Sunday, May 28, 2006

Be Careful About What You Buy On eBay.... Lot's of "Hot" Loot

The days of selling stolen goods to pawn shops and fences is coming to an end. The new way to sell hot goods is online at the auction sites, preferably eBay.

The Tiffany Co. filed a lawsuit against eBay sometime ago to stop the sale of reproduction Tiffany items and this lawsuit brought to light just how lax eBay is in their monitoring of the posting and sales of items that should not be allowed to be listed in the first place. But along the same vein, they are quick to pull items for what they term "keyword spamming" and other nonsense things that don't bring harm to anyone.

Back to the sale of stolen goods..... Folks are stealing things such as giftcards, clothes, razor blades, teeth whitening systems and other small items then selling these things on eBay. The innocent buyer doesn't know that the items are stolen so they bid their hearts out and life is good. But when they receive their giftcard in the mail and try to use it, guess what, it is worthless.

Several of the large retail stores are stating that eBay needs to be held somewhat accountable, I agree. They can monitor new accounts for a period of time and the items that these folks are selling. After all eBay is aiding and abetting in the commission of a crime by allowing the sale of these items on their website so I think that they do need to assume some responsibility.

If they can shut down an auction because of the words a person picks to use then they can monitor for illicit activity. They certainly have the $$$ and they can get the manpower. Hey for $45.00 per hour I will monitor the auctions for them.

So once again it is buyer beware.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for your INCREDIBLE website. You have done a great, great job and I really appreciate your efforts. so, thanks.

way more people, I'm sure, appreciate your efforts than you will ever know.

bookmarked, recommended!

in peace... d