Shoulda waited for Dan and Eric !!!

Seems like I just nearly got fleeced on Evil-Bay !

Finding it hard to wait for Dan( Yard ) or Eric( Swamp ) to bring out another mid sized blade I looked on Evil-Bay for either a Howling Rat or Ratmandu.
Anyways I bid on a Howler but lost, then I got an e-mail saying that the winner had been rejected and as the second highest bidder I had won it.....I contacted Evil-Bay and it turns out it was a scam....lucky my wife smelled a fish, me being dumb and believing everything I'd probably have sent the cash !!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" />

That's why they call it "Evil bay" "Gay bay" and all those other insulting names. Glad you didn't get scammed.

you have to watch out on the bay
if it isnt a scam the product is usually overpriced, a knock off, or not the quallity discribed
for example these types of survival knives
they copy famous disign's
ka-bar
http://cgi.ebay.com/Tanto-Military-Style...1QQcmdZViewItem
reeve's green beret
http://cgi.ebay.com/Meyerco-Tactical-Sur...1QQcmdZViewItem
or tag it with military units
75th rangers
http://cgi.ebay.com/Army-RANGER-COMBAT-S...1QQcmdZViewItem
1st special forces
http://cgi.ebay.com/LARGE-11-Inch-GREEN-...1QQcmdZViewItem
navy seals
http://cgi.ebay.com/Survival-Knife-Lot-o...1QQcmdZViewItem

I could go on forever but bottom line evil-bay is full of crap

I actually do a lot of buying and some selling on ebay for MANY types of items and consider it a great tool and concept. I don't always like their fees, but that's another story and generally only applies to sellers.

There are many things sold on ebay that can't be found anywhere else - especially older, discontinued or collectible type stuff and also parts for stuff!
Many worthy knives would be on that list. I have never come across a knife store or even internet web stores with the type of variety that individuals can offer via ebay.

Guess what? - If you want a Ratmandu or Howler, there are only three realistic places to get one anymore.: Ebay, Bladeforums and Knifeforums! Bladeforums is much more active for the Busse family of knives than Knifeforums - although Knifeforums has lots of other good stuff as well.

But, as a buyer, the risks for purchasing via the forums is really about the same. The only thing better about the forums is that most of the forum members take some amount of pride in their business practices via the forums. I want to say that most forum members do the right thing and are all fair. But, I have to try to be open to the odd member who might not be one of the good guys.

It is good to know a little about the business and how it works whether you buy via ebay OR via the forums to help avoid getting scammed or otherwise making a bad purchase. Seller feedback on ebay is a HUGE tool. I always consider a seller's rating and will often read some of the feedback.
Similarly, number of posts makes me feel more comfortable about sending funds to somebody on the forums. I wouldn't buy a knife from somebody on the forums who only has 1 - 20 posts or so!

Ebay doesn't like it, but they "do" like for you to relist and pay more fees.

Technically, ebay says you can't do side deals. They will threaten to ban you from being a member. But, people do it and deals are often made that way to avoid more ebay relisting fees and to avoid waiting another week for an item to sell.

The catch is: A 2nd highest bidder does "NOT" have any obligations.

A seller can "Offer" an off the books side deal to a buyer (not O.K. per ebay, but it happens). But, the buyer doesn't have the same recourse of action via ability to leave negative feedback if needed.

Ebay is fine by me. I have bought "Hundreds" of items from ebay. Often at much better prices, better selections and more convenient than retail. But, you have to take responsibility for your own actions, purchases, bids, etc. And "ESPECIALLY" be carefull with side deals.

So, it is good to know what you are doing.


.

name.....link? So we can avoid scammers!!!!!

Ebay is full of CRAP - No Doubt, but your examples all seem like obvious pieces of crap to me.
They do qualify as knock-offs for the most part, but I am not sure if those examples would be scams as none are technically listed incorrectly or stating to be something they are not.
It would be a scam if something like the Meyerco was actually listed as "A Chris Reeve - Green Beret". That would be a scam - and B.S.
But, that is an actual Meyerco knife and Meyerco is a ligit knife company. Blackie Collins is a knife designer. But, Meyerco and Blackie Collins typically make and sell lower end junk.


A scam would be picture of Jesus burned into a piece of toast for $10,000. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

But, for those willing to pay, value is clearly a debateable topic.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Most people would feel our $100 - $200 + knives are INSANE prices for knives.

To each their own....


But, bottom line is still that you need to know what you are doing. This includes knowing "Exactly" what you are bidding on.

If you are unsure, ask questions and expect good answers prior to bidding.
If someone falsifies info in a listing or a response to questions, THEN, you have recourse of action with Ebay.

But, be warned, Ebay's general policy is to provide a tool to do business, but you are on your own after that. They will ban people, but Ebay is known to be tough to deal with. You just generally can't get anyone to help you very easily.

Ebay makes millions! But, no doubt they profit MUCH by not having much customer support.

Again, generally, you are on your own. So, make "INFORMED" decisions when buying.

Read listings carefully,
Know what you are buying,
If unsure ask questions,
Consider feedback ratings!
Etc.

.

This was the e-mail that I sent to the so called seller....

Hiya,

We are still very interested in the Howling Rat, but can you tell me why it has been offered to us after someone else won it? We are very new to e-bay and still learning. Why do you need our full name, mailing address and ID? Can you not access our ID from the auction page of the Howling Rat? Sorry for the questions!

Thanks.

And this was the Abrupt response I got back, note they didn't answer any of our questions....

Let me know your shipping address exactly as requested (Street, City, State and Zip) so I can calculate exact shipping costs before I proceed and start the transaction !

What we found strange was that they e-mailed us on a account that we had not listed with e-bay ?
We contacted e-bay with their e-mail addy and e-bay said it was not logged with them and they could not trace it !!!

PM sent Pitman

There are a lot of fake email going around with ebay/paypal, becareful. Certain Internet Security software, such as Norton 360, will detect these fake sites/links, it's called phishing.

Firefox lets me know from time to time as well on "fake login" kind of stuff.

Good catch by your wife! I am glad that you did not lose anything.

+1 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

I've had pretty good luck with Ebay, buying and selling. I've been burned once or twice in the past, but they weren't too painful and I learned a lot in the process. There's always going to be somebody out there looking for new and better ways to steal somebody's hard earned money.

Glad you and your wife caught on to it before any harm was done.

That was another thing, they said they didn't use paypal !!!

Paypal is pretty useful but I have heard that it is not a good idea to ship stuff out of the country if you have been payed with it because the buyer can claim he never received his stuff and get a full refund from your credit card.


I have done some what to me are big transactions (500 to 600$)over the CGN (canadian gun nutz) exchange with no problems at all. It is a small community ,everyone knows each other and most of the people I have dealt with have done 100's of transactions. EMT is the preferred method of payment and it is mine as well unless I want the extra protection of PP. With EMT the fees are minimal(1.50$ for everything I have sent)it is instant ,it comes out of your bank account but it is the totally safe as the people sending or recieving the cash don't need to know anything but a screen name and an Email address + an agreed upon code. When you see some funds transfer in a movie like mission impossible 3 with the 2 laptops this is how it is done.

If you stick with people from BF ect who have good reps you won't have any problems.

Replied to your e-mail bro but I'm not sure if you got it as your box is full !

Yeah, that happened to me when I sold an iPod accessory to a guy in France for $100. Even though I said in the ad that I wasn’t responsible for items shipped if insurance wasn’t purchased. All they had to do was “claim” they never received it. And PP refunded his money. Even though he was new with low feedback, and I’ve been a buyer/seller since 1998 and had a feedback score of 1,500+.

http://www.paypalsucks.com

I have never had a problem with using PayPal to pay or receive funds with probably around 500 or so PayPal transactions.

... Maybe I have been lucky. But, it is probably easy for me to say I like something until the day a nightmare happens (????).

As far as issues with shipping out of the country. I recommend high caution. I will ship out of the country, but ONLY if I ship Priority International with insurance. This usually costs about $30 - $50. It is expensive and I tell possibly buyers how it will be or no deal.
A few years ago, I had a few issues shipping knives via cheaper options because buyers tend to want cheaper shipping and don't want to pay $30 - $40, I agreed to ship via a cheaper option and had problems. I felt very bad about the situation and both the buyer and myself ended up loosing on those deals while somebody working for some postal system in my country or the receiving company probably stole some nice custom knives. Another situation happened where the package was lost via cheaper shipping. The package somehow actually finally showed up after about 6-7 weeks! I was shipping to England and the package took a detour to Australia and somewhere else. The package had been opened - we assumed searched. We were both amazed when it finally showed up. We had both written it off as lost. With cheaper shipping, neither country will take responsibility for a package, neither will help and each will blame the other.
Priority International with insurance is the minimum way to ship and have some sort of recourse with the shipping companies. Amazing how those packages get where they are supposed to go. But, it is expensive. So, International deals are problimatic as most people balk at the shipping costs.
It is actually amazing how many people ask me on both ebay and forums if I will ship to another country. In the end, it seems only about 15% - 20% or so agree to pay for the cost of Priority International insured shipping.

In any event, I feel Ebay and PayPal both are generally good systems if you ONLY deal with people with PROVEN and documented records of significant number of transactions.

I don't know that I feel that everybody must have at least 99% positive though.

Consider this, I currently am at 99.5% positive, but early on with ebay, I was the buyer of "2" items. The buyer shipped me the items, but one of the items I purchased seperatly was already included with the first. The seller didn't list that it was included and I didn't find out till I received it. When I received everything and found out I had purchased a duplicate item I didn't need, I contacted the seller and asked if he would allow me to return it if I paid return shipping. I felt he should have communicated the item was included and I was paying ALL shipping fees. He wouldn't be out anything except PayPal fees of about a buck or buck fifty or so. He replied no and included a fairly nasty email. Where I had tried to be nice and reasonable about it.

I left positive feedback for the first item and "Neutral" (not negative) for the second and explained in my feedback that I had requested to return a duplicate item and couldn't. In return, the seller gave me 2 negatives!

Another seller took over a month to ship me my item. I left him a negative and he retaliated by leaving me a negative. So, I had 3 negatives early on. It has taken me many years to get back over 99%!

Yet I have never had a negative as a seller!

About 98% of my transactions are purchases, but I have sold a few things.

Because of what happened to me, I actually research feedback and "specifically" look for negatives. By reading only the negatives, considering if it was left by seller or buyer, I make judgments and decisions. Not just solely on percentage. Some feedbacks left are unfair.

I also have learned to not leave feedback as a buyer until I have received the item in good condition.

If the item is in poor condition or there is an issue, I would request the seller to leave feedback first, then leave yours. But, I really haven't had any situations to leave negative since.

As a seller, I have made it a rule not to leave any feedback until I recieve feedback from the buyer.

Try again now! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

i know alot of people have had trouble with evil bay, but luckily (knock wood) i've not had problems yet. but i've also only every been a buyer. Lately my wife has bought some very nice outfits for the kids on ebay for super cheap. Hanna Anderson outfits that retail for 40 and 50 bucks for 5$.

I have come close to falling for scams once or twice, now I only deal a select few.

There is also Busse Kin Exchange on yahoo groups that is full of honest people.... I hope.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bussekinexchange/

I've been on eBay over 10 years now. I've had a few idiots - not wanting to pay of selling items as mint when they are well used - but they are definitely in the minority.

If you are a seller, always make your auctions private so that others can't see who is bidding; only accept paypal and always get a signature on delivery.

There is some terribly overpriced stuff on eBay but there is also the occasional deal.

Just be cautious and as Knifeguy says, look at feedback and how much care the lister takes in describing the item and showing multiple images.

This discussion is from 2007 - it was bumped up by a spammer shilling for a personal loan website. The mods will be removing the post soon and banning the spammer, no doubt.

Edit: and it looks like they have. That was fast <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Errrr - didn't see that.

Thanks for pointing it out

whoa, zombie thread! can't believe this thread was back from 07 and I posted in it. I must have had less then 100 posts at the time.

man Pitdog! major kudos to your lovely wife for spotting that one!

I wonder if he ever got the knife he wanted?

I bought the HG-55 off E-bay last week. No problems, guess i lucked out.