how's ebay work.. sounds like a shenanigan.

[nivlac]

@Derleth

[ul][li]How easy is it to scam the feedback system? Is someone who has an apparently good record always a good risk?[/li][li]What is eBay’s business model? How does the site itself make money?[/li][/ul]

eBay’s business model is the best pure play for making money on the internet – they just use the net to provide a way to connect everyday buyers and sellers, and collect fees on the transactions. They own no factories, no inventory, no trucks, just technology. What a concept! And eBay essentially owns the market because they were first and have the largest mass of users.

I’ve been a buyer on eBay for years and have found the sellers to be overwhelmingly honorable and trustworthy. This is not to say that I haven’t been burned a few times (out of hundreds of purchases), but only on very small deals. Like all buying opportunities, the most important thing to remember is caveat emptor. If something smells fishy (like deals that are too good to be true), stay away. In eBay’s case, just don’t bid. The feedback helps, as well as asking the seller a lot of questions.

[Derleth]

Thank you for your responses. I might be tempted to buy from someone on eBay now that I understand it better.

[chaoticbear]

Also, as far as scamming the feedback system, the feedback rating, which is the most prominent piece of seller information, only counts feedbacks from unique users, that is, I can’t go bid on 100,000 grains of rice for a penny each, and then leave the seller 100,000 good feedbacks. Well, I can, but my point is that only one of those would count toward his/her feedback rating.

[DrDeth]

Well, let’s look at the bigger picture. What’s to stop *anyone *from advertising goods, then just keeping the money and shipping nothing? Mail Fraud and local Fraud statutes. Not to mention Credit Card chargebacks (or you can use Paypal which has a similar service).

If you “win an auction” from Seller “ABC” on eBay, and they fail to ship the goods, you can: (after communicating with them several times)

1. Get your money back if you charged it

2. Complain to eBay (often fruitless unless you’re one of many)

3. Complain to the Postal Inspectors (ditto)

4. Complain to the selelrs local authorities (ditto)

Yes, really- if some seller on eBay takes a bunch of large sales, the USPS Inspectors will be after him, and he can be arrested and put in Federal Prison.

[Hello_Again]

If you search “how does ebay work” on google you will find heaps of information. There are also books like “Ebay for Dummies” and “The Ebay Bible” at the bookstore/library.

Happy shopping!

[iamthewalrus_3]

@DrDeth

Well, let’s look at the bigger picture. What’s to stop *anyone *from advertising goods, then just keeping the money and shipping nothing? Mail Fraud and local Fraud statutes. Not to mention Credit Card chargebacks (or you can use Paypal which has a similar service).
(snip)
Yes, really- if some seller on eBay takes a bunch of large sales, the USPS Inspectors will be after him, and he can be arrested and put in Federal Prison.

I know someone personally who served several months in jail because of ebay fraud. They do go after these guys.

[clairobscur]

@DrDeth

Well, let’s look at the bigger picture. What’s to stop *anyone *from advertising goods, then just keeping the money and shipping nothing? Mail Fraud and local Fraud statutes. .

Of course…and similarily, you can sue Nigerian people who help you getting rid of your money. The fact there’s a legal recourse doesn’t necessarilly means that one shouldn’t think before buying into some online scheme…