Ebay....Why do they allow people to do it?

[jeff jackson]

Just had a look on fleabay at the Lotuses on sale.
There is a bloke on there selling umpteen Lotuses of varying types for his brother.
In the two or three ad's I looked at, his brothers email address was different in each case.
Clearly a scammer.
Surely Ebay can spot these scammers and take down the ads?

Jeff 72 +2

[JonB]

eBay don't employ enough people to moderate all the ads, so they rely on us to report fraudulent listings.

Sucks, I know, as they make huge amounts of money.

[RichardS]

It is very irritating - I keep reporting these scam listings but sometimes there are 10 to 15 at a time. Hopefully they are such an obvious scam no-one would be taken in by such a ?bargain?....

Richard

[Europatc]

I wouldn't touch the place now its almost like an underworld market in some respects. As long as they are making money they do not give a fig

[Slowtus]

I recently listed my M100 on eBay...total disaster, the car would not come up in searches etc but when I searched on 'Lotus', with appropriate filters etc, I could buy all sorts of bits which would allegedly 'fit' my car.

eBay has become mostly a waste of time for many serious buyers/sellers and as noted, has become a haven for scammers and dreamers.

Ah well...

[miked]

I have bought many good parts and items on Ebay and met some very nice and honest people.
I watch BSA classics and as many as 30 fraudulent listings can appear in minutes and do so on a regular basis. I have reported many but as mentioned you get to spot the format and MO. Silly low prices also. So i personlly just see it as a nuisance.
They do get taken down but whoever posts them has an appetite to keep at it.
I suppose Ebay struggle to monitor all posts even if they have some kind of scan to ID the MO of the poster.

[LaikaTheDog]

Baaaaa humbug

Hate eBay, it is nothing but scammers nowadays, my father got scammed by an ejit selling an MG hardtop... that didn't exist. Got his money back only after getting a mate in the police to send someone round to his house !

That said... I have offered parts here and had no takers only for it sell same day on "fenceit". Although most sellers price way over realistic value...seems that everyone gets a bargain from me !

[h20hamelan]

Over here, we can do okay on Amazon, less of a fraudulent marketplace. I wish there was an inbetween, as I loath Amazon
It?s a bit scary, with spammers and recognition programs
It?s said, Amazon can scan a crowd of 40,000+ people and know who everyone is
Most Police, City, Government, Military, CIA, FBI etc use this.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/07/tech/ama ... index.html

I am in Canada but it is equally as scary here

[awatkins]

I?ve been buying and to a lesser extent selling car parts, etc., on ebay for years and never been defrauded. It?s an absolute godsend compared to sourcing exotic parts before (e.g. mail an ad to the club newsletter and wait two months and/or phone every used part place you know for each part you want, etc.). Even recently I found some Lamborghini parts that there is no way I would have located back in the days of dialing around. You guys do remember how it was pre-web, right?

Those of you so fearful: is that fear based on actually having been defrauded?

As for usability, yes it?s terrible ever since it was discovered by the chinese junk vendors. The search function is incredibly primitive and they do no policing on categorization so for each real used Lotus part you?ll get a 100 generic aftermarket accessories. One way to help defeat that is to search only for used parts.

[Slowtus]

You guys do remember how it was pre-web, right?

Yes, easy - Exchange & Mart plus local classifieds, enter phone box, dial, press button B when directed.

As for usability, yes it?s terrible ever since it was discovered by the chinese junk vendors. The search function is incredibly primitive and they do no policing on categorization so for each real used Lotus part you?ll get a 100 generic aftermarket accessories. One way to help defeat that is to search only for used parts.

Which is my gripe - there are days when I wish I had never invented the Internet.

[baileyman]

I just received horns for my rebuild, nicely packed, refinished, and a bonus Stones cassette tape from period. A Stones tape! Holy cow, ebay as it used to be...

John

[awatkins]

Being a colonial I?d never heard of Exchange and Mart. That sounds really great. Screw the internet.

[Andy8421]

I am a regular buyer on eBay, and I have never had a problem that hasn't been settled to my satisfaction.

My main problem is delivery, which in my area is pretty flaky. Hermes are the worst.

[john.p.clegg]

Hermes are great...when all is well.

They are worse than the worst when thing go wrong...

John

[pharriso]

I am a regular buyer on eBay, and I have never had a problem that hasn't been settled to my satisfaction.....

Same here, bought a pair of rare federal seats & heater elbows in the last couple of weeks. Just keep your wits about you!