Be careful on eBay all my friends!!

[coffee]

I have used eBay for years and have never had a problem with it. A few weeks ago, I recieved a second chance offer from a seller selling a mark3. It was a camera I bid on and didn't win, so when I recieved this offer I contacted the seller, asked a lot of questions, and everything seemed legit. The seller didn't have many feedbacks, but what he had were all good. I checked this offer out thoughly, and was satisfied everything was good.

After making a paypal transfer for thousands of dollars, and not recieving the item when it was due, I tried to get a hold of the seller. He dropped off the face of the earth. I then filed a dispute against him, and with paypal.

A few days later I was looking at more eBay cameras, not to buy mind you, but just looking, and low and behold, I come across an auction from the same seller, selling the same item, word for word. I then knew I was had, and escalated the dispute to a claim. And filed a claim with my credit card company.

So that's where it sits right now. In limbo for up to 2 months while this gets sorted out. I wanted to tell everyone here about this since I love this forum, and love talking photography here. I may never buy anything on eBay again.

[coffee]

I have good news. I badgered this seller so much through email with civil and criminal action the past few days, that the thief broke down and refunded my money in full.

That's about all I've done the last few days is constantly email this seller, even though he would reply that it wasn't him. It got quite heated at time, but I kept emailing, and searching for his address.

[LensBaby]

Let me tell you what happened to me on Ebay...someone hacked my user name and password (I was told by Ebay that is is automatic if you look at their page - which with us was a Nintendo Wii) Well with all of my info the man was selling ANTIQUE cars. NICE $$$$$$$ cars....corvettes, old camaros, old mustangs etc. I had to go through HELL to have it fixed. They actually make you fax them copies of your bank account statements, to make sure its not the same number etc. They knew it wasn't me from the start because someone had been doing that like crazy, so they already knew. I was soooooooo PO'd! If anything ever says for 1,000,000 like for example an xbox game system or Nintendo WII DO NOT CLICK ON IT!!! That is what they do, and I was also told they put photos of girls in lingerie to get guys to click on it and then PRESTO..they have all of the info. So heads up on this also!

[arrowind]

I also have had trouble with EBay and PayPal. Double charges, and to several different credit cards. As They say HELL to FIX. I will not go back there at all. Reguardless of a bargin. Kenny

[coffee]

Yes I hear you there. This has made me very gun shy. And like you I won't buy anything on eBay any more. Too much of a leap of faith. I was luck this time.

[daltoned]

I too was lucky, somebody got hold of my credit card details and got a charge through Paypal to my account. For what ever reason, the transaction was reversed. Paypal would not release details of who set up the bogus account transaction only would confirm that my credit card number was on another account. They said under the data protection act they could not disclose the details from the bogus account. I now have no funds sitting in paypal and had to cancel my old Credit card. I will not be doing any more transactions on Ebay/Paypal.

[dkippen]

Joseph -

What a scary experience. Makes one think hard about making purchases on Ebay. I've been looking at a couple of new lenses, now I just might go through a regular retail source. Congratulations on getting this resolved.

[rlcphotos]

I got taken once out of 44 purchases, I now buy from reputable dealers only, Ritz, B&H, Cametta and so forth. Im done with Ebay all together

[LensBaby]

yeah it is getting really bad. It is such a shame, because it is such a nice service to have.

[jerryph]

I've heard all the horror stories, but never bought anything through eBay, and never shall. Quite honestly, I visit there, but I have sincerely yet to see one bargain. Even if I did, I would avoid it like the plague.

I know of a friend of mine from a car club that I am a senior and founding member at, that bought a replacement engine... engine never came, but the seller showed eBay and PayPal a bogus shipping slip to an abandoned warehouse that was not even in the same country as my friend. My friend paypaled $3900.00US for the engine and after a year and an additional $7000 in lawyer fees never saw a dime of his money or his engine.

Bottom line... I really thik that there are better and safer places to shop.

[coffee]

I've heard all the horror stories, but never bought anything through eBay, and never shall. Quite honestly, I visit there, but I have sincerely yet to see one bargain. Even if I did, I would avoid it like the plague.

I know of a friend of mine from a car club that I am a senior and founding member at, that bought a replacement engine... engine never came, but the seller showed eBay and PayPal a bogus shipping slip to an abandoned warehouse that was not even in the same country as my friend. My friend paypaled $3900.00US for the engine and after a year and an additional $7000 in lawyer fees never saw a dime of his money or his engine.

Bottom line... I really thik that there are better and safer places to shop.

You friend spent $7000.00 to recover $3900.00? :-(

[jerryph]

You friend spent $7000.00 to recover $3900.00? :-(

It became a point of honor, and it just worked out like that and he sincerely thought it would get him his engine.

[coffee]

If only the thieves had that much honor, they wouldn't be thieves.

[sophiesue]

Hi guys
yes I also have been scammed on ebay bought a camera and lens supposedly from an ebay seller in melbourne with pos feedback.sent bank transfer and never got the camera was scammed big time someone hacked into the account so that person wasnt responsible. Ebay were no help really they just told me I should have paid with paypal. Lost more than 700 dollars.

[Zero]

Anything thats more then $50 I pick up and pay COD. If they wont do it, I dont bid! Works for me!

[LensBaby]

it is a shame thought that terrible people have to ruin it for good people (as always) I know a few home bound people that used this as a way of getting what they couldn't on their own. I have done a lot of home care, and this was one of the most popular ways they could still shop (oh yeah and QVC)

[sandy24]

Yeah, me too! Bought a camcorder once. It didn't work so I sent it back to the seller on Ebay. Never did get my money back. Ebay didn't do anything to help me either. So that's it for me. No more Ebay. It just isn't worth it.

[dicklaxt]

I bought a boat, motor and trailer once that was untitled,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,thats illegal to begin with and E Bay said they would be curtailed from EBay sales but that never happened,,,,,,,,,,,,I made an awful stink thru all channels from local to state legislators,I finally got clear title but it was 3 months of non stop activity,threats and bad press.They (the seller) finally cried uncle and got off his duff and straightened it out.

dick

[opticalreflex]

I have heard the stories, but I've been buying and selling on ebay for ten years with no problems. The most I've ever spent was about $500, but Ive never been burned. I've gotta beleive the percentages are pretty low.

[sobhana]

yikes! I'm glad it all worked out in the end for you. the most expensive thing i've gotten off of ebay was a sigma lens kit which i ended up hating. when i wanted to return it i was hit with a %15 restocking fee which ended up being about 90 bucks. i tried to fight them on it and ultimately lost but i learned not to buy something that expensive off of ebay. i see so many things i'd like to get but am always weary.

[LensBaby]

Yeah, with all of the hackers hacking into others accounts and then selling off of their account without the person knowing it ...is really sad. Like the above post of mine says..there was a guy selling antique cars off of Ebay ON MY NAME. Question for you.....that is theft of identity, so why do they NOT have to SHARE any of the information about who it was? We should be able to press charges. That is not fair. They are stealing our identities and pretending to be US. Something needs to be done to have this changed.

[laurielynn]

Sorry...I know that is frustrating. I put my Nikon camera on craigslist and I got about 15 different responses back telling me that they would send me 500.00 over the price that I ask if I would send it to them. I didnt fall for it...but the first one was tempting.

So becareful using that site too. People are evil.

L.

[d2west]

Thanks so much for the tip. I was looking for a 5d deal through ebay. It's a shame things are like this. Now I feel that I have to be so careful when making any kind of purchase like this.

[rasmussen4]

Wow, those are some terrible stories. Lately, I've bought a few little things through there, but in the last 6 months I bought a 40D and a 1D, but that was back when the Live.com rebates were going on, and lots of people were cashing in. The auctions were form well known forum members on POTN, though, so it seemed like there was a little more credibility going on.

LensBaby - hadn't heard about those crazy pages that swipe your login info if you click on them. If Ebay knows the code is there in the auction, and they're hosting the pages/photos/whatever, how is it still happening I wonder? Really crazy stuff.

Well, I'm freaked out for the day. Time to stop watching my watched list on Ebay! :)

[valsalon]

I haven't had a problem with ebay yet...(KNOCK ON WOOD)...we have never sold anything but we have purchased things ranging from $10.00 to a truck....this is where I actually bought my Digital Camera that I have been using for this course....the gentleman who I bought it off of was an exceptional seller and even went out of his way so that I could have it by easter, to take pictures of my family gathering.....F Y I......I change my passwords at least once a month on ebay and paypal, just so stuff like that doesn't happen...

[rollingstone]

Thanks for the advise, Coffee! I have recently started buying a lot of photography equipment on ebay, and have had only good experiences. I have become trusting, so good to have a reminder to beware.

[tpanchan]

Thanks for the info. I am also quite skeptical in buying expensive photo equipments in ebay, I would rather look for the original distributor or ask questions in forums first. I haven't bought any photo equipment from ebay yet but I have used my PayPal account to buy one and it causes me a lot of trouble. You might want to check, there could be some problems with PayPal sometimes too.

[treetop]

Frightening stuff, I buy loads of gear off ebay this has really made me nervous. I thought ebay was 100% safe.

[jerryph]

Oh heck, not even close to 100% safe. I would not make my big purchases over eBay, it is just too unreliable and once the damage is done, no way to get your money back.

Don't learn the hard way... use known reputable dealers and keep a nice safe distance from eBay.

[karykid]

I feel for all of you that have had poor experiences purchasing items on eBay and using PayPal for money transactions. I wanted to add at least one positive with regard to this subject.

I've purchased and sold on eBay for years. I've never had a problem. I only purchase from sellers who use PayPal for their payments. I've never had a problem with PayPal. Now I will say that I've never (and will never) purchsed anything on eBay that cost over $200. Actually most all my purchases have been for under $100. I've found some really great deals on items that were brand new still in their vacuum sealed plastic packaging. I've purchased from and sold to many international locations. eBay has widened the choices of products I have to choose from; many times allowing me to purchase something I couldn't find in the US. As a collector it's awsome.

I will say that I'm very careful and I know when something doesn't smell right. I did find two lenses for my older Sony Digital Camera that were priced very afordable. They arrived in their original packaging and not damaged. In the end I feel the seller is a great resource for photography supplies.

Personally, if I'm gonna spend a couple thousand dollars on something I'm gonna need to see it in person. If I decide to risk it then I'll do it fully aware of the chances it may be a scam. :)