The plan was simple: Buy Bitcoins at Mt. Gox, then sell them on eBay. Bam! Instant, easy profit.
Unfortunately, things didn't work out as planned. I did have some legitimate sales, but it didn't take long to discover that there are a lot of dishonest scumbags out there who are willing to lie, cheat and sell their integrity just to make a quick buck.
The Scam:
- By Bitcoins on eBay and pay with PayPal.
- Turn around and tell PayPal that someone else has fraudulently used your account to make a purchase.
- Because you cannot provide a standard "tracking number" to prove that you have sent the goods, PayPal reverses the transaction leaving the scammer with both your money and your bitcoins.
- eBay, having made it so that sellers cannot leave negative feedback for buyers, effectively protects the scammer so that they can cheat the next guy too.
Granted, I did not try very hard to win the disputes that were filed against me as I had more important uses for my time and the overall amount was less than $100 USD. If you were diligent enough in attempting to prove that they are a lying cheat, you may have more success.
In the end, I definitely recommend NOT selling Bitcoin on eBay. If you find a way to block scammers, let me know and I'd be glad to make a post on it (giving you full credit, of course).
You will not have any more success trying to prove it. I tried. I even had an email on eBay from the buyer saying "Yes, thank you, I received the coins" as well as providing blockchain verification screenshots. PayPal acknowledged I did deliver the goods, but said they won't give me my $190 back because I had no physical tracking number. So here they are ADMITTING I was honest but refused to give me back my money because "you should have read your terms of service more carefully as you need a physical tracking number of a tangible item to qualify for seller protection." It's obvious Paypal doesn't care about sellers. Listen to their on-hold recording. Over and over about buyer protection, nothing about seller protection. Personally, I feel that maybe PayPal has their employees scamming us intentionally because bitcoins are a threat to their business. PayPal has had hundreds of thousands of dollars pass through my account over the years and now they will loose it. Switch to DWOLLA. They only charge 25¢ per transaction, instead of the 3% charged by Paypal. And to add insult to injury, eBay still charged me $19.50 for their transaction fee.
ReplyDeleteHappened to me when i sold some Litecoins, do not ever trade with,
ReplyDeletedolly2773 (ebay Id)
Christopher Batt
23 Orion Drive
Little Stoke
Bristol, Bristol
BS34 6JB
United Kingdom