# eBay really needs to get their act together **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 27, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644 "2007-06-27T15:31:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/1 "2007-06-27T15:31:07Z")
I tried to sell a Thinkpad on eBay last night. This morning, I wake up, and someone has chosen the “Buy It Now” option, and sent me the following email: > [@](#): > > Hello, > I need to send a surprise gift to my Son who went on a course Overseas in (Nigeria) and his birthday is coming up this months and luckily i came across your item,as i see that your item is in good condition for that.I will be making the payment through Paypal.kindly send me your Paypal Account Email Address Or Your Invoice,So i can make out your payment immediately & Paypal will notify you of my payment as soon as it has been comfirmed by them & your paypal account will be credited as soon as possible.let me know how much it will cost you in shiping the item to my Son in NIGERIA Using the courier service Royalmail Or Parcelforce Global Express (EMS) & send me the total amount for the item including the shiping cost to Nigeria. So i can make out payment Immediately.I choose the Postal Service Is safe Cheaper & Affordable. Make sure you get the package ready for shipment, You can ship the item as soon as you recieve the paypal confirmation.Please mail me now Cause it`s urgently needed. > awaiting your fast reply. Real credible, right? So, I spend an hour on “Live Chat” with eBay trying to get my fees refunded and this guy’s purchase cancelled (I don’t want him to leave negative feedback, though I doubt he’d dare). I list the item again, and this time mention that I will not ship internationally. Within a few minutes of the listing, I get another email, from a different jackass. > [@](#): > > Hello seller, > I’m interested in the immediate purchase of this item,which is needed in my store urgently in next 3 days for my customers abroad, how much will you offer for the total cost of the item including shipping & insurance via USPS FIRST CLASS EXPRESS MAIL (EMS),i will be paying you through a trusted name PayPal.reply asap with your paypal email account which you want you money to be credited too so that i can send your money right away into your account.please send your paypal account include your email address in your reply so that can contact you anytime.i will be glad if you can end auction for the item now.Reply Asap NB:i would like buy the item to one of my store , pls let me know if you can ship tomorrow as soon as payment has been received. > Regard > Jeffrey Graham > Glocks Store. I have not sold something on eBay for a while - I had no idea how bad this had gotten. What a joke. I hope for eBay’s sake that they’re doing something about it, because I really don’t need to put up with this shit. Hopefully another dipshit won’t choose Buy It Now and force me to do all this crap over again. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/2 "2007-06-27T15:45:36Z")
I’ve never had that problem, but on the other hand I don’t think I’ve ever done a Buy It Now option when I’m selling. Now it looks like I’m definitely not going to. I have gotten spammed pretty badly however - “Hi, I am anjoux from Hong Kong and we sell many blah blah blah look at our website” crap. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/3 "2007-06-27T17:22:29Z")
I had one of these crooks snipe my auction last weekend. Once they realized I wasn’t gonna give them my PayPal account number or send them anything, they pulled their account from eBay (which they had registered that morning) and vanished. Fortunately I was able to Second Chance one of my bidders. eBay is one of the greatest resources ever. I hope they won’t let these parasites ruin it. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/4 "2007-06-27T17:41:09Z")
Can sellers disablethe Buy It Now option? Just curious. The problems I’ve read with scammers on eBay all seem to stem from the Buy It Now thing as opposed to standard bidding. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/5 "2007-06-27T17:43:39Z")
What was the feedback score from those users? I typically restrict the feedback score on my auctions to prevent people who have just signed up from buying expensive stuff and scamming me. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/6 "2007-06-27T17:45:52Z")
[QUOTE=Beadalin] Can sellers disablethe Buy It Now option? Just curious. The problems I’ve read with scammers on eBay all seem to stem from the Buy It Now thing as opposed to standard bidding. [/QUOTE] Sellers don’t have to use the Buy-It-Now option at all, if they don’t want too. I’ve been getting a lot of phoney second-chance offers lately. For example, I bid $200 on something, it goes to $400 with five or so bidders higher than me, and I get a second-chance offer – sometimes even before the auction has closed. The offers don’t come through eBay, and they clearly are not from the real seller, but presumably they hope that if you respond, they can tell you how to send them money. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/7 "2007-06-27T17:46:42Z")
[QUOTE=Beadalin] Can sellers disablethe Buy It Now option? [/QUOTE] Yes. **Buy It Now** is optional, and in fact, eBay charges extra for it. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/8 "2007-06-27T17:48:51Z")
[Match.com](http://Match.com) used to be plagued with Russian bride spam. After a year-long infestation of “I am Svetlana and I admire you structure” email messages pissed off their membership and threatened their reputation, Match hit upon a brilliant solution - block Russia and Eastern Europe. Most of the spam went away immediately (snaps fingers). Why doesn’t eBay just block access from Nigeria and satellite ISPs that serve Nigerian cybercafes? ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/9 "2007-06-27T17:49:51Z")
In my case the scammer’s feedback was zero (you can’t restrict zero feedback, only negative). My auction was not BIN; the prick just sniped in the last minutes of the auction. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/10 "2007-06-27T18:18:06Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] Yes. **Buy It Now** is optional, and in fact, eBay charges extra for it. [/QUOTE] Yeah, in the future, I think I will avoid it. But I know that I personally like buying things using Buy It Now, rather than waiting a week to confirm that I won the auction, only to have it sniped out from under me in the last minute. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/11 "2007-06-27T18:25:58Z")
Thanks for explaining. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/12 "2007-06-27T18:27:24Z")
I seem to be particularly dense today: could someone please explain what the scam was in the OP? Sign me, DON’T GET IT, SORRY ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/13 "2007-06-27T18:31:58Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] I seem to be particularly dense today: could someone please explain what the scam was in the OP? [/QUOTE] I was wondering the same, actually. Sure, they get your account number, but I don’t see them being able to empty your Palpal account that easily. I think we need the “Step 2: ???” filled in. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/14 "2007-06-27T18:35:45Z")
Well, who knows exactly what the scam was going to be. I imagine they would have sent a fake “Paypal payment - click here to claim” link, or something like that, trying to get me to enter my account information. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/15 "2007-06-27T18:47:23Z")
typically, they send you what appears to be valid funds. You send them the item, by the time you find out the money is fake, you are out the item. Also, they tend to send you a higher dollar amount than the item costs and ask you to keep a portion and send the difference, in that scam you are out your cash AND your item. BTW, they are now using TDD systems to do the scam. The company my mom works for got a TDD request a few weeks ago that was a scam. The scummy thing is, the operators can’t tell you that they are scamming you. Even if they know. ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/16 "2007-06-27T18:49:39Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] I seem to be particularly dense today: could someone please explain what the scam was in the OP? Sign me, DON’T GET IT, SORRY [/QUOTE] In the “Nigerian scam”, the buyer tells the seller that he will overpay for the item, usually with some concocted excuse. He asks that the seller refund the difference to him. The seller then discovers that the buyer’s money order was forged, after he’s already sent the money to the buyer. This one doesn’t sound like the Nigerian scam per se, but it has all the hallmarks - they usually have poor grammar and punctuation, are short on details about the item itself, and contain extraneous information (what does his brother’s birthday have to do with anything?) Might be a different scam, or he might be waiting to introduce the overpayment angle after he gets a bite from the seller. You can block international bidders from bidding on your auctions. Also make sure you block bidders with negative feedback. ---
**Author:** ![Time\_Like\_Tears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@Time\_Like\_Tears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Time_Like_Tears)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/17 "2007-06-27T18:57:50Z")
I seem to recall there being an option like “restrict sales to buyers with n+ feedback score”. I usually restrict my sales to buyers with 10+ feedback, and have never gotten scammed. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/18 "2007-06-27T18:58:20Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] I seem to be particularly dense today: could someone please explain what the scam was in the OP? Sign me, DON’T GET IT, SORRY [/QUOTE] [Nigerian eBay Scam](http://www.scienceshareware.com/ebay/nigeria-scam.htm) [More scams](http://www.for-the-birds.net/2005/05/nigerian_ebay_scam.php) [False escrow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_fee_fraud#False_escrow) In my case, it was almost certainly the False Escrow scam. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/19 "2007-06-27T19:03:40Z")
You can’t block questions from buyers outside of your shipping area, but you can prevent them from placing bids or using the BIN. There is an option in your preferences where you can: - Not accept bids from users with less than 0 feedback - Not accept bids from users with more than x bid retractions in the last month (can’t remember what the exact figure is) - **Not accept bids from users located in places you do not ship to** The last point is the most important as it will prevent people outside of your shipping radius from placing bids or killing your BINs. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644/20 "2007-06-27T19:09:55Z")
[QUOTE=crazyjoe] What was the feedback score from those users? I typically restrict the feedback score on my auctions to prevent people who have just signed up from buying expensive stuff and scamming me. [/QUOTE] Yes, this is a good option. If you go under my eBay -\> My Account -\> Preferences and click on “Buyer Requirements” you can choose to block buyers with a feedback score of X or less, you can block buyers who are registered in a country you don’t ship to (also very helpful), and buyers with any unpaid item strikes against them. Setting these preferences will at least help protect you from scammers a little. ETA: Ah, I see **Mindfield** beat me to it. Bravo. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-really-needs-to-get-their-act-together/409644.md?page=2)