Joanne Smith from Chicago now owns an abandoned home in Saginaw, Michigan, and she only paid $1.75 for it on eBay. Well, there’s also $850 in “back taxes and yard cleanup cost,” reports MSNBC. Smith says she hasn’t seen the house yet or visited the town, but we’re thinking hello summer home! Or maybe it’s a good place to put the parents when they retire.
ebay
Woman Donates Cellphone To Charity, But It Ends Up On Ebay With Personal Info Intact
By 9.15.08
People! Always wipe your cell phone before you sell it, give it away, or trade it in. Do not assume or expect that someone else will do this for you! This was just one of the mistakes that led to Rachel Swanson being called by strangers several weeks after she thought she donated her old phone to charity. But the store that handled the donation, and the company responsible for actually processing the donated phones, screwed up their parts, too. Here’s how it was supposed to have work, and what you should always do before donating your phone to any organization.
$50 Import Charge For eBay Items From USA To Canada?
By 9.13.08
Inquiring readers named Kurt want to know: If a buyer from Canada buys something from someone in America on eBay, pays for it, including shipping, and then it shows up with a $50 C.O.D. charge for imports and customs, is that kosher? Discuss…
eBay To Be Credit Card, PayPal Only
By 8.29.08
The word is that eBay is banning checks and money orders, and buyers will have to use PayPal or (if the seller has a credit card merchant account or an account with a service called ProPay), credit cards.
By 7.23.08
../../../..//2008/07/23/100-billion-dollar-bills-from/
100 billion dollar bills from Zimbabwe will get you a loaf of bread in that country, or $80 from a collector on eBay. “Official inflation is quoted at 2.2 million percent but independent finance houses say it’s closer to 12.5 million percent.”[AOL]
Judge Tells Tiffany To Police Their Own Merchandise On EBay
By 7.16.08
Remember the French lawsuit that Louis Vuitton won against eBay earlier this month? A French court said eBay was responsible for policing their auctions for counterfeit items—at least that was the official language. It also, unfortunately, helped solidify LVMH’s tight control over who sells its luxury merchandise. This week a judge in New York ruled the opposite direction against Tiffany & Co., telling them, “Tiffany must ultimately bear the burden of protecting its trademark.” It’s a win for eBay. Is it for the consumer?
EBay & PayPal Phishing Gone For Good On Gmail and Yahoo?
By 7.15.08
If your email account is with Google or Yahoo, your days of seeing phishing emails from fake eBay or PayPal addresses should be over. Google announced last week that it’s now using DomainKeys to verify messages really do come from paypal.com or ebay.com—if they don’t, they never even make it to your In Box. This is possible because eBay and PayPal are now making sure “that all their email is signed with DomainKeys and DKIM.” Since Yahoo! also uses DomainKeys and DKIM (they developed it, in fact), phishing attacks for Yahoo! Mail accounts should also disappear.
Consumerist Neighborhood eBay Garage Sale
By 7.7.08
Consumerist readers, want to make some cash and get rid of some old stuff? There’s infinite space on the virtual folding table that is the comments section for readers to add their eBay auctions – a great way to clean out the closets and make some extra cash to pay down bills or build up savings. We’ll get this started with a few items of our own (all start at $.01). More items inside. Add yours in the comments.
Counterfeit Smackdown! EBay Ordered To Pay $61 Million
By 7.1.08
That headline is the good news. The bad news is the $61 million in damages ordered by a French court isn’t meant for regular shoppers who have been defrauded when shopping on eBay. Instead, it’s been awarded to LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the French luxury goods company behind Louis Vuitton purses (among other fancy things, as you can see from their name). LVMH argued that “90 percent of the Louis Vuitton bags and Dior perfumes sold on eBay are fakes,” and that eBay profited off the sales without doing enough to stop them. EBay can appeal the decision, or simply click the “Pay It Now!” button.
By 6.26.08
../../../..//2008/06/26/ebay-says-it-will-improve/
eBay says it will improve the consumer protections offered by PayPal. The AP says, “buyers who pay for items with PayPal will be eligible for full refunds, with no cap, if a seller fails to deliver an item as promised.” The changes are expected to take place this fall. [NYT]
Worst Company In America 2008 "Sweet 16": eBay/Paypal VS Capital One
By 6.13.08
Here’s your fourth “Sweet 16” match-up: #20 Ebay/PayPal VS #36 Capital One.
Check Serial Numbers On Used Service Gadgets Before Buying
By 6.11.08
Reader Mike reports he got screwed buying a used TiVo off eBay. It turned out 1) It would need a new $20 access card for DirecTV to activate it and 2) DirecTV wouldn’t authorize sending a new access card because the box was linked to a defaulted account. The lesson Mike says he learned is that, “If anyone plans on buying any used DirectTV equipment make sure you call DirectTV with the Serial Number and RID number off the unit BEFORE you purchase it to make sure it’s not coming from a defaulted account. If not, you chance buying an electronic brick.” This is true when buying other used electronic service items with service contracts linked to them, like cellphones.
Why Would Anyone Bid $55 For A $50 Target Gift Card?!
By 6.8.08
The ever-thoughtful economists over at Freakonomics are stumped by eBay member lpinok, who bid $55.71 for a $50 Target gift card.
All The Secret Paypal/Ebay Email Addresses And Phone Numbers You Could Ever Want
By 6.6.08
Here are over 450 pieces of internal email addresses and phone numbers to reach a real live human at Paypal/eBay. Anyone who has ever experienced Paypal unfairly freezing their funds, Paypal siding with someone who scammed them and losing money because of it, Paypal seizing funds from their bank account or credit card without permission, or just the simple impenetrable, rude, and useless customer service can surely appreciate this list. There’s contact info for executive relations, high executives, practically every department, and more, both US and international. The information comes courtesy of Screw-Paypal.com, a site started by a man who says Paypal wrongfully denied access to his funds for four years. I guess that’s how long it takes to track down every single piece of Paypal contact info. He got his money back eventually, and you can too, with the email addresses and phone numbers inside…
How Robots Are Killing Customer Service
By 5.20.08
Here is the live audio and powerpoint from a recent presentation I gave called, “The 5 Things Your Customers Aren’t Telling You.” This is number 3, “Stop Hiding Behind Walls Of Robots.” It’s all about how companies think they’re saving money by replacing humans with machines but sometimes machines can’t do jobs as well as humans, especially when it comes to customer service. I brought the point to life with a funny little story about eBay and their wonderfully inept automated email response system. I hope you enjoy the video, including the intro and outro ditties I worked up on my girlfriend’s old Yamaha synth. [More]
Former Mortgage Broker Selling Possessions On eBay/Craigslist To Avoid Foreclosure
By 5.19.08
Marketplace Money took a look at some folks who are selling their possessions on eBay and Craigslist in order to pay their bills. The main interviewee was a former mortgage broker who used to make six figures but was now selling his collection of cool amps to pay off his $5,000 a month mortgage and $50,000 in credit card debt.
Round 39: Sallie Mae vs eBay/Paypal
By 5.15.08
This is Round 39 in our Worst Company in America contest, Sallie Mae vs eBay/Paypal!
T-Mobile: We Can't Help You, Sell Your Brand New Defective Phone On eBay
By 5.12.08
A link to the following letter to T-Mobile’s president just popped into our inbox. It seems that if you receive a T-Mobile Sidekick for Christmas and it’s defective… your options are fairly limited. T-Mobile’s best solution to your broken phone? Sell it on eBay.
