h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ebay is a dangerous place full of sweet talking con men and people just plotzing to take your money and laugh in your screen after. A recently exposes scam artist admitted bilking 2 million out of ebay in 2 years. Thats ok money for all the 'everybody elses' out there, but a 'you' and a 'me' ought to be a little more shopping-savvy.
So, first of all, Beware Expensive Items. If you limit your purchases to ten dollar items, it isnt likely that anyone will be trying to cheat you. But if you happen to need a cheap TV or scanner, just be wary, scam artists will be practically competing for your business.
How to tell a scammer from the real thing: Its tough. You cant rely on the feedback, becuase any theif isnt going to advertise his bad record. Usually they hijack other peoples good records and use that to trade through. Some scammers have up to a thousand names, all chock full of complimentary feedback.
Neither can you ask the fellow if he's a theif. Most likely he'll reply with some story about how he would never cheat you and risk his livelihood and twin daughters and gorgeous wife. Which would just make you feel guilty for asking.
The thing to do is watch the persons transacting. First of all, if he offers you a deal off the regular ebay platform, your warning lights should go off. If he offers sudden price cuts, sirens should start sounding. If he claims to operate out of some foreign country you've never heard of since high school, (or if you're in high school, then your last history class,) start backing away. If he insists you use a certain escrow service, turn around and start running. And finally, if you are, for some reason still going through with the trasaction, demand to see the goods before paying the full price.
NEVER, EVER, give the person any numbers: that is, the wire number if you're wiring over money, your account number, be it bank or otherwise, or even your phone number. A well informed online scammer can do a lot with your email and phone number.
Lastly, if you suspect someone of being a scammer, dont tell them so. Immediatly inform the authorities, and back away slowly. If you threaten or get dramatic, they might do the same back. And since they were able to steal so many other ebay identities, there's no reason they shouldn't be able to use yours.

Those are some serious allegations. What grounds do you have for them?

My wife and I make our living selling on eBay and we are neither thieves nor scam artists.

Hey, I also sell on ebay. I'm no crook either. But MSN recently interviewed an ebay scammer, and most of my entry is based on what he said, as well as experience, and broad reading. I'm not accusing anybody. Most of ebay is honest, thanks to the feedback system. But there are people who know how to fake good feedback, and that is when things get dangerous.
Buying computers and things on an auction is never smart, and if the person has a bunch of weird conditions like wiring money overseas, you're a fool to blindly obey.
Ebay is monitored, but complaints only come in after the fact. And usually its impossible to recover the money.
so why not just be careful?

Well, from your first post:

"Ebay is a dangerous place full of sweet talking con men and people just plotzing to take your money and laugh in your screen after"

And from your second:

"I'm not accusing anybody. Most of ebay is honest, thanks to the feedback system."

Those two statements contradict each other so one of them has to be false. I believe it's the first one. It's really not a good thing to take one instance (the scammer) and extrapolate it to paint the whole eBay) in the same light. It's like saying all dogs are bad because one crapped on your lawn, or, more seriously, all black people are thieves because I was mugged by one of them. Michael Moore has plenty to say about that in 'Bowling for Columbine'.

In a forum like h2g2, or indeed in any walk of life, you'll often find yourself in hot water if you take one person's story and turn it into the kind of broad, sweeping statements in your first post.

No news is no news. Millions of honest and faultless transactions happen on eBay every day and no-one except the two people involved ever hear about them because there's no need for anyone else to know what happened. But when a scammer does something it makes the news because it's newsworthy, and that's all that you hear about. It gives a false impression. Don't allow yourself to be sucked in by that false inpression and spread it even further by saying the kind of things in post 1.

Ok, you've got a point. Most of ebay is a truly honest place. I'm going to change it in my journal entry. Still, one guy admits it, and there are probably 30 more out there still bilking people. So it still pays to be cautious.

Agreed