Seeing Fakes, Angry Traders Confront EBay

[Real Swell Gal]

I'm sorry but I think it's a crock really. Everone always has to have someone to blame for their own stupidity.Last month it was Myspace causing the downfall of civilization. Right now it's Ebay.
I mean if you buy something at a garage sale you're taking a risk of getting ripped off. Ebay is like on giant garage sale.
If something seems to good to be true, it probably is.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Sometimes the more legit sellers will have information on Ebay showing you how you can spot a fake from the real thing.

When I was searching for amber pieces a year or so ago, I noticed a lot of amber with inclusions coming out of China that looked, as Real Swell Gal stated, "too good to be true." Here were huge pieces of amber with whole butterfiles and scorpions in them, even one with two scorpions fighting -- and I thought, come on guys, in reality that would be very rare and would command thousands of dollars. And these large pieces of amber were selling for a few bucks (shipping was $30 or more!). The sad thing is there were people bidding on them!

Those who got them, got a piece of plastic with dead bugs that had been inserted into the plastic. Not a lot of $$ involved unless you count the extremely high shipping costs (I have had things shipped from China for less than $10).

Another seller was warning about fakes and telling people how to spot fake amber. I think he stopped selling because he was outraged by the fake amber people preferred to his real amber.

Then there are UGG boots. I got burned on one -- I know they are fake, they don't feel bad, so kept them, but I don't like paying big money for fake boots. Again, there are sellers on eBay who will explain in detail how to spot fake UGGs, but it is getting harder and harder as UGGs has expanded out of Australia, into China, some made in New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. The fake sellers are even reproducing certificates of authentication.

I do have two pair of UGGs I got on Ebay that are authentic. I was unable to purchase them locally as they are so popular, UGGs was backlogged for several months.

If it's too good to be true, use the other motto: let the buyer beware. If there are fakes on eBay, legit sellers are on there who are more than willing to give you info on what you are attempting to buy.

karol

 

[Foofoogal]

One general caution light is a private auction. With the new f**t or whatever they should completely do away with private auctions as not necessary. At least in the things like glass, collectibles and such. I can see why on some lingerie etc. someone may need privacy I guess. IMHO.
Why I sell mostly on fixed malls that we can get kicked off of if we mess up BTW. Money back guaranteed.

I cringe when I think of newbies on ebay. seriously. Don't open links sent to you even in your ebay maintenance.

 

[Miss 1929]

Ebay cares not,as long as they make their cut.

my current pet peeve is having to put "-chinese" in every search I do in the ladies vintage clothing, or wade through 90% of the posts being modern polyester jackets.
They refuse to even keep their categories, clean, how can they be bothered to fix individual items?
It's a corporation. They have no loyalty to anything but the bottom line.
The only thing that will ever change them is a massive boycott.

 

[jayem]

I'm getting more and more sick of eBay...

 

[Jovan]

eBay has to be held accountable somewhat, since they get involved when things are discovered to be frauds. The point about Christie's et al was well made... they get involved and authenticate things that are sold, otherwise there's a lawsuit. They cannot call themselves an "online auction house" without functioning as one in the most basic respects. They certainly DO have enough money to have qualified people authenticate things at least when they are reported to be frauds. The unfortunate thing is they cannot see these things in person. That's the price to pay with all things sold online. You have to decide how much value YOU place on a vintage suit/dress/A-2/etc. with pictures, description, and a closeup fabric shot to go on with how it will look, feel, and fit. Enough commas for you? lol

Christie's sold one Trek fan what was supposedly a poker visor worn by Brent Spiner on The Next Generation. This fan is so excited, he has Mr. Spiner sign it at a convention. Problem is, he tells the fan it's a fake -- as he sold the real one on [rofl] eBay. Not sure how the suit is going, but he sued them for at least as much as he paid for the dang thing.

 

[Foofoogal]

Thought this was very timely to this thread.
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y08/m04/i07/s02

I find it interesting that auction fraud was first and nigerian fraud last.
One way I think to look at it all is if ebay was a real brick and mortar place in the real world. Like a Sams selling stuff.

 

[DeaconKC]

Ebay wants to have their cake and eat it too. They say they will no longer sell certain types of knives or firearm parts and they DO watch for those, and pull them ruthlessly, but cannot watch for, and ban fake sellers? Sorry guys, but if you get notified that someone is selling fakes, they ought to be banned or posted too.

 

[Twitch]

Is your local newspaper responsible for authenticating items listed for sale in their classified section?

 

[John in Covina]

Fakes versus Facts

There are many items on Ebay that are listed erroneusly as the seller has little or no idea what it is they are selling!

I once saw an East German "come-a-long" advertised as some type of men's jewelry. Still to this day sellers use misleading techniques to make you look at their wares from a search it the NOT-SOMETHING in the header. That is irksome to me as it diverts me from what I want like a fountain pen (NOT-PELIKAN NOT PARKER! Arrgh!)

In hats they don't know the make or style every hat is a Stetson and every hat is an Indy hat right down to a black homburg.

We wind up weeding thru the misnomers, the incorrect listings and the outright lies to find that the single best descripetion for for ebay buyers is:
Caveat Emptor - Let the Buyer Beware.

THere are things i bought i would have not bought if I could have handled the item and examined it, while there are times i got a better deal than what i hoped for on Ebay so it goes both ways, but when people go into a deal to deceive there is where a line has been crossed as said above.

If I were dicatator they would pay highly for such treachery.

 

[CassD]

My husband recently came across a seller that was advertising "rare 15th century German Helmets" that amounted to tin cans with fake visors slapped on. They look like they might be about 30 years old and are obviously SCA reproductions (and not really very good ones at that), but someone who doesn't know much about armour is going to look at those sales and think they've found the deal of a life-time. If a seller gets called out for fraud like that, once it's been proven (which would be easy with this seller), they should be banned from selling on e-bay ever again, flat out it, end of story.

I don't know if it's e-bay's job to police for fakes or not, but it is there job to ban people who have been proven to be committing fraud. It is illegal and is punishable by law, therefore why should they be allowed to continue selling?

 

[Foofoogal]

http://www.kovels.com/issues/newsfl...Kovels+Komments+[April+9,+2008]:+eBay+Tricks?

and we think ebay will police the auctions.........[huh] lol

 

[epr25]

Oh my gosh I hate that!!!!! I don't know how many times I have reported the person that always ALWAYS has these dresses and jackets in the WWII section. They are new why are they not removed? I had an auction get taken off because I had stated that a pair of sandals I was selling for $7.99 were "like new" their reasoning was that I was spamming. Yea because I was selling so many of these right?

my current pet peeve is having to put "-chinese" in every search I do in the ladies vintage clothing, or wade through 90% of the posts being modern polyester jackets.
They refuse to even keep their categories, clean, how can they be bothered to fix individual items?
It's a corporation. They have no loyalty to anything but the bottom line.
The only thing that will ever change them is a massive boycott.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

In light of the Tiffany lawsuit & potential OTHERS wonder how
other Loungers feel about current "EBAY EXPERIENCE" (SIC) ???:eusa_doh:

I've bought ZERO @ Ebay so far in 2008, tired of bidding snipping
games. NO #1 current Ebay peeve for me is this secret bidders now,
can't check feedback on known bidders, what part of Shill Bid "101"
don't they get @ EBAY???? :rage: :rage: :rage:

Solid Citizen

PS Needed to blow some Ebay Steam

Is this part of the general boycott of Ebay that was discussed recently? Much like the exasperation,...if not utter contempt I have been feeling towards Greedbay after their last "improvements" they made . I have not sold anything there since last year myself as it just isn't worth the time and effort involved now, nor have I purchased anything. My conscience would bother me too much.

 

[Feraud]

NO #1 current Ebay peeve for me is this secret bidders now,
can't check feedback on known bidders, what part of Shill Bid "101"
don't they get @ EBAY????

What exactly is the point of hiding the bidders identity but showing the winner's i.d.?
What is the thought process behind this move?

 

[Jovan]

Is your local newspaper responsible for authenticating items listed for sale in their classified section?

Good argument there. But since eBay does have anti-fraud member services in place, it seems silly not to function as an auction house entirely, as that's what they are promoted as. At the very least, when a company that knows their product tells them to remove auctions that are fraudulent, it is their duty to.

 

[Feraud]

Ebay set itself up as an online auction and should be responsible for frauds like any brick and mortar establishment.

Has anyone had an opportunity to deal with Ebay's anti-fraud services?
Thoughts?

 

[Woodfluter]

...But since eBay does have anti-fraud member services in place, it seems silly not to function as an auction house entirely, as that's what they are promoted as. At the very least, when a company that knows their product tells them to remove auctions that are fraudulent, it is their duty to.

Ebay set itself up as an online auction and should be responsible for frauds like any brick and mortar establishment.

I agree that they *should*, as a good business practice, have in place something more than the ratings system, and should be willing to remove auctions that knowledgable people can authoritatively label as fraudulent.

However, as others have noted, they are not a brick and mortar store. They aren't Christie's or Sotheby's either due to the volume of trades and the inability to examine or certify items. If they offered a certification service, would you use that for a $2,000 item? Probably. For a $100 item? I suspect not. I don't think there are any obstacles to a private organization offering a similar certification service - mail the item to them, they examine, certify and buyer pays for the service - but the absence of one seems to speak to the marketplace's perception of it's value to most buyers.

With all respect and understanding for the anger and frustration of many users, I think Ebay users should see this for what it is...just a mechanism that can be used by honest folks and dishonest ones, and not intrinsically safe. When I've purchased something there, I've kept away from the big-volume sellers, asked telling questions, did research. If good answers weren't forthcoming, gave it a pass. So far, so good. But if I got burned, I'd figure it was mostly my own fault. Yeah, I'd slam the seller, but I knew the risks going in.

I haven't bought anything on Ebay recently because of a "catch 22" situation with PayPal, if I may briefly digress. I never used PayPal for anything else, and never received any complaints or had known issues, but they've locked my account. I can't log in to find out why, and if I try to open a new one with a different e-mail address, they recognize it's still me and won't let me do that. I've written them twice and they won't respond. I haven't a clue. Many sellers only accept PayPal, so there I am.

- Bill

 

[Archéologue]

Is Ebay a criminal enterprise?
The second item I ever bought was never sent to me,
the guy kept my money, I complaned to ebay, they
never responded, and all the bad feedback I tried
to post on the thief was never listed.
They derive their income from thieves,
and do nothing to stop them.
-m