Is there a central website to name and shame fraudulent sellers?

[joeysrun]

The number of people selling fakes on ebay is increasing, especially in the postage stamp and coin area.

Ebay will do nothing.  They have probably been overwhelmed.

Law enforcement will do nothing except advise "don't buy from them".

But how to know who they are is a problem.

Is there a cenral register of frauds that we can look up?

Self help is the only option left.

[leader-of-the-band]

no eBay sanctioned sites.  eBay will not support a site that names and shames any of its members.

Such a site would be open to abuse through competitors of an eBay seller putting up their competitor's names as scammers and therefore destroying their competition, especially the smaller operators.

[kopenhagen5]

Best way is if you see something obvious, use the report link on the item. It's quick and easy and ebay look at each one. 😉

[joeysrun]

Thanks for your comments.

I and my colleagues have been reporting to ebay for years.

We get the mirror response = "we'll look into it", but nothing else happens.  The listings and the sellers remain active.

Sorry, I'm just getting frustrated at being ignored by ebay.

We can't alert the buyers directly because the fraudsters all use private selling.

[the3coopers]

Ebay is NEVER going to take your word that an item is fake. How could you possibly know, and how could they verify it either?

Innocent until proven guilty.

Think of it the other way around... imagine that you were a seller, and people (opposition) were able to get your listings removed just by reporting you.

[joeysrun]

Some philatelic fakes and forgeries are obvious.  I am a specialist in certain areas and know the fakes.  I can easily explain them to a lay person, and they can look up a catalogue to verify what I say.

I am a member of several philatelic forums with similar specialists in other collecting areas.  Between us we are able to identify a great variety of fake items.

But you are right, convincing ebay staff is near impossible.

So we should just go on blissfully allowing fraudsters to ply their wares?

[the3coopers]

Ebay is an advertising medium, not a shop.

Buyers need to do their own research - it is simply impractical to police this place because it would take an infinite number of experts to cover all the products.

You know a bit about stamps, I might know LED light bulbs, somebody else knows a certain brand of teddy bears. But there are millions and millions of items listed every day, and probably several hundred new ones appear every hour, where nobody is an "expert" yet.

And also remember - the photo in the listing need not be the photo of the actual item being sold. So you cannot just rely on what you see.

If you are an expert in a particular field, one of the most valuable things you can do is help create Ebay Guides. Take a look:

http://search.reviews.ebay.com.au/?satitle=stamps&ucat=260&uqt=g

[30kittykins30]

I agree if there was an ebay website for frauds it would be abused. Legitimate sellers would end up on the list as they would be reported by the competition. Any name and shame forum would not only violate ebay's privacy protection but it would also be unreliable due to the false reports.

It's not always the seller that scams people with fakes, buyers sometimes scam sellers for example saying they haven't received items when they have.

[dylan11235813]

I agree if there was an ebay website for frauds it would be abused. Legitimate sellers would end up on the list as they would be reported by the competition. Any name and shame forum would not only violate ebay's privacy protection but it would also be unreliable due to the false reports.

It's not always the seller that scams people with fakes, buyers sometimes scam sellers for example saying they haven't received items when they have.

I agree there should be something like this for buyers to gauge the number of non recept of item claims a buyer makes. 

[i-once-was-bump]

After each poster's ID is their feedback in brackets but there isn't anything after "joeysrun", just a star.

Does anyone know why?