Question
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6448213/did/6792440/
Answer
How wonderful the media is. So intead of giving a people to shop on ebay, they now give people the idea not to shop on ebay in fear that they will either
A: get screwed
B: buy something that was stolen.
anyway aspect of life you look at, the media is the biggest enemy.
Answer
I'm not surprised this is happening and variations have long been present in pawn shops, flea markets and local classified ads.
What does get my attention is the size and duration of the scam.
You might think that with a 1000 people on the eBay fraud prevention staff someone would notice the listing of hundreds of gift certs by one person.
Given most retail theft is done by employees one has to wonder just how big this problem really is and that doesn't include the theft of entire truck loads or crates in the shipping process, with or without the owners knowledge.
Since no violence is involved in these crimes and tracking the extent of the activities over several states is difficult I expect the risk of criminal punishment is nominal in comparison to the potential financial gains.
I've purchased items for years at yardsales, auctions and flea markets for resale and may well have unknowingly moved stolen items. Given my personal experiences I don't believe there is an effective answer.
I meet a number of "professional" shoplifters over the years in the addiction recovery support groups. They often could not maintain jobs and found shoplifting as a means of supporting their drug habits.
This suggests that beyond the initial problem of theft, in some cases, the dollars were used to finance self destruction by drug abuse, the resulting impact on families and the community and a stream of income going to the criminal drug distribution network.
The overall negative effect might go well beyond the initial theft of goods.
I guess everything could have an imbedded chip and police scanning could eventually track stolen items. That suggests a Big Brother worldwide government watching and privacy issues that scare me more than the existing problem.
It also has a negative impact on legitimate businesses because their insurance costs go up, they have to charge more to cover shrinkage and they have to compete with stolen goods in the marketplace.
Not a new problem but it will reach new dimensions as Internet trade expands.
Answer
I do a massive amount of trading in the coupon and rebate form arena. I hold quirky auctions on rebater sites for goofy stuff that doesn't have a prayer moving on eBay. I often accept payment in gift cards from Walmart, Target, Kmart, Big Lots, Walgreens, Best Buy - the list is endless.
Right now I have 2 business card wallets full of over 175 cards. 95% of them are under $20 in value.
I WAS planning to start listing some of these on eBay, especially for stores I don't regularly shop or ones I'd never get to use before an expiration.
I've gotten all these cards legitmately by bartering, and now I can only list 1 per week!!
I'm going to go back to trading them.
Answer
I guess everything could have an imbedded chip and police scanning could eventually track stolen items. That suggests a Big Brother worldwide government watching and privacy issues that scare me more than the existing problem.
Yep. And it should. If it wasn't for those scamming artists, it would be a near perfect world. Blame where the blame belongs, scammers! I see RFID becoming a BIG thing in the near future. Believe it or not, I've started a form of it today with a Patent Attorney...going to be interesting. Imagine the possibilities of that little chip, and the Big Brother world we'll be living in 20 years from now.
Answer
It's also obivous that the author of the article had never used eBay.