ebay Beginners Guide to Avoiding Auction Fraud Over 100 million Auction Sellers and Bidders from around the world now meet to buy and sell on ebay. For the most part, these are usually positive exchanges for the good and betterment of collecting humanity. Of course, with all this constant ebay activity, the online auction world has met it's share of hucksters and charlatans. Although the majority of the transactions at online auction sites are legitimate, there have been numerous cases of fraud and abuse which the mainstream media has of course, been all too eager to report. For instance: We've all heard the one about the guy trying to sell a kidney, or shadowy mafia types trying to sell Russian mail-order brides... talk about a featured listing- imagine the seller fees! But a lot of these stories are simply one in a million cases or occasional internet hoaxes. No, what you need to be on your guard for are the more sinister and less sensational forms of auction fraud- criminal activity that comes from real, everyday internet scams such as phishing, credit card charge backs and the empty box scam among others. The best way to avoid auction fraud and to have a good time buying & selling at online auctions is to use a healthy dose of common sense- a sense of humor doesn't hurt either. Check other auction user's feedback scores. Question auction sellers when their is a doubt with an item listing... set guidelines on international bidders such as what types of payment you'll take. Put clear terms in your auction descriptions for new bidders, explaining timelines and when you expect to be paid. There are many things you can do to protect yourself and make the auction process more enjoyable at the same time (see our auction seller and bidder tips). Of course, you can also use an escrow service to close any online deal, and be sure and check auction descriptions for Trust, Squaretrade, VeriSign and other types of seals that show a safe and reliable seller. Otherwise, remember the timeless warning: caveat emptor. If your Latin is rusty this means roughly "let the buyer beware". This goes for all you new sellers, too. In other words, if it seems too good to be true, or that little buzzer is going off in your head telling you to run the other away... do it! To help avoid internet auction fraud see:
Our full article: How to Avoid Online Auction Fraud
Links: Online auction fraud links & resources Also see: online auction feedback • auction etiquette New to ebay auctions? Register for FREE Read more: Page 1: ebay auctions: An Introduction Page 2: How do I use ebay? Page 3: What kind of stuff can I find on ebay? Page 4: Auction Feedback: Earning Trust Online Page 5: ebay Beginners Guide to Avoiding Auction Fraud Page 6: Why are ebay online auctions so popular? Page 7: Intro to Ebay stores Page 8: The Power of Ebay Search | 
