Is eBay Safe To Buy From?

eBay is generally safe to buy from; however, it’s important to take security precautions because people are often scammed on the platform. If you’ve never shopped on eBay before, it is a global online marketplace that allows you to buy items instantly or through online auctions. The online marketplace was created in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar as a way for people to reach a large audience if they’re trying to sell an item. People typically buy and sell a wide range of items, including vintage cars, antique collectibles, electronics, clothes and furniture.

Continue reading to learn how eBay protects its buyers, the most common scams targeting buyers on the website and how you can stay safe when purchasing items from eBay.

How eBay protects buyers

eBay takes several safety precautions to protect your data:

• eBay does not share payment data with sellers, which keeps you safe as a buyer because a seller will never see your card information when you make a purchase.
• eBay uses 128-bit encryption, one of the strongest possible encryption options. When your data is encrypted, your sensitive data cannot be stolen because encrypting it converts it into an unreadable format until it is decrypted with an encryption key.
• eBay maintains a Level 1 certification based on Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), which means it has the highest level of compliance in protecting cardholder data and handles over six million transactions each year.
• eBay has a money-back guarantee policy that covers most of its transactions. The policy states that you can get your money back if an item you ordered didn’t arrive, arrived damaged or didn’t match the original listing.

Common scams targeting buyers on eBay

Some of the most common scams you could encounter on eBay include shipping items with the wrong recipient name, transactions outside of eBay and phishing scams.

Shipping addressed to the wrong name scam

Scammers will often ship an item you ordered to a name that doesn’t match yours. This is a common scam because the seller hopes you will receive the item and return it to eBay since the name on the package isn’t yours. Once you return the item, eBay’s money-back guarantee policy will not apply, allowing the scammer to keep both your money and the item while you receive nothing.

Transaction outside of eBay scam

You can usually tell if something online is a scam when a buyer wants to purchase an item or service from you outside of an online marketplace platform. In some eBay scams, buyers may offer you extra money or give you an explanation as to why they can’t use eBay to conduct the transaction. After a fake buyer convinces you to sell your item on a different platform, you lose your automatic eBay seller protections. If the buyer then claims they never received your item or that your listing was fake, you could end up wasting your time and money on a scam.

Phishing scams

There are many different kinds of phishing scams that you could encounter on eBay as a buyer. You might receive a phishing email, offering you another chance to buy an item. While eBay does have a legitimate Second Chance Offer program that notifies you if the seller of an item you wanted has more of that item, scammers can take advantage of your desire for the item by sending fake emails to collect your private information without ever sending you the item.

You might also receive more generic emails from someone impersonating eBay. Usually, these emails aim to trick you into clicking on a malicious link or sharing personal information, such as your passwords or credit card numbers. These emails may look almost identical to a legitimate eBay email, but you should avoid clicking on any links or attachments in unsolicited emails because they could be phishing scams.

Non-delivery scam

If you order something from eBay and it doesn’t arrive, this is known as a non-delivery scam. Because eBay has a money-back guarantee policy on most items, you should be able to get your money back. However, there are certain items for which you will not receive money back in the event of a non-delivery scam, including digital items/services, travel tickets, vehicles and real estate. To avoid getting scammed if you want to purchase any of the above items, it’s best to try and buy them on a different platform to ensure you can get your money back.

Empty box scam

You may have purchased an item on eBay and received it just to end up with an empty box. Some scammers will confirm your purchase, ship an item and see that it was delivered to have a record that they sent the item you requested. However, you can raise a dispute if you receive an empty box instead of your desired item. eBay most often sides with the buyer in these situations because they can’t verify the truth. You will most likely receive a refund, but you will not have received the package you intended.

How to stay safe when buying on eBay

You can stay safe while making purchases on eBay by using passkeys, avoiding unsolicited links and attachments, never giving sellers your personal information and being cautious of phishing attempts.

Be wary of suspicious listings

Many signs can indicate that a listing is suspicious and could be a scam. You may notice the following about listings on eBay:

• Blurry or limited photos of items
• Too-good-to-be-true prices
• Vague item descriptions with several grammatical/spelling errors
• Items not covered by eBay’s money-back guarantee policy
• Unusually long shipping times or unusually high shipping costs
• Sellers ask for personal information or your payment outside of eBay

Use passkeys as a sign-in method

Passkeys authenticate your identity without passwords, allowing you to access apps and accounts with biometrics, swipe patterns or PINs. Since a weak password can be cracked by a scammer, it’s much safer to use a passkey as a sign-in method on any apps or accounts that offer it because passkeys can’t be compromised in phishing scams. For example, if you set up your eBay app to unlock with Face ID, a scammer cannot use that method to access your account. However, if you only have a password protecting your eBay account and you reveal it in a scam, a scammer can gain access to your account.

You can set up a passkey on your eBay account by visiting My Account, selecting Sign in and security and then clicking on Passkeys. From there, you will see Turn on on the right. You’ll be prompted to log in to your eBay account with your username and password, and then a screen will appear with an option to sign in faster with a passkey. Tap Add a passkey, and then add your type of passkey to enable it.

Never click on unsolicited links and attachments

Make sure never to click on unsolicited links and attachments because they are most likely filled with malware, which is software that can infect your device and steal your personal information. A scammer might send you a phishing email impersonating eBay, asking you to click a link and enter your eBay login credentials. However, by clicking on this unsolicited link, you may trigger the installation of malware or inadvertently reveal private information to a scammer. Instead of clicking an unsolicited link, check that a link is safe by hovering your mouse over the URL if you’re using a computer or safely copying and pasting it into a URL checker.

Don’t give eBay sellers your personal information

Since eBay never shares your payment information with sellers, there is no reason why you should be asked for your personal information. eBay’s policies protect your privacy by replacing your email address with an alias to hide your contact information from sellers who may potentially be scammers. If a seller claims they need your email address, phone number or credit card information to complete a transaction, this is a sign that you may be purchasing an item from a scammer.

Never pay for goods or services outside of eBay

Don’t pay for any items or services outside eBay’s platform because your transactions will not be protected by eBay’s money-back guarantee policy. Scammers may try to trick you into communicating or making a payment on a different platform, such as Venmo or Cash App. However, doing so will increase your chances of becoming a fraud victim, and you will not be able to get reimbursed for any undelivered or damaged items.

Be cautious of phishing attempts

Sometimes, phishing attempts are difficult to identify, especially with cybercriminals relying on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help craft their attacks. Here are several things you can do to spot phishing attempts:

• Look for warnings from your email service provider about a message being dangerous or flagged as spam
• Notice if an email uses urgent or threatening language, such as a message claiming your eBay account will be deactivated unless you provide your login credentials
• Investigate offers on eBay if you receive an email stating that an item you wanted is being listed at a too-good-to-be-true price
• Examine an email closely for spelling and grammatical errors, as a legitimate company’s emails must go through rounds of review

If you click on an email from eBay and are unsure whether a link is a phishing website, check the URL for any discrepancies and see if your browser finds a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate for the website.

Report suspicious users

When you buy or sell an item on eBay and realize you’re interacting with a suspicious person, you should report the user immediately to prevent others from getting scammed. You can report suspicious listings on eBay by going to the bottom of a suspicious item and hitting a link that says Report this item. After clicking, you will be directed to a form where you can explain why you’re reporting the item. Report a buyer to eBay if they made a false claim, asked you to make a payment outside of eBay or are misusing any of eBay’s privacy policies.

Shop on eBay safely

Although there are several ways you could be scammed by shopping on eBay, you can still buy and sell safely by being cautious of suspicious listings, never clicking on unsolicited links and using a passkey as your sign-in method. An easy way to manage your passwords and passkeys is by storing them in Keeper Password Manager, which supports passkeys in your encrypted, digital vault. Once you have enabled your passkey, you can protect it and easily use it on eBay’s website and other online accounts.

Start your free 30-day trial of Keeper Password Manager today to protect your eBay account and use passkeys as a secure authentication method.