| Braindead |
| (regular) |
| Sun May 11 2008 09:48 PM |
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Dodgy ebay auction...?
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One of the biggest problems about eBay for me is the potential for selling "knock off" goods.
I have seen an auction for a computer which just doesn't seem right to me and suggests that the item could be stolen. It's for a portable computer that is being sold with no power adapter or discs, and which, when the seller boots up Windows comes up with a password screen. The seller says he doesn't know the password as he bought the computer in a box of computer bits at a car boot sale for £10 (these computers normally sell on eBay for around the £300 mark.) He also says that he can't sort out the password issue as he's no good with computers.
My question is this: Is there anything meaningful that I can do about this? Will reporting the auction to eBay have any effect? Is there anyone else I could / should inform?
I am concerned as I have one of thes PCs and I'd hate to be in the position where someone nicked mine and put it on eBay!
| FilthyRaider |
| (regular) |
| Sun May 11 2008 10:46 PM |
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Re: Dodgy ebay auction...?
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You do actually get items sold on eBay by people with no idea what they are or what they do. And many will source their items in the same way as this seller suggests.
Reporting it to eBay is an option, but will they follow it through? Probably not.
(My current eBay 'liability' is a 14 year old kid who has bought items off me, pesters me with emails about where I source my goods and sends the sort of messages to me that I would probably have thought of as childish at 14, but now are just plain annoying.
To trade on eBay you must be 18+ and the same with PayPal. He has an eBay business account and a PayPal business account. Reported him numerous times after blocking him and eBay have..................well, done nothing. And that is someone breaking THEIR rules.)
In this instance the only way is to buy the thing then try and run as many checks on it as you can. If he is a business seller he MUST list his address on the listing or his About Me page, so you could inform their local police, but what if he did get it legit?
If it is a private seller (which if he is buying stuff to sell he ISN'T) then you are stuck with going to eBay. Try it. Express your concerns and see if they bother to do anything.
All the clamping down they have done on legitimate sellers recently will not stamp out someone selling stolen goods.