Unlike online communities such as facebook and myspace, ebay is an online community that is not solely for the purpose of communicating with friends, or sharing pictures and videos. Ebay is a way for people to buy products for a cheaper price than they would in a store since most things are sold through an individual. It also presents people with the opportunity to get rid of used items, and even sometimes make a profit. While this website seems like a good, foolproof way to buy and sell things, both the buyer and the seller are subject to fraud, as described in the articles from msnbc.com and smallbuniesscomputing.com.
The article entitled, “Man arrested in huge ebay fraud,” is about one of the biggest frauds that ebay has every experienced. Over 1,000 people sent big sums of money to a laptop company called Liquidation Universe through ebay; however they did not receive their laptops. What made them angrier was the fact that an ebay verification service, SquareTrade, had approved Liquidation Universe and therefore assured the buyers that they weren’t subject for fraud. The company started off with good reviews from it’s buyers for the first few months, and then people started complaining that they weren’t receiving their laptops. Due to this, it’s unclear to the people involved in this case whether this company started in order to scam people, or that business was so poor that they couldn’t send the buyers their laptops. The company ‘stole’ close to one million dollars.
In contrast to the first article, “Victimized! My First eBay Fraud,” is about a seller who doesn’t receive her money. What’s ironic about this article is that the author, Beth Cox, had written many articles on how to avoid online fraud, warning people to be careful when they make online transactions. She was informed by paypal that the buyer had a fraudulent account, and since she was not covered by paypal’s seller protection policy, she couldn’t get her money back. Unlike the first article, this scam was preventable, but the seller wasn’t careful. The email address of the buyer was not confirmed by paypal, but sellers are reluctant to ask customers to be confirmed by paypal in fear that they will lose business this way. As a result, Beth Cox lost $15. While this isn’t a lot of money, no matter how much money is lost, it’s still upsetting, whether it’s a buyer or seller.
6 comments:
eBay is a world-wide site that helps buyers find products much more cheaper. Sellers could make profits off of their merchandise and old belongings they dont want anymore. Since, I have never bought anything off the internet, this issue about fraud caught my attention. I would assume that people are conscious of what they are putting their money into. I heard eBay has feedbacks on sellers to see if the seller has a good or bad reputation. This obviously should be read first before making any judgements. I might have to start selling some of my old items on eBay to get a feel about this ONLINE BUSINESS.
DREW ;]
I think Ebay is a really cool site. When i first heard of it, i first thought what a great idea. "One mans junk, is another mans treasure"..lol that first came to mind. Everyone i know that doesn't want to pay the full the price of something, always goes on Ebay to buy it for cheaper. Whatever you want, it always somehow is being sold on Ebay. But the article Allison had mention about fraud i think is a huge issue. Both buyers and sellers should both be aware.
I have to write in response to David Brooks because he mentions the BlackBerry and I hate them so very much. In his article, Brooks reveals, "I'm no longer clear on where I end and my BlackBerry begins." The emotional connection that some people develop with their BlackBerry makes me want to vomit. Asking a person to turn one off is like asking them to punch their own face. I dealt with these little electronic bastards for years: just seeing one when I would be doing a compliance check would make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It surprises me how some people would be rude about parting from their beloved electronic mind.
Ebay is a networking site that allows for us to purchase materialistic things for cheaper. It in my experience is not very reliable because while purchasing concert tickets, my seller didn't con through with the tickets, because he has sold it to to set so people, but fortunately for me i was able to regain my spending and take my business elsewhere. I wouldn't really purchase much more than tickets or perhaps certain furniture on ebay. It seems to be an online garage sale to me. I would not purchase anyone ones used clothing or shoes, because i don't believe it is sanitary. Ebay is a coo site overall, it has books and games that you might want for a lot cheaper than its original price, but tht also may not always be the case depending on he product and the scarcity of it.
eBay is the world's online marketplace, with millions of transactions daily both nationally and internationally. it was a community being held together by trust, and of course we found a way to corrupt it. with the many stories we hear of people getting scammed and cheated on eBay, what we don't hear about is all the success it has daily, because who wants to hear about repetitive success. (wait let me think bout that) either way whats great about eBay and what keeps it running are the ratings we all give and receive when using the site. it serves as a sort of bible keeping many honest in hopes of building up their credibility.
When I first heard of eBay I thought it was a huge scam. I'm like "no one will ever buy stuff from there!" I was wrong! LoL! Over the past years eBay has modified its way of buying and selling to make it more safe. I even am proud to say that I'm an eBayer. I bought a whole bunch of stuff at great prices. This website is one the all time greatest websites ever!
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