Biggest online marketplace eBay invites many scammers to plot scams on a daily basis. So Beware of the ebay scam and know the tips on how you can make ebay safe.

In online market, everyone is aware of Ebay brand and how they function. I will never mind admitting the fact that eBay has changed the mindset of online marketing in many ways. This is one of the largest marketplace where buyer and seller meet virtually to do the deal. Though I called it virtual, it is not complete virtual because eBay make sure that everything is authenticated and take all measures to make it as safe as possible to keep the fraudulent activities away. In spite of all these, I met many buyers and sellers who are afraid to be present on eBay and met many who are there but don’t feel comfortable to complete the transaction there, Instead they rely on tradition method of transaction with online presence in ebay.

It has certainly brought the advancement in online shopping but it also carry the most important concern – Is it safe to be here? If you will ask me personally, my answer is “yes, it is safe” because I am ebaying from last 6 years and faced a problem only once that too got resolved by ebay in a matter of days (thanks to their supportive team).

Having said that, I do not qualify my statement blindly because unscrupulous practice is always there by the scammers who always find new ways to misuse to power of eBay. In general, people feel that only the buyers get scammed and not the sellers but the fact is that both the parties carry the same amount of risk. However this risk can be averted with proper measures.

What are the safety tips for buyers. Before you bid or buy, make sure you’re comfortable with the listing and the seller and measure the following points.

Evaluate the listing:

• Review the shipping terms, refund and return policy, and other terms and conditions. If there is no refund or return policy, avoid high priced item. You might get bad item in no working condition.
• Make sure that you’re eligible to bid on the item. If the seller has any buyer requirements that you don’t meet, contact the seller for permission prior to placing a bid or using the Buy It Now feature. Sometime you might make the payment which will be rejected by the seller and he will ask you to pay by some other mode.
• Make sure that the seller offers your preferred payment method and that the payment method offers purchase protection. Always rely on Paisapay or PayPal where are assumed of claim in case of any disputes

Know the item

• Confirm the authenticity of the item. Check the internet to find the model and genuineness of the item.
• If you have questions, use the Ask seller a question link in the listing. This applies to bidding as well Buy it now item. It is not a good practice to keep on bidding and after you declared as highest bidder, you start asking question about the item. Better you ask all your doubt before you start bidding and the same goes true in case of Buy in now item. Make sure to get all your clarification cleared before you proceed for payment.
• Use common sense. If something seems too good to be true, it often is. I remember 2 years back, I bought 42″ LCD for $530, which was a fraud listing.

Know the seller

• Check the seller’s Feedback Profile. If someone with 0 or 1 rating selling high priced item at a low price than the market, you are right to suspect the seller.
• Review the seller’s current items to get an idea of this person’s areas of expertise. For example, if the seller has only sold recipes, and then lists a plasma television, make sure that you’re comfortable with the transaction before you bid or buy.
• If you’re unable to contact the seller, don’t bid on or buy the item. This is very important to contact the seller and make sure he is easily accessible.

Make sure your seller can communicate with you

• Update your contact information, including your email address, whenever it changes. If you do not, your packet might get shipped to your old address.
• Make sure that you don’t have any spam blocking software installed that may limit a seller from communicating with you.
• If you have computer or connection problems, you can access your eBay account through any computer with Internet access, such as those at a library or a friend’s house.

Tip: If the seller offers to sell you the item directly without bidding on and winning the item on eBay, please don’t respond. You might be inviting a scammers.

Know what you can do to protect yourself before sending payment to your seller.

• Contact the seller to arrange payment. If you have a problem communicating with the seller through email after you’ve won the item, you can request the seller’s contact information (including a phone number).
• Exercise caution with international transactions, as well as high-priced and popular items.
• For high-priced items, you can pay using PaisaPay (credit / debit card or online bank transfer). Your money is automatically returned to you if the seller doesn’t ship within timelines or you can request a refund if the item is not delivered within timelines. Learn more
• Don’t pay with cash or with instant money transfer services, such as Western Union.
• Keep records of all purchases. You might need the recorded information to claim any dispute.

In my next post, I will list the steps for the sellers to be safe in eBay.

It should not be a surprise to say that ebay has changed the way of shopping style. They are the one who instilled confidence in people to transact online. It is quite evident from statistics with millions of members and millions of listing at any given point of time.

When I did a small survey in my town, I was quite surprised to see that 1 out of every 2 was knowing about ebay service / 1 out of 6 was a member of ebay / I out of 8 has used the ebay service (buying or selling). But the most important aspect was that 1 out of 60 was seller in ebay and all were buyers. What it meant was 1 out of every 60 ebayer has ever sold any item in ebay and all were just buyer. Though my survey group was quite small so it might not be accurate in finding but it made me to think the opportunity which lies ahead for those who want to make a living from home. It is well known fact that there are thousands (if not millions) of people making a living on ebay and many of them are earning five-six figure income.

So how one can earn money in ebay? It’s quite simple to understand, Ebay gives you a platform to let the world know what you have to sell and you have multiple way to seize the opportunity. Lets discuss about it in brief:

What you can sell:

You will find penny priced item to very costly item listed in ebay catering to all kind of buyer. I have seen many people selling the junk item (what they have not used from couple of years) at a good price. At the same time there are seller who provide shop just like as usual with standard product. To start off with, you can sell your household item which is of no use to you (it might be of a great value ot others). There are many example wherein people have sold their item (antique) for a very high price what would have fetched them some small amount (or nil) if they would have given to their neighour shop). You have flexibility to put it on auction and let the user discover its real price or you can make it a fixed price (you will have defined profit in this case).

Once you get familier with selling procedure, you can start finding out the place where you can pick up the items. As said above, some item could be non-standard product which you may even pick up from your neibhour or garbage shop or you have a choice to pick standard product like Mobile / camera / MP3 player / Toys / Books etc. You have thousands of categories to pick. You can always find out the place where you can pick up at lesser price and sell at 10-20% markup at ebay. If you can offer less margin, you can play in volumes and you might get a good discount from your dealers. Its always good to pick items of high value so that your margin also remains big. I have seen quite a big number of people selling chinese mobile handset at a discounted price and sells 10 pieces everyday. They keep less margin (may be Rs. 1000 / $20) per handset and at the end of day they make (Rs. 10000 / $200) just from one item. Not at all bad.

Once started everything becomes automated and you dont need to put high effort. You just need to put nice picture, good heading and list the items. your dealer will deliver the item at your place, your courier buy will come and pick the item from your place and deliver. In some case, buyer also might come to pick the product from your place. So your effort mainly goes into choosing the product and sourcing it from cheap and reliable sources. There are many non-standard items which are very high commission product because of its nature like Jeweleery, Antiques, Stamps and coins, handicraft etc. In these type of product you get a chance to make very high margin (sometimes 3-4 times or even 10 times of your cost)

So give a try and explore this. If you come across any problems, there are many ebayer in the coomunity who will be ready to help you out. Even Ebay staff are very friendly and ou can seek their advise too.