How to avoid getting cheated on eBay -- periodic post

On Fri, 14 May 2004 10:59:03 -0700, "Bob Flaminio" wrote:

It's a mystery to me as well. I don't think he's related to AH --
otherwise, he wouldn't've already left me a positive FB. His record is
pretty much spotless, as is his past history -- certainly I checked all
this out before even bidding. Yet his emails to me have been sporadic
and cryptic. Maybe I found the one eBay seller whose wife really *did*
leave him, and who really *did* go into the hospital when he was
supposed to be processing my order.

Bob, some people just aren't good communicating via email.
Have you pulled his contact info and tried calling him? I have
avoided many problems by picking up the phone and calling.
--
K6AZ WEB PAGES

http://www.k6az.com/web_pages.htm

"Reid Goldsborough" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 14 May 2004 02:51:09 GMT, CoinKollector
wrote:

My method works better: haven't bought or sold anything on EBay.
Haven't succumbed to it yet, maybe never will.

Interesting and understandable perspective. My view though is that as
long as you're informed and careful, you can drastically reduce the
chances of becoming victim to online auction fraud. Same with getting
stuck with a counterfeit. eBay can be fun, a lot of fun, despite the
risk (maybe because of it g). Here's one idea: Start small. Try
bidding on a few lower-cost items. And to reduce the risk to near
zero, find out first by asking around here for some names of active
sellers on eBay in the areas you collect who have stellar reputations.


Agree entirely. 100%

eBay, despite its limitations, is by far the most attractive option for a collector
such as myself who is not catered for by the local dealers.

Online purchasing (dealer's websites) are good, too, but only the 'Bay provides the
white-knuckle adrenalin-enhanced experience that is sniping.

If you don't enjoy the *process* of buying, (acquiring) you're probably an investor -
not a collector - and I personally wish you'd switch to securities or managed funds.

--
Jeff R.
(don't know and don't care what my collection is "worth")

You've got to be kidding.
The gutless wonder never ceases to amaze.
Mr. First Amendment.
My hero.

On Fri, 14 May 2004 11:45:33 -0500, Bob Flaminio wrote
(in article ):

CoinKollector wrote:
My method works better: haven't bought or sold anything on EBay.
Haven't succumbed to it yet, maybe never will.

Well, I've been buying and selling on eBay for nearly five years, and
haven't gotten cheated yet.

But perhaps soon... I'm currently in the midst of a transaction going
awry. I've gotten both the "wife of 25 years just left me" and "been in
the hospital for a week" excuses.



The dog ate it.

Al

K6AZ wrote:
Bob, some people just aren't good communicating via email.
Have you pulled his contact info and tried calling him? I have
avoided many problems by picking up the phone and calling.

Wonder of wonders -- the coin showed up in today's mail. And what a
journey it's been on. First things first: this is the coin in question:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3901915650

OK, so it's not everyone's cup o' tea, and I probably paid too much, but
oh well.

I went against my usual rule and bought this one despite the seller not
accepting PayPal. So, the auction ended on March 13, and I sent off a MO
right away. The seller got it and left me positive feedback on March 21.
Then I start waiting... and waiting...

....and waiting...

Perhaps two weeks go by, and I email the seller. He says give it another
week. OK.

Another week. Nothing. Email the seller, and he says that he hopes it's
not lost, because that would be the fourth one this year.

Fourth?! And it's only March. No one "loses" four packages in three
months -- my thoughts immediately suspect that a worker at his PO
figured out what he was dealing in, and decided to help himself to an
occasional package. My heart sank at the prospect of ever seeing the
coin. Well, at least it was insured...

Now it's a month from when he shipped it, and I request for him to begin
the process of getting my money back. Now, if it were me, I would just
send the buyer his money right away, and deal with the PO myself, but he
wants to wait until the PO pays him, and then he'll send the money to
me. Fair enough -- not everyone has $300 lying around that they can
float.

A week later, and I've heard nothing. Email the seller. He replies that
he's sorry he hasn't responded, but his wife of 25 years has just walked
out on him. I'm thinking, uh-oh, here we go -- not only do I not get my
coin, I won't be getting my money back either. I didn't see it coming --
his feedback looked fine. But we've all seen sellers that just flame
out.

More time passes, no information. Email the seller. Now he's just
getting out of the hospital and recovering from surgery. This guy is
either having the worst two months of his life, or is just stringing me
along for kicks.

More time passes, no information. Email the seller. This time his son
responds. His father is still ill from the surgery, and can't see very
well, so he's taken upon the task of cleaning up his business. He'll
work on the insurance papers for me.

Then last week, I get an email from the son -- my coin has magically
shown up in their PO Box! Incredulous, I say "great!" send it on out --
I still wanted the coin, although subsequent to this the ACG brou-ha-ha
had started, and the money would've helped too. He says he'll send it
out priority mail.

And then today -- it arrives! Interesting packaging -- I open the
priority mail mailer, and there's another mailer inside. I open that
one, and there's a third mailer contained therein -- the original one
that the seller sent out. Immediately, it's obvious what had happened.
The seller had used a stick-on label that was printed with my address
information, and it appeared to have gotten stuck in a sorting machine
and had the label ripped right off, including his return address. The
only thing remaining was his company logo, and apparently the PO staff
was able to use that to stick it back in his box. Amazing.

Only thing left was the email the seller's son and let him know that the
package arrived safely, and to leave positive feedback. A happy ending!

Big thanks to the seller, his son, and the diligent PO staff that got
the package back safe and sound.

And Bob and his nickel lived happily ever after...

--
Bob

Which is why I say that whenever you're mailing something of value, always
stick it in an envelop with your address on it and then put the envelop in a
mailer. That way if the outer wrapper gets destroyed or damaged for some
reason there will be no doubt who the stuff belongs to. This is also true
if you use a cardboard mailer to hold the coins. Put an address label on it
too. And then put it in a padded mailer.

This paid off years ago when I mailed 3 rolls of film to be processed. They
were in a mailer that you can find in the Sunday paper. A short time later,
I received a large letter from the film company telling me that the mailer
had arrived without the film. For some reason the mailer broke and the 3
rolls of film were no where to be found. But I had taken the precaution of
putting an address label on each of the rolls of film. A short time later,
I received a package from the post office with the three rolls of film.

Mailing coins should go the same way. The cost of an envelop and an address
label could save a coin from being lost in the mail.


--
Richard
My coin Links:
http://home.netcom.com/~richlh/Coins/MyCoinLinks.htm



"Bob Flaminio" wrote in message
...
K6AZ wrote:
Bob, some people just aren't good communicating via email.
Have you pulled his contact info and tried calling him? I have
avoided many problems by picking up the phone and calling.

Wonder of wonders -- the coin showed up in today's mail. And what a
journey it's been on. First things first: this is the coin in question:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3901915650

OK, so it's not everyone's cup o' tea, and I probably paid too much, but
oh well.

I went against my usual rule and bought this one despite the seller not
accepting PayPal. So, the auction ended on March 13, and I sent off a MO
right away. The seller got it and left me positive feedback on March 21.
Then I start waiting... and waiting...

...and waiting...

Perhaps two weeks go by, and I email the seller. He says give it another
week. OK.

Another week. Nothing. Email the seller, and he says that he hopes it's
not lost, because that would be the fourth one this year.

Fourth?! And it's only March. No one "loses" four packages in three
months -- my thoughts immediately suspect that a worker at his PO
figured out what he was dealing in, and decided to help himself to an
occasional package. My heart sank at the prospect of ever seeing the
coin. Well, at least it was insured...

Now it's a month from when he shipped it, and I request for him to begin
the process of getting my money back. Now, if it were me, I would just
send the buyer his money right away, and deal with the PO myself, but he
wants to wait until the PO pays him, and then he'll send the money to
me. Fair enough -- not everyone has $300 lying around that they can
float.

A week later, and I've heard nothing. Email the seller. He replies that
he's sorry he hasn't responded, but his wife of 25 years has just walked
out on him. I'm thinking, uh-oh, here we go -- not only do I not get my
coin, I won't be getting my money back either. I didn't see it coming --
his feedback looked fine. But we've all seen sellers that just flame
out.

More time passes, no information. Email the seller. Now he's just
getting out of the hospital and recovering from surgery. This guy is
either having the worst two months of his life, or is just stringing me
along for kicks.

More time passes, no information. Email the seller. This time his son
responds. His father is still ill from the surgery, and can't see very
well, so he's taken upon the task of cleaning up his business. He'll
work on the insurance papers for me.

Then last week, I get an email from the son -- my coin has magically
shown up in their PO Box! Incredulous, I say "great!" send it on out --
I still wanted the coin, although subsequent to this the ACG brou-ha-ha
had started, and the money would've helped too. He says he'll send it
out priority mail.

And then today -- it arrives! Interesting packaging -- I open the
priority mail mailer, and there's another mailer inside. I open that
one, and there's a third mailer contained therein -- the original one
that the seller sent out. Immediately, it's obvious what had happened.
The seller had used a stick-on label that was printed with my address
information, and it appeared to have gotten stuck in a sorting machine
and had the label ripped right off, including his return address. The
only thing remaining was his company logo, and apparently the PO staff
was able to use that to stick it back in his box. Amazing.

Only thing left was the email the seller's son and let him know that the
package arrived safely, and to leave positive feedback. A happy ending!

Big thanks to the seller, his son, and the diligent PO staff that got
the package back safe and sound.

And Bob and his nickel lived happily ever after...

--
Bob

I'm not sure what your situation was on ebay, I didn't understand it.
Just to feed this post~~~~ I only got burned once from an ebay purchase.
I gave the guy in Combined Locks, Wisc. the benefit of the dought and
sent him $12.50 for the second time only to never receive my stuff,,
again. He never replies to emails and appears to be gone. 25 bucks
doesn't hurt me, it's getting ripped off that really disturbs me.

I would guess that people get ripped for $1000's everyday. Like the
$50,000 Buffalo Nickel guy. Some people have to take criminal advantage
of everything. Because they are too weak and lazy to earn a living.

The thing that really makes me laugh is the scam with a foreign oil
executive that has chosen you to be the secret person who will give you
20% of $1,000,000,000 just for a favor. They say,, send me your bank
account # and SSN#. What a blessing, I am chosen at least twice a week
by these Billionaires. Who want me to do them a small favor. It is
frightening to think that this scam works with 100's if not 1000's of
people everyday.

Is there a good place to report these people? I get them every other day
and it seems like these people should be under arrest for being just
plain evil. I'm sure that a majority of the ID thefts come from things
like this. One could say that if someone is so stupid as to actually
give this information out, you are an idiot. I agree, however there are
old widowed ladies out there, people who are sick and/or desperate.
These evil people feed on them. If this WWW. is going to work, something
has to be done about that. The thugs have gotten off the streets and sat
at their computers. Most mafia, KKK, and terrorism has a web page now. I
say, Shut it down! The whole web should just be gone. Besides, it
doesn't ever work right. It will be 100 years or possibly never that
this WWW ever works correctly. You will have problems forever and they
are guaranteed to get worse and much more expensive. However everybody
is hooked now and there is no turning back.

The birds are still signing and the world is basically still good.

On Tue, 25 May 2004 10:15:20 -0700, "Bob Flaminio" wrote:

Now it's a month from when he shipped it, and I request for him to begin
the process of getting my money back. Now, if it were me, I would just
send the buyer his money right away, and deal with the PO myself, but he
wants to wait until the PO pays him, and then he'll send the money to
me. Fair enough -- not everyone has $300 lying around that they can
float.

The reason most sellers won't refund the money immediately is
that once the buyer has the refund, a lot of times they won't bother
to fill out their half of the insurance claim form. My policy is to make
the refund once the buyer has returned the completed claim form
to me.

Glad you got your nickel and it all worked out.
--
K6AZ WEB PAGES

http://www.k6az.com/web_pages.htm