Posted by: "cfmspencer"
> I did forward to eBay security, and the emails were confirmed
> as bogus. I am still amazed at how legitimate one
> of the (three separate) email offers looked,
> complete with all manner of logos and whatnot
> including tips/links on how to check for fakes.
>
> it would seem that extreme caution is necessary when
> dealing with big ticket (over $1k?) items on ebay.
The thing to remember is that as soon as it went to private email offers
it was illegal for ebay transactions. The second chance offer system is
such you will receive a official notice from ebay, and then you go to a
offering page to buy the product. That page will look just like the
original auction page, but be specific to you. If you are getting email
like you describe it's outside the ebay system. Always check the headers
of email to see if it is from the correct place. Most "2nd chance" scams
I've gotten lately were mailed from somewhere in asia, most recent one
was from Russia. Not likely to be the original seller if he lists a US
location.
If all that occurs it can still be a scam, but a lot more work is
involved on the part of a scammer. Usually the links will give it away.
The emails can be legit enough and the seller is just trying to avoid
ebay's charges. But you are outside any of ebay's protections if you go
for it.
Even if it's all legit I don't often bite on 2nd chance offers. It
probably means I bid well higher than the seller wanted so he sees a
opportunity to sell multiples of items at higher prices. This is legit,
but unless it's something that's rare and hard to get I'll take my
chances with it turning up as a new auction. Where I might get it
cheaper. I go back and redo my homework on the price I should pay.
Note this is not a new ebay scam. The various forms have been around for
years. May be new to you, but not to me. Nor does it happen just with
very high priced item. I've had it tried on a $10 item, though how the
scammer was going to make a living at that level is a mystery. I
certainly take more care with high ticket items, but one has to know
what they are doing regardless of the price of the item. The biggest
problem on ebay right now is high shipping cost. USPS is far cheaper
than the package shippers, but many sellers on ebay still use the high
priced way. And there are some outright scams that are done with
shipping cost.
Walt
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