is today's article regarding fraud on ebay:



I guess consumers should be super careful there especially when it comes to expensive items like diamonds or jewelry.[/u][/u]

 

[Mara]

bump!

 

[niceice]

Um... Duh? Is anybody 'really' surprised that eScam is just that?

 

[mhtv]

" guess consumers should be super careful there especially when it comes to expensive items like diamonds or jewelry."


why should a buyer be any MORE careful buying from a vendor on ebay as opposed to any other vendor???

such advice exposes an obvious and incorrect anti-ebay bias. it suggests that buying from a vendor that is not selling on ebay is somehow automatically safer. that makes no sense.

obviously, you should judge a vendor on the merits of the VENDOR, PERIOD. ebay is NOT the vendor.

on the otherhand, at least with ebay there are SOME safeguards. whereas buying from a vendor that has no connection to any major international venue has even less safeguards.

 

[fire&ice]

----------------
On 3/5/2004 9:17:58 AM mhtv wrote:


why should a buyer be any MORE careful buying from a vendor on ebay as opposed to any other vendor???

such advice exposes an obvious and incorrect anti-ebay bias. it suggests that buying from a vendor that is not selling on ebay is somehow automatically safer. that makes no sense.

obviously, you should judge a vendor on the merits of the VENDOR, PERIOD. ebay is NOT the vendor.

on the otherhand, at least with ebay there are SOME safeguards. whereas buying from a vendor that has no connection to any major international venue has even less safeguards.----------------

What safeguards? Buying from ebay is caveat emptor (sp?) as is buying from any auction. Ebay does not stand behind any product. The bidders must sign that they know they are "buying at their own risk."

 

[strmrdr]

ebay markets itself as being safe and having safeguards in place.
It isn’t and that’s the point.
It’s all marketing BS.


Its not just jewelry that’s a problem either it extends into every category sold there

 

[aljdewey]

----------------
On 3/5/2004 9:17:58 AM mhtv wrote:

why should a buyer be any MORE careful buying from a vendor on ebay as opposed to any other vendor???

----------------

In premise, he shouldn't......the buyer should be as careful buying from any vendor.

However, the nature of eBay makes it much more prone to abuse than traditional store front vendors. It's much easier to check out a traditional vendor than one who can hide behind the anonimity that eBay provides.

Also, eBay provides a platform that makes it easier for less scrupulous people to gain access. In the traditional vendor world, it takes a bit of legwork to lease space, set up a location, get it "looking" like a store front, etc.....having to go through all that effort just to pull off a scam. That legwork tends to "filter" some of the fraud.....it tends to discourage the lazy. eBay circumvents that legwork, so it's a prime ground for abuse.

That's not to say there are some great and ethical vendors on eBay...they are. The only point is, the system is more easily exploited and abused than traditional means, hence the warning.