Avoid The eBay Buyer Scam Blues

If you are a regular seller on eBay then you know that doing business on auction sites has its risks. It doesn't matter if sell a handful or hundreds of products a month, you will probably come across a problem buyer. Here are some tips to protect yourself from over 99% of the scams and problem buyers on auction sites.

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Tip #1 Create a clear, concise listing
If you are selling an item, make sure you describe it properly and thoroughly. Make sure you express clearly your exchange or refund policy. If you don’t accept exchanges or refunds then make sure your buyers are aware.

The majority of the problems are communications problems, so although many times the buyer does not read the ad, at least it was stated and you covered yourself.

Tip #2 Accept either Paypal or a money order
If a buyer uses Paypal, then there is a record that a payment was either made or wasn’t made. If a buyer states that they made a payment through Paypal and Paypal has no record then you are off the hook. If you are willing to accept another form of payment only accept money orders.

There is absolutely no reason to accept a check. If a person wants to buy your product then they will purchase a money order. This way you can go to the bank and cash the money order. If it goes through, you know it wasn’t counterfeit and you can send out the merchandise. You don’t have to worry about a check being overdrawn or cancelled.

Tip #3 Always ship an item with delivery confirmation
Most shipping software comes with delivery confirmation. This way you can show if a product has arrived or not and you can prove that a product was sent out. Make sure the buyer purchases insurance for an item if it is valuable, this way they can easily replace their item if their product gets lost.

Follow these three tips and you will stop 99% of the scams and problems that sellers have on eBay.