The internet and world wide web are the wonders of the century, and eBay is one of the marvels to spring from it. However, like all good things there is a downside, and that is it provides a fertile ground for fraud and deceit. Fraud on the internet borders on being out of control and about 65% of reported fraud emanates from eBay. Ive been a user of eBay, mostly as a buyer but with a small amount of selling experience, for six years and generally my personal experiences have been positive. But I have had a couple of bad experiences, one serious, and I am a student of the subject of fraud, due to the subject of my web site. Ebay and its sister organization Paypal do a lot passively to assist users, in their tutorials, but I feel they are not pro-active enough. For one thing eBay downplays the problem and quotes very low percentage figures for fraud. The problem is that the volume on eBay is so immense that one tenth of one percent represents many millions of dollars. Another factor is that they have provision on their web site for reporting scams but they discourage its use. If anyone posts anything too sensitive they are knocked off. This is somewhat understandable but as a consequence they have encouraged people to publish anti-eBay web sites. They should wake up and Smell the Coffee. They are also encouraging more than normal competition, much of it not as desirable as wed like it to be. This problem goes far beyond just eBay its affecting all internet business. Internet business only represents about 4% of the total and should grow at a tremendous rate. The potential is beyond the imagination. There are many advantages to internet marketing and financial advantages are passed on to the consumer. This constant well published barrage of complaints is inhibiting the growth of buying on the internet. Many of my acquaintances will not buy on the internet because they fear being ripped-off, and they have good reason to be fearful. This is not meant to denigrate eBay but is meant as a Heads Up . eBay certainly has the financial means and the talent to mount an aggressive campaign to control fraud and they should do it and soon. They dont even prevent fraud in their own back yard. One example is to do with shipping charges. Many dealers pad their shipping charges to compensate for eBay and Paypal fees, because their profit margins are thin. But Ive seen a selling price of 99 cents for a new computer with $420.00 in shipping and handling. This is outright fraud. I figure if a seller will cheat eBay theyll certainly cheat me. I believe lowering their overall fees and assessing them on the total sale would put a stop to this abuse. It would benefit honest sellers as well as buyers. Also in this case if I had to get a refund I would get 99cents back. Give me a break!!! |
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