Killing The Ebay Crooks

Londonbus

Shabbat Shalom. Time to turn off the computer in Israel already!

No chance.
24/7 in this humble abode.

Now back to that gluestick.......

Oh Dear Me!
How Sad Is That!

This type of selling, an item for 1c and free shipping seems to me to be a lure by the seller to get emails and addresses of people who will respond to such advertising.

Then perhaps? they can sell such emails and addresses.

The international shipping being put high is perhaps done to block non-US bidders as most people are aware of looking at shipping costs now. (I hope they are.)

It could be some sort of school project also. I have heard of students doing studies of ebay buyers and listings and seeing what sells compared to what doesn't. Or what gets a response compared to what doesn't. Words used, colours used, prices, shipping amounts, etc, etc. Or just could be a potential ebay seller inbestigating things himself.

There is always the thought of striking it rich by accident. If you don't play you won't win, the lotto type of thing. Works here in Canada for the Lotto corporations.

I agree the title is misleading, and what most ( I assume) people see is the picture, the title, the price and the seller info. Not too many scroll down and read the description or even pay attention to it if they do.

So what people do is zero in on the emotional words used in the title and they see
Vintage World Stamp Sale, huge collection of Postal Stamps

even though the lister could argue that the title can be read as

These are old stamps from around the world.
I am having a sale here.
I have a huge collection of postage stamps.

Because the words are arranged in a non-usual order, people see what they are used to seeing and read it as

Huge Vintage World Collection of Stamps! Sale!

The heart starts racing, you have to get to the finish line before someone else does, you must win the Prize, secure the deal, bring home the bacon, etc.

I think the way to foil such underhandedly human tactics is for one person to bid on all his auctions and win them all, all the time, until the seller tires out. Unless, that is, a computer is listing these oiver and over, which could be the case.

"I think the way to foil such underhandedly human tactics is for one person to bid on all his auctions and win them all, all the time, until the seller tires out. Unless, that is, a computer is listing these oiver and over, which could be the case."

I am! I am bidding 1 cent each. Won a few. And will pay with pay pal separately, as I hope it costs seller each time. Hopefully he will get sick of losing around a $1 each sale and quit!!

Want to point out that Seller has a number of negative feedbacks in his other business, selling broke and counterfeit handbags and cell phone accessories. Claims of not shipping etc. Says something about his honesty.

Good luck with him!

Be interesting to hear if / when he ships your stamps and what they are when they arrive.

JOE-----Good subject but as others posted here "we are not ebay policemen" .Over the years of reading different chatroom and discussion boards about cheating on E-BAY ,the one fact remains the honest buyers and sellers refuse to join with others to do anything about it and they let this continue to happen over many years .This also applies to the stupid way Paypal can take money back out of a sellers account .Years ago {40 years ago}I was selling stamp mixtures thru the stamp newspapers.I ran into the problems of bad checks,missing mail and even returned boxes of stamps after the better stamps were removed . It was averageing one out of 11 orders going bad by the customers and I had to live with it . Then some fellow send me a offer ,to join his "club" and made a list of all the other dealers who was having problems with mail order,so I send him my $15.00 per year and a list of two years of problem customers ,When I received his monthly list ,was I surprised of how long it was and how many of my past customers were already on his list with many other sellers claiming the same customers with the same scam . Soon I was checking his list as new orders came in and started returning checks with a "NO THANKS ,TAKE YOUR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE" note .My problems dropped 80% . So until ebay sellers and buyers pay a few dollars and join a group ,they will continue to use these chatrooms to cry about being rippedoff . .....just my 2 cents

"Good luck with him!

Be interesting to hear if / when he ships your stamps and what they are when they arrive."

Actually got one already. Was a cheap Europa stamp. That was ripped. Which I chalk up to a lack of knowledge about stamps, not any sinister intent or dishonesty. Won two more @ 1 cent each. Will keep you posted when they arrive.

Floor Trader,

Problem is, this guy technically isn't doing anything illegal. Immoral yes, but not illegal. Just trying to rip off the unwary.

JOE-------IMMORAL ,...there is a lot of immoral stuff in everyday life everywhere.Thats why I escape to the stamp chat rooms to get away from all the craziness outside my door . Bernie Madoff got 50 Billion from the unwary ,and this guy is getting pennies .

More likely this is an attempt by the seller to pad his/her feedback. I've seen auctions in the past for a single non-collectible random date Lincoln cent with the only delivery option being local pickup. When the transaction closes, both buyer and seller exchange positive feedback and (likely) no goods are actually exchanged.

In the case of the stamp seller, he's effectively buying positive feedback at 44 cents each.

When I bid on something on ebay I alway read the listing totally, I then put it on my spread sheet, then I can see my total cost of the stamp. SOme time you can get a steal, I recently purchased 59 unused, but hindged 1940-1945 Austrian war occupied stamps for .99 cents. shipping was $2.00. SOme times though some auctions get way out of hand and way to expensive for me... Like some one said here, look read and take a breather,,, watch it... then decide... By the way when I bid, I wait for the last minute or less to bid... some ya win some ya loose.

I've read that some sellers will sell penny items with free shipping as a way to inflate their feedback. This is done prior to screwing people over on more expensive goods or to counteract the effects from doing so. When you receive what you ordered, with no shipping cost, you will likely leave positive feedback.

I suppose if you order the items and don't leave any feedback, you get a great deal without hurting the seller - in the unlikely even that they are just a good samaritan with stamps they want to give away.

Wow ! A stamp detective ! I wonder how he/she managed to put a list like that together ? And how it started ? Maybe I was on that list ?

The mind boggles.

Londonbus1