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Casual Articles - Bidders Beware: Scams Commonly Used on Internet Auctions
With the Winter Olympic Games in Torino underway, on time and over budget, it feels like a good time to take a minute and look at the lessons the Olympics have to teach us about managing events. To be fair, the Olympics are a massive set of groups with multiple venues hosting simultaneous events with visitors from all over the world. To make matters worse, you only get to do it once, you prepare for years leading up to it, when it arrives you try the best that you can to control the chaos for just over 2 nonstop weeks and then, in a blink of an eye, it is over. While there is a chance that your children or grandchildren will be involved in hosting the Games again, for most people involved there is no next time.It is still too soon to look closely at what has and has not worked for the Winter Games in Torino. It is not until all the smoke has cleared that they will know how the event really went. I did however, have the good fortune of being involved
Sometimes
What's your company doing to set itself apart from all of its competition and build a sustainable competitive advantage? Many companies struggle with defining what makes them different from their competitors, even though they have core strengths that do set them apart. In today's crowded marketplaces, when prospects and customers go looking for a vendor, what usually causes them to investigate further into the possibility of buying from a specific company is what sets that company apart. Companies that define and develop their messaging around their unique selling proposition have a much better chance of accelerating their sales and gaining customer attention and traction.It's very easy to actually develop your company's unique selling proposition. This starts with a strategic marketing planning process which includes analyzing the positioning of your company and its messaging. If your company is an also ran in its market today, why not sit down wit
Buyers who have received damaged products, misrepresented products or no product make up most of these reports; however, some have had credit cards or bank accounts compromised. Sellers are also among the victims, although not nearly as often.
Don’t get scared off by the statistics, may people have excellent experiences with online auctions, but like any other business or shopping endeavor it is always smart to remain shopping savvy. The following are a few common frauds and scams performed by con artists and ways to avoid them.
Product Scams
Before ever placing a bid, always do your research about the auction site, the seller and the product. Read the terms and services agreement presented by the auction site. Some have hidden fees or don’t offer any kind of fraud security.
Additionally, many auction services have feedback centers. Read the feedback about the seller. Feedback is used by auction sites to help sellers and buyers establish a reputation and creditability within the auction community. If they have an extraordinary number of negative feedbacks, reconsider the purchase. However, don’t disregard a seller for not having any feedback, this person may be new to the auction circuit and everyone has to start somewhere.
In the end, consider the product price and what the seller says about it. Since the buyer has to take the seller’s word for the product’s authenticity, always approach “genuine,” “authentic,” or “autographed” merchandise with caution. Research how much the item usually costs in retail stores or what the seller’s situation is and why they might be selling the items so cheap, especially high–ticket items like computers and cars. If the price is too good to be true. it probably is.
Sometimes s
Some years ago while researching and writing a book on the subject of industrial Buyer & Sales relationships, I also wrote a follow up chapter for future endeavors which has rolled around in the back of my mind ever since. The piece was entitled “The Value of Value”.Alright, I admit it was and could still be, construed as something of a Procurement diatribe but the purpose both then and now is to assist venders recognize and comprehend how Buyers perceive and respond, to the levels of service we receive from distributors and manufacturers when there are problems. (Notice I didn’t say, “reps”)After 20 years of battling repetitive and inane situations and shortfalls, I thought it was time for someone to get it out into the open and talk about it plainly. Forget the graphs and the charts and Power Points, statistics and pep talks, just plain talk seemed like a reasonable solution.After all, how many Buyers and PA’s aren’t exhausted to the p
Buyers who have received damaged products, misrepresented products or no product make up most of these reports; however, some have had credit cards or bank accounts compromised. Sellers are also among the victims, although not nearly as often.
Don’t get scared off by the statistics, may people have excellent experiences with online auctions, but like any other business or shopping endeavor it is always smart to remain shopping savvy. The following are a few common frauds and scams performed by con artists and ways to avoid them.
Product Scams
Before ever placing a bid, always do your research about the auction site, the seller and the product. Read the terms and services agreement presented by the auction site. Some have hidden fees or don’t offer any kind of fraud security.
Additionally, many auction services have feedback centers. Read the feedback about the seller. Feedback is used by auction sites to help sellers and buyers establish a reputation and creditability within the auction community. If they have an extraordinary number of negative feedbacks, reconsider the purchase. However, don’t disregard a seller for not having any feedback, this person may be new to the auction circuit and everyone has to start somewhere.
In the end, consider the product price and what the seller says about it. Since the buyer has to take the seller’s word for the product’s authenticity, always approach “genuine,” “authentic,” or “autographed” merchandise with caution. Research how much the item usually costs in retail stores or what the seller’s situation is and why they might be selling the items so cheap, especially high–ticket items like computers and cars. If the price is too good to be true. it probably is.
Sometimes
Why do advertisements fail? The answer’s not what you might think. The most common cause of failure in both advertisement and marketing campaigns is that the company’s USP is either weak or non-existent.What is a USP?USP stands for a company’s Unique Selling Proposition. That is, an aspect of a company or product that sets it apart from the competition. It’s what makes customers want to buy your product or service over your competitor’s.There are three things that a USP must be in order to accomplish this.1.Descriptive. A strong USP will be descriptive. It will tell the customer exactly what your product or company does differently or better than the competition. 2.Clear. A strong USP will leave no fog in a customer’s mind regarding exactly how he will benefit from using your product or service. 3.Short. A strong USP will be short and to the point. There’
Product Scams
Before ever placing a bid, always do your research about the auction site, the seller and the product. Read the terms and services agreement presented by the auction site. Some have hidden fees or don’t offer any kind of fraud security.
Additionally, many auction services have feedback centers. Read the feedback about the seller. Feedback is used by auction sites to help sellers and buyers establish a reputation and creditability within the auction community. If they have an extraordinary number of negative feedbacks, reconsider the purchase. However, don’t disregard a seller for not having any feedback, this person may be new to the auction circuit and everyone has to start somewhere.
In the end, consider the product price and what the seller says about it. Since the buyer has to take the seller’s word for the product’s authenticity, always approach “genuine,” “authentic,” or “autographed” merchandise with caution. Research how much the item usually costs in retail stores or what the seller’s situation is and why they might be selling the items so cheap, especially high–ticket items like computers and cars. If the price is too good to be true. it probably is.
Sometimes
If you’ve been paying attention to the internet marketing world over the past year or so you’ve probably heard about a few product launches that achieved almost unbelievable amounts of targeted web site traffic. A few internet marketers even broke the million dollar mark in just a few days.If you’re like me you almost certainly wondered (with a little disbelief) how on earth these guys can generate so much targeted web site traffic so quickly. Truth is, nobody has a big enough customer list to sell so much so quickly on their own.The key to massively increased targeted web site traffic is (of course) joint ventures with other internet marketers.In fact, I dare say that the joint venture is the fastest way to grow your business (and by that I mean grow your targeted customer list). When you think about it for a moment it makes perfect sense.If you do every traffic building technique out there you will only grow as fast as you can attr
In the end, consider the product price and what the seller says about it. Since the buyer has to take the seller’s word for the product’s authenticity, always approach “genuine,” “authentic,” or “autographed” merchandise with caution. Research how much the item usually costs in retail stores or what the seller’s situation is and why they might be selling the items so cheap, especially high–ticket items like computers and cars. If the price is too good to be true. it probably is.
Sometimes
At the Repair and Service Center of a well-known technology company, customers are invited to examine and try the latest computers while waiting to collect their current systems.Except for one problem: they don’t have the latest computers on display!Managers in the company’s Sales Department have decided their latest products are better off on display only in the Sales Showroom in a completely different building across town. Why?In the minds of the Sales Managers, the Repair and Service Center is merely a cost center for ‘after-sales service’, not a vital profit center for generating new business growth.What an out-of-touch, narrow-minded, wasteful and expensive point of view!Think about this: When you purchase a new policy or product, how much do you truly trust the salesperson offering the package?Do you trust a salesperson from Company A any more than someone you meet from Company B, C or D? Not likely. After all, yo
Sometimes sellers will slip “fine print” into detail pages or item descriptions. It is illegal for sellers to misrepresent their products; however, fine print is a legal loophole and the responsibility to find it is placed on the buyer. Sellers sometimes do this to save their hides about the quality or condition of the product. This is not a common practice and auction sites and buyers frown upon sellers who use it.
Additionally, make sure the seller has some kind of return policy. If the seller refuses to agree to a return or refund policy, reconsider the purchase; this is especially imperative for expensive items like TVs, laptops and collectables. Online auction services encourage honest business practices and try to detour scam artists; however, many are too large to police every person that sells online. They rely on buyers and feedback to help monitor the system.
Second chances occur when a seller contacts the losing bidders and offers them the same product on a different website. This is sometimes called “luring,” because the buyer is being “lured” from the legitimate auction site to another, less secure and potentially dangerous website. In instances like this, the seller will take the buyer’s credit card number and never deliver the product. In some cases the person’s identity is completely stolen. Unfortunately, since the buyer has left the legitimate auction site they are no longer covered by the auction's security policies and procedures and it is easier for the seller to get away with their crime.
The most popular auction sites like eBay, Overstock.com and Yahoo! Auctions will never offer buyers a “second chance,” even if emails and offers look legitimate, report them to the auction service.
Payment Problems
Most sellers accept cashier’s checks and credit cards. However, giving credit card information to a stra
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