Suspicious binocular sellers on ebay

[Otto McDiesel]

Several premium binoculars (Nikon LX 8X32 at $80, for instance) are now sold by several sellers with 0 feedback. I am talking about several auctions.
I would be suspicious.

[Henry B]

If it sounds to good to be true it probably is.

[salty]

i have never bought things over the web because of scares like this. much prefer well known shops etc.

[KCFoggin]

And I'm sure the shopkeepers are happy about that Richie ;)

[salty]

And I'm sure the shopkeepers are happy about that Richie ;)

im sure a few have retired early because of me KC ;)

[Jonathan B.]

Several premium binoculars (Nikon LX 8X32 at $80, for instance) are now sold by several sellers with 0 feedback. I am talking about several auctions. I would be suspicious.

All such sales are completely bogus. If you study the listings you will see that not only do the sellers have 0 feedback, they have been eBay members for a matter of hours. Several people have been ripped off by these scams. I don't know why eBay does not have a way to monitor them.

[Buster]

A little common sense goes a long way. Check out the sellers history and if anything raises a red flag, walk away. I've made some great deals on Ebay, but I'm cautious about who I deal with. I have yet to get ripped off in nearly 200 transactions (knock on wood!).

[elkcub]

... I don't know why eBay does not have a way to monitor them.

Excellent point. eBay could monitor these auctions and should be responsible to prevent these obvious scams, but it does nothing. IMO they will continue to do nothing until such time as they lose a great deal of money through massive class action litigation, which I hope happens sooner than later.

Elkcub

[John Fleet]

Excellent point. eBay could monitor these auctions and should be responsible to prevent these obvious scams, but it does nothing. IMO they will continue to do nothing until such time as they lose a great deal of money through massive class action litigation, which I hope happens sooner than later.

Elkcub
Be realistic! at any one time there are hundreds of thousands of items on auction - how are eBay supposed to monitor them all? As with society in general we need to do our bit. If you're suspicious of an auction report it to eBay - then they'll take action....

John Fleet

[graeme782]

I think Buster hits the nail on the head. Whilst i've a long way to go to the 200 mark i've probably bought a dozen items on Ebay. They've all been from sellers with good feedback and i've had excellent service from them all. I know everyone has to start somewhere but i wouldn't buy from a seller with no feedback.

Graeme.

[dbradnum]

I don't understand people that knock Ebay. In my view, they provide a fantastic service, and appear to do their best to protect people using it. At the end of the day, you can just as easily get ripped off by an unscrupulous salesman.

If in doubt, then don't buy!

[AndyC]

...Ebay. In my view, they provide a fantastic service, Yes, I would wholehearted agree, BUT it is also targeted by people pulling all manner of cons and scams. Very much a case of buyer (and seller) beware.

AndyC

[dbradnum]

Very much a case of buyer (and seller) beware.

AndyC
As you should do when buying anything from someone for the first time!

[Pinewood]

All such sales are completely bogus. If you study the listings you will see that not only do the sellers have 0 feedback, they have been eBay members for a matter of hours. Several people have been ripped off by these scams. I don't know why eBay does not have a way to monitor them.
Jonathan,

It is simple: ebay makes money from either honest or bogus vendors and through paypal ebay makes money from the buyers. Ebay has a low labour business model, leaving the work to the users. Monitoring, answering questions, and acting on complaints would reduce its profits. Caveat emptor rules this largely unsupervised and unregulated market.
Of greater concern to some is the sale of the nests and of the eggs of migratory birds on ebay. Consult this thread
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=19721

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

[Jonathan B.]

Jonathan,

It is simple: ebay makes money from either honest or bogus vendors and through paypal ebay makes money from the buyers. Ebay has a low labour business model, leaving the work to the users. Monitoring, answering questions, and acting on complaints would reduce its profits. Caveat emptor rules this largely unsupervised and unregulated market.
Of greater concern to some is the sale of the nests and of the eggs of migratory birds on ebay. Consult this thread
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=19721

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

Arthur,

You are right, and though I have used eBay quite a bit as both seller and buyer, and find it a great service, I have had some frustration dealing with them when it comes to a problem. I know some of the fradulent listings of binoculars have been pulled, perhaps at the request of eBayers. And I have seen one or two people take the vigilante approach, securing fake eBay identities and posting fake bids on the fake listings!

As for the nests and eggs, one can bring this to the attention of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, though I'm sure they are overwhelmed with cases of people using the Internet to sell protected species.

Jonathan

[robski]

I've bought about a dozen items via e-bay. Not a completely stress free experience.
33% have gone like a dream item paid for and arrives within days. 33% have been a bit of a pain waiting upto 2-3 weeks for cheque to clear and then item to arrive. no electronic means to recieve payment. 33% have been a nightmare had to send repeated e-mails and get quiet nasty to get some response. e.g waited over 4 weeks for memory card to arrive and the guy lived only 50 miles away. On two occasions the item was faulty.

So unless it's a good bargain or difficult to get locally I prefer to get the item NOW! and pay the little extra. e.g a USB 2.0 card reader from jessops was £12, from the web £5 plus pp = £8 or so. It was worth the £4 extra not to have to think about it for the next week or so.

Robert