Tips to Avoid Online Auction Fraud

by John Lynch

While most buyers and sellers on internet auction sites are honest, there is always the threat of underlying fraud. Auction sites have had instances of sellers posting pictures of items for sale, only to include in extremely small print that buyers are only bidding for the photo rather than the item itself. When the photo arrives in the post and not the product, buyers are obviously outraged. Steps to avoid online auction fraud 1)Check seller's feedback One of the best ways to judge a seller's honesty is to check his or her feedback. Most buyers will give feedback on a sale, rating the seller in the seller's Feedback Profile. If the feedback is negative, it will be very difficult for that seller to buy or sell anything on that auction site in future. Check the seller's feedback and if it is not overwhelmingly positive, do not buy. 2)Find out seller's contact details Before you enter into a deal, try to establish contact with the seller. On eBay you can search information on a member by visiting the Find Members page. If you can get a phone number or an email address, you have a better chance of solving any future problems. You could establish contact with the buyer by requesting further information about the nature of the product in which you are interested. 3)Payment Methods Credit cards are the safest way to buy anything online for the simple reason that, in the case of fraud, most credit card companies will cover the cost. Online payment services such as PayPal and FastPay are also popular with auction site users because of their safety. These are account-based systems that send money via credit card or bank account. 4) Use an Escrow Service For higher priced items you should consider an escrow service. An escrow service acts as a middleman between the buyer and the seller to ensure a fair transaction. The escrow service holds the item and the money until the buyer has inspected and approved the goods. Only then does it release the money to the seller. The only downside is that it will cost the buyer extra to use this service. However, it is something to bear in mind when buying more expensive items. 5) Complaints/ Fraud Protection Most online auction sites have a complaints' procedure. For example,if you're unhappy with the goods or you have not received them, Ebay operates a fraud protection program. For more information go to : http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/fpp-guide.html FlipShark has a useful site on internet auction scams. www.flipshark.com/scams/ebayindex.html The US Federal Trade Commission has a useful guide for buyers and sellers on internet auctions which has relevance to other countries. www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/auctions.htm To sum up, most buyers and sellers on internet auction sites are honest. However, if you use the above tips, you should not fall victim to auction fraud. © 2003 John Lynch Visit http://www.merchant-account-service.com/ebay.html for a FREE extensive auctions course on how to start a successful online auctions business. ========================== About the Author None

How To Make MORE Money After Your Auction Is Over!

by Karol Gajda

***************************************************************** How To Make MORE Money After Your Auction Is Over! ***************************************************************** Here's the scenario: You just sold a widget for $15.78. It cost you $8. Not too bad a profit, huh? But wouldn't you like to at least try to make a little bit more? If your auction business is running on very tight margins, then even getting an extra 10 cents per auction could do wonders for you, am I right? One of the ways to add a bit of cha-ching to your auction business (the other ways will be written about in the future) is the following: In my end of auction e-mail I include an affiliate link to a Web site, or to one of my own Web sites. What do I mean? Well, let's say it was me who just sold the $15.78 widget. After the auction is over I send the winning bidder an e-mail congratulating him or her on their win and explaining to them how to proceed with payment. But right in the middle of the e-mail I include a little money maker that looks like this: ----------------------------------------------------------------- Looking for products to sell on eBay?! Look no further than the Drop Ship Source Directory. Find thousands upon thousands of awesome products...and you don't have to pay for them until you make a sale! Click here for more information: http://www.freeauctionprofits.com/cgi-bin racker.cgi?dsnews ----------------------------------------------------------------- See how easy that was? Now if somebody purchases a membership to the Drop Ship Source Directory I get paid without barely having to do a thing! *Side note: The Drop Ship Source Directory is an awesome affiliate program to join, and it's free. You make over $17 per sale! And you also get paid for sales your affiliates make. My recommendation is to pick 1 affiliate program and stick with it for a few months. If it's not working out for you, choose another. If that one's not working, choose another, and so on. *Free Auction Profits has a great 50% affiliate program at http://www.freeauctionprofits.com/affiliates.html hint, hint :) Where do you find these affiliate programs to join? My favorite are: eBooks from Clickbank.com: http://www.freeauctionprofits.com/cgi-bin racker.cgi?cbanknews Drop Ship Source Directory: http://www.freeauctionprofits.com/cgi-bin racker.cgi?dsnews Commission Junction: http://www.cj.com These are all free to join, and there's tons of money to be made with them. I'll share more of my favorite affiliate programs in the future. For now, this should be enough for you to experiment with. One last recommendation I have on affiliate programs: I don't promote anything I haven't purchased and benefited from myself. You might want to do the same so you know you're promoting a quality product. Until next time, Karol Gajda ***************************************************************** Karol Gajda is an eBay fanatic. His eBook Free Auction Profits, which is available at http://www.freeauctionprofits.com, shows simple ways to obtain free merchandise to sell on eBay. To subscribe to his newsletter "Auction Profits" send a blank e-mail to: mailto:list@freeauctionprofits.com ***************************************************************** About the Author ***************************************************************** Karol Gajda is an eBay fanatic. His eBook Free Auction Profits, which is available at http://www.freeauctionprofits.com, shows simple ways to obtain free merchandise to sell on eBay. To subscribe to his newsletter "Auction Profits" send a blank e-mail to: mailto:list@freeauctionprofits.com *****************************************************************

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