EBay for Dummies (68 page)

CGC
(Comics Guaranty) grades and restores comic books. Visit
www.cgccomics.com/ebay_comic_book_grading.cfm
.

IGI
(International Gemological Institute) grades, authenticates, and identifies loose gemstones and jewelry. Visit
www.e-igi.com/ebay
.

PSA
(Professional Sports Authenticators) and
SGC
(Sportscard Guaranty) help guard against counterfeiting and fraud with sports memorabilia and trading cards. eBay has teamed up with these services to grade and authenticate trading cards. You can visit the respective addresses of these agencies at
www.psacard.com
and
www.sgccard.com/ebay/
.

Even if you use an appraiser or an authentication service, do some legwork yourself. Often, two experts can come up with wildly different opinions on the same item. The more you know, the better the questions you can ask.

If a seller isn’t sure whether the item he or she is auctioning is authentic, you may find an appropriate comment (such as
Cannot verify authenticity
) in the item description. Knowledgeable eBay gurus always like to share what they know, and I have no doubt that someone on the appropriate chat board may be able to supply you with scads of helpful information. But be careful — some blarney artist (one of
those
is born every minute, too) may try to make a sucker out of you.

ID Verify

During the later years of the Cold War, Ronald Reagan said, “Trust but verify.” The President’s advice made sense for dealing with the old Soviet Union, and it makes good sense with your dealings on eBay, too! (Even if you’re not dealing in nuclear warheads.)

To show other eBay members that you’re an honest type — and to get special privileges when you’re a newbie on eBay, you can buy a “trust but verify” option, known as
ID Verify,
from eBay for five bucks. The giant credit verification service, VeriSign, verifies your identity by asking for your wallet information, including the following:

Name

Address

Phone number

Social Security number

Driver’s license information

Date of birth

VeriSign matches the info you give to what’s in its database, and presents you with a list of questions from your credit file that only you should know the answer to. VeriSign may also ask you about any loans you have (for example) or what kinds of credit cards you own (and how many).

Becoming ID-Verified can be a bonus for new users. It allows you to bypass some of eBay’s more stringent requirements for participating in higher-level deals. By making sure that the community knows you’re really who you say you are, you can get the green light for some higher-level activities:

Run auctions with the Buy-It-Now option:
Ordinarily you need a feedback rating of 10 to run a Buy-It-Now auction. This privilege may be worth the price of the verification, but honestly, how hard is it really to get your first 10 feedbacks? Besides, the experience will be priceless.

Open an eBay store:
Although eBay requires a feedback rating of only 20 to open a store, I suggest you have much more. An eBay store (see Chapter 11 for more information) requires a bit more eBay savvy than the newbie seller can muster.

Run fixed-price sales offering multiple items):
Ordinarily, an eBay seller must have more than a 30 feedback rating to perform this type of sale.

Bid on items over $15,000:
Some form of verification is usually even required of eBay’s old-timers when bidding this high!

Sell items in the Adults Only Category

VeriSign sends only the results of its Identity Test to eBay (whether you pass the test) and
not
the answers to the private financial questions it asks you. VeriSign doesn’t modify or add the information you provide to any of its databases.

VeriSign’s questions are meant to protect you against anyone else who may come along and try to steal this information from you and assume your identity. The questions aren’t a credit check, and your creditworthiness is never called into question. This info simply verifies that you are who you say you are.

If you pass the test and VeriSign can verify that you are who you say you are (and not your evil twin), you get a cool icon by your name for a year. If, after a year, you like the validation that comes from such verification, you can pay another fee and renew your seal.

Although you can feel secure knowing that a user who’s verified is indeed who he or she claims to be, you still have no guarantee that he or she’s not going to turn out to be a no-goodnik (or, for that matter, a well-meaning financial airhead) during auction transactions.

Even if an eBay member gets VeriSign verification, what makes this program so controversial is twofold:

Many members object to giving out Social Security numbers. They see it as an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

Some users also fear that this system creates a two-tiered eBay system, with verified users occupying a sort of upper class and anyone who’s not verified stuck in the lower class. They’re afraid that sellers may refuse to do business with
un
verified users.

You should consider all of eBay’s current and future programs for protecting you from problematic transactions and people, but I think the “undisputed heavyweight champ” for finding out who someone
really is
(and keeping you out of trouble) is the first program eBay created. That’s right, folks:
feedback
can show you other eBay members’ track records and give you the best information on whether you want to do business with them or take a pass. Feedback is especially effective if you analyze it in conjunction with eBay’s other protection programs. I suggest taking the time to read all about feedback in Chapter 4.

If It’s Clearly Fraud

After filing either a fraud report or a final value fee credit request, you can do more on your own. If the deal involves the post office in any way — if you mail a check or the seller sends you merchandise that’s completely wrong and refuses to make good — file a mail-fraud complaint with the postal inspector.

In the United States, you can call your local post office or dial 800-275-8777 for a form to fill out. After you complete the form, the USPS sends the eBay bad guy a notice that you’ve filed a fraud complaint. Perhaps that
will
get his or her attention.

In addition to the post office, you can turn to some other agencies for help:

The National Fraud Information Center:
NFIC has an online site devoted to combating fraud on the Internet. NFIC works closely with legal authorities. File a claim at
www.fraud.org/info/repoform.htm
or call toll free at 800-876-7060.

Law enforcement agencies:
Contact the local district attorney (or state Attorney General’s office) and the local and state Consumer Affairs Department in the other person’s state and city. (Look online for contact information or try your local agencies for contact numbers.)

Federal Trade Commission:
The FTC accepts complaints and investigates repeated cases of fraud. File a claim at
www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/filing-a-report.html
.

Internet service provider:
Contact the member’s ISP. You can get this bit of info from the person’s e-mail address, just after the @ symbol. (See? This easy access to information does have its advantages.) Let the ISP know whom you have filed a complaint against, the nature of the problem, and the agencies that you’ve contacted.

Any time you contact another agency for help, keep Trust & Safety up to date on your progress by writing to its representatives the old-fashioned way. Address your letter to eBay ATTN: Fraud Prevention, 2145 Hamilton Ave., San Jose, CA 95125.

A very thin line separates alerting other members to a particular person’s poor behavior and breaking an eBay cardinal rule by interfering with an auction. Don’t make unfounded or vitriolic accusations — especially if you were counting on them never getting back to the person they were about (or, for that matter, if you hoped they
would
). Trample the poison out of the gripes of wrath before you have your say. I recommend that you hunt for facts, but don’t do any finger-pointing on public message boards or chat rooms. If it turns out that you’re wrong, you can be sued for libel.