eBay/Craigslist an ebay RIP-OFF classic!

Jibber · Aug 19, 2004

This is the best one yet..

A beautiful Kubota L3430 with just over a hundred hours.. and a buy-it-now price of just 75 bucks!!

Now, wouldn't you think even the stupidest person would figure out something is wrong with this picture?

KUBOTA LISTING

JayC · Aug 19, 2004

I will try and not be greedy but I will take ten, please. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

On closer look, they are also selling a Kubota M5400 with FEL and rotary cutter with under 400 hrs. use for $45! I'll take ten of those, too. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Kubtoa M5400

frank_f15 · Aug 19, 2004

SUCH deal!!!! That tractor is worth at least $50 /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

nobull1 · Aug 19, 2004

( This is the best one yet..

A beautiful Kubota L3430 with just over a hundred hours.. and a buy-it-now price of just 75 bucks!!

Now, wouldn't you think even the stupidest person would figure out something is wrong with this picture?

KUBOTA LISTING )

The only good thing about this is it is only $75.00.If this was listed at say $10,000 it might attract a lot more buyers.This type of stuff gives me a real bad feeling about E-Bay in general.When E-Bay doesn't seem to be able to get a handle on the obvious scams what about the ones that are not so obvious.

ShaleniFarm · Aug 19, 2004

Simple.
Ebay doesn't care.

Have a good one,
Neil.

nobull1 · Aug 19, 2004

Well maybe they are getting like Ernestine, if you remember her "We don't care cause we don't have to".You know what happened to her employer. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gifAll joking aside it just is too bad they can't or wont get a better handle on the scams.In the end it will cost them as more and more people shy away for fear of fraud.

aardvark · Aug 19, 2004

Guys, any time you see these scams, all you have to do is go here:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/contact_inline/report_listing.html

hit "report a listing policy violation"

then "fraudlent listings"

then "report a listing you think is fradulent"

hit continue, and then hit the "email" link at the bottom of the next page

copy/paste the auction numbers and then type the reason "scam" in the appropriate location, and ebay kills the listing. Ebay can't patrol thier site and get every scam on thier own. There are like 250 million users, and like a billion auctions for them to police. It's just not possible.

Also, and I don't want to sound harsh here, but ebay really isn't at fault for these scams. The ones at fault are 1) the scammers, and 2) the people who let thier accounts get hijacked in the first place.

texbaylea · Aug 19, 2004

Jared's comments are valid. The volume of postings makes it impossible for e-Bay to monitor everyone of them. They have to depend on viewers to help.

Greedy people are also to blame.

Vernon

nobull1 · Aug 19, 2004

(
Ebay can't patrol thier site and get every scam on thier own. There are like 250 million users, and like a billion auctions for them to police. It's just not possible.
)

If you take the word "wont" out of my previous reply then we agree.The problem is "Caveat Emptor".In the end I believe that the owners of E-Bay have to get a handle on this or their credibility will fall.I also believe that it is possible to eliminate a lot of the fraud but it is not worth the cost at this time.When the people demand it it will stop.But with business growing it is hard to justify the added expense.

aardvark · Aug 19, 2004

I understand where you are coming from. I report scams pretty regularly, whenever I see them. Also, most people are smart enough to pick put scams, and therefore they never even bid or email. Does anyone really believe a $30k tractor is really for sale "buy it now" at $2500 with free shipping? LOL. In the beginning I got fooled by a few of them, but I never spent any money. The scam normally goes like this: You email to have your name put on the approved bidder list. They reply with a sales pitch "I lost my job at the tractor dealership when they went out of business, and I bought these tractors at the auction, and now I'm selling them. I need to sell them ASAP because I'm running short on my mortgage, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah." It only took me one email reply from them to tell it was a scam, and that was several months ago, when they were listing machines for reasonable prices. Machines like a B21 for $10k. That's cheap, but it's not ridiculously low either. Now thier prices are just stupid.

Anyway, I hope thier credibility never falls. I just made bronze level power seller, and I need to keep going up! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Ebay is my hobby. Before the end of the month I'll have two, ebay and tractors.

JOELENAHAN · Aug 19, 2004

I am not a big E-BAY buyer, but when I do buy off E-BAY, I usually check the sellers feedback. If I see that most of their feedback is as a buyer, I become more skeptical of them of a seller. Most of the time I see that they buy several $3.00 items to get a good feedback rating, but havr never sold anything before.

nobull1 · Aug 19, 2004

Jared,
I think E-Bay is a great thing as well, and have bought a few things myself on there.I really hope that they do get a handle on the scams, if not we all lose /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.Also good luck as a seller I think it is a great hobby/business

mwood · Aug 20, 2004

I think there are two sides to this. Having looked into a couple private auctions, I would never NEVER ask to be pre-approved. Mostly, what happens is that they list it really low to draw attention. When someone e-mails them with a request to be approved, they respond with what they really want. (Usually a reasonable asking price plus shipping). I believe there is some extra fee associated with setting the price high to start with, and since e-bay takes a percentage of the sale, these people are just trying to use it as cheap advertising for their product.

Just something else to think about.

aardvark · Aug 20, 2004

I agree there are people who do what you said to avoid fees, but the scammers typically use the line I put above (or similar). The maximum listing fee for anything that isn't a vehicle is $4.80. The reserve price fees can be higher, up to $100. It's based on 1% of the reserve price, with a max of $100. So, a $50k tractor would cost $100 reserve price fee, but so would a $10k tractor. Also, the reserve price fee is refunded if the item meets reserve, so really, if the seller puts a realistic reserve and it sells, the reserve price fee gets refunded and is zero. The final value fees are on a calculated schedule. All fees can be found here:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/questions/seller-fees.html

When the scammers use the pre approved bidder auction, it forces any potential buyers to email them, and then they begin the scam process and take the sale off ebay. If you really want to advertise and try to sell off ebay, what most people do is to list an item for a low price, no reserve, and then say "item is listed for sale locally, I reserve the right to cancel the auction at any time". Give you phone number in the auction description. People who are really serious and looking for that item will call you.

Jibber · Aug 20, 2004

Here's another one..

I did try to report this.. not sure if it went through.. I also e-mailed the listing ID.. a person who operates an ebay store tha specializes in women's handbags. Now it's women's handbags and extremely low priced tractors. I found there are SEVERAL kubota models listed.. real cheap.

Kubota listing

Inspector507 · Aug 20, 2004

Jibber,
It's gone.......good job

Jibber · Aug 21, 2004

I had e-mailed the woman who's ebay ID had been ripped off.. here's part of my note and her return note:

"Are you really selling handbags AND tractors at extremely low prices?
Or, did some scammer hijack your ebay ID?"

Hijacked!!!!!

================================================================================
Item # / Item Title End Date
================================================================================
6702576903 Aug-22-04
2003 KUBOTA L3410 -4X4- LOADER- HYDROSTATIC

Thank you,
moniquepeterson