Scam on Ebay

Always follow the simple rule of dealing with checks. DO NOT ship until the check has cleared which means wait one week.

Hi,
Antiqueelements is right, you never ship or refund the difference til the check has cleared the bank.
But now that ebay has done away with money orders and checks that will be once less scam to worry about.

Thanks to everyone who answered.
Haley - Ebay has not done away with checks or money orders. You just cant advertise on the item description that you accept them. If a buyer requests to pay you with a check you can still do so.

Checks and money orders can only be used for certain categories.

Accepted Payments Policy


eBay wants to help ensure that the marketplace offers buyers safer online payment choices.

Enforcement grace period for sellers: Starting October 20, 2008 only permitted payment methods will be displayed in the payment details section of listings. Sellers will need to remove all references to non-permitted payment methods from item descriptions. We know that this is a busy time of year for sellers, so to allow sufficient time to change templates, we will wait until January 15, 2009 before we begin taking action against sellers soliciting non-permitted payment methods within the item description of listings.

Permitted on eBay.com:

Sellers must offer to accept one or more of the following payment choices:

PayPal

Credit or debit card processed through an Internet merchant account

ProPay

Sellers may in addition offer to accept:

Payment upon pickup

For specific categories, sellers may also offer to accept:

Bank-to-bank transfers (also known as bank wire transfers and bank cash transfers)

Checks

Money orders

Any of the following online payment services: Allpay.net, cash2india, CertaPay, Checkfree.com, hyperwallet.com, Moneybookers.com, Nochex.com, Ozpay.biz, Paymate.com.au, XOOM

These payment choices may be offered only for items in the following categories:

Motors > Cars & Trucks

Motors > Motorcycles

Motors > Powersports

Motors > Boats

Motors > Other Vehicles & Trailers

Business & Industrial > Agriculture & Forestry > Tractors & Farm Machinery

Business & Industrial > Construction > Heavy Equipment, Trailers

Business & Industrial > Food Service & Retail > Concession Trailers & Carts

Business & Industrial > Healthcare, Lab & Life Science > Imaging & Aesthetics Equipment

Business & Industrial > Industrial Supply, MRO > Fork Lifts & Other Lifts

Business & Industrial > Manufacturing & Metalworking > Manufacturing Equipment

Business & Industrial > Manufacturing & Metalworking > Metalworking Equipment

Business & Industrial > Office, Printing & Shipping > Commercial Printing Presses

Real Estate

Adult Only

Not permitted on eBay.com

Sellers may not solicit:

Buyers to mail cash.

Buyers to send cash or money orders through instant cash transfer services (non-bank, point-to-point cash transfers) such as Western Union or MoneyGram.

Buyers to mail checks or money orders (except for items in categories specifically permitted above)

Payment through bank-to-bank transfers (except for items in categories specifically permitted above)

Payment through "topping off" of a seller's pre-paid credit or debit card.

Payment through online payment methods not specifically permitted in this policy.

Payment through payment methods not listed in this policy.

Misleading & Discouraging Payments

Sellers must clearly state the payment methods that they accept and may not include generalized statements soliciting buyers to contact them for additional payment methods.

Sellers who state in their listing that they accept certain payment methods must not selectively offer those payment methods to buyers or discourage buyers from using those payment methods.

This means that sellers must always accept payment from buyers through the payment methods they have selected in their Payment Details section of their listing, including PayPal, and must not act in any way to discourage buyers from paying by these methods.

This policy is not only limited to communications made in listings, but also includes all correspondence between a seller and buyer that relates to an eBay transaction.

Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions including:

Listing cancellation

Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings

Limits on account privileges

Loss of PowerSeller status

Account suspension


Some Examples

Examples of text NOT permitted in listings or communications with buyers:

“Contact us for payment information”

“Contact us for other payment methods”

“Contact us for your preferred payment method”

“Buyers may request to pay by check or money order”

quote:

Originally posted by chelsea-s-treasures:
Ebay has not done away with checks or money orders. If a buyer requests to pay you with a check you can still do so.

And you can refuse to take them.

I take checks and money orders, I simply refuse to use ebay! Nuff said!

This is an old scam FIRSTLY - IF Its too good to be true - it is too good to be true. It was cstarted by Nigerians about 4 years ago. They even printed VERY genuine cheques on Standard Chartered & Morgan Stanley. THINK