Things to take note to prevent e-auction fraud when a consumer participating in an e-auction

Wednesday, February 4, 2009





The concept of e-auctions for steel by moving the entire process of auctions to the Internet or defined as a market mechanism by which sellers place offers and buyers make bids which conducted online and is characterized by the competitive and dynamic nature by which the final product is reached. With state-of-art technology and unique services to support buyers and sellers in the decision making, financing and logistics stages we make sure that our auction tools help enterprises realize their sales and procurement goals with considerable cost savings. The examples of e-auction were lelong.com.my, BuySellHub.com, mudah.my and etc.






The benefits of e-auction are as below:



  • Increased revenues


  • Optimal price setting


  • Removal of expensive intermediaries


  • Better customer relationships


  • Liquidation


  • Lower transaction costs


  • Lower administrative costs


  • Opportunities to find unique items and collectibles


  • Lower prices


  • Entertainment


  • Anonymity


  • Convenience


The limitations of e-auction are:



  • Possibility of fraud


  • Limited participation


  • Security


  • Auction software


  • Long cycle time


Most internet auction fraud cases involve straightforward scams where consumers allegedly win merchandise by being the highest bidder. All sounds good until they send the payment and never receive the merchandise.This is a video clip which showed that the e-auction fraud. This case is about scammers setup fake escrow services and websites. This way, the scammers can collect merchandise as well as collect payments. The victims never suspect a thing until they have already sent their payment to the fake escrow service or sent their merchandise off to the buyer thinking the payment is safely waiting in escrow.



There were several limitations of e-auction. Therefore, there were several ways or things to take note to prevent e-auction fraud when a consumer is participating in an e-auction. The following are action to prevent the e-auction fraud:



1. User identity verification such in IC number, driver’s license number or date of birth. For example, verified eBay user, the voluntary program, encourages users to supply eBay with information for online verification.



2. Authentication service. It is to determine whether an item is genuine and described appropriately. It difficult to perform because their training and experience, experts can detect counterfeits based on subtle detail.



3. Grading services which is a way to determine the physical condition of an item, such as ‘poor quality’ or ‘mint condition’. Different item have different grading systems. For example, trading cards are graded from A1 to F1, while coins are graded from poor to perfect uncirculated.



4. Feedback forum. It allows buyers and sellers to build up their online trading reputations. It provides user with ability to comment on their experiences with other.



5. Insurance policy. For example, eBay offers insurance underwritten, users are covered up to $200, will with a $25 deductible. The program is provided at no cost to eBay user.



6. Escrow services. Both buyers and sellers in a deal are protected with an independent third party. Buyer mails the payment to escrow services which verifies the payment and alerts the seller when everything checks out. An example of a provider of online escrow services s i-Escrow.



7. Non-payment punishment. To protect sellers, a friendly warning for first-time nonpayment. A sterner warning is for second-time offense, with a 30 day suspension for a third offense and an indefinite suspension for a fourth offense.



8. Appraisal services which use a variety of methods to appraise items. It includes expert assessment of authenticity and condition, and reviewing what comparable items have sold for in the marketplace in recent months.



9. Item verification which is a way of confirm he identity and evaluate the condition of an item. Third parties will evaluate and identify an item through a variety of means. For example, some collectors have their item “DNA tagged” for identification purpose. It provides a way of tracking an item if it charges ownership in future.



10. Physical inspection. It can eliminate many problems especially for collectors’ item.



Lastly, these are the action whereby a consumer can beware of the e-auction fraud. To be a wise consumer or bidder, we should notice it before making any decison.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_auction


http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/laws-government-regulations/332902-1.html


http://www.mjunction.in/metaljunction/products_services/what_is_eauction/


http://en.wordpress.com/tag/e-auction/

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