How to Avoid eBay Scams and Fraud

Countless people have been scammed and defrauded on eBay. eBay is a fun place to bid on items and to sell items but you must know how to recognize a scam, and how to avoid them, them or you quickly join the ranks of those who have lost their money to eBay scams. Of course, if you are scammed, there are some actions you can take to correct the situation but in many cases, the scammer does indeed get away! The best option is to avoid being scammed.

You can easily avoid many scams with the payment method that you use whether you are a buyer or aseller. eBay owns Paypal, and in most cases, Paypal is the payment method you should use. First, as a buyer, if you are scammed or less than satisfied with the item when it arrives, you can dispute the charge easily, and demand a refund. The seller must reply and show proof that the item was shipped, and that it arrived in the condition that you expected, or Paypal will return your funds to your account.

As a seller, you can protect yourself by only accepting Paypal. This will eliminate the chances of receiving a bad check or having the buyer dispute a credit card charge. Instead, they must dispute the charge through paypal, and you of course will be able to prove that you shipped the product. You cannot, however, prove that the product arrived in the condition that was expected. In this case, you should demand that the product be returned to you before the refund is issued.

Another common scam that buyers use is the bidding scam. This type of scam is run either with two separate eBay accounts with one person in control of both of them, or with two friends with separate eBay accounts. A very small bid is placed on your item, using one account. This is followed by a very high bid, from the other eBay account. Right before the bidding ends, the high bid is cancelled or withdrawn, leaving the low bid as the winning bid.This bid can only be avoided by setting a reserve price the lowest bid that can be placed is the same as the reserve price that you set.

If you are an eBay seller, you can further protect your auctions by placing a notice on your auctions page, declaring that you have the right to back out of the sale if you suspect potential fraud. As both a buyer and a seller, also beware of spoofed emails. These emails appear to be from eBay. The email may claim that you need to verify your information, and ask you to login to your eBay account, using the link provided. If you follow that link, the site looks exactly like eBay, but it is actually a scam to get your eBay login details, as well as your credit card details! eBay will never ask you to do this. If you suspect a spoofed email, report it to eBay immediately!

Dont let scammers ruin your eBay fun! Just use good common sense, and a reasonable amount of caution, and everything should run smoothly. Report suspicious activity to eBay, and if a deal doesnt feel right, simply back away from it and move on to the next auction.

10 Reasons To Become An eBay Trading Assistant

Many eBay sellers are finding additional revenue in signing up to be a Trading Assistant. This program is beneficial to both sellers and people who wish to sell their items but, for reasons of time or technology, arent capable. When thats the case, they turn to a Trading Assistant to help market their wares. There are many reasons that someone may choose to become a trading assistant and, in turn, why someone would want to hire one.

Reason 1: When sellers become an eBay Trading Assistant, they increase their inventory without investing any money. The client will provide his/her items to be sold and the Trading Assistant will not have any out-of-pocket expenses for the new items.

Reason 2: If a business has a large selection of merchandise, it will attract more customers and generate even more revenue. The more variety that you can offer, the wider your consumer base will be.

Reason 3: As a Trading Assistant, sellers can earn extra money based on the fees that they charge. Selling someone elses product is a service and most sellers charge a fee for that service. As a Trading Assistant, it becomes your responsibility to photograph and accurately describe the item, list the auction and take responsibility for completing the transaction. Each Trading Assistant decides what fee, if any, they wish to charge their clients.

Reason 4: Each Trading Assistant will be listed in eBays Trading Assistant Directory, which will give added publicity to your business. And, best of all, its free!

Reason 5: If you take on the task of selling a clients product, and do a good job, then he/she will likely return to you for future selling needs. In addition, your client may refer his/her friends to you. Word of mouth, when its positive, is the best kind of publicity.

Reason 6: When you become a Trading Assistant, sellers may want to consider submitting a press release to local newspapers. Because its a new development within your business, its considered news. Press releases are one of the best ways to get free publicity for your business.

Reason 7: The eBay Trading Assistant program provides sellers with access to special training programs and other education reference materials. Knowledge of sales and marketing are always an asset to any business.

Reason 8: As a Trading Assistant, sellers can take pride in knowing that they are providing a service that is earning money for their customers. By signing up for this service, and taking on clients, sellers are helping people to earn extra cash while also clearing some space.

Reason 9: The Trading Assistant program offers a seller the opportunity to gain experience and knowledge in a wide variety of fields, including marketing, buying, sales, customer service, business management, order processing and fulfillment. Each of these tools are extremely valuable in todays job marketplace.

Reason 10: The more you sell, the more feedback you will receive. If the feedback is good, customer confidence will grow based on your reputation as a seller.

Now that you know 10 reasons to become an eBay Trading Assistant, Ill bet you cant think of one reason not to. Happy trading!

How to tell if a power tool is real

How to tell if its fake

1. The price if its really cheap it could be too good to be true, if no one else has bid for it leave it (except forretailers who sometimes get free of charge incentives that they sell off very cheap, but are still 100% genuine)

2. Ask the seller for the model number by asking seller a question then check it on the companys web site by writing the model number in the site search box

Such as:

http://www.makitauk.com http://www.hilti.co.uk/

http://www.dewalt.com/us/core/ http://www.hitachipowertools.co.uk/

http://www.boschtools.com/

Why not buy fake tools ?

1. The motor is not as powerful, very short life span compared to the proper thing, one of these drills will last someone who use the drill every day for a month and a half max (due to the poor quality battery cells used and motor)

2. THERENOT SAFE, many carry nosafety guarantee such as the CE

3. The battery life is tiny, due to quality not being part of the making process

Hope this saves you money remember to rate this guide and view my item many thanks leedslad6

SATELLITE NAVIGATION SYSTEMS. QUICK GUIDE TOO SAT NAV

HI THERE HERE IS A LITTLE INFO ON SAT NAV / GPS I HOPE IT HELPS THANKS FOR LOOKING

WHY DO I WANT SAT NAV?

Iguess that everyone has to ask himself or herself that question at some stage in the process, and it's as well to know the answer, if only to explain why it's more important to buy a GPS system than it is to purchase a new washing machine or some other essential that's a touch more fundamental to ongoing life. So what is the answer? Well it can vary all of my mates have got one, I am a serious walker or climber, I regularly travel on business, I'm embarking on a long distance touring holiday; I've got a boat and so on and so on. The reality is that there are so many uses and applications for GPS systems it's a wonder everyone hasn't got one already. Certainly once it becomes a part of your life you'll be amazed at how you ever managed without it. Let's try and work through the process What would I use it for? The uses for a GPS system are limited only by the imagination The fundamental property of a GPS system is to utilise the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to determine the users exact position at any given moment in time. If that positioning ability is then coupled with software that processes the information all sorts of possibilities open up. Walkers and climbers can obviously use a GPS system to determine their current position; they can log that position and by use of a compass return to that same spot with a high degree of accuracy. It's worth noting that a number of GPS systems have a built in compass some even have a built in barometric altimeter! We'll look at some of those later on. Drivers can use mapping and navigation software to superimpose their position onto a map and through the navigational part of the software, determine the routing to another location. Sports persons can determine their speed and direction as their GPS system measures the time taken to travel between points and utilises software to make the calculations. Golfers, although not in competitions, can determine exactly where they are on a hole relative to the centre of the green or some other pre-programmed point. And so it goes on, the GPS unit determines the current position and the application software stores that information and uses it to make calculations that in turn deliver information in a format useful to the user.

There is a major decision that needs to be taken at an early stage in the buying decision process otherwise the choice will be overwhelming. It really relates around the hardware and software options that are available and the application you are interested in. HOPE ITS HELPED YOU MAKE YOUR MIND UP, REMEMBER TO TICK THE HELPFULL BOX THANKS X X X

Guide to the Different DVD Formats

These days, CD/DVD burners are standard equipment on almost every new PC. CD/DVD burners that work with discs that can hold 4.7GB of data, and may be used for performing back-ups and storing movies that may be viewed through consumer DVD movie players.

For some time, CDs have provided a convenient way for computer users to distribute data and back up hard drives, but the medium's storage limits of around 700mb per disc in this era of 400GB hard drives leaves much to be desired. So if DVD is clearly the way to go, it should be a simple matter to purchase a DVD writer. However, the industry is involved in a war of standards that is yet to be resolved, and early drives were very expensive with some drives costing in excess of 800, now high quality 16x DVD writers can be bought for approximately 20-50.

On the DVD writing side, there are two main competing standards. The standard known as DVD-R/RW (this is a combination of DVD-R and DVD-RW, note the minus in the name) is supported by Pioneer and other manufacturers and has taken an early lead. The other competing standard DVD R/RW (this is a combination of DVD R and DVD RW, note the "plus" in place of the dash), is being backed by HP and Sony and making a strong bid.

The situation is similar to that of the competing VHS and Beta video standards decades ago. But unlike the videotapes of old, the two main competing DVD standards are designed to create discs that may be read by most consumer DVD movie players. And both standards can read commercial Hollywood DVD movies, as well as work as CD readers and burners.

Both DVD-R and DVD R let you write a single time to a DVD (similar to CD-R technology). Once you use a DVD-R or DVD R disc, you can't write data to that disc again. Note that DVD R capabilities were not available on the first DVD RW drives from HP and Sony, and drives with this capability are catching up on the market. On the other hand, DVD-RW and DVD RW technologies let you write continually write to a DVD, just as you can to a CD-RW disc or a floppy.

A third DVD rewritable standard, DVD-RAM, runs a distant third. This technology is incompatible with commercial DVD players-data stored on a DVD-RAM disc can't be read by DVD movie players, or many other DVD drives. The only real use for DVD-RAM is as a high-capacity network backup medium. DVD-RAM discs are housed in cartridges and hold between 2.6 GB and 9.4 GB.

DVD-R and DVD-RW media, as well as DVD R and DVD RW media, are generally compatible with newer DVD movie players and DVD-ROM drives on PCs. At the moment, there are differences between manufacturers of different DVD drives, but acceptance of DVD discs by different drives will improve over time. This evolution will probably resemble that of the early days of CD-R and CD-RW drives. You may recall that initially, older CD players couldn't read all the media that newer ones could.

As with Beta versus VHS, DVD standards will eventually iron themselves out. The difference is that whether you choose DVD-RW or DVD RW, you should, in theory, be able to create DVD discs that can be read by most DVD-ROM drives and DVD movie players. And the more the standards evolve, the stronger this compatibility will become.

More recently there has been a trend for DVD Recorder manufacturers, notably Sony, to by-pass the whole "plus" and "minus" issue by producing machines that work equally happily with both formats.

The crucial difference among the standards is based on which manufacturers adhere to which standards. Similar to the old VHS/Beta tape wars when VCRs first hit the markets, different manufacturers support different standards.

DVD R, DVD R Double Dual Layer and DVD RW

Philips, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha and others support DVD R and DVD RW formats.

DVD R

10 Brand New Mobile Phones for 10? Not a good deal!

It would appear that the following scam is also being used with xbox 360's, be careful!!!

Whilst searching for the new Nokia 8800 mobile, I discovered quite a few auctions offering large quantities of 8800's, N90's and various other new, expensive and highly desirable mobiles, at what seems to be a very good deal. If you take the time to search through the listings, you will see the genuine sellers of (for example) the Nokia 8800, are getting somewhere between 300 and 350 pounds for there phone at the moment, so a listing offering 46 of these, with a start price of 12, seemed a little to good to be true!!

These listings claim to take Paypal, that the 'phones are all with manufacturers 2-year warrenty, brand new, unlocked blah blah blah... BUT they also say that there Ebay registered e-mail is "having some problems", and that you should contact them on what is normally a net-based email. (yahoo, gmail, hotmail etc.)

This is when your first reply to an enquiry to something likeshipping cost, asks you for your full name and address "so we can start the shipping"

After several more mails, you discover that they will only take Cash posted direct, funds from Western Union, or other direct transfer system--WhichEbay has now banned,and when you ask what garuntee they offer you, they'll tell you "I'm an honest busines man, with a wife and too kids who I'm love very much, the money is meening nothing to me,I don't wanting any trouble with the cops"!!!

Things to look out for

Bad English grammer and spellings! (see above quote for example, this was a direct copy from one of these e-mails!)

"Blocked" e-mail address's

Strange mention of family members- most people keep business and private seperate!!

Sick relatives in 3rd world countries

No post charges listed

Payment instuctions different from listings, i.e. Paypal in "payment instructions" section, but money transfer only in description

Contacts through net-based E-mail's or websites

Pre-approved bidders only

Mobile phones listed in irrelevent catagories, such as childrens books or shoes (this usually means they've hijacked somebody elses account!)

Wholesale quantities of phones, from sellers who normally sell single, completely different small items

Options of how many would you like to buy?

Options of which phone you want to buy?

No information other than copy/pasted phone spec from manufacturers websites

Very few dealsare scams, and the abovedo appear in genuine listings, from honest, trustworthy sellers,but put all of these criteria together...........and your gonna get stung. Ebay states you should never involve yourself in an "off Ebay trade", just remember a little bit of common sense goes a long way, but more importantly.......

If it looks too good to be true, it often is!!!!!

JAH SHAKA SOUND SYSTEM

Jah Shaka Sound System, Club Minerva, Southend on Sea - Friday june 29th 2007.

"So it was in the begining so shall it be in the end"

Jah Shaka Sound System, formed in 1970 in London - still going strong. to witness a Shaka dub session is to have your senses assaulted with deep, heavy dub bass. I have never met anyone that has failed to be impressed with the vibes at a Shaka dance. Inspired by rastafari and King haile Sellassie i Shaka plays a form of reggae known as "Dub" or "Roots".. Never affected by the fashions of youth or the music industry, Shaka remains true to the beliefs of rastafari and spiritual vibes..

A Reggae sound system is an awesomely powerful thing, especially shaka sound. The Minerva a building which only holds a couple of hundred people max and had four stacks of speakers in it equalling 15k of sound! Shaka plays with a garrad deck from the 1960's and an array of analogue effects including syndrum and trademark siren effect with echo and reverb added for further effect. He favours a Garrad over a newer turntable as Shaka plays mainly dub plates (exclusive / one off mixes of reggae tunes) and apparantly the Garrad has a better quality of sound with Dubs.....

Shaka himself is based in South London and for much of the last 35 years has been known as "Jah Shaka - number one sound in London!". There are many other sounds eminating from London such as Jah Tubby, Channel one, Aba-shanti-i" all wicked and on a Roots / dub tip. For many though Shaka is the Originator and cannot be equalled. Many sound systems clash each other to improve their reputation or to prove who is the top selekta or sound. shaka himself has clashed many sounds over the years but has left this behind now and prefers to play sessions with just himself at the controls......

It was twenty pound to get in, dearer than normal but nobody complains because Shaka sound does not play in Southend regulary like he used to. We were witnessing a living legend on the Sound system circuit and nobody knows how much longer this amazing dj/musician will carry on playing. What always strikes me about a Shaka session is the variety of different people that attend, truly multi cultural, all ages and culture alongside, in unity dancing till four am in the morning... Any politician that preaches about integration in this country should attend shaka for a serious lesson! The venue rocked to the sound s of Reggae....

Shaka has an almost unrivalled collection of Reggae and dub plates collected over the years, so there is no shortage of music to be played. He has his own label "Jah shaka music" which has released dozens of records and artists, some home grown UK others from yard (jamaica).. Shaka is a regular visitor to jamaica where he records well known and up and coming artists. Also Reggae musicians and producers make music and give Shaka dubs to play on his sound - Shaka plays all night! It would be impossible to list the music i heard as i was getting lost in the occassion. Much of the music is "Dub style". Typically a hard nosed Reggae record with concious lyrics and then a instrumental / dub version. Sometimes three or four versions are played, each cut getting heavier and more manic especially as Shaka uses a pre amp which can cut the bass or top frequencies increasing the excitement to fever pitch. He also mc's on the mic and plays without interruption till the end. The crowd get in on the act shouting words of encouragement "Shaka Shaka!". as the evening goes on the music gets heavier and more exclusive, when attending a Shaka dance always stay to the end as the last hour is complete dub-plate mayhem..

I have been attending Shaka sound since the late 80's and was inspired enough to build my own sound system. There is much music in the world to play and hear but everyone should attend Shaka at least once, i can guarantee a positive experience and you never know, like me you may be inspired to take things a step further and play your own sound system.

"Shaka - number one sound in London!"

Paul Roots.........