Watch out for fakes

[Mirage]

My brother just bought an item on eBay that turned out to be a cheap ripoff. It even had the logos and everything. He paid $600 or so thinking it was real, only to have a professional tell him that it wasn't. It was one a very clever fake, but also just that, a fake. I won't say what the item is since it's something that's currently being dealt with.

Just a reminder to everyone to be careful who you deal with, and watch out for fishy items. He's probably going to get his money back through a chargeback, but there's no way of knowing how it will turn out.

 

[AngelsPeak]

Another big problem is people going in and offering 2nd chance offers to the 2nd highest bidder!! A lot of doll sculptors are having this done to them. The scammer will use an eBay user ID which belongs to a legitimate account.

It's scary to think how easy it is for others to steal your identity!!

 

[Chuck_U_Farley]

If you shop on ebay and not know to look for fakes, they I guess you get what you deserve. Always keep your eyes open for fakes

 

[1_ares_1]

Lotsa fakes... lotsa scamming... I lost almost $2000 dollars last month trying to build up an inventory from "wholesalers"? I did the dumb thing and paid with money orders. Don't be a dummy. Use Paypal with a credit card ONLY!!
Fakes can be EVERYWHERE...closer than you think.

 

[leopard22]

When I used to do a lot of eBay buying and selling a couple of years ago (now I have toned it down quite a bit to keep the clutter to a minimum :lol: ) I didn't really worry too much about fakes. They were pretty easy to spot because the price was way too low or it just sounded too good to be true in some way. I bought a fake on purpose just so I could hit this person with some bad feedback, etc. because I knew a lot of other people who weren't as knowledgeable about the type of thing I was collecting as I was were getting sent fakes a lot. I had a website on this hobby that was pretty popular (about 15,000 newsletter subscribers) and heard from a lot of people who got taken in by these type of creeps. I don't know if I stopped that person or not, but I hope so.

It seems that more and more people now are running scams on eBay. It makes me yearn for the "good old days" , but I still think the best defence against these guys is to be careful in who you deal with and be as knowledgeable as you can about the product you're bidding on. And I know it's such an old saying that it makes you want to puke, but it is true - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. No one in their right mind is going to sell something valuable for a pittance.

Of course there are those that can fool you no matter how careful you are, but the best you can do in those cases is take whatever steps you can via feedback and the small help eBay might be to you and just chalk it up to experience. It's too bad things are this way, but that's just life IMHO.