You all know the stories by now. Ebay is an online version of the American dream, where you can make your fortune with just a little knowhow and dishonesty. You can sell any piece of rubbish on there and someone will buy it. My favourite item found on there so far was a godawful doodle by someone's 12 year old son, which was being touted as "a potential future piece of artistic history". No, it was a crude drawing of some girl.
Ebay is easy to use. Very easy in fact. Registration is also easy. Too easy, in fact. A typety-type here, a clickety-click there, and hey ho, you're a registered member, all geared up to buy cheapphones and sell used underpants. The menus are easy to navigate and 99.9% of the time you will find what you're looking for.
Now, pardon me for sounding a bit grandiose and pretentious, but
I believe ebay represents a microcosm for the evolution of society. Stop laughing, and just read on.
Ebay was, and still is, intended as a place where you can make money and save money in a safe environment. Just read the statement of intentions from ebay's creator. Ok, it hasn't been updated in 9 years (and brags about "having sold over 250,000 items!"), but ebay was a fantastic idea, much like society. Society has good intentions on the most part. We all just want to make enough money to pay the bills and have a little fun, and just get through life with minimal hassle.
Ok, now for my melodramatic rant, brace yourself.
As is the case with everything in life, whatever goodness you give, whatever opportunity you present, there will always be people willing to exploit you and to try and cheat a little more out of you. In short, ebay is no longer safe to use, because of conmen. For the uneducated, I shall explain the most apparent form of con artist - the apparent "Nigerian scholars".
This is not a racially motivated attack. These people could be from Nigeria or Nuneaton, you can never tell. But their usual trick is this. You try and sell an item to make some cash, in my case, a phone. Someone who joined ebay about 2 hours before the end of the auction wins. That shouldn't be cause for concern, but unfortunately it is. The phone sold for a handsome £102, and the winner was, according to ebay, living in Holland. The next day I get an email from him to send the phone to...you guessed it, Nigeria. Next up, an email from "Paypal". However, this invoice tells me that payment will not be sent until I send the item and provide a shipping number. Yes, it was a fake email. Luckily, I didn't send the phone, but I still consider myself over £100 out of pocket.
Other examples of skullduggery include:
-Buying a phone with "slight damage to the keys. There were no keys.
-Buying a melodica for £15, then being told shipping would cost £80
-Paying huge amaounts of money for items because the seller has a relative of his/hers competing against me to run up the money.
I shan't list everything.
Now, I know what you're saying. "That's hardly the fault of ebay. They have security measures in place and they'll reimburse you if you get conned." You're right, in a way. But why should it take me 6 attempts to sell a phone? Why should I have to be worried that what I've bought is what it's supposed to be? I know not everything can be policed, but this is where my biggest hang up is. This is why I am sick of ebay.
You cannot, in any way, suggest ways to make ebay safer.
Go to www.ebay.co.uk. See if you can find anything that says "contact us". Do a word search on the whole page. Nothing. Nada. Zip. We are the people who use ebay. We are the people who make money and lose money and get bargains and get fleeced. Is it too much to ask that we have some input into how to make it better? After all, with none of us, there is no ebay, and I for one find it ludicrous that a company dependant on our money doesn't allows to protect that money.
Yes, the website is easy to navigate, and you'll never find yourself confused or overwhelemed with technical information. I will even admit that more often than not, transactions go smoothly. After all, most of us are just trying to make and save a little extra cash, nothing more. But to return to my sociological similie, it's like watching crime on the rise and not being allowed to talk to the police about it. Ebay just ain't safe no more.
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Ooh I just love Ebay though, some good points made, lou xx
gollum3273 21.01.2006 11:22
I know what your saying, but i enjoy ebay, and touch wood, not a bad experience yet. but thanks for the warning. sam
Soundsexciting 21.01.2006 00:39
contact us:
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/contact_us/_base/index.html
As for getting around 'relatives who bump up the price', simple. Bid with an upper limit in mind.
As soon as the item reaches that limit then stop bidding. Works for me.
Jan 20th, 2006
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