another one bites the dust- ebay

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Posted By: leon

Hey folks
So far in about 2 weeks of working with my contact at ebay I have gotten several fake card auctions shut down. There was a very fake T206 Cobb, 120161701748, on there for a few days. I told the seller that there was no way it could be real as it had a yellow background (portrait) and all the wrong colors....She didn't believe me. I told her that I work with ebay on fraudulent listings. This morning (or yesterday, not sure) my contact shut down the auction. It's been a little slow for me, at the start of this, but keep the faith. I do think ebay is trying a little bit more to do what they can to keep the place as legit as possible. I think I could use an analogy of trying to turn a battleship. It's not very quick but it can be done.....Also, I know I might not have caught everyone that wants to help in this endeavor so please email me privately at lluckey@moredirect.com if you want to be part of the solution for shutting down these tainted auctions. I don't go after the close calls or ones that will bury the word "reprint" somewhere in the description. I am told there should be a reprint/cutout section in the future. Right now there is more than enough low hanging fruit to go after..I also know there are many cynics about doing this. That's ok...I will help a little if I can.......regards

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Posted By: barrysloate

So what is ebay going to do with this woman trying to sell the Wagner, who relists it each time she is shut down?

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Posted By: Matt

Your efforts will just be pushing a rock back and forth unless ebay changes their policy to not just removing the listing but banning the seller. Otherwise, as we've seen, they'll just post it again and you'll have to have it removed again, and on and on.

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Posted By: leon

I haven't posed anything like that to my contact. I doubt it's his department to ban people though she should be. If I am not mistaking the fake wagner from this woman is NOT currently up, correct? I will report her, and it, if it is. I will let my contact know about the repetition too...regards

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Posted By: leon

As I just said I will report this to my contact when she does it again and see what his response is....Please let me know...I haven't followed the whole saga on that one too closely....though I get the gist of it....

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Posted By: Matt

leon - you're missing my point. Forget that one instance - I was just using it as an example. Ebay needs to ban users who post forged cards and pass them off as real ones; not just remove the listings. Otherwise nothing stops those users from doing it again. The Wagner this past week has been blatant, but there are many users who post different forged cards every so often and just removing the listings, when we catch them is not the appropriate solution.

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Posted By: leon

I hear you...and understand.....here's an update just now from my contact....He says that there will indeed be a new section coming called something like "Reprints and Cutouts"......don't hold my feet to the fire on the exact name of the category but it will be something like that. Also, in reference to this bad seller and ones like her/him...here is what I just sent and am awaiting a response...

Hey XXX
There is a big issue on my chatboard about allowing this same seller to continually list fake T206 Wagner cards and not have her completely banned from ebay. I know it’s probably not your area but what can we/you do to get this person off ebay for good? And that is great news about the new section coming

Regards

Leon

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Posted By: leon

I told my contact about the fake Wagner chic just now and here is his response....verbatim


"Leon,



Actually, that would be my area.



I removed another of her listings for this card (she ended the one you sent to me) and I flagged her account so that, if she lists it again, I will boot her.



Also, I didn’t suspend her immediately because another department is investigating her account for other issues that, due to privacy issues, I cannot divulge to you, but I am aware of her and I will take appropriate action is she continues to think that she can slip one past THIS goalie! J



Thanks again for all your help!"

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Posted By: Matt

I appreciate his and your activity to stem the fraud, but if after listing the same fake card 3 times, he's waiting for her to post it a 4th time to boot her, the policies are way too lax. What about people who sell different fake items? If you have to post the same forgery 4 times to be banned, I'm sure you'd never be banned if you changed the item each time.

The new categorization is a good step; with it, ebay should have a requirement that if you post in the authentic section you MUST be willing to guarantee authenticity or issue a full refund.

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Posted By: Jimmy

I am glad to see the effort coming from eBay to work with you Leon. If the process continues it can only get better, and I see a trend in other areas of eBay. I do have a question - can you notify eBay about an auction without giving your user ID? I am just concerned about sellers and if there were ways they could get back at you for notifying eBay. The problem is you responded directly to the seller and now they have your user ID.

Thanks

Jimmy

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Posted By: leon

Very good point. I am not sure I can access sellers without using my ebay handle but am positive my contact can. I might have to forgo interacting with the sellers myself in the future......thanks for your input...btw, I realize this is a huge mountain to climb......but I don't mind. I will get some satisfaction in making these scammers lives more difficult....

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Can you tell your ebay contact to restore the prior BIDDING HISTORY "openess" (which ebay had from day one) where we can identify
who the bidders are by their actual EBAY ID ?
This present ANONYMOUS feature they a have adopted (for bidding over $200) really sucks. And, only contributes to further FRAUD ! !

Thanks,

TED Z

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Posted By: Red

In addition to having their own category, every reprint listed on Ebay should be required to have one of the following full words in the Title - "reprint", "counterfeit", "replica". It would also be nice to prohibit reprint sellers from putting the year in the title because that year has nothing to do with the year the reprint was made. An all category search for 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth should not show you reprints made in the 80's and 90's. Many of the people getting ripped off don't know squat about making sure they're in a "safe" 1930's type of category. They'll search all categories from the Ebay home page and get a list with a confusing mixture of real cards and reprints all with 1933 in the title. At the very least the reprint needs to be identified in the title, not buried in a confusing description.

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Posted By: leon

I can give him our thoughts but I am postive that is a decision that is way over his head.....but I will relay the feebdack and do agree with you wholeheartedly. At least the old way you could see who was bidding and it helped with this kind of (shilling) thing that is much easier now....

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Posted By: Richard

Found this too late:

<a href="http://www.network54.com/Forum/153652/thread/1155858235/last-1156891995/Bad+dealer+warning</a" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://www.network54.com/Forum/153652/thread/1155858235/last-1156891995/Bad+dealer+warning</a&gt;

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Posted By: leon

I appreciate your comments. I will continue to do exactly as I am. I don't think helping to weed out fraud is a joke..If you do then that is your opinion. You also don't have issues with other things I do have issues with. It's America.......take care

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Posted By: Matt

leon - I don't think he called what you're doing a joke. I think we all appreciate what you're doing. At the same time, the way ebay is setup right now is deplorable as far as identifying frauds and keeping them from buyers. The separate categories would be a step in the right direction, but only if ebay will enforce the rule of posting genuine authentics in the authentic category by banning those who are found selling frauds in that category. Otherwise, it won't even slow the scammers at all.

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Posted By: leon

I don't disagree that it is deplorable the way things are right now. I don't think there is a magic bullet to change everything at once. I do think ebay is trying to make an effort....whether it's enough is debatable. Maybe I took Richard's comments the wrong way but regardless I will keep fighting one small battle at a time....it's all I can do. If it helps even one person then I have probably done more than most.. I have been outspoken about ebay's ills but at the same time would rather be part of a solution than just throwing my hands up and not doing anything. I do understand the negative comments towards ebay as I have made them too...We are all on the same team in the hobby......Our team- good / Scammers team- bad......... best regards

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Posted By: Richard

Leon,

"Ebay's buyer protection and willingness to weed out fraud is a joke." Your name is nowhere in there. Don't know how you could have misread that.

Anyways, I support what you are trying to do. I am glad that you still have the drive to try. After years of attempting to do the same and getting nowhere, I am keeping my fingers crossed for you. I no longer have the energy. I am sure many others do not as well.

As for your last comment: "You also don't have issues with other things I do have issues with. It's America" - I don't quite understand what that means.

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Posted By: Rob

my opinion is that ebays willingness to clean out fraud is comparable to MLBs willingness to clean up PEDs - they try to look good on the outside by hiring a person or two, but inside they could care less if it happens cuz they only worry about the bottom dollar.

Rob

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Posted By: leon

"You also don't have issues with other things I do have issues with. It's America" - I don't quite understand what that means"


Lets take this one off line...I have never had any issues with you at all and consider you one of my hobby friends. I do think we disagree on a few things but lets take it to private emails on that part.....I consider you one of the good guys .......

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Posted By: DJ

"You also don't have issues with other things I do have issues with. It's America"

IMO, this means that whenever there is something great, people try to ruin it. It's the American way. People who don't want to work for a living will always try and find a way to scam their way by. Ebay is a great thing and it's unfortunate that dishonest people mesh with honest people. At least they are doing something is all I can say and I have had quite a number of issues with sellers/buyers...but in saying that, for the most part, people are good.

As far as the eBay thing, it's important and positive and let's not bog down Leon with suggestions on how to improve the system. If you see a fake card, report it to Leon...but as far as private bidder issues, inquiries about lost parcels, color changes etc., that should be reserved for other outlets.

You have to remember, eBay employs like 11,000 people and I'm sure a suggestion on a post-it about something on the desk of a supervisor higher up will only find the rubbage.

DJ

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Posted By: leon

I appreciate you understanding what I am trying to do with ebay but my inuendo to Richard has nothing to do with ebay. That is why I said we should take it to private emails. I understand Richard's (hi Ricahrd) frustration and have been there myself many times. This new endeavor isn't the golden bullet but it's a nice step in the right direction. My ebay contact took swift action on what I showed him this morning. I don't think we can say that too often about ebay but this is all good....I think we should leave it at that, personally. And I agree...there are so many different facets to ebay that this is like curing the world of scammers one scammer at a time.....it still feels good when we shut one down though.....regards

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Posted By: dennis

in the eight years i have been selling/buying on ebay i have contacted ebay at least 100 times on fraudulent cards. more than 50% of the time the auction was shut down. i for one don't agree with those who say ebay does not care. proving an item (a baseball card)is fake is an easy task for most who post/lurk here. now go to the womens clothes and see if you can spot a fake gucchi bag. there are thousands of fake items listed by scammers every day,not just sports stuff. those who think ebay should monitor every item for them so they don't get ripped off should just go else where and purchase their items. an educated buyer is what you should become if you are buying on ebay!! i for one don't want to see ebay have a buyers premium for items because they have to monitor every item sold because the buyer is too stupid to figure if they are dealing with a scammer. simple logic people, if you buy use a credit card on large purchases. contact the seller,check his feedback,look at what he sold in the past,etc...etc... i see people come to this forum all the time crying they were ripped off and usually all the tell tale signs of fraurd are right in front of their face,and they admit it,but still bought the item!! and i do feel sorry for you also because i don't like scammers. i have bought fake wrappers,goudey cards,diamond stars,so i am not saying i am smarter than everybody who has been scammed. but every fraudulent item i have purchased the seller has always given me a refund and has been happy to do it. so don't give up, continue to report the bad sellers and don't get frustrated,just keep trying. now leon see what your guy can do about those paper cut-outs sold by our buddy in paradise.

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Posted By: Matt

dennis - has ebay ever banned the seller after you proved they were selling counterfeit, or did they just pull the auction?

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Posted By: dennis

the seller has been booted many times,but i imagine they come back with a new id. it is hard to get totally rid of cockroaches.

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Posted By: jay behrens

Right now, one of the biggest scams on eBay is the sale of discount coupons and credit checks. We get them all the time at my work. I'm amazed that people honestly think that major companies will offer $500 credit checks at a huge discount, or coupons offering 33% or more off any purchase. There are a few legit ones out there, so if you want to buy one, call the business first and make sure they are legit.

Locally, we have a good restaurant that offers $25 credit checks with a starting bid of $4.99 through a clearance company. They usually end up selling for about $10-12 Great way to get a good meal check around here

Jay

The richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.