EBay Selling, How to Avoid Online Fraud

Spoofing

Spoofing is a new online fraud scam. Viewers receive emails that look very official, seemingly from ebay, paypal, etc. with requests to update your password or credit card information. Never... Ever...Ever send personal information via email!

If you are in doubt, log onto the email sender's website to see if there are any notes or messages regarding the email you received. I have been dealing with the internet for years, and this one almost got past me!

Credit Card Scams

Criminals will often steal credit cards and use them to purchase products at ebay or other estores. They will then have the merchandise mailed to a post office box. After the products are picked up, the post office box is closed and another box will be rented in a different location. It is important that you only send products to the confirmed address listed with paypal.com. A confirmed address is the address that the credit card is issued to, and it is easy to verify this with either the credit card company or paypal.

Important - Ebay Fraud Protection

Many people don't know ebay will reimburse buyers up to $200.00 (less $25.00 to cover processing costs) in cases of non-shipment or significant misrepresentation of items purchased on ebay.

Payment Options

Paypal is a fantastic payment service. Ebay purchased this company in 2002. There is zero fraud risk if you follow their basic procedures. You can send and receive payments in seconds.

www.bidpay.com also provides a great service. This is a division of Western Union. I accept bidpay only for international purchases. You receive an email confirmation and a check in 3-5 days; only then do you ship your product.

Before submitting credit card numbers over the internet, ensure that you are using a secure server. The beginning of the web address in your browser window should be "https://" and not "http://" For secure server pages, you should also see a "lock" icon at the bottom of the browser.

COD stands for Cash on Delivery. I do not recommend this type of payment; however, there are occasions when a buyer will request a COD payment. This is how it works: Items can be sent via UPS, Fed Ex, or similar carriers. The sender fills out a form stating it is COD and the carrier collects the payment when the shipment is delivered. It usually takes several days for you to receive the payment.

The main reason I don't use this type of payment is simple. It is more expensive! Another reason is that as many as 50%-60% of the deliveries are refused when the shipment is delivered. Some buyers have even paid for shipments with fraudulent cashier's checks. As you can see, it is not a payment method that makes sense. When you run a business, you need to look at the big picture; and that is to eliminate any unnecessary expense or fraud.

I do not accept personal checks.....ever.

Money orders, United States Postal Service and others. I have never received a fraudulent money order.

Tim Gilberg is able to provide information and insight from a unique perspective - that of someone who is actually doing what others just talk about. Ebay Power Seller Platinum Status was Attained by Tim Gilberg, which is one of the highest sales levels attained selling on eBay. Tim is active on Ebay and liquidation.com as well as consulting and working with other Top ebay Power Seller's to give you real life in use insight, not theories.Visit Tim Gilberg at his website Make Money on eBay