5 Ways to See If That eBay Seller is For Real

1. Feedback is crucial

eBay provides a great and easy way of checking the score of someone you may do business with by assigning them a feedback rating on their transactional past. Seeing a 100% score would ease the concerns of many at first sight, but you need to take it one step further and look at the feedback. Seeing all the particulars of their dealings will help build a picture of who you are dealing with exactly. If the seller has a past where they bought lots of things at low prices, then they are trying to raise their score up. This is suspicious and a red flag for sure. If a real seller has a blemish on their record, then they usually will go into reasons why when they are dealing with an unsatisfied customer. 

2. If it's too good to be true...

The old adage is right almost 100% of the time. If you see a barely used RC-F for a price a little too low, then use caution before entering your bid in or, worse, clicking 'buy it now.' Follow our last step to poke around their account info and try to see what kind of account they have. If it is a dealership that is selling the car, then go outside of eBay and see what reputation they have on Yelp or any consumer bureau site. Many shady sellers love to dangle out a killer deal to make people fall into their trap. 

3. Urgency sales

We're not saying that all things put up for a quick sale are bad, just the ones where you notice the seller has a history of posting quick turnaround sales. The seller is once again preying on your impulsive behavior and turning up the volume to make you decide quickly and against your better judgment. Exercise caution and don't be afraid to miss out on a "deal;" there are plenty of potential cars out there.  

4. PayPal policy

Okay, so everything seemed on the up and up, and you felt comfortable with the seller and their wares, so you entered the auction and won. You paid for the item and are excited to receive it in the mail from your new buddy, the seller. Unfortunately, you're only getting radio silence from the seller now and are distraught from the loss of funds, plus the blow to your ego. If you had the foresight to pay using Paypal, then you have nothing at all to worry about. You can file a claim with the service and, in almost every case, get your money returned back to you. 

5. Loss of safety

If a seller is trying to get you to meet up with them to conduct business outside of eBay, then you are taking a huge gamble with your money and possibly your life. If you feel comfortable doing business outside of eBay, then at least conduct the payment through PayPal with a valid ship-to address. However, there are reasons that the seller may have to circumvent eBay if they live in a country that is not recognized yet in the system. Just know that when you step outside of eBay, you are violating the terms of service and skipping out on fees that keep the wheels turning. 

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