I’ve been using ebay for about 5 years now, and I’ve seen more than my share of poorly written ads. I’ve come to the conclusion that a large percentage of the US population is at least somewhat illiterate, and doesn’t know how to spell, or properly use punctuation or grammar. I have seen (and even bought from, after clarifying with the seller) ads that were just as bad as the one being discussed. Speaking for myself, however, I wouldn’t have bid on it until confirming exactly what it was.
As far as eBay administrators checking for deceptive ads, keep in mind that there are literally millions of auctions running through the system every day. There’s no way they could check every one. I do know that they search for certain keywords (mostly relating to illegal items, or those that eBay will not allow people to sell, such as guns) and delete auctions that fall in the prohibited items category. However, they rely mostly on the eBay community to report deceptive or illegal ads.
If he bought that with a major credit card he can get his money back right away and the empty box seller will have to do the convincing to get his money. I bet they will know how to scare him.
I wonder. If he used a CC, it would’ve been through PayPal who, technically, performed the service they were charging for. And though PayPal is more generous with eBay users than users of Amazon auctions (among other things), I’m not sure if they would go out of the way for this poor girl.
Say, since eBay’s FAQs aren’t the best in the world, can somebody explain how their escrow service works? And can you use 'em for any auction, or just ones that specifically list it among the payment options?
I’ve been E-Baying for a little over 2 years now and have run into a few auctions that were vague. However, if you look under the seller’s ID, there’s a link “ask seller a question”. I’ve hit that link a few times in order to clarify the description. At least that way, you’ll have a e-mail to back up the item.
I don’t know what the legal standard is for mail fraud, but IMHO that is totally wrong and unethical.
This is because the seller KNOWS that he is frustrating peoples’ reasonable expectations.
Slight hijack here, but I’ve been burned in a similar way by a big computer company, and it’s totally frustrating. Their ads promised 24 hour tech support and on site service.
I would think eBay would remedy the situation in large part because they don’t want potential customers to be scared away from their service.
I order stuff online all the time. Yet I have never purchased something through an online auction service because I don’t trust “amy2001”. I do trust big companies, however, because I know there are laws to protect me against misleading advertising and price gouging. If this situation happened on ToysRUs.com, for instance, you can bet that this customer would not only be getting a new Sony PS2 or 2 for her trouble, but she’d also be getting a letter of apology and a full refund.
But what can the feds do about a private person taking advantage of another person’s stupidity? Aside from making sure that the seller claimed this as income (and he’s such a small potato, this is HIGHLY unlikely), not much.
I agree totally. This being said, doesn’t anybody have a cite for eBay’s opinion on this. I mean, apparently they do have one (looks in handy’s general direction).
This reminds me of a favorite story of my father. Back in the pre-eBay days, a magazine had an advertisement for “solar-powered clothes dryers” for $50.00 each. Those ecologically-minded souls who shelled out the 50 bucks were sent a clothes line.
I think that the fact that he actually used the word “Box” in his description may absolve him of some responsibility. Still, it isn’t impossible that someone assumed that he meant that the PS2 was still in it’s original box, not that he was only selling the box.