As a recent victim of a fraudulent sale, I wanted to inform everyone on how to know if your really getting your "Bang for the Buck." Many people rely on ebay to get things for low prices, and in about 99% of them you can. But the other 1% you can't. I have nothing against ebay, I love ebay. Now alot of people think they can get something for $100 or $200 less than a retail price on a new product, like the famous Xbox360 or an iPod, but in most cases you can't. See alot of people see a bid for $1.00 on something like an Xbox360, but then they bid and they get so excited and then when they check it again the bid is over $100. Now some people will win bids for $100 with free shipping. Most likely they are getting scammed.

How do you know if your getting scammed?

- The winning bid is way under market price (most likely not real because the seller would be losing a sufficient amount of money)

- There is no photo or just a stock photo (stock photos will lead people to bid just because it is there and they are urgent to get it)(The stock photo may only be a sign of fraud if the winning bid is extremely low for an expensive product)

- The photo looks like it was taken in a store or at a gaming show

How can I Prevent being scammed?

First and most important look at the seller's rating. If it less than 90% than i don't recommend going for it. Also look at the reviews buyers have left for the seller, if there is  something like "Never recieved product, lack of communication" or "Seller says it got mixed up in shipping, been 3 weeks never recieved it," stuff like that there should be a sufficient amount of bad complaints, then you shouldn't go for it. Also if you do win the auction and you feel like it is a little suspicious, request that the item be sold through paypal and complete the transaction there. They offer a buyer protection plan that will protect you if you do become a victim of fraud. Another way is to contact some of the buyers that left a review to the seller, asking them what they thought of the seller. Try to buy from eBay stores, they are 100% guaranteed.

I was a victim of fraud, what can I do?

To be honest, if you purchased an item through a money order or cash, there isn't usually anything you can do about it. But if the item is sold through paypal, what you can do is (after you login) you can file a complaint against the seller at paypal's website. You should only do this if your product hasn't been recieved within a two or three week period. You should also contact your credit card provider, if they agree with the issue than the will initiate a investigation. They will give the seller a week to allow him/her bring the shipping receipt to the bank to prove that they shipped it. The seller will be notified. If they don't respond with a receipt, the credit card provider will most likely issue you a "temporary refund." This means that you get the money back but the seller can still come forth, so don't spend it until paypal's investigation is done with. Paypal will give the seller a week to repsond, if not then they will give the seller another week to respond about the temporary refund. If they don't respond at all, then they will review the case (can take up to 30 days) and then a permanent refund will be issued to you. If the seller does respond then paypal will help you work out the dispute. This can be done through any auction website, as long as it is done through Paypal.

This is exactly what I did when i had purchased a Sony PSP and i got my money back.

I hope this will help you, if you still have questions please contact me at my username of schtomen6.