Beware of eBay Trading Assistant Scam

I’ve seen this scam several times with my clients, and last week, they hit me. The scam goes as follows:

You will receive an email like this, usually from a web based email account like Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail. It is usually in broken English with incorrect grammar. Below is the exact email I received:

I found your profile using eBay Trading Assistant Program and I'm offering a long term cooperation to you. I've agreements with different outlet stores in different states, that allows to get the brand new products for a much lower price. I've many business partners in different states, they help me to buy / ship off stuffs and they check its condition for some % from my profit that I get when I sell all this stuff using Ebay service. We ship completely different types of products (from ice skates to binoculars), the average price of the items is $300-$600. We usually use FedEx delivery service to ship off the packages and USPS (rarely). I'd like to know what is your fees structure. I usually choose money transactions through MoneyGram or Western Union as a payment method, because it's the most effective way for me and it's easy to send. It would be great, if you could provide this money-sending service for me. I'm really interested in cooperation with you. Let me know, if we can start immediately.

Sincerely,

Basically this person wants YOU to list items, send them money for the inventory, and then they will ship the items when sold. What’s really going to happen is that unsuspecting sellers will send them money and list items, then when a sale is made, there is no item shipped. Sellers will have to refund money to the eBay buyers. Another red flag is the use of Western Union or Money Gram. Never ever transact business with someone you don’t know using this service.

I knew what was going on here, so I sent the following reply, not expecting an answer:

Dear Sir,

Wow, this sounds like a fantastic business opportunity! I just need a few things from you before we go any further.

Your full name, address (street address, no PO boxes), and social security number or EIN, which ever you do business under.

A copy of your current driver's license.

A landline phone number where you can be reached.

We run a background check on all consignment clients and must be able to verify your identity, business address, and telephone number.

The business name you operate under, what city and state you are registered in, and a copy of your current business license.

We charge 25% of the sale price, and your eBay fees and Paypal fees will be deducted separately. The fee structure differs based on the sale price of the item. This usually comes out to about 60% of the sale price.

As soon as I get the requested documents from you, (you can just scan and email them, or fax to XXX), I will have my attorney draw up the paperwork / agreement and have it Fed Ex'd to the address you provide.

Looking forward to doing business,
Suzanne Wells

Of course, by adding words like “background check, business license, and attorney” you won’t hear from them again. Maybe if these crooks get enough of these types of emails they will go away. And in the event you get a response with any information you can verify, contact the authorities who handle fraud.

Counterfeit Items on eBay – What Every Seller Needs to Know

Designer clothing and accessory sales have risen recently. Unfortunately, sales of knock offs have risen as well. It’s difficult to determine just how many fake items have been sold. Organizations such as the International Chamber of Commerce have made estimates, but are unable to calculate exact figures.

The president of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, Jean-Daniel Pasche, believes that each year more than forty million fake watches are sold. That’s more than one for each legitimate Swiss watch that is sold.

Replicas may seem harmless at first, but they take away from legitimate companies’ sales. Plus, many counterfeiters avoid taxes and are tied to organized crime. One attorney, Ted Max, says that counterfeit products even helped pay for the first bombing at the World Trade Centers.

The internet has made cracking down on product counterfeiters much more difficult. However, new laws have helped somewhat. Bigger brands have been able to take legal action to seize websites that deliberately chose names similar to theirs. LVMH has also acted against eBay and Google to get them to crack down on sellers and sites offering fake merchandise. eBay especially has taken action to help prevent knock offs from being sold through their site.

My advice for selling designer brands on eBay? If you are not 100% sure of an item’s authenticity or you did not purchase it yourself from a reputable dealer and have a store receipt to prove it, do not risk selling the item on eBay. Not only can you be suspended from eBay, but you will be helping the counterfeit underground by perpetuating the sale of these items. Use common sense!

Coach and Gucci handbags found at garage sales and thrift stores are not going to be authentic. This issue comes up almost on a daily basis with my clients, readers, and members of my Facebook Group. Don’t believe everything you see. There are many, many other safer avenues to take when choosing merchandise to sell on eBay. Avoid items than can possibly be counterfeit.

Related articles:

Knockoff Designer Handbags - Don't Even Try it on eBay!

Watch Out for Fake Sunglasses on eBay

Coach Purse - Is it Fake?

Melaleuca Threatens eBay Seller

There was an interesting discussion on my Facebook group last week regarding selling Melaleuca products on eBay. One seller had listed some items for a consignment client on eBay and received the following email from eBay user 2010Melaleucacorporate1 (who by the way, has zero feedback):

"This email is to let you know that your auction violates Melaleuca’s policies against selling Melaleuca products on the Internet and may violate eBay’s listing policies and various laws. We realize you may not have known about the policies, but we must ask that you please remove this listing immediately, along with any other listings of Melaleuca products you may have on eBay or any other Internet locations. We understand you may not be constantly monitoring this listing but if, for some reason, it is not removed within the hour we will need to report this to eBay and to our Policy Administration Department so that they may follow up with you and take appropriate action if needed.

As a reminder, you may be able to return your products directly to Melaleuca for a refund. Please contact Policy Administration at 208-522-0700 or reply to this email to discuss this option.

Thank you for your cooperation."

Shocked and scared, the user removed the listing and asked for help regarding if Melaleuca products could actually be sold on eBay, as there are many listings for them. Group member Lisa C. so eloquently replied,

"This method of contacting directly you was entirely inappropriate; eBay has certain requirements (VERO program) for handling such "listing legality" issues.

Self-appointed policeman contacting eBay sellers directly willy-nilly like that, demanding removal of items, can lead to very capricious and arbitrary behavior. Any manufacturer who wants to control the market could make a practice of this even if they had no legal leg to stand on. And -- how do you know the member who contacted you is who s/he claims? With zero feedback, this eBay member could be a competitor trying to intimidate other sellers.

It's one thing for a company to regulate counterfeits in the market It's quite another to try to regulate how products legitimately obtained are resold. I would relist and let your listing stand. I would also forward that (and any subsequent) e-mails to eBay and let them deal with it."

In other words, it is understood by Melaleuca reps and distributors that they may not sell their products on eBay as an agreement between that individual and Melaleuca. This is a case where Melaleuca is using bullying tactics to try and control the secondary market. Anyone can sell Melaleuca products on eBay, even Melaleuca reps if they CHOOSE to do so, of course, at the risk of being dismissed by Melaleuca. Once a person has possession of the items, they are that person's personal property and can be used, given away, or sold if that person chooses to do so. Furthermore, Melaleuca is not on eBay's prohibited items list, so anyone is free to sell them.

(Conversation shared with permission given by all participants of original discussion.)

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