EBAY--A Marketplace for Stolen Goods?

[LynnsABCs]

[Zeke]

It would seem easy to use phony info to sell and take payment in MOs. No one could find you especially if you used Internet cafe computers like the terrorists do. The IP just goes to a business that rents out time on computers. I wonder how many "sold" items never existed and Ebay has to step in and refund?

I refuse to use Ebay. The 2 times I did, I received pure junk for my money. I suppose you could refuse to bid on something where the seller has no feedback, but people will always fall for a deal that is "too good to be true." And that's the thing, sometimes it ain't.

The ebay feedback thing is a farce. Deal is, if you buy something and it turns out to be crap, you leave negative feedback. The seller then leaves you a retaliatory negative on your account. Typically a seller won't leave a rating till they get one from buyer for just this reason. That's SOP as I've found it.

[RickM]

Originally posted by Mark Wilson
The ebay feedback thing is a farce. Deal is, if you buy something and it turns out to be crap, you leave negative feedback. The seller then leaves you a retaliatory negative on your account. Typically a seller won't leave a rating till they get one from buyer for just this reason. That's SOP as I've found it.

I agree. I've found many sellers hold you hostage. They wont post feedback until (or if) you do.

We had a $6k LCD projector stolen here at work. I knew it would be on Ebay sooner or later. Unfortunately, noone recalled the brand, let alone the model. Even the procurement paperwork was unavailable. When I went to Ebay to see if I could find it I found that there were hundreds of these things on auction. Wonder how many of those are legit.

[Doug Zielke]

Old news.
Here in Canada, the RCMP search ebay on a regular basis.
Recently, they found a huge ring of motorcycle thieves.

[bob tilton]

selling stolen goods is nothing new and selling stolen goods on the internet is the natural next step. ebay is just one example of a platform that is being utilized. ideally the same methods used to monitor stolen goods should transfer over to the internet but traditional methods have limited success and we should expect the same with the internet.
yeah it sucks but what can you do? i am personally a big fan of ebay - both selling and buying. it has made owning my car very affordable. i think you just got to walk into a transaction with all your ducks in a row. ask lots of questions and eliminate all surprises. trust your instincts and bail if you get the slightest bad vibe.
ebay gets a bad rap which i don't understand. i freakin' love it.

[techweenie]

Telephone: tool of the devil.
Newspaper classifieds: den of theives

Hey, guys, it's the people, not the technology.

Don't forget, we have more than our share of bad apples on this very BBS.

[RickM]

As always Caveat Emptor

[exc911ence]

I bought a fairly new Blaupunkt on eBay from a guy for $50... when it showed up, it had no input cables or mounting cage. I asked the seller if he had them and he said no. Just for fun, I asked him if they were still in the car that he stole the radio from and he freaked out on me! It was actually quite funny... especially since after I installed the stereo in my 911, there was a CD inside of it!

[turbocarrera]

Originally posted by exc911ence
Just for fun, I asked him if they were still in the car that he stole the radio from and he freaked out on me! It was actually quite funny... especially since after I installed the stereo in my 911, there was a CD inside of it!

ROFL

[azasadny]

There are good and bad folks everywhere. I'm fortunate that I've only had good (and a few great) experiences on eBay. I have purchased two cars (VW Westfalia and my 911), two drumsets, one guitar, many, many computer parts, Porsche parts, drum parts, brewing gear, etc... and I've never had a problem.

[350HP930]

I have carefully spent over $2K on e-bay and haven't been burned and am highly confident that none of the items I have bought were stolen.

+1 for Caveat Emptor

[UconnTim97]

I've bought many items, and sold some there too. I too have been fortunate and haven't been burned yet.
Most of what I buy is parts for my car, and I am confident that none of the parts were stolen.

[cegerer]

I heard at one time that about 30% of the stuff on eBay is stolen. Much of this is brand new stuff stolen from retail stores by employees. Skis, bikes, clothing, jewelry, you name it. A couple of years ago, a friend who owns an ski/bike shop caught an employee stealing bikes out the back door and selling them on eBay. The eBay purchaser called the bike manufacturer for an assembly manual. The manufacturer said all our bikes are sold fully assembled! Where did you get this bike and what's the serial#? They traced it back to the shop where the local police setup a sting on the employee ......