That Time I Almost Got Scammed on Ebay
You have to be careful when buying online. It's not 1997 any more.
I’ve been a member of eBay since 1997. There was no guarantee or tracking numbers or much of any system: you sent a check or money order and hoped the stuff you bought actually showed up.
And every day since I’ve horse-traded on eBay and have never been scammed, or was the scammer. I sold thousands of stuff on eBay over the years.
But, that was then and this is now.
This week, I got scammed. It wasn’t a lot of money, and I had it in my slush fund account so it’s not like we didn’t have groceries. As I am apt to do I was shopping on my phone and came across a small PC that was priced competitively - not a OMG that HAS to be a scam price, but it was a little less than others were charging, so I clicked buy it now and kind of forgot about it.
Then a few days later, I realized that I hadn’t received any emails or anything about it and there it was I knew I made mistake: The seller was from Israel. This doesn’t mean I could not buy it and have it shipped from Israel because it’s a worldwide market today (well…it was)
I ask the seller to cancel the order.
Usually, sellers are fine with this. I have clicked the buy it now button by mistake or thought there was one more step to go before the sale was made and quickly asked the seller to cancel and they have obiliged.
Not this guy. He wasn’t going to cancel.
A few more days later, no response or action and then they add a tracking number to the eBay platform. I need to note that this is different from shipping through the eBay system.
The scam, I have learned - works like this:
You buy something. The scammer has somehow found a tracking number for something, anything — that’s going to your neighborhood and a few days later when your neighbor (or you) get a difffent package or some other thing that was on the way, the eBay system gets updated that the package was delivered.
Your package was never delivered. It may have been a sweater or some auto parts your neighbor bought, but it was not the item you purchased. You bought a scam and it’s never shipping.
So, you open up a case that you didn’t get the package and of course you lose because the system said it was delivered and you’re out your money.
Unless, you appeal. You have to appeal. No decision is final.
I appealed, and of course they don’t make it easy to find out how to appeal but I figured it out and laid out the scam for eBay and that this was probably an old account the scammer took over and then with a pocket full of fake tracking numbers is making a killing.
I won the appeal.
This is where I rant about interent 3.0 or whatever it is now. eBay is no longer you and I swapping cameras or computer parts anymore or getting a few bucks for grandma’s old dishes. eBay - like all the platforms and the internet overall has been enshittified over the years.
We communicate though these platforms where we are the product and yet we’re the only losers in the end as the scammers and the algorithms take your product and the money that goes with it.
I know we can’t go back, but it’s times like these where you miss the old internet where we would send little post it notes with the product telling the buyer to enjoy, or thanking them for the purchase. We would communicate through the entire process about shipping status and fees and customs because this was all new and exciting with money orders and stamps and walks to the post office to ship.
One time I got a thank you letter from a buyer about how the gift was for her grandson and she was thrilled with it. Thrilled.
The risk was greater then of getting scammed, but we didn’t becuase we weren’t selling with an algorithm and stolen tracking numbers - we had something else:
Trust that it would all work out.
I fear for her because the kids are online in gaming portals and facebook and tiktok and they don’t know who’s at the other end anymore.
And that’s a lot scarier to me than getting scammed for an eBay purchase.
Dear Interent, I want less enshittification - It’s for her - not me.
Also: please send a tracking number when the new internet ships.
Until Next Time,
TH and Co.