If your a experienced seller online especially at ebay then you will probably either been victim of a scam buyer or have spotted a scam buyer.

As with everything where they is money they is also people trying to con you out of your money but if you know what to look for you can easily spot then early on and reduce your chances of been a victim.

Ebay is probably to most likely place you will be cought out, its big and well know and full of novice sellers.

Tip 1-

The buyer will contact you and say they would like to immediately purchase your item but it is for a birthday present and needs to be sent straight away usually to a country like south africa or nigeria. They usually state that they need postage by fedex and that they will pay immediately by western union. This is one of the most widespread scams going around today. If you respond you then shortly receive a email suposidely from western union stating that the funds have been paid to them and that as soon as you provide tracking information you will be sent the cash.

The email is fake and for a novice quite convincing, the money never arrives and if you fall victim to this you have just given away your goods.

Unfortunatly ebay is no help either and can take weeks to close this persons ebay account but then they just register a new account and carry on.

Tip 2-

Never accept western union or bidpay for payments they are legitimate companies but prone to scams like this because of the way they work. If a buyer will not pay by your choice of payment method simply dont complete the sale. A legitimate buyer will pay by one of your methods.

Tip 3-

You receive a email offering designer clother or electrical goods at rediculous prices, Bulk orders only and if your intrested to email back. These are also scammers some will take your cash off you while others are just replies to get your email legitimately into a database to receive loads of scam emails. By you replying you have allowed them to email you legitimately and they cannot be accussed of spamming. You would be suprised hom many people like you everyday fall pray to these emails and lose their money.

Tip 4-

Blackmail- Another scam if designer for bigger sellers, they purchase a item from you on ebay they buy a few more. Later they then complain they never received the goods. But this is not the scam what they then do is threaten you and say if you dont send then so many items they will constantly leave negative feedbacks for you. They usually have numerous ebay accounts running so stopping then isnt as easy as blocking them. Basically if you dont send the goods usually 100-500 worth they will ruin your ebay business until you have been suspended and then you can never trade on ebay again. Again ebay are reluctant to help you they take their time investigating by which time you have lost your business and if you are lucky enought to get your account reopened your business is ruined anyway and you might as well start again.

This is why it is imperitive that you dont rely on ebay always sell at numerous venues. Please see our other article "Where can i sell online" for more selling venues.

Most scam buyers can be spotted but to reduce your risks goto your ebay and set buyer requirements, you can set your ebay so only buyers who have registered a credit card can buy from you and buyers with over so many feedbacks. This will certainly stop you from been victim of tip 4 and reduce your risks of been victim of all other scams.