Many sellers have sold pirated copies of very expensive software such as PhotoShop, Flash 8.0, Maya 6.0 and many others. If the price of the item is ridiculously low such as several hundreds of dollars then 99.9% of the time it is pirated software. DO NOT BUY THIS SOFTWARE! Not only is it illegal, but 99.9% of the time it can be found for free if you dare to download.

There are many ways I have seen people been ripped off when buying clothes, or did not get exactly what they expected. Clothes can be stained, cut, faded, and be reeking of smoke. A problem I have run into is quality. There have been many times that I have bought silkscreen T-shirts with mediocre prints. I’ve also bought jewelry that was not as pretty as pictured. Most of the time, it is difficult to get your money back on clothes through Paypal’s resolution center. To avoid being ripped off, buy from sellers who accept returns. Far as buying quality silkscreen T-shirts, only shirts created by other major manufacturers are safe. I have bought T-shirts from major sellers and found the silkscreen to be on the cheap side. Another thing I often do is look through feedback to see common problems. I also sometimes ask questions such as what sort of fabric the item is made of. Pictures can be liars.

Buying movies is very safe on eBay if you go to the Power Sellers. The most common ways bad sellers rip buyers off is by selling burned DVDs and promo DVDs. To avoid this problem, I always look at feedback. People who sell burned DVDs usually have negative feedback saying they sell these sort of items. I’ve also received a demo DVD for a show once. Every buyer needs to be careful.

Quality is the main problem of buying electronics. For example, I bought a Playstation 2 controller once that wasn’t brand name and the buttons did not have symbols and the product did not have the same dimensions. Another way I’ve seen people be ripped off is through buying used items. It is pretty easy for a seller to auction off low quality electronics by calling it used. Used items may have more damage than the seller tells. It may be nothing major such as a laptop missing its rubber feet. Still, I know I’ve been dissatisfied about the quality of used electronics I have bought before. Used items are also more likely to die out too.

Another problem I have seen with electronics is sellers selling information rather selling real items. These auction listings can be misleading since they can look similar to a auction for a real item such as listing specifications of a specific item. Main items that have this sort of problem are computers, digital cameras, and game systems.

I’ve had a wonderful experience far as buying books online. The only major rip off I have seen is quality and sending an item not exactly as described. Lower standards of quality can be highlighted pages, tears, and missing pages. All is free game when selling books as used. Far as sending items not as described, a seller might send a older version of a textbook. This is really rare, though. Once again, I suggest you look at feedback for common problems of sellers.

I have gotten my money for a missing item from Paypal’s Resolution Center. Filing a complaint is pretty easy and Paypal usually goes through cases pretty fast. The case may take up to a month though. Unfortunately, I have won a case before, but I did not get a refund. The seller did not have any money in his Paypal account, so I did not get my money back. I have seen sellers that have suddenly become bad by listing dozens of auctions for items they do not have. Then they run off with the money they stole. Even if a seller has over 50 positive feedback, they can still go bad. Be very careful when buying items from any seller.