Half of eBay buyers encounter fraud, says a Consumer Reports survey

Almost half of eBay buyers surveyed reported encountering deceptive practices on the online auction site, Consumer Reports says in an article that will run in the August issue of the widely read consumer magazine. Respondents reported sellers taking their money but not delivering the product, and cases in which the item was misrepresented.

The magazine also says its secret shoppers were able to purchase on eBay a lawn darts game banned in the United States and car seats, baby strollers and other items recalled for possible safety defects.

“EBay has 2,000 staff members policing its site around the clock, but with 6.4 million new listings per day, their employees can’t find all the iffy auctions and shut them down instantly,” says Tod Marks, senior editor of Consumer Reports, which claims 4 million subscribers. “Buyers must take precautions and learn as much as possible about who they are dealing with.”

Consumer Reports surveyed 2,500 subscribers to the magazine who said they had made a purchase on eBay. Here are some of the results:

• Despite complaints, 70% of those surveyed were highly satisfied overall when buying on eBay. About 90% of purchases arrived on time, were accurately described and were perceived a good deal. Nearly half of respondents characterized eBay as an excellent source of hard-to-find items.
• 40% of survey respondents termed eBay fair or poor for help and customer support. Most victims of unscrupulous sellers tried to fight back, but of those who tried to settle problems with the seller directly, which eBay recommends, only 38% were successful.
• PayPal, owned by eBay, is by far the most popular payment method and was used for 89% of the purchases by the Consumer Reports survey respondents.
• Complaining directly to eBay authorities satisfied 60% of survey respondents who took that action. But the most effective way to deal with dishonesty was among the least used: filing a formal complaint with PayPal. Although only 23% of unhappy respondents took that step, 66% of those who did said it worked.

Among sellers:

• 64% of the 700 survey respondents who sold on eBay in the past year were highly satisfied with their transactions.
• 27% of sellers said their auction ad cost far more than expected.
• Only about 10% of respondents said their freight costs exceeded those computed by the site`s shipping calculator.