Australian online auctions: 22% of auction users say they never received items

[mandy]

Article on online auction fraud in Australia

Fraud on online auction sites such as eBay is rife, says a new Australian study, which estimates that almost half of those taking part in online auctions may have experienced some sort of problem...

Of all survey respondents, 87 per cent said they had bought at least one item at an online auction site and 54 per cent said they had bought more than 10 items.

Of those that said they had bought online, forty-eight per cent said they experienced problems and about 22 per cent of them said they did not receive an item that they paid for - which amounted to about one in every five buyers surveyed. A further 20 per cent said they had received an item that was different to that advertised...

Ebay said it did not support the CLC survey findings because it did not believe the research was conducted across an adequately broad cross section of the online community. Its own research indicated that less than a fraction of a percentage of transactions resulted in confirmed cases of fraud, said a company spokesman...

full article: http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/buyer...38964.html

ONLINE auction users are falling victim to fraud in much bigger numbers than auction companies themselves have suggested, a report from an independent legal research centre claims...

These figures are in sharp contrast to the low incidence of problems claimed by auction companies such as eBay.

"Online auction sites commonly report that little fraud happens on their sites," says the report's author, Nick Moustakas. "eBay Australia for example says that less than 1/100th of 1 per cent of the items listed result in a confirmed case of fraud - but online auction users painted a very different picture...

full article: http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/in...51746.html

[stardust]

Its own research indicated that less than a fraction of a percentage of transactions resulted in confirmed cases of fraud, said a company spokesman...

Bastardos.  They *confirm* NOTHING, and refuse to remove fraudulent listings!  Which is why the scammers prevail on ebay.  Bastardos.

[xppman]

I tend to believe that about one in every five buyers surveyed is more accurate.

Reason: WEEK OR NO TRUE VERIFICATION AT EBAY'S STOOPID GATES.