Touching on Ebay auctions....
 

The material in the Ebay Scams article is great, but what do you people think of Private Auctions? That is, you can't see the list of bidders until after the auction is over. The sleazy scammer might do this to hide any fake accounts he's using to bump up an auction price.... Or maybe I'm just cynical. :)

Thoughts?

Andrew, that is exactly what these suckers who are already known as scammers do. They will used that so you can't warn the poor suckers.

Yeah, I don't like private auctions. Especially for feedback, you can't see what the auction was for. For me, I want to see that a seller not only has a good rating, but doesn't sell a wide range of products. Like I'm not going to buy camera gear or some other piece of equipment off someone that's selling pottery, doilies and pokemon cards.

Ditto to what you guys said. I'm always wondering what a person has to hide when they have a private auction.

It's like anything else, ALWAYS check references. In this case, check the seller's feedback. Do they have any negative feedback? How many are negative? If they have had 100 happy satisfied customers, and one that isn't, chances are that guy is ok. If there is 40 negatives out of 100, he's likely to be a scumbag. No feedbacks? It's up to you... not everyone is out to scam you, just the majority, it seems.

I have had many, many dealings on ebay. Only really got screwed once, and that wasn't too bad... fortunately. After that, I really started paying attention to the feedbacks. They will make a difference.

I'd worry about anyone with more than 10% negative feedback or anyone selling big ticket items with less than 10-20 positive feedback.

The only timed I've gotten shafted on Ebay was when I bid on a 'private auction' thingy ...not knowing any better. I won the auction, sent in a deposit of $500, kept trying to arrange delivery with the seller and that's where it left off back in February 2003. I contacted Ebay about 2 days after the Ebay's statute of limitations was over for this particular problem, I filed internet fraud charges with the Amarillo, TX police dept. (who are fantastic at helping out) with 3 or 4 different internet fraud reporting agencies and got no where except with the Amarillo PD.

Sadly the local DA would not pursue the case because it was a 'small' amount...eerrrggghhh. But the investigator was truly dedicated to doing all he could to help. End result...that seller has not been listing anything recently (Ebay id "honeyhole68" ...BEWARE of this person-just do a search by sellers name and check their feedback) and Ebay has done NOTHING about him, even though the APD contacted them disclosing his illegal behavior. So the crook got away with it...but he still has to answer to God. I don't hold any hope of ever seeing that $500 again. It's the "tuition of life".

With that said...Ebay otherwise has been a wonderful experience. I've sold a car and 2 trailers plus tons of smaller items including my Sony VX3 which sold a few days ago *sigh*. I made one critical mistake with honeyhole68...based on a 'good feeling' and our many phone conversations I felt sure at the time that the deal was done. I left the guy pos. feedback before receiving the item as promised (an Airstream trailer). And he had no rating under his ID. I've dealt with other "0" ratings, newbies before with no problem. Still do. If their checks clear the bank or come through Paypal they've completed their end of the deal.

Sadly I was the hopeful buyer in this case with a "0" seller. I was duped by a pro. He's a crook and is obviously very good at it. WISH I could reveal his name here but to "CYA" I'm only giving his Ebay ID ...which BTW he can change and probably has by now...since the law is after him for many fraud charges. Never again on anything over $30 will I buy from a "0" feedback. I am VERY careful about full disclosure and thorough email contact now. Live and learn. Hope this helps a little.

p.s.
 

There is NO excuse for anyone with integrity on Ebay to have less than a 98% feedback. There are the occasional jerks who will give undeserved negative or neutral feedback when you have bent over backwards to help. I only have one neutral and over 100 positives so far. The neutral came from a guy who's ad was misleading so I said so in his *neutral* feedback. His feedback on me reflected his poor attitude rather than my immediate emails and payment within 1 hour for his item. Whether I like a persons' attitude or not if someone fulfills their end of the contract then they deserve an honest review...positive if deserved.... Some folks just don't understand the meaning of integrity. Feedback should always reflect 'the facts' NOT 'the emotions' of a deal. OK...'nuff' for now :-)