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Eileen Oct 26, 2005

My little Jaiden??? 

Anything I can do, sign me on!!

Eileen

starlite Oct 26, 2005

Hi Deb, Penny, Shantell Lousie and others the steps below may help you find ,
You can search in a number of different ways on ebay but to do an advanced search for completed items with a key word then follow the screens :
The first is the home page for ebay - all ebay sites have a similar layout
In the top right you will see a link - the words advanced search underlined
Click on this
You will then be taken to the advanced search screen - this is picture number 2
Enter a key word - for my search I used my trading name which I always enter in title of my auctions
Then check the box beside the words completed listings only(or leave unchecked to see current listings)
now scroll down until your screen looks like picture number 3
In this area of the search I used the pull down list to identify a country in which the item could be offered - you shoudl be able to see that in this example I have chosen China
Then click on the search button at the bottom of all advanced search options available to you and your search will go ahead
Tonite what I have done is save this search to my favourite searches (without the completed box checked)- this means that ebay will email me if anything appears with this set of search conditions - therefore I will be alerted right away if one of my listings appears listed in for example china
So I suggest to keep an eye on things you can set up a search for a term you always include in your listing - like your trading name
I hope this helps 

Kim - I am sorry - I know how you feel  :(

Penny Thank you for your kind words and I agree - you could spend so much time searching that you would have no time for anything else but I do think my suggestion of a suitable favourite search might help

Daphne I do agree having cooled down that it is a difficult job for ebay to check everything and it really is other users who are at fault with this sort of incidence
Also - when a user has been suspended after a listing has been completed they will then appear as unregistered however my daughter also informs me that an unregistered user can sell - apparently she says it is something to do with the way you register with ebay
Well I hope that I have not caused too many people to get upset
Partly my own problem getting carried away - you see I teach Intellectual Property - concepts and UK legislation to my students and I find it a sensitive issue
Take Care all  :hug: :hug: :hug:
Anne

Sue Ann - thankyou for being so kind

Eileen Oct 26, 2005

  What an ugly business!

Since eBay likes to advise buyers, why couldn't they send out an alert of some kind? I'm not sure what a buyer should look for, but there must be clues!

Eileen

starlite Oct 26, 2005

Eileen
I have just added the following text to my auction (after discussing with my daughter who is really 'into' ebay trends, buyer behaviour and sellers authenticity)
Please note: this bear and other genuine Starlite Bears
being offered directly from the creator Anne will only ever appear in an auction showing the seller's ebay id mini-star32
do not know how/if this will work but it made me feel better cos if anyone copies an auction again - they may leave it in by mistake or at least those who view my genuine auctions will know they are mine - if that does not sound too silly
:hug:
Anne

shantell Oct 26, 2005

Great Idea...I've seen similar wording on auctions before.  I think Laura Lynn commented that she does something like that in a previous post...can't remember where tough.  Unfortunately, there just only so much you can do.  There are just way too many crooks and scoundrels out there looking for a free ride.

Sad world!!!

Densteds Oct 27, 2005

Anne & Kim, I'm so sorry this has happened to you both, but most regular collectors/buyers of bears will be suspicious of anything on China ebay......and would probably steer clear of ever bidding on them, but!!!! EBay has got to acknowledge there's a big problem with all these China based listings, I've reported a heap to them and only ever get back an automated "thank you" .....nothing is ever done about them..ebay never pulls their auctions, it's a disgrace!!! Oz ebay has been inundated with all their sleezy listings of late, it makes me so mad 

Another little trick is they send a second chance email saying the top bidder has opted out and you can have the item, this happened when a friend was runner up on one of Michelle Lamb's bears, she smelt a rat and sure enough it was a scam, the sneaky little weasels 

hugs,
Denise.

Helena Oct 27, 2005

I'll be adding similar wording to my own auctions from now on, Anne. It seems to be about as much as anyone can do right now.

In another thread there was a discussion about watermarking the photos, and whether or not this would make any difference or ruin the photo for buyers. Well I noticed yesterday that one the top artists on the US site is doing just that (ID: toy) and I have to say it doesn't look too bad....the seller must have had enough of the bogus auctions 

Eileen Oct 27, 2005

Great idea, Anne!

It may not be a foolproof means of stopping thieves, but it definitely alerts buyers to beware!

eBay makes such a thing about 'security' and 'contracts' and otherwise protecting its buyers that it should be willing to mount an aggressive campaign against auction theft.

I'm guessing that until hordes of buyers complain, eBay will do nothing.

Eileen

kbonsall Oct 27, 2005

Ok - new situation... I have a guy, i believe it is a guy from taiwan emailing me questions about my newst bear, Leah... he asked me first if the chair was included, which it clearly states in the auction it is NOT included and then he emailed me again and asked what postage is to Taiwan.... he has been an ebay for I think it said 5 yrs... and when i did a check in the community section, various forms of this guy (I would assume it is a guy) came up... the one he emailed me with is hypehnated and then there is one without a space and then there is one with a space and no hypenation and various other forms.... all from Taiwan... should I respond to his question about postage?  I am a little concerned... .....

a coworker who sells on ebay has told me that as long as this guy pays with papal, which he has to do before you send the item, then this buyer is legit.... what do you gals think?  am i just being paranoid?  HELP!

Helena Oct 27, 2005

Hmm, it's hard to know Kim. The similar ID's could really be separate buyers but it does seem strange they are all from Taiwan... so probably the same person? That said, I have multiple ID's as do a lot of people.

If I were you I would cautiously answer his questions and assume he is legit unless I found out otherwise....(for example, he asks to do deals off eBay).

Oh, and maybe English is not his first language which is why he didn't spot the fact that the chair isn't included?

shantell Oct 27, 2005

Kim, If the email you received from the guy in Tawain is also in your Ebay message center then I think you should give him an honest response.  I don't think you should stifle your bear business by avoiding questions from potentially very honest customers by a few bad experiences others have had.  I worked in international admissions for quite some time and had to deal with students from all over and quite honestly most of them don't read the information presented to them because they don't understand it.  It's not their native language...English is very confusing to many of them.  I can't tell you how many times I had to explain immigration stuff to the same student...over and over.

Read his feedback...what does it say?  He or she may be very legit...just proceed to with caution and an open mind.

Good Luck...let us know how it goes.

Shantell

kbonsall Oct 27, 2005

I am being soo cautious now!  I wont answer his qustions out of ebay and wont sell out of ebay... I would only do that for you gals or someone that I can tell is legit....

kbonsall Oct 28, 2005

Reply from ebay...

Hello,

Thank you for contacting eBay Customer Support. My name is ______________ and I
am writing in response to your recent email.

We have dealt with the account you reported appropriately. Any
fraudulent auctions were ended and anyone who placed bids on the items
were notified.

We appreciate the efforts of eBay members like yourself who help keep
eBay a safe and secure site to conduct transactions.

Regards,

________________
eBay Customer Support

Helena Oct 28, 2005

Yay! Good one Kim! 

melissa Oct 28, 2005

Hi Kim

I would reply to anything that comes through your ebay account.  You can't judge every person in a country by the acts of some - and there is an active artist bear community in Taiwan.  As somebody already said - if your option is to pay through paypal and they do, then you're safe.  It's when they want to pay using proxy money people etc that you start to worry.

Regarding similar names- there are a couple of VERY similar names to mine from China which is very disconcerting to me but there ain't a lot I can do about it.  I have noticed that this seems to happen with everybody so the possibility is, some of those names could be copying him!!

I hope it is a genuine sale...who knows it could be a brand new collector!!   

Judi Oct 28, 2005

I hope ebay will put a stop to this.

Here is Kimmy's stolen listing
http://cgi.ebay.com/Jaiden-OOAK-Artist- … dZViewItem

Unbelieveable.

kbonsall Oct 29, 2005

Oh dont get me wrong i am NOT judging people and WILL NOT judge people based on where they are from, not now, not ever.   I just am more cautious now since my auction was kidnapped, thats all.... He/she has since been outbid on my bear so it doesnt really make a difference one way or another.... I hope i wasnt taken the wrong way...

I have always been taught to CYA... cover your @$$ and I would rather be safe than sorry....

It has been my policy and always will be that I only accept paypal from other countries, this is to protect myself and my buyers.  I was also requested recently to sell my bear off of ebay (to end the auction early and sell outside of ebay) and I refused, not only because my bear had bids and the person wasnt willing to pay as much as the bid was up to at the time, but I like to have the security of ebay for selling... if I was familiar with this buyer and there werent any bids, I might have considered it.  it is all buyer and seller beware.... 

I hope I didnt "tick" anyone off but  being as young as I am,  I have been through a lot and witnessed a lot in my young life of 25 years.. now lets all hug   :hug:  this should be a good weekend for me, Pudgee sold and it is my first wedding anniversary!

:hug:  :hug:  :hug:

kbonsall Oct 29, 2005

WOW!  very interesting article!  so you can only imagine how many other people out there are doing dishonest things like this.... scary

Densteds Oct 29, 2005

Sure glad they caught that lot, but how many more are there???

Kim..I'd still be wary of that Taiwan guy..he can do a charge back on his credit account (through paypal) and take the money back after he gets the goods..not everyone knows this, my hubby was a bank manager, and was also a manager in credit card fraud, you wouldn't believe what goes on, so never sell to anyone in these obscure countries unless they have excellent feedback. I've bought items from one lady in Hong Kong and she was the best seller I've dealt with, also sold a bear to someone in China but they both had excellent feedback from people in US, so I felt quite safe selling & buying from them.  Just be careful, I think I may have told you about all the Nigerian emails I've received through bearpile asking to buy bears, these are well known scammers, and unfortunately there are more & more popping up in some of these other countries..it's a bit scary ay??
Glad to see the fake auction was pulled..

:hug:
Denise.

kbonsall Oct 29, 2005

Yeah, you said about the bearpile stuff.... I just am cautious, I dont want to get ripped off because what would I do? not that my bears are worth a lot monitarily but it is the idea the my little bear would be with someone that would be dishonest... I didnt know that they could take back the money though paypal... i knew that about credit cards but it didnt dawn on me that they could do it through papal...  kinda scary... i guess it all comes down to if it doesnt feel right in the pit of your stomach, it probably isnt right...

rufnut Oct 29, 2005

Wow I cannot believe this would happen, thanks for sharing this with us.

Marie_ Oct 29, 2005

Sorry Anne and Kim... I heard this thing in another topic here , and this is so terrible!!  :twisted:

Judi Oct 29, 2005

Great article.  Ebay should post this on thiere front page to show it IS a crime to perform these kinds of auctions.  Should be a no-brainer!