Less Than a 100th of 1 Percent!

That's how many of eBays transactions end in a confirmed case of fraud. eBay reported 1.9 billion listings in 2005, that translates into 190,000 confirmed frauds in one year. When it does happen, there's little eBay can do, eBay's Catherine England said. " The amount of categories and areas of our site can be quite overwhelming," "We have 78 million items listed on our site at any given time. we can't be experts on all things, so we rely heavily on our community. " That community can include sellers with counterfeit goods, so the company works with law enforcement officials to target the sources and sellers of illegal merchandise, England said. Buyers on eBay can protect themselves by following a few steps, before bidding analyze the sellers feedback and ask a lot of questions. "Any legitimate seller should be able, and happy to, answer any questions you might have. Most importantly don't rely on photos. "some sellers post photos of the real item and then ship off fake merchandise," England said, adding that eBay and paypal work with buyers to get refunds wherever possible.

This article was taken from Red Eye an edition of the chicago tribune.