FAKES/CONS on Fleabay - has fleabay gone past its sell by date?

[nick h]

you may recall in another post how i got caught with dodgy Global knives?

in my last few dealings i've been sold used Karcher goods sold as new/fake Mopar Jeep bonnet struts/tax disc holder with a sticker rather than etched/etc etc

my friend has been sold fake golf clubs - but at a price to make you think it was a good deal not an obvious con

is it me or is it getting worse?

i know the old saying 'if its too cheap there's something wrong' - but sellers are now pricing dodgy goods up to make them appear more 'genuine'!

and this morning i've received an email from my main supplier of fishing line warning of fakes sold on fleabay - what can you trust?

[Jim-Willy]

Do you check people out before buying?  Touch wood i have been buying and selling for ages now and only once got sold junk.......

[nick h]

Do you check people out before buying?  Touch wood i have been buying and selling for ages now and only once got sold junk.......

sure i check as best i can

maybe the new feedback system whereby sellers cannot leave neg feedback for buyers may make things more transparent?

in the past i know buyers have been cautious because of the fear of retaliatory neg feedback - some sellers even say if you leave me neg i will return the favour!!

[thermidorthelobster]

Now we'll end up with many more fraudulent buyers as well as sellers.  Wahey.

They should have tried only revealing feedback when BOTH parties had already written it.  That way you don't get the tit-for-tat.  As it is, I think they've thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

I find it useful for certain things.  Like when you want some cable clips and can't find any in the shops, but can get some shipped from Hong Kong for a couple of quid.  I'd be very wary buying anything valuable / branded / etc now;  you've got to treat it just like the local Sunday market.

[Pete]

now;  you've got to treat it just like the local Sunday market.

 At least at the sunday market you get to handle the goods before parting with the readies, and you don't get absolute morons mailing you all the time.
 As far as buying anything on there. Caveat Emptor.
 Pete.

[Disco Matt]

The other two problems that seem to have hit ebay are shill bidding (either setting up dummy accounts or getting friends to push the price up) and the related con of making fake transactions to build up a feedback record. Ebay take a dim view of both but there are so many people using the site that they can't catch all of them, and it takes a lot of detective work to prove that this is going on in a particular case.

I'm saddened by the number of sellers who won't leave feedback until after the buyer has, and the retaliatory feedback trend. I realise there are some unreasonable idiots out there but I'm fed up with everyone suffering because of a few.

[kizz81]

i have just bought a device for a tenner thats called a power maxx that claims it can reduce fuel consumption by up to 31%,

i wasnt convinced but for a tenner i thought id try it, you have to bend the fins yourself, fair does so i did and cut it to size, all it does is make a interesting noise at top speed  :lol: no better or worse fuel consumption  :lol:

[Disco Matt]

The crucial words in all snake oil are "can" and "up to". With those safely in place the customers conned into buying the devices have no legal redress. 

The Dan's Data blog (www.dansdata.com then click blog) has had some interesting experiences with fuel pill sellers who threaten legal action for his pointing out that the product doesn't work, and has been shown not to work, but go mysteriously quiet when challenged to start proceedings.  :lol:

[bravo669]

theres always going to be someone dodgy on ebay no matter what! the old saying "if it looks to good to be true, it probably is" springs to mind!