The hype surrounding the whole Missoni for Target phenomenon continues. First, the online demand was apparently so huge that it temporarily crashed Target’s website (though some of us are not 100% convinced the “crash” wasn’t a deliberate — and effective — PR stunt). Then after all but the tattered scraps had sold out, folks who missed the boat began hunting the items down at marked-up prices on eBay. Now comes a woman who thinks she will be able to pay for her child’s college with her small stockpile of Missoni for Target items, including the pair of boots she’s listed for $31,000. [More]
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Nike Auctions Back To The Future Air Mag Shoes
By 9.9.11
After years of rumors, Nike is finally selling a run of Back to The Future shoes. These Nike Air Mags are like the ones that Marty McFly put on in the movie and they laced themselves up. The shoes are going for a few thousand on eBay and all the proceeds benefit Parkinson’s research. Sadly, all they do is light up and look cool, they’re not self-tying. Which is why this guy, who has a working prototype of a self-lacing shoe, should have gotten a production run instead. [More]
25 CEOs Who Made More Than Their Companies Paid In Income Taxes
By 8.31.11
The Institute for Policy Studies has just released its 18th annual review of U.S. executive compensation and found that 25 out of the country’s 100 highest-paid chief executives actually earned more in 2010 than their companies paid out in corporate income taxes. [More]
eBay Asks New Seller To Shell Out For Shipping
By 8.31.11
Jamali is a longtime eBay seller, but his wife isn’t. So he was shocked when his wife went to sell something on her account, and was asked to pay for the shipping ($21) out of pocket while PayPal held on to the money until the transaction was over. Normal auction practice has the buyer send money to the seller, and then the seller ships the item. The buyer can file a chargeback if the item is not as described, never arrives, or if the buyer is a jerk. [More]
PayPal: You Owe Us $38.41 From 2004 Because We Say So
By 8.26.11
Did you know that there’s a seven-year time limit on PayPal chargebacks? Yeah, neither did we, and neither did Dan. He still had to fork over $38.41 owed to PayPal from an an unknown account belonging to him, even though he didn’t recognize it. What? [More]
After 10 Years Of Selling, Why I Swore Off eBay
By 8.12.11
After having used eBay for 10 years, Daniel has vowed to never do it again. “If I have something I know I can sell on eBay,” he wrote in a letter to eBay executives, “I’ll give it away before listing it.” Why is Daniel so steamed? [More]
EBay Won't Let Me Re-List My Item After Scammer Ordeal
By 5.23.11
All Richard wanted to do was sign up for eBay and PayPal and auction off a few things. But when he was hit by a Nigerian scammer, he says he got into a complicated ordeal with eBay as he tried to get his money back, and was then unable to re-list his item. [More]
Yep, Microsoft Bought Skype For $8.5 Billion
By 5.10.11
The rumor was true, Microsoft has purchased Skype for $8.5 billion in cash. The Wall Street Journal says the deal will allow the company to integrate Skype into everything from its Bing search engine to Windows smartphones and its Xbox 360 video game system. [More]
Debunking The Creation Myths Behind 5 Huge Companies
By 3.30.11
It might be shocking to you to find out that some companies have lied about their own creation, but hey, who doesn’t like a good story? From eBay to YouTube, tall tales have been spun to consumers for various reasons. Let’s take a walk down liars’ memory lane, shall we? [More]
NJ Man Selling 212 Phone Number For $1 Million
By 3.25.11
212 is a coveted area code for your phone number. It says that you are in Manhattan, established, and among the set that could pop its collar if it wanted to but chooses not to. Now a New Jersey man is trying to auction off his 212 number for $1 million on eBay, hoping the proceeds will cover care for his elderly mother, who has dementia, reports New York Daily News. For those that might question whether the number really has value, consider that 6 months after he got the number, Verizon called asking if they could have it back, saying they usually reserve it for “big companies.” Sorry, Charlie, prestige has its price. [More]
How To Switch Your iPhone From AT&T To Verizon And Make Money
By 1.18.11
Are you an AT&T iPhone 4 owner with Verizon envy? Dan over at MoneyTalks News has formulated a minimally devious, moderately labor-intensive and somewhat risky way of switching carriers and getting a Verizon-capable iPhone and end up in the black. [More]
eBay Chat Agents Live In The Mythical Nation Of "Chat Session Ended"
By 1.10.11
D. suspected that his customer service chat rep at eBay didn’t really understand what he was saying. So he asked where the rep was located. We suspect that hanging up on the customer is not the eBay-endorsed response to such queries. [More]
Man Cons Woman Into Paying For eBay Auction She Won
By 12.15.10
A guy over on Reddit had tickets to a big sporting event but at the last minute couldn’t go, so he sold them on eBay for $600. The event was in less than 24 hours and when he contacted the winning bidder after they didn’t pay for a while, the woman told him that her husband had said that it was too much money and wouldn’t let her go. Never mind that winning an eBay bid is a binding contract and now the guy has little chance of selling the tickets. So he concocted a fiendish scheme to trick her into paying. [More]
Make All Your Bordello-Managing Dreams Come True Via eBay
By 9.3.10
We know times are tough and many of you are looking for work. So even if you haven’t given much thought to the idea of managing a bordello in Berlin, now might be your chance to get in on the ground floor of a (somewhat) recession-proof industry… in Germany. [More]
PayPal Says Man Owes Nearly $300 For Dispute That He Won
By 8.30.10
Kentaro already went through a dispute resolution with PayPal for an HTC Droid Eris he sold on eBay. He says the reason for the dispute no longer exists, and anyway, he won and that was supposed to be the end of it. But now he owes $287, according to PayPal. [More]
Get Shoved By The CEO Of eBay, Receive $200,000?
By 6.15.10
The NYT is reporting that Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay and current Republican candidate for governor of California, allegedly shoved an employee who didn’t do a sufficient job of preparing her for an interview with Reuters. [More]
At Least One Honest Person Exists On eBay
By 4.16.10
While most sellers on eBay are busy talking up the historic and/or kitsch value of the moldy t-shirts and sun-damaged movie posters they salvaged from their parents’ crawlspace, Consumerist reader Daniel has pointed us in the direction of one item where the seller has decided to be honest about the product, for better or worse. [More]
eBay Scammers Evolve, Use Live Chat "Customer Service Reps"
By 4.13.10
Grace almost got scammed on eBay. A fraudster cracked a high-value seller’s account and posted a fake listing for a camera and tried to make Grace pay for it using Western Union, a huge warning sign of a scam. That’s typical, but these criminals went the extra mile. “Above and beyond,” if you will. When she tried to ask some questions about the transaction, they directed her to a live online chat that was mocked up to look like a real eBay customer service chat and tried to assuage her concerns by telling her it was okay to use Western Union because she had “buyer protection!” Here’s her story and the chat transcript so you can learn and not get burned: [More]
