Want to learn how to spot scammers on eBay so you can protect yourself as a seller on the platform? If yea, it’s your great day. Can you believe that some scammers pose as innocent buyers on eBay to take advantage of you or any innocent sellers? Yes, they leverage consumer protection standards to defraud you and go scot-free.
For example, a scammer may claim an empty delivery and request a refund while keeping the product. A lot of scamming activities like that happen on eBay and you must understand how the game plays to not become a victim.
And don’t pray to not encounter scammers. Rather, read this article till the end so you can understand how to spot, identify, and avoid scammers as an eBay seller to protect yourself.
To Protect Yourself as an eBay Seller:
- Understand How Selling Works on eBay
- Know eBay’s Consumer Protection Measures
- Use eBay to Receive or Make Payments
- Employ Trackable Posting or Shipping Service
- Reject Overpayment Offer
- Watch Out for Changed Address
- Understand the Empty Delivery Claim
- Make Proper Documentation
- Dispute an Unwarranted Chargeback
- Know What to Do if Someone Scams You on eBay
Glad? Let’s dive into it.
1. Understand How Selling Works on eBay
To protect yourself as a seller on eBay, understand how selling works on the platform. Selling on eBay is simple. You create a seller account on the platform, list the product to sell, upload quality photos of your product, and write detailed product description. Then you set the price of your product and specify your shipping policies.
To boost sales, you promote your store and receive orders from your clients. Set your store’s payment methods and offer fast delivery. You create a win-win situation selling on eBay—you make profits and your customers enjoy the items they bought from you.
2. Know eBay's Consumer Protection Measures
To protect yourself as a seller on eBay, know the platform’s consumer protection measures. If a buyer does not receive an item ordered or receive an item not as described, the buyer can open a case at the Resolution Center. eBay customer support team can ask the seller to refund the buyer plus shipping cost.
Once a buyer opens a case, you must respond to it within three days. Otherwise, the buyer can escalate the case to eBay’s customer support. If the case favors the buyer, the platform debits your balance and credit the buyer.
3. Use eBay to Receive or Make Payments
To defend yourself as an eBay seller, receive and make payments on the platform. Avoid any buyers who propose to make payments outside of eBay—like Western Union or MoneyGram. You risk facing the consequences if anything goes wrong from payment outside of eBay.
Avoid fake alert email by always checking your bank account to ensure a payment is successful before shipping an item.
4. Employ Trackable Posting or Shipping Service
To protect yourself as a seller on eBay, use trackable posting or shipping service. Trackable posting helps you to be sure the buyer receives an item—which cancels out the possibilities of claiming to not receive the order, thereby, requesting for a refund. Also, if a customer passes a bad review on your store, you can apply for automatic bad feedback removal provided you have the prove of shipping the item to the buyer.
5. Reject Overpayment Offer
To avoid a scammer’s trap as a seller on eBay, reject overpayment offer. Don’t agree when a customer asks to overpay a product’s price. Such buyers pay with fraudulent checks. You get to understand after a few days when the check bounces and you already delivered the item.
6. Watch Out for Changed Address
To stay alert and protect yourself as a seller on eBay, watch out for changed address. Walk away from a buyer who offers to pay more than the price of a product to cover for extra shipping costs. Such a buyer suddenly changes shipping address to a foreign country.
In the process, the scammer requests your PayPal address and sends a fake address to you with PayPal logo. In the email, the scammer requests the shipping tracking information and states that you will receive your money as soon as you deliver the product. You ship the product without ever hearing from the scammer again.
7. Understand the Empty Delivery Claim
To protect yourself as an eBay seller, understand the empty delivery claim. Here, a buyer pays for an item and you ship it promptly. However, the customer claims you sent an empty box therefore accusing you of fraud. Next, the scammer opens a case against you and demanded a refund. To protect yourself against an empty can claim, always use a trackable shipping or posting for all your orders.
8. Make Proper Documentation
Make proper documentation to not be a victim of scammers as you sell on eBay. Capture the entire process of packing and shipping orders for delivery. Keep an item’s shipping tracking number to counter any false claims from buyers. eBay supports buyers and if you have no evidence to show your innocence, you become a victim of scammers. If you sell expensive items—mobile phones, for example—capture the serial numbers and any other details to track the product in case of a buyer’s false claim in the future.
9. Dispute an Unwarranted Chargeback
To protect yourself as you sell in eBay, dispute an unwarranted chargeback. Get the proof of your transaction ready (shipping tracking information, pictures taken during packaging, etc.) and dispute any unjustifiable chargeback from your bank or from PayPal.
10. Know What to Do if Someone Scams You on eBay
To understand how to protect yourself as a seller on eBay, know what to do if a buyer scams you on the platform. Report promptly to the eBay’s support if you suspect a fraudulent behaviour from a buyer.
Recap
Be on the lookout for fraudulent behaviors from some buyers as you sell on eBay. It is easy to detect and avoid scammers on eBay. Understand how selling works on eBay, know eBay’s consumer protection measures, and use eBay to receive or make payments.
Employ trackable posting or shipping service, reject overpayment offer, watch out for changed address, and understand the empty delivery claim. Make proper documentation, dispute an unwarranted chargeback, and know what to do if someone scams you on eBay.
