Why It Is Safe To Buy And Sell On Ebay
Feedback
eBay has a unique feedback system, allowing buyers and sellers to post comments and feedback on their recent auction experience. Each transaction allows you to give a single rating to your trading partner – positive, negative, or neutral. You may also make comments (no foul language, abuse, racial comments, etc are allowed). Each user has a feedback score that serves as an indicator of their quality as buyers and sellers. It is effectively your online reputation. The more positive feedback you get, the higher your score, which also eventually is visually identifiable with a star system so experienced eBayers can tell something about you at a glance. Negative feedback lowers your score. There is also a running percentage of positive feedbacks. Some sellers will not allow buyers below a certain feedback level, as most fraud is committed by new, or fake, buyers who will generally have little or negative feedback ratings.
Buyer Protection
Currently eBay offers buyers protection. Online payment service users, such as PayPal are assured a Buyer Protection shield covered up to $500 (subject to change) at no additional cost. For users who are not using PayPal as their mode of transaction there is the eBay Standard Purchase Protection Program which provides up to $200 coverage (less $25 processing cost) for either items that are not received or items that are not as described in the listing. The resolution process can be slow and on many transactions that fee makes it not worth doing, so it is better to caveat emptor up front than hope to get money back on a bad deal later.
Fraud Protection
There are a number of ways eBay works to minimize fraud, some of which are automatic. The website feature of eBay allows the users to keep a constant track of which sites they visit. Whenever a user leaves eBay by clicking on a link, or when are transacting on PayPal, the system warns them of potential frauds. In addition, eBay helps users prevent and combat fraud by conducting online tutorials on fraud emails – such as those requesting personal or financial data no legitimate company would request – and educating members on how to report such issues to the eBay authorities.