You’re an honest business man, earning an honest pay from your honest business. Everything is kosher - the choir sings, harps play, cherubs dance. The world is perfect. NOT!

Having a business includes the part where “you got ripped off”. It is inevitable, it is to be expected. The real question here is, “How would you handle it?” Ebay and Paypal took a while but they did learn that even though eBay was started with the principle that every man in his own right is good and mean well, people still got ripped off.   It took them a lot of complaints from customers before they finally realized that it is a serious issue that needed to be addressed.  Whether it’s due to security or due to fraud, people get taken every day. The best thing one can do is to keep your wits about you and learn. Try to know figure out what is and isn’t real, and if the deal sounds too good to be true as they say - it probably is.

As a seller on eBay, I was taken a couple of times. When I started my eBay store, the eBay discussions on fraud and phishing was fairly new. One time, someone contacted me via email about an item I had listed for sale. The email came from Zimbabwe and provided me a Buy-it-Now price that a newbie could not refuse. The buyer further explains that he is willing to pay the amount offered because it is a gift that I had to send somewhere else other than his mailing address. And on top of that, he will send me the UPS label to use. That didn’t sound weird at all because we do third party shipping all the time. The weirdest part of the request was the Western Union payment that will be sent to me. He wanted to obtain my bank account information and Social Security number. That tipped it off. I contacted UPS to verify the label that was sent to me and was advised that it is not on their record. I called Western Union and was advised that no one receiving money via Western Union is required to provide a bank account and Social Security number. It turned out to be a scam and when I contacted the buyer with all the information I gathered from UPS and WU, I never heard back from him.

I was lucky that I was able to find out and discern that something in the transaction was amiss. But you may not be. So, for good reason - my advice is to follow these simple steps.

1. Never ship your items without receiving payment in full. (For check payments, note on your listing that shipment will not move until check clears.)
2. For high-priced items, always ask for a certified check or money order.
3. Use Paypal whenever you can. Their dispute policies have become better over the years. I used to struggle with it but I have found now that it is worth it to go through Paypal.
4. Always use a tracking number when shipping your items. This is specially helpful regarding disputes. If you can prove that the consignee or the buyer signed for the item or that the item was tracked and it shows “delivered”, you have better chances in winning the case.
5. Do not leave your feedback to the buyer until the buyer has provided you feedback. This will enable you to ensure that the transaction is complete and that both parties are satisfied with the transaction.
6. Check the buyer’s feedback record. For your high-priced items, you can surely add to your listing, a minimum amount of feedback you feel comfortable with to allow a buyer to bid on an item.

There are eBay and Paypal policies that you also have to follow when someone files a dispute or a claim against any of your shipments. There are certain steps and guidelines you have to follow before a claim can be honored. Always create good written records that you can refer to. Sometimes you will find, the nicest person you deal with on a transaction is only out there to scam you.

Keep your wits about you.. You’ll be fine.

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