What do you do to prevent buying a fake gamer on ebay?

[kneerat]

Hey guys,
I am doing a column for Tuff Stuff and wanted to get some of your opinions.

The focus of the article is ways to prevent getting scammed when buying game-worn jerseys on ebay.

Do any of you guys do anything in particular? Do you make sure the seller will refund your money if MEARS turns it down?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

chris

[skipcareyisfat]

Re: What do you do to prevent buying a fake gamer on ebay?

Know who you're buying from is one thing. But copious amounts of research I'd say comes first (especially if there's a Lampson COA with it). Even the good guys aren't immune to occasionally and unknowingly making mistakes in what they're selling. See past Steiner discussions for more on that. Buying directly from teams isn't a slam dunk either all the time. Learning as much as you can about your area(s) of interest is, in most cases, worth more than any COA. I like MEARS, but I don't need them or anyone else to tell me that my stuff's good. I'd prefer to do that leg work myself.

[Eric]

Re: What do you do to prevent buying a fake gamer on ebay?

Research of course comes first.

But here's something else. Very often when I buy game used pieces on and off ebay, I will ask the buyer if they will give me a certain window (say 5 days or a week) to look at the jersey and have a chance to return it for a refund.

It's hard to judge things by photos, and if the sellers are confident in their items, they are very often willing to do it.

If the seller refuses to do that, it's not a necessarily reflection on the item. It's just that when taking the leap buying an expensive item that you can't touch or see in person, it's nice to have that cushion.

Eric

[ham1963]

Re: What do you do to prevent buying a fake gamer on ebay?

Here is what I do when buying a jersey from E-Bay and by no means is it 100% safe.
1. Check the sellers feedback. This tellls something about the sellers reputation.
2. How long has the seller been online and how many jerseys has this person sold.
3 Does the seller have a refund policy. This tells me does this seller stand behind what he/she sells.
4.Dop my reseach

Just my thoughts what are yous
John

[kneerat]

Re: What do you do to prevent buying a fake gamer on ebay?

Thanks for the your thoughts... if you pay via Paypal and then the jersey turns out to be bad, can't you dispute the transaction and get a refund?

[staindsox]

Re: What do you do to prevent buying a fake gamer on ebay?

Paypal is not a complete safeguard, but is far safer than cash, check, money order.

One problem is that not everyone takes Paypal. They almost always take the side of the buyer, which is why some sellers are reluctant to use Paypal. Secondly, they are expensive. If you sell an item for a few thousand dollars, you would lose a couple hundred from Paypal alone. It's understandable why sellers may not use Paypal.

If you pay with a credit card, you can get the refund. I am not sure if it is the same from your checking account or not. In theory you can have it withdrawn from the seller's account, but if they have nothing in their account, I don't know how Paypal handles it.

Most importantly, Paypal only covers a limit. I believe it is $1500? Anything over the limit is not covered.

Hope this helps.

Chris

[XPFO]

Re: What do you do to prevent buying a fake gamer on ebay?

Paypal will only recoup you money though if the seller has money in their account...believe me, I found out the hard way.

[Canseco44]

Re: What do you do to prevent buying a fake gamer on ebay?

When people say check feedback, I don't just see what percentage they have in feedback. I will go and read the actual feedback left by people. I find lots of times a person will go ahead and leave good feedback even when they have had a problem with the person. They will just leave the good feedback and write what they did wrong out beside it. So they still have 100% feedback but have had problems in the past. Just my opinion, I may be the only one who has seen this. Anyone else seen what I'm talking about?

[Swoboda4]

Re: What do you do to prevent buying a fake gamer on ebay?

Only bid on items from established sellers. Sellers with a track record. That is the only safeguard. But if you see an item that has hallmarks that the seller doesn't describe.the one in a thousand,original that falls into the hands of a novice seller,that's the fun of E-bay.

[34swtns]

Re: What do you do to prevent buying a fake gamer on ebay?

Paypal's "investigative team" probably only spends a few minutes at the most investigating any "item significantly not as described" claim. I found that out the hard way. You can't send them any photographic evidence to back your claim against a seller because they won't accept e-mails with attachments or even links to photos. Consequently, I phoned them several times during the course of their 45-day "investigation" to make sure they had all the necessary details of my claim. They still found in favor of the seller, stating that the item wasn't "significantly different from the description". Indeed, it was. It was sold as a game worn jersey but it turned out to be a pieced-together authentic replica that I'm now stuck with. Suffice to say, Paypal is nearly worthless when it comes to investigating an item's authenticity.

[otismalibu]

Re: What do you do to prevent buying a fake gamer on ebay?

I don't have a bank account registered with Paypal...just a CC. If my Paypal balance is zero, then the entire purchase goes directly to my CC. I've never had any problems, but if a purchase went sour, I could at least have my CC company help me out.

[beavisrules]

Re: What do you do to prevent buying a fake gamer on ebay?

the only way to prevent getting scammed is doing your own research, period; also, read the wording VERY carefully, as a lot of times there will be red flag comments in the description; the feedback of the seller is overrated - I've had many more problems with people with 500+ feedback than I have with people with less than 100 (excluding zero and negative feedback folks) for some bizarre reason

ebay's safeharbor is a joke - I had a guy scam me with a chargeback, and ebay refused to suspend his account even though he used a stolen credit card - what a joke; as for paypal, ONLY use your credit card to make the payment without exception

bottom line is research and skepticism unless you've bought from the seller before and have a good business relationship with them, so to speak

[allstarsplus]

Re: What do you do to prevent buying a fake gamer on ebay?

1. Research the item
2. Research your seller. Use feedback and make sure they have sold game used items before. Crosscheck thru Google search too.
3. Email the seller to ask questions. If the seller doesn't respond--don't buy
4. If you are looking for 2nd opinions, use the Game Used Forum to get additional input
5. If you don't know the seller, use PayPal or credit card
6. On expensive items see if the seller lives in a city where you know someone who can pick up the item. If the seller won't accomodate the item to be picked up in person, question why not.
7. Check on return policy. Download pictures of the item to protect against a bait and switch on the item.
8. Caveat emptor

In item #6, I had a seller contact me outside of eBay with a hard luck story of needing cash quick and he went through items he would let go in a package deal which was priced great. It was several $1,000 he wanted and he sent me pictures and all that checked out but he wanted a wire transfer. The seller claimed he lived in California so I asked for an address so I can send someone I knew to pick up the items in person. He became very evasive to that and then claimed he was out of town and the items would be shipped from Arkansas. I then knew this was a scam.