Self-Defense For EBay Buyers

Stephanie Marhefka bought several dresses and a laptop computer over the years on eBay without problem. But the psychologist says her last purchase was a disaster: She paid $700 for what an eBay seller said was a solid wood desk, plus an additional $40 for the Brooklyn merchant to deliver it to her mid-Manhattan apartment.

The desk she received in 2004 turned out to be damaged and made with veneer, not solid wood. The seller's promise to replace it never panned out. EBay's suggestion for remedying the situation went nowhere. Two years later, the seller's phone is disconnected and Marhefka is stuck with an unwanted desk.

Michael R. Dimino, a law professor at Widener University in Harrisburg, Pa., has made 30 or so purchases on eBay without incident. But his luck ran out last December, when the PlayStation 2 video game system he paid $100 for never arrived. He soon discovered that other buyers had complained about the seller.

Goods that are damaged, counterfeit, don't match what was advertised or are never delivered remain a persistent problem for eBay and its customers -- even though the numbers represent a relatively small fraction of transactions on the Web site. How big a problem is unclear. EBay Inc. does not disclose specific totals.

The auctioneer has been an Internet wunderkind, evolving since its founding in 1995 from a folksy, funky cyberspace flea market into a Web phenomenon that's the most visited e-shopping site. Last year, 546.4 million items were listed for sale on the site, up from 79.4 million five years earlier.

While eBay officials say the vast majority of transactions take place without a hitch, company spokesmen acknowledge that the growth in online buying has been accompanied by a growth in online disputes, from simple disagreements over a sweater's color to more serious allegations. And, says eBay spokeswoman Catherine England, fraud also occurs against sellers, when buyers don't pay up as agreed.

Cracking down on such problems has been a hot topic at the annual "eBay Live!" gatherings of buyers, sellers and company executives. This year's, in Las Vegas in June, was no exception: EBay president and chief executive Meg Whitman in her keynote speech ticked off a number of improvements in eBay's online dispute-resolution process.

"We're confident that is going to result in a significant reduction in buyer claims against sellers, which will be great for everyone in the eBay family," she said.

EBay says only 1/100 of 1 percent of the items on sale last year ended up as confirmed cases of fraud. That fraction multiplied by the number of items offered for sale last year yields 54,640 cases, though some company critics suspect the actual number is much higher. The company defines fraud as either a buyer not paying for goods received or a seller not delivering a product or sending one that is counterfeit, damaged or otherwise not as promised.

Ina Steiner, editor of AuctionBytes, an online newsletter that follows eBay and other electronic auction sites, said the estimate does not include many unresolved disputes that exceed the company's time limits for consideration or were not counted for other procedural reasons. It also does not include cases in which customers persuade their credit card company to cancel the charge. And Steiner points out that by comparing confirmed cases of fraud with the number of goods listed rather than the number of actual sales, eBay makes the percentage seem smaller.

Whatever the numbers, consumers can reduce their chances for problems by following a few simple tips, eBay executives and eBay watchers say.

First, use PayPal, an eBay subsidiary that makes online bill paying more secure by acting as an intermediary between buyers and sellers. Consumers give PayPal their credit card, debit card or bank-account information. PayPal then pays for a item on behalf of the buyer without divulging personal financial information to a merchant.