Seems like eBay is a SCAM!

[Shampoo]

I've bid on several spare parts for my M1A and Mini 30 over the last month. In every single auction (about 10 in all) I was outbid only to be contacted by the "seller" that the high bidder did not come through and would I like to arrange to buy the part over e-mail directly. Hello? So some dipsh*t can have all my credit info and never sell me the stuff? What gives with this, is this normal? I know some of you folks must sell on e-bay is this how you do it? Seems like ScamBay to me. I hear eBay is supposed to be "notriously anti-gun." Then why do they even have stuff like this on there - to F with us?

[Fate]

Many "second chance" offers sent aren't even legit. It's actually an acknowledged issue at ePay. Scammer sees who other bidders are and sends them bogus second chance offers.

There's also shilling that goes on, where one account bids up the price and if they accidentally win, the seller either cancels their bid or does the second chance offer.

Personally, I'd never go for a second chance offer.

[c good]

EBay isn't necessarily a scam. It's the scumbags that follow up on bids like you experienced. They offer to sell item direct to you after the bid is over, with an excuse just like you experienced, hoping you'll go for it and send them the cash. Anytime you have something like this happen, make sure you contact EBay so they can follow up on it. c good

[avidone]

Gun parts are ok. Assault weapon parts are not. How anyone can tell the difference is anyone's guess. People try (sometimes sucessfully) to list all manner of prohibited items on Ebay. I have over 650 hard earned Ebay positive feedbacks with no negatives. You can't have that many positives without being an honorable seller so check your sellers feedback. Also check how long your seller has been a member. I, for example, have been a member for nearly 10 years. Most scam listings clearly show the signs of fraud but the percentage of scam listings on Ebay is really low. I think it's a great forum for buying and selling but you can take it or leave it as you wish.

[ivanimal]

Some second chance offers are legit or are multiple items sales. I usually look for relisted items and lowball on the last day.

[Socal858]

from what he says , it sounds like they are NOT legit. if hes been offered the second chance thing on a bunch of consecutive auctions, it is probably a credit card bait scam. too statistically significant

report em.

[rkt88edmo]

I contact the sellers via ebay to confirm that it wasn't them and then you just foward the email you received to spoof@ebay.com.

[xenophobe]

A second chance offer will show up in your My Ebay messages folder. Also, it's best to reply to a second chance offer directly through ebay.

With ebay's new bidding policy, shill bidding is much easier, and their soon to be introduced feedback system will only benefit powersellers.

[blackberg]

Yeah, last time I sold a car on ebay, i got several questions from non-winning bidders that if the vehicle was still avaibale since they had received the second-chance offer, they all called actually now that I come to think about it, they didnt got trough ebay messaging

I told all of them that the transaction was going trough

the next time I "Sold" a car on ebay, I never got those questions, and that buyer flaked out the day before he was suposed to pick the car up

-BlackBerg

[ThomasMagnum]

Been a seller and buyer on ebay almost since the beginning (1998 when I started) and it has always been buyer beware. My advice is never do any transactions outside of paypal or a credit card, so that there is some recourse if it goes awry. Also never, ever do business with new sellers or feedback below 97% for anything significant. There is always a reason why the seller either doesn't have feedback or has a number of negatives. Keep your guard up at all times and always be skeptical.

[Satex]

I have been buying and selling on Ebay for a number of years now - most with very good experience. As with any sale, you have to do you due diligence about the seller and if it doesn't smell right - stay away.
I rarely do business with anyone that doesn't have established feedback.
Don't know what you bid on, but maybe the stuff you are looking for is favored by scam artists.

[mltrading]

1) It's a wrong place to buy/sell gun parts on eBay. The EvilBay is running by anti-gun scumbags.

2) Mostlikely what you experienced is shill bidding. Just don't reply to suspicious "second chance offer" e-mails and be sure to direct them to spoof@ebay.com directly.