Warning on using auction sites to purchase things

[Aoresteen]

I've had bogus 2nd chance offers and legit ones as well.

 

The legit ones will appear in your "My Ebay Section". Responding to them from within My ebay is fairly safe.

[paul_e._cassidy]

Hello Red,

I have had one or two real second chance offers and concluded with a good purchase. I have also had a seller contact me to offer an identical item and concluded with a good purchase. However, I have received numerous fraudulent eBay correspondence and never click a link within the page. Always close that window open a new window and use your bookmark to sign in to eBay as you always do.

PHISHING is the term and the fraud is out there remember eBay's Motto "Buyer Beware!"

Enjoy,

Paul

[kelly_flanigan1]

PHISHING with spammers is as old as Ebay and later Paypal. Here I probably have received 5 thousand of them or more. I am amazed that some folks are just learning of stuff; common when Clinton was in office.

[david_m]

Back in the early days of Ebay (when you could scroll thru all the Photo items in a couple of hours), things were much more relaxed and people more trusting. Now Ebay has everyone scared out of their wits, the sole purpose of course to make sure they get their sellers commission. Several times years ago, I emailed bidders who missed out on an item that I had a similar or better one and would sell at what they bid. All quite innocent and beneficial to both parties. Now Ebay warns against this 'dangerous' practice to ensure getting the maximum amount of sellers comission.

[jim_galli4]

Sometimes it's even legit. I recently had 2 19" Artars that were very close in age and condition. I kept the best for myself and put the other out for bid. It went high enough that I was willing to let them both go. So the 2nd chance offer went out and that fellow actually got a little better lens for 2 and a half dollars less than the high bidder.

[douglas_green1]

There are PLENTY of legitimate 2nd chance offers. I just got a spectacular true mint condition Nikon N90s off of a second chance offer. The winning bidder was a 0 feedback buyer from Indonesia who violated the seller's terms by bidding on the item. I was actually the 3rd high bidder on the item, but the #2 bidder had bought another N90s before getting the 2nd chance offer, and that left me, with a high bid $12 less than the winner, to take the item off of a 2nd offer. The camera arrived today, and it's in LEGITIMATE MINT- condition, with barely perceptible signs it has ever been used. And I got it for under market value, because the seller didn't want to go to the time and effort of re-listing.

 

All you need to do is make sure that the offer is actually listed on your My Ebay page, to determine that it's a legitimate one (at least as legit as the original listing), and not someone Phishing.

[bill_thorlin]

Fleabay should be treated as a "caveat emptor" situation.Read the rules and follow them - do not respond to anything that is not from or via the fleabay system. Second chance offers are normal and as legitimate as anything gets on the site. If in doubt report it to them via their system.

 

Two bits of advice I have found very useful are 1) look very closely at the sellers feedback especially if it is below 98% or so 2) do some research first before leaping in and bidding.

 

Used with care it can be a very beneficial source of cheap and often good equipment. I have used it quite a lot and quite successfully.

[paul_e._cassidy]

Hello Red,

 

I wanted to add that I just read on the eBay sight that any official correspondence from them will be in your "message box" from now on. So IF I understand them correctly this is your safe way to tell if the Second Chance is real. If you get it in your email and it is not in the message box then it is to be considered fake.

 

They are aware that users are under attack. As my grandfather always said, "A lock only removes the temptation from an honest person, because a thief will figure out how to steal what he wants. . ."

 

Paul

[dean_tomasula1]

It's funny how everyone uses eBay to buy and sell their stuff, but they refuse to actually name the site, instead calling it "that famous auction site."

 

I think this all started when some people bought some stuff on eBay at either payed way too much or get shoddy equipment. They then started referring to it as "that famous auction site" as if that somehow would put a curse on it or something.

 

Let's get over ourselves, shall we. We've all been burned now and then on eBay (mainly by sellers not knowing what they have or not fully describing their stuff). eBay is not going to go out of business because you refuse to name it in your posts. They are probably the most successful internet business in the world and a very valuable marketplace for photographic equipment.

[douglas_green1]

Dean, it's nothing so sinister. The fact is, lots of sites, including, in the past, this one, censor out the names of competing websites. I suspect that people developed those habits to avoid the censoring algorithms that would delete the word "ebay" or even an entire post that contained that word. Now this site no longer censors mention of ebay, but habits die hard.