That’s the bewildering part of it; the buyers in the main genuinely think they’re snagging a tremendous bargain, who don’t think carefully, who (increasingly) don’t want to be bothered with reading the full description. To me, it’s both frustrating and saddening. Part of me wants to knock their heads together, while another part of me empathises.

The main reason why the phrase “Caviat emptor” is employed so often centuries after it was coined is because buyers often don’t beware. It’s part of human nature to be able to be fooled, which is why scams are big business and cons have always been run.

Some people are more wary than others and are less likely to be fooled, but it isn’t straightforward.

Because it’s so intrinsic, I believe eBay (for example) should be doing more to weed out sellers who are obviously fooling their buyers - in concert with buyers employing more diligence and being sceptical of things that are too good to be true.

To the tune of “Don’t be cruel”…

🎶 “Don’t be fooled by a coin not true…”