Checking Out the Seller
The number one-rule for all online auction buyers: Never post a bid or send money to any online seller until you are comfortable with the seller, the terms of the deal, and the likelihood that you will receive your purchase.
Always try to check out a seller's reputation before placing a bid on one of his items. Typically, you can do this by reading the seller's feedback or the seller's ratings posted by others who have bought from him on the auction site. Read all of the comments, if you can, and keep in mind that almost no seller can maintain a perfect score for very long. Sometimes, a transaction or shipment goes awry, and negative feedback is posted. Sometimes, a buyer may respond angrily to some matter and post a bad rating for something the seller probably could not control.
Before you bid, you can e-mail a question to the seller and see what kind of response you get. If a seller is new to the auction site, e-mail them to get information that can be verified, such as an address or a home phone number or work phone number. Also, be sure you know what you are bidding on, and be sure you understand the terms of the sale, before you bid.
On eBay, some sellers choose to have their identities verified through the eBay ID Verify process. A third-party company contracted by eBay confirms the seller's identity by checking it against a number of consumer and business databases. After a seller is verified, a special symbol can be displayed in his member profile, indicating his special status.
Many auction sites simply encourage buyers and sellers to check each other out before going ahead with bids and other transactions. However, a few auction sites investigate sellers to be sure they are legitimate, and some of the auction sellers may be eligible for special bonded merchant designations. For example, Overstock.com Auctions' Trusted Merchant program protects buyers before and after a purchase. Trusted Merchants are sellers who have been bonded by buySAFE, Inc., an e-commerce and auction bonding service. This service verifies their identities and confirms that they are financially stable and able to meet their obligations. Any purchase from a merchant with a buySAFE seal was guaranteed up to $25,000 with a Liberty Mutual surety bond, when Overstock.com launched its Trusted Merchant program in mid-2005.
