Avoid Scams When Selling on Ebay
If you are an eBay merchant or even only occasionally sell on auction sites, then you should be aware of some popular scams that can affect your bottom line or take money right out of your pocket. Auction scams have been around for years and continue to evolve into new ways to con auction site merchants.
One of the more popular auction site scams involves a prospective buyer contacting you and offering you more money than your item costs. However, there is a catch. The buyer asks for you to sell the item off the auction site and will send you either cash or Western Union money transfer. Usually, the buyer will ask you to ship the product first. If the merchant sells the product off the auction site and ships the item without payment, the auction seller usually gets scammed out of the item.
When selling on eBay, be aware that payments by bounced check, or forged or stolen personal check, cashiers check or money order is always a possibility. Always allow adequate time for personal checks to clear, and always authenticate any check or money-order with your bank.
Another auction scam involves an auction seller receiveing an email from ‘eBay’ asking him to click on the below link to update personal or financial information. Ebay will never ask you to click on any links or update your information through an email. These types of emails are called spoof or phishing emails and when you attempt to update your information through these emails, you are actually sending information to hackers.