eBay is a relatively safe marketplace. Unfortunately,
like most online marketplaces, it is vulnerable to
scams. eBay tries to keep instances of scams
occurring, but with more than 100 million members,
and approximately $40 million moving through the
site on a daily basis, this can be a little difficult.
Sometimes, scams occur.
If you have been scammed, there are certain steps
you need to follow to report the incident, and to try
to come to a resolution. If you paid for the item
through Paypal, the first step is to login to your
Paypal account and open up a dispute for the
payment. If you did not pay through Paypal, contact
your credit card company. In most cases, if you have
used one of these two cases, you will recover your
money.
The next step is to use eBay’s dispute process to
report the seller. This is specifically for items that
were not received, or items that were significantly
different than what was described in the auction.
eBay also has a purchase protection program to
further protect buyers. If a settlement cannot be
reached with the buyer, the next step is to make
an eBay buyer purchase protection claim.