Limit the likelihood of your being scammed by being aware that if the price is too good to be true, there's a problem.
- If you need to rely on warranty... buy from Australian businesses (and make sure they are authorised resellers).
- If you buy electrical / electronic items... buy from Australian businesses (and make sure they are authorised resellers).
How to tell if the seller is Chinese
In a listing, click onto the seller's feedback score. (It's a clickable link that will take you to to the eBay member's feedback profile page.)
In that feedback profile page you will see all of the seller's feedback, plus information about when and where that eBay seller was registered. E.G.,
Member since: 03-Nov-10 in China
Many eBay members still aren't aware that the item location information on a listing can be misleading. Either the seller flat-out lies, or the seller is using "Just in time fulfilment". (You can read about in this post.)
If the seller is registered in China, but the item listing states that the item is located in Australia, to be on the safe side you may want to assume that it's coming from China and that the location information is a lie.
Unfortunately eBay Australia has so far not implemented a way to stop Chinese sellers from using misleading item location information, and in fact, eBay China encourages it. There is really very little point in reporting such listings or such sellers. Read here (especially in the "spoiler" section) to see why.
How to see if the seller's feedback shows a problem
On the seller's feedback profile page, you'll see a table called "Recent Feedback Ratings". Click onto the seller's negatives (12 months) - it's a clickable link, and clicking it will cause only the negative feedback received by the seller (in the last 12 months) to show.
Reading those feedback comments can demonstrate a consistent issue. For example, if there are comments like this;
not sent from Australia. Posted from China
... then you have a strong indicator that the seller has listed with misleading item location.
if there are comments like this:
Item never arrived
... or ...
seller promised replacement, never sent!
... or ...
seller said sent, no refund, too late to claim
... or ...
promised refund if I closed case, liar!
... or ...
cheap rubbish fell apart, fake
... then you have information about the seller indicating that their promises can't be relied on and their product is not genuine.
If the item location on the listing says Chullora, Sydney, Darwin, or any other Australian location, you should be aware that this is where the seller SAYS the item is. You need to dig deeper before buying. Check the seller's feedback profile page.
The best way to avoid buying from bad sellers is to check the seller's negatives (that seller's negs DID warn about the item location), country of registration, and feedback percentage. For a high-volume seller, I would not consider anything less than 99.5% a good percentage.
