What Can You Do When Defrauded on eBay?

zeno_lee asks: "About 55 eBay buyers were defrauded by a single high volume ebay seller. I discovered all the victims by backtracking each transaction this guy had for the past month and contacting each one individually. Everyone lost between $400 to $1700 each. I then started an email group to organize action against him and to get our money back. This guy was particularly successful because he had positive feedback ratings before he decided to jump ship. " Systems like eBay are, as most have seen, extremely popular, but the one big shortcoming is that the system only works when buyers can trust the sellers. It's actions like this that break the system and if dishonest sellers can get away with fraud, auction sites will suffer. What options are there when consumers have been frauded on auction websites?

"Most of us followed the proper procedures. You wait 30 days to file a fraud claim on ebay. Then you have the option of getting $175 at most from eBay's insurance. It softens the blow, but for many it's not anywhere close to what they lost. Contacting local authorities hasn't accomplished anything nor has filing with the FBI. Many people who paid via PayPal did get a refund, but others paid via checks.

eBay has been one of the bright spots of the internet. As a NYSE listed company, you'd expect more to be done about helping customers. I hope this question comes as a warning to be more cautious on eBay or not to bid for items on ebay over $400 without escrow protection. I've learned my lesson not to do business with anyone who doesn't use paypal or billpoint. But regardless of what we learned, most of us feel helpless because eBay has not done more to get our money back. Any suggestions?"

Comments

Try changing your username

[TheEviscerator]

I'd try bidding with a username like "Tony Soprano", or "Michael Corleone". I'm guessing that people would think twice about defrauding you.

I think I know this guy!

[YouAreFatMan]

Sure, I know him. I tried to purchase "The Truth" from his auction. It never showed up. The price was just too good to be true. Then he sold me 12 kilo of primo mexican brown. This time, all I got was a 25-lb bag of flour. Then I bought a human kidney from him. I didn't need it, but hey, you don't want to wait on one of those lists. Never arrived.

I'm beginning to wonder if there are any good deals left on ebay...