Tips to not get stooged by - A Buyer beware guide.

This is not a difinitive guide to stop you as a Buyer being ripped off on Ebay,
as criminals are always coming up with new ways to steal, but it does
highlight some simple and easy things you can check to help you make your
own, more informed decision about a Seller before parting with your hard earned cash.Ok, so you want to get a brand new mobile phone? and you want to get it for an eighth of the price?Well as you know, on ebay anything is possible.BUUUUUUUT, when i say that, just remember that ANYTHING is possible! Good or bad.There's an age old saying: Too good to be true.This saying has lasted the test of time for good reason. In ebay as in life, things are often too good to be true....BUYERS BEWARE
Before purchasing anything on Ebay I always check the following, - The Seller uses paypal or direct deposit (within my own country) If using direct deposit to a bank account in another country, I may be charged with a $20 telegraphic transfer fee from my back, which may push the price higher than that I'd pay in a store.- The Seller does not use Western Union. Ebay recommends against buying through Western Union for good reason, if someone is only offering this then chance is extremely high that it is a Fraudulent Seller.- The Seller must not ask me to contact them via email outside of ebay. (Where there is no evidence of a binding contract of sale)- The Seller does not have any negative feedback, or if they do it has to be preportionally low, eg 2 bad feedbacks within 5000 sales. - If buying an expensive item, research the seller, they may appear to have sold many items, 500 etc, but if you look through them, they may all be $1 in value and the names of the buyers may be repeated. So they seller may look like a power seller and someone whom can be trusted, but the reality is they are just creating a flase sense of security in the hope you will hand over your hard earned cash.- If you are looking to hand over a lot of cash, extemem checking is required. Look through the sellers recent buyers, then look through those buyers recent buyers if they are sellers. If they have "bought" from each other it is a bad sign that they are falsely inflating each others sales.-

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