Had a bad experience when buying parts on eBay? Or selling?
Came across this story on eBay fraud. These guys have a good site. Check it out.
Be careful out there.
http://www.ebayersthatsuck.com/main/
Steve Klink was a longtime eBay enthusiast, buying and selling items as varied as a used car and basement furniture imported from Thailand over the popular Internet auction site.
But his view of eBay changed in 2003 after "the speaker incident," when a supposedly new speaker arrived looking as if it had been used as a chew toy for an animal.
When he contacted eBay, "they didn't want to hear anything about it," Klink said. They told him the seller claimed it was brand new when sent and an animal must have gotten into the package.
Not satisfied with the response — as a Paramus, N.J., police officer, Klink has heard more than his share of lame excuses — he set up a Web site to post his complaint. Almost immediately, the seller offered to refund the money if Klink would remove the complaint.
He did, but he kept the Web site with the provocative name, ebayersthatsuck.com, to help other victims deal with fraud and misrepresentation on eBay.
"I figured that if it worked with him, it would work for others," Klink said.
Since then, the site has grown into what Klink calls "the largest community of users dedicated to wiping out auction fraud," and spawned "Dawn of the eBay Deadbeats" (Mooncusser Media, $12.95), a book Klink published with his brother Edward, a business Web site editor and part-time adventure writer.
The self-published book with the subtitle "True Tales of Treachery, Lies, and Fraud from the Dark Recesses of the World's Largest Online Auction Marketplace," is a collection of some of the more than 800 tales of eBay rip-offs that have been posted on the Web site.
As explained in the introduction, these are "stories told by those who have been suckered, snookered, pinched and robbed while buying and selling on eBay.
"You might shake your head ruefully and think them to be saps who deserved to be screwed, but you'd be wrong, because some of them are just like you."
The 136-page book is available through the Web site, various online sites and some book stores.
The two Bergen County, N.J., residents discussed the book recently.
Q. Why did you pick a name for your Web site that might offend some people?
Steve Klink: We did that on purpose. We needed a shocking name, something that is in your face. On our site, people can rant and rave.
Q. What are some of the worst stories you heard?
Edward Klink: One guy bought a car that had been stolen. When the police showed up, he had to explain what happened.
Another man won a bid for early edition Spider-Man comics and wired $16,000 to the seller. When the package arrived, there were no comics, just a stack of worthless computer paper.
He contacted the seller, who insisted he sent the comics. He said, "Someone must have plucked it out and replaced it with paper of the same weight."
Q. It seems as if a lot of the problems result from consumers being careless. Why is that?
EK: Many people think eBay is 100 percent safe, but it's not. People act differently on the computer. We sometimes let our guard down.
SK: As a police officer, I'm aware of lots of scams and cons. I couldn't believe people could fall for it.
Q. Doesn't eBay help customers who were cheated get their money back?
SK: EBay encourages you to settle it yourself. If you report someone to eBay, he'll report you to eBay. They have mediation, but it costs $20. They should be making it easier to report problems. If I find a site that I know to be fraudulent, it takes 20 minutes to report.
EK: EBay has the only business model that is free of responsibility.
Q. Have you gotten any feedback from eBay about your book?
SK: We're selling it on eBay (as well as Amazon.com). There's a listing fee of $2 per book, and they (eBay) get a cut from PayPal.
EK: They can't complain. They're making money off it. It's a matter of freedom of speech. Our point isn't to battle eBay. We're just two guys looking to tell stories.
Q. Can I assume you've sworn off eBay?
SK: No, I'm still on it all the time. I just redid my entire basement and got a bar from Thailand.
It was an old ox cart of solid teak. (The seller) wanted $1,200; I gave her $900.
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