Trust online
My problem with eBay has always been this: I'm not as trusting when it comes to strangers online even though many sites have all kinds of ratings systems. I'm totally trusting in the real world. But online? That's hard for me. Which is why I've been a big fan of buying directly from Amazon. Although increasingly I'm also buying books from Amazon's third-party merchants and that's worked out pretty well so far except for one experience where the merchant was sellling an older version of a book without stating that. So I had to send my purchase back.
I suppose that'll always be a problem. Lack of quality control if you're buying thru someone else via Amazon but it would make sense for Amazon to try harder in making its merchants adhere to certain listing standards. Anyway, I finally took the eBay plunge this month. I managed to find a brand new copy of a watch that had been discontinued, and which I had been looking for for months unsuccessfully. I could have only found it on eBay! And the transaction was flawless.
But then, twice in a row, I was sold the wrong version of Microsoft software. I got my money back both times but the hassle made me livid. And wasted a couple of weeks. The good news is that eBay is on top of making sure that there are fewer scams on its platform and the Justice Department announced that it has made 125 arrests since October 1, 2003 for cybercrimes according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):
Investigators from federal, state and international law-enforcement agencies have uncovered more than 125,000 victims with estimated losses of more than $100 million as part of a crackdown known as "Operation Cyber Sweep," Attorney General John Ashcroft told reporters Thursday. Offenses targeted include identity theft, investment fraud and software piracy.
One crime involved the creation of a fraudulent Web-auction escrow site purported to ensure sellers of high-value items on the eBay Inc. auction site that payment had been received. But sellers of diamonds, rubies and other valuable items were never paid after sending the items.