Know the Seller

There are several ways in which you can check out a seller.

• Does the online auction site have the ability to view the
  sellers other auctions, by looking at this you can decide
  whether they are traders or not.

   

• Does the online auction site have a seller feedback area,
  if so check out what other buyers have said about the seller, sometimes buyers can rank a seller, if the seller has bad
  feedback and ratings do the sensible thing and avoid them
  or your negative feedback will be joining the others.

   

• Does the seller have a history of selling items, although if
  a history and feedback were always required there would
  be no new sellers, you can still gain confidence for your
  first few buys by taking these two into account.

   

• Is the seller using an anonymous email account, they could
  be completely honest, but generally dishonest sellers will
  not have traceable email addresses.

   

• Before bidding send the seller an email, especially if they
  are a new seller, just think of a simple relevant question to
  ask that is not covered in the description of the item. Good
  sellers are serious about their sales and will respond quickly, fully and politely. After all do not forget YOU ARE THE
  CUSTOMER.

   

• Does the seller appear to be knowledgeable about the item
  they are selling, this can go a long way to avoid buying fakes, because it is less likely the seller bought fakes in the
  first place.

   

• How does the seller want to be paid? If they want cash
  chances are you won't see your item or your cash. For
  reasons of tractability and some recourse you should try
  and stick with a credit card payment.

   

• When does the seller require payment? If its a short fixed
  period you may wish to look elsewhere as making payments
  other than credit card can be delayed and anyway YOU
  ARE THE CUSTOMER and you should be allowed to pay
  within a reasonable amount of time.

   

• What is the return policy for the item. If its not good don't
  bother, you are relying on a photo and a description, the
  item may arrive and not be what you thought.

   

• What is the shipping rate? Has the seller inflated the rate
  to make more money, if so you need to decide whether the
  item is worth it and if the seller is worth doing business with
  when they use practices like that.