When it comes to finding eBay suppliers, the sad truth is that it's not enough to simply check if they have products you are interested in and price lists that work for you. You also need to check if they are legitimate or running a scam. A huge problem that has hit eBay is the influx of scamsters and fraudulent companies using the site as a way to make some quick money.
Unfortunately, the problem is such that eBay can do very little to effectively put an end to the activities of scamsters. It's up to you to do a scam check on potential eBay suppliers before you commit to working with them.
Check the Details
Anyone who legitimately deals with wholesale surplus will have a physical address, which will appear on all their correspondence and on their site. At the very least, this would be an area where they will store their product. However, many legitimate outfits also have separate offices and separate physical addresses for their warehouses.
In any case, an eBay wholesale dealer who simply has an email address and nothing more is probably running a scam. Apart from the address, you should also check the phone numbers. Avoid any dealer who does not provide a number. If they supply a mobile phone number, call it up to check if it works or if it's a dummy number. In many cases, scamsters will put up a false number just to reel people in.
Even if the eBay supplier offers a landline number, make sure you call it up. A simple litmus test is to just see how they answer the call. If they answer the phone with a simple hello, this should be a red warning flag to you. Any serious business will answer their phone calls by clearly stating the company name and they will ask how they can assist you.
If this is how they answer your call, proceed to ask them some general questions related to their business. Are you put on hold indefinitely? Or are you immediately put through to someone who answers your questions in a clear and concise manner? The latter is a good sign that you're working with legitimate suppliers.
Payment Factors
A common way that fraudulent eBay suppliers con people is by accepting payments through wire transfer alone. They may offer a number of excuses for this, many of which will sound totally legitimate. But when you make a payment via wire, it's pretty much a lost cause if something goes wrong.
You cannot effectively track the payment and it can be extremely difficult to take any action if something fraudulent occurs. The best way to make payments is via credit card, since you can stop the payment if you feel that something is amiss. However, it's worth noting that some legitimate dealers won't accept credit cards. If not, ask them why and what their alternatives are.
It also pays to be suspicious of any eBay suppliers that do extremely aggressive advertising. This would include making claims that you can make a ton of money selling their product on eBay. A legitimate seller will probably speak well about their product but they will never say that selling it will make you a lot of money. Aggressive and pushy advertising and sales pitches usually mean that there's a scam hidden in there somewhere. The aggressiveness is mainly there to distract you from asking questions.
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