# Are these freshly minted Amazon sellers scammers? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 29, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876 "2016-12-29T23:34:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876/1 "2016-12-29T23:34:59Z")
The other day I ordered a shirt from a first time seller on Amazon which was priced at half the going rate. The next day, I went back to check other colors and the shirts were gone, and the storefront said none of the items listed were available. Then there were no products even listed. I’ve contacted the seller to cancel the order and not heard back. My CC has not been charged, but the charge is pending. Here is a [buttload](https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B003FSSOZC/ref=olp_page_2?ie=UTF8&f_new=true&startIndex=10) of similar sellers all selling the same shirts, all brand new sellers, all with the same sales slogan. What are these sellers doing? In a day or two they are gone altogether. What’s the scam here, anyway? Do these marketplace sellers actually get CC info? Or are these shirts just a cover for a bigger scam? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876/2 "2016-12-29T23:41:56Z")
Cancel the transaction with your card company. NEVER order from a new seller. ONLY order from a 3rd party seller if there’s no other choice. Look for a high (+95%) approval rating and transactions in the 10s of thousands. I only order items sold by or fulfilled by Amazon. Most likely, they want your CC number. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876/3 "2016-12-29T23:56:55Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Most likely, they want your CC number. I can’t imagine a third party seller working through Amazon actually has access to your CC number. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876/4 "2016-12-30T00:07:23Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I can’t imagine a third party seller working through Amazon actually has access to your CC number. Simple. At some point you get directed to another site to complete the transaction. [“Scam sellers on Amazon”](https://www.google.com/search?q=scam+sellers+on+amazon&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) Google search ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876/5 "2016-12-30T00:26:01Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Cancel the transaction with your card company. > > NEVER order from a new seller. > > ONLY order from a 3rd party seller if there’s no other choice. Look for a high (+95%) approval rating and transactions in the 10s of thousands. Okay, but then where am I supposed to get an “Ottarbox,” a non-functioning Lightning cable, and a Maxell DVD-RW of Windows 10 in a plain cardboard sleeve? ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876/6 "2016-12-30T01:31:22Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Simple. At some point you get directed to another site to complete the transaction. > > [“Scam sellers on Amazon”](https://www.google.com/search?q=scam+sellers+on+amazon&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) Google search That’s not what’s going on here. I was this particular seller’s very first order, which I made through Amazon. Now the order is “preparing for shipment” and the seller doesn’t even exist any more. Clearly some other scam is going on here and I’m trying to figure out what it is. No one asked me to go outside of amazon to pay. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876/7 "2016-12-30T02:09:25Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Cancel the transaction with your card company. > > NEVER order from a new seller. These two especially. They actually have warned those of us who work in Da Jungle (as we lovingly or not call the company) about being leery of new sellers. > [@running\_coach](#): > > I only order items sold by or fulfilled by Amazon. You get my vote for the Best Doper of the Day. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tee)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876/8 "2016-12-30T03:35:08Z")
Not sure what is going on, but it was on reddit’s front page yesterday. Just Launched seller bots are popping up and disappearing daily. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876/9 "2016-12-30T13:34:24Z")
As a third party seller for almost fifteen years, I note that I have very little access to customer info, and only get paid long after shipping. It’s hard to imagine a scam that could be worked within the Amazon framework. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876/10 "2016-12-30T13:52:26Z")
Could it be explained by a big ol’ pile of inexpert sellers listing drop ship items, then giving up when they realise that it’s not the get-rich-quick scheme they hoped for? ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876/11 "2016-12-30T15:41:20Z")
There are reviews for the shirt dating back to 2012. I’d guess that batch of new sellers are people who have recently bought a “get rich quick” scheme based on drop shipping and are just following the how-to instructions. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876/12 "2016-12-30T19:56:34Z")
Well, today the item supposedly shipped, although USPS doesn’t recognize the tracking number, at least not yet. Originally, the seller said they shipped from California, but the last time I saw a track number beginning with LT, it was a hat coming from China. Supposedly, my 10 dollar shirt should arrive Jan 3-5 (but not from China I don’t think). The seller’s profile now has one review. But the [“Storefront”](https://www.amazon.com/s?marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&me=AI5A33FG0ZWL8&merchant=AI5A33FG0ZWL8&redirect=true) still contains no merchandise. I think I’m going to let the process play out. If Amazon allows these bot sellers to get on and scam, they need to find a way to stop it sooner rather than later. Perhaps paying out enough refunds will encourage that endeavor. The reddit thread confirms just how prevalent this problem is becoming. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-freshly-minted-amazon-sellers-scammers/775876/13 "2016-12-30T20:31:36Z")
> [@pohjonen](#): > > Well, today the item supposedly shipped, although USPS doesn’t recognize the tracking number, at least not yet. Originally, the seller said they shipped from California, but the last time I saw a track number beginning with LT, it was a hat coming from China. Supposedly, my 10 dollar shirt should arrive Jan 3-5 (but not from China I don’t think). The seller’s profile now has one review. But the [“Storefront”](https://www.amazon.com/s?marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&me=AI5A33FG0ZWL8&merchant=AI5A33FG0ZWL8&redirect=true) still contains no merchandise. I think I’m going to let the process play out. If Amazon allows these bot sellers to get on and scam, they need to find a way to stop it sooner rather than later. Perhaps paying out enough refunds will encourage that endeavor. The reddit thread confirms just how prevalent this problem is becoming. It’s relatively easy to screw up your storefront and accidentally remove all of your products. So, the empty storefront isn’t a clear indicator of a scam artist. While it could be a scam, it could be just utter incompetence by someone who decided to give dropshipping a try. Either way, if you stay within Amazon (don’t contact them directly - just through Amazon’s messaging service, do not give them any money, do not give them any money alternatives (gift cards, &tc.)) you should at most be inconvenienced and get your money back. I wouldn’t use a brand new third party seller for a product I absolutely had to have at a specific price point. But I would feel ok using one in general. Amazon (as compared to some of the other marketplaces that allow third party sellers) is pretty safe for buyers.