Is anybody else seeing stuff like this on a well known auction site

[DSR]

I've been seeing a lot of 'too good to be true' stuff on Ebay for some time now :-

I'm seeing it with other stuff, not just plasma cutters but it's the sort of pron that may get you lot thinking

The other day I thought I'd see what would happen if I ordered something.


It all went through the checkout OK and a few hours later, I got an email telling me Ebay had cancelled the order and I could apply for a refund and had an Ebay full money back guarantee :-

We had to cancel your recent order.


Unfortunately, due to concerns, the item listed below has been removed from the
site.
If you have any problems, you’re covered by eBay’s Money Back Guarantee and can
request a refund.

For more information, see:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/returns-refunds/get-help-item-hasnt-arrived?

id=4042

Order number: [<U+200B>TD_ORDER_ID]

Item details: 363445045939 - MIG Welder Welding Machine 160 Amp IGBT MIG MMA
TIG 3 in 1 Welder 110V / 220V


Thanks,

eBay

I was expecting an automatic refund in full rather than having to apply for one.

A few hours later, I got another email telling me the goods had been despatched - no tracking information.

Today I applied for a refund and Ebay have refunded half the order, the other half is still waiting for a response.

I'm trying to work out what the point of it all is - there's obviously some sort of scam going on but what is it - apart from Ebay having my money for a few days and possibly gaining a bit of interest from somewhere which seems like a lot of hassle for a very small reward.

Maybe my mind isn't criminally incvlined enough to see what the scam is.

 

[cheb]

My take on the scam is that the seller hopes to sell enough very quickly to make it worth their while and then run off with the money. The paypal or bank account used would be a disposable one, or possibly a hacked one. Ebay notice the ads or the account is reported, realise it's a scam account and then close it. Ebay refund the money and take the hit so as not to harm their reputation too much. If delivery is going to take three weeks then the seller has about a month to play the system.

I'd be interested to see what the positive feedbacks are for.

 

[Wozzaaah]

My take on the scam is that the seller hopes to sell enough very quickly to make it worth their while and then run off with the money. The paypal or bank account used would be a disposable one, or possibly a hacked one. Ebay notice the ads or the account is reported, realise it's a scam account and then close it. Ebay refund the money and take the hit so as not to harm their reputation too much. If delivery is going to take three weeks then the seller has about a month to play the system.

I'd be interested to see what the positive feedbacks are for.

Cellophane bags.

 

[the snooper]

I had the same happen to me not tool related though, got a message from eBay saying the particular seller had been hacked

 

[cheb]

I'll admit I didn't check the seller's account. I guessed it had been suspended, wrongly it turns out.

 

[mike os]

Why would you bid on something like that?

 

[hotponyshoes]

The scam is to take your money and send you a worthless trinket that has a tracking number.
That then shows as "delivered" so makes it a bit harder to claim a refund.
Then they give you a story about how sorry they are that you have the wrong item and they will send a replacement out with a nice free gift to compensate you.

Basically they drag it out for long enough that you run out of time for an ebay claim or forget about it/give up.

I'm not sure what's happening now the ebay payments system has changed but I think the time frame to make a claim might have dropped down to 30days now so maybe be a bit weary of anything with a delivery date approaching that..

 

[cheb]

That's a much better return on time and effort expended than my idea, thanks.

 

[DSR]

On the example I showed the user :-

Based in China, mingdurasc has been an eBay member since 18 Dec, 2018​

it's a 2 1/2 year old account. Are they so organised that they have been planning this for that long ?

As mentioned by @Wozzaaah , they have good feedback but it's for cellophane bags so are they just flogging cellophane bags to their mates to get the feedback so Ebay just lose sight of them and then they pounce ?

I think Ebay need a 'Report as Suspicious' button somewhere on the listings.

 

[ranchero]

a feedback of 36 in 2 1/2 years cant be selling much. why buy it even if genuine at that price its bound to be a "disappointment"

 

[brightspark]

if its 2 good to be true it probably is

 

[DSR]

But that's what I'm trying to work out, there is so much of this going on onEbay that it must be lucrative but I can't see what or how they are getting away with it.

Obviously you need to avoid it like the plague as they say if it seems too good to be true then it probably is. I've not found any of these where they have feednback for what is actually being sold so how do they hope to defeat the system.

I have done a bit of digging tonight and found that you can actually report suspicious stuff but it is well buried in the site and Ebay actually push you towards contacting the seller before reporting it etc.

 

[Moose McAlpine]

I've been seeing a lot of 'too good to be true' stuff on Ebay for some time now.

What's that saying about something that seems too good to be true...?

 

[brightspark]

What's that saying about something that seems too good to be true...?

post 11

 

[Moose McAlpine]

I have done a bit of digging tonight and found that you can actually report suspicious stuff but it is well buried in the site and Ebay actually push you towards contacting the seller before reporting it etc.

It's pretty straight forward:

(Random item for example only.)

 

[Moose McAlpine]

post 11

I was just checking he knew it.

 

[DSR]

I was just checking he knew it.

I do - just read the first line of the first message

 

[DSR]

It's pretty straight forward:

(Random item for example only.)

From the App, certainly doesn't look like that from a normal browser.

I have however found that about half way down the listing :-

Click on 'Report Item' and you are taken to another page :-

Resulting in :-

This is much easier than what I did last night so Ebay do have a method for flagging this stuff up and I have learnt something new about Ebay today

 

[Alan Reynolds]

You would think they would advertise a price that was attractive without raising suspicion. I had it with an Ebay seller advertising generators. Good price but not suspiciously so. It was free delivery from the uk but as the area was not too far from me I asked to collect. He agreed but when I checked the post code it was a recreation park. Luckily I was suspicious and didn't part with any money. The website Wish is rife with it and Amazon needs caution.

 

[Alan Reynolds]

The adverts that amuse me are the ones that show someone wrecking a car's bodywork with a screwdriver and hammer, them magically wiping a cloth over the damage and Hey Presto, it's a miracle repair. Also the "electricity saver" that urges you to buy more than one to save 150% electricity so that the power company actually owes YOU money. These things cannot possibly work with just a small capacitor and an LED in them. Some have TWO leds to save you even more money. As for the people who part with tens of thousands of pounds to online romance scammers....................