1 One dollar Bill USA Real Money $$$

[Jim]

Hi,

I'm sure you've heard the expression, "If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

On eBay if something sounds too good to be true, it Definitely is or is it ?

Apparently the old adage still applies: If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Pass it up, or at least check it out here:

eBay Auction

1 One dollar Bill USA Real Money $$$
Item condition: Circulated
Time left: 23h 18m 38s (Feb 05, 201007:00:15 PST)

Your bidding on a real one dollar bill, there is nothing WRONG or SPECIAL about this bill it just one regular dollar bill. You will not get the same bill as shown on picture, i will send you a random one. Item will be mail out on same day of payment. Thanks for looking.

Shipping: FREE shipping US Postal Service First Class MailSee more services See discounts | See all details
Estimated delivery within 4-7 business days.

Returns: 7 day money back, buyer pays return shipping | Read details

Here are Completed auction Sales for the past 30 days for this account:w00t:

Completed Auctions

1 One dollar Bill USA Real Money $$$
Seller User ID: good_deal61
5 Bids Sold $0.40 Free shipping [Yes sold for 40 cents]
Feb-04 03:00
==================

Note: Cost for this Auction:
Product: $1.00 Federal Reserve note.
Shipping: Stamp + standard envolope = $0.50 cents Home pick up or [plus gas round trip to the post office]
EBay & PayPal Fee: $1.00 [might be less]
Handling: Time aprox. 15 minutes each Auction

Other item info
Item number: 250571949202
Item location: Quincy, Massachusetts, United States
Ships to: United States
Payments: PayPal See details

I see a Mailing List for eBay & PayPal accounts...What kind of a SCAM do you See ???

[kandrathe]

What kind of a SCAM do you see ???

Possibly a cash flow ponzi scheme. May also be laundering cash this way. He gets clean paypal cash right away, but you need to wait for the dollar to be shipped. That dollar probably was obtained through criminal enterprise. But, why not 10's or 100's then?

[Jester]

Possibly a cash flow ponzi scheme. May also be laundering cash this way. He gets clean paypal cash right away, but you need to wait for the dollar to be shipped. That dollar probably was obtained through criminal enterprise. But, why not 10's or 100's then?

The transaction costs would make this a prohibitive way to launder money. If you knocked over a 7-11, you'd have to make about a hundred of these sales just to launder that much - imagine if you were selling drugs, or robbing banks for tens of thousands, or millions! Even 10s or 100s would require a huge number of transactions to launder any useful amount of cash, and I can't imagine a more conspicuous way to do it.

Honestly? Unless someone showed me exactly how this is a scam, I'd just assume someone's having some fun - seeing how much a dollar sells for. It's not an unheard of concept.

-Jester

(Yes, I understand the game "dollar auction" does not follow the same rules, and works differently.)

[kandrathe]

Could also be possibly just to get the list of names and addresses, e-mail of people willing to buy a dollar. Then, sell the list to many marketing agencies (spam).

[--Pete]

Hi,

Could also be possibly just to get the list of names and addresses, e-mail of people willing to buy a dollar. Then, sell the list to many marketing agencies (spam).

I doubt it. There are faster and cheaper ways of mining mailing lists that gives millions of entries rather than the few thousand, tops that this would generate. Except to Nigerian heirs, I doubt there is much of a market for a small list of suckers. :rolleyes:

--Pete

[Klaus]

The transaction costs would make this a prohibitive way to launder money. If you knocked over a 7-11, you'd have to make about a hundred of these sales just to launder that much - imagine if you were selling drugs, or robbing banks for tens of thousands, or millions! Even 10s or 100s would require a huge number of transactions to launder any useful amount of cash, and I can't imagine a more conspicuous way to do it.

This is the part I found odd about it - any kind of scam that works one dollar at a time takes a long time to generate any significant payback.

[swirly]

It could be a way to get a sellers rating higher maybe? I don't really use EBay so I'm not sure how it works, but such an auction could result in many successful sales and possibly good reviews/ratings to go along with it. Thus boosting their rating semi-artificially?

[Baajikiil]

It could be a way to get a sellers rating higher maybe? I don't really use EBay so I'm not sure how it works, but such an auction could result in many successful sales and possibly good reviews/ratings to go along with it. Thus boosting their rating semi-artificially?

Exactly. Although this one is not advertised as such, I've seen similar auctions of "guide to positive Ebay Feedback", $1.

Many Ebayers are cautious of low feedback sellers, so this type of auction makes sense. Notice that the auction is a 'private auction', and the winner is undisclosed...


This is a quote from a previous auction from the same person:
"Your bidding one a real one dollar bill, there is nothing WRONG or SPECIAL about this bill. The reason im selling this bill is because im trying to improve my ebay feedback score. My lost is your gain. Once you received please leave feedback as I will do the same for you. Thanks for looking."

It is not a scam itself, but this type of auction can set up future scams.

[Jester]

This is a quote from a previous auction from the same person:
"Your bidding one a real one dollar bill, there is nothing WRONG or SPECIAL about this bill. The reason im selling this bill is because im trying to improve my ebay feedback score. My lost is your gain. Once you received please leave feedback as I will do the same for you. Thanks for looking."

Well, that kind of settles that, doesn't it. Good spotting.

-Jester

[Jim]

Hi, I sold many $1 bills for as much as $50 on eBay :w00t:

This seller is selling a $1 bill at a loss !

Jester since Jan 28th he sold 164 1 dollar bills this way, not a smart way to raise your Feedback count:)

The transaction costs would make this a prohibitive way to launder money. If you knocked over a 7-11, you'd have to make about a hundred of these sales just to launder that much - imagine if you were selling drugs, or robbing banks for tens of thousands, or millions! Even 10s or 100s would require a huge number of transactions to launder any useful amount of cash, and I can't imagine a more conspicuous way to do it.

Honestly? Unless someone showed me exactly how this is a scam, I'd just assume someone's having some fun - seeing how much a dollar sells for. It's not an unheard of concept.

-Jester

(Yes, I understand the game "dollar auction" does not follow the same rules, and works differently.)

[Jim]

Hi,

This small list of a 164+ names has more INFO attached in it than you can get from a telephone book. This list is Perfect for PHISHING & Nigerians looking for a name with a email address. I recieved a Nigerian letter thru my My Space email account, When I am selling my $1 bills on eBay [for profit] I always get PHISHED because I accept PayPal for payment :w00t:

Hi,
I doubt it. There are faster and cheaper ways of mining mailing lists that gives millions of entries rather than the few thousand, tops that this would generate. Except to Nigerian heirs, I doubt there is much of a market for a small list of suckers. :rolleyes:

--Pete

[Jim]

Hi,

Good catch, I too went back to Jan 28th but did not read the listing descripting thinking it was the same as the others. He probably had to change it due to eBay policies regarding Feedback, although I am not sure on this point. :)

His Feedback score is at 97.5% for 1700+ feedbacks...FYI you only get 1 point per Customer, not 1 point per Sale. He recieved many negative feedbacks when he was selling Fishing Lures, due to his Shipping policy.

Positive Feedback (last 12 months): 97.5%

The positive Feedback percentage is calculated based on the total number of positive and negative Feedback ratings for transactions that ended in the last 12 months, excluding repeat Feedback from the same member in the same week.

Exactly. Although this one is not advertised as such, I've seen similar auctions of "guide to positive Ebay Feedback", $1.

Many Ebayers are cautious of low feedback sellers, so this type of auction makes sense. Notice that the auction is a 'private auction', and the winner is undisclosed...
This is a quote from a previous auction from the same person:
"Your bidding one a real one dollar bill, there is nothing WRONG or SPECIAL about this bill. The reason im selling this bill is because im trying to improve my ebay feedback score. My lost is your gain. Once you received please leave feedback as I will do the same for you. Thanks for looking."

It is not a scam itself, but this type of auction can set up future scams.

[Jim]

Hello LL,

Who wants to learn how to sell a $1 bill for 99 cents & make "1 dollar +" Profit on each sale every time Guaranteed ?

IF you do this 1 Million times you will be a MILLIONAIRE :P

[shoju]

Actually, there has been a change to the way ebay feedback works.

Now, instead of 1 feedback per customer, you get 1 feedback per transaction, and it only counts the feedback that you have received in the past 12 months.

So, if I sell you 30 1 dollar bills on ebay, you receive them, are happy with them, and leave me 30 positive feedback, my score now increases by 30 instead of 1. This change has been in place since the time when eBay removed the ability for a seller to leave negative feedback for a buyer, which is almost 2 years old.

12 months after the feedback for those 30 sales have been left, they no longer count towards your ebay feedback, or detailed seller rankings.

I doubt that there is anything malicious about this. If you are found to be selling information gained via transactions on eBay you are subject to account suspension, account termination, and in extreme cases, you can face civil litigation over violations of the Terms and Use of eBay's services.

You as a seller, cannot even use your list of e-mail addresses/names/etc... from paying customers to generate your own e-mail marketing campaign for your business. You may only send advertising emails to people who have signed up on eBay to receive such information from your business, and only through the marketing program that eBay supports on their site. Any attempt to do so outside of the parameters of eBay is a violation of the agreement, and steps will be taken by eBay against you. All it takes is for one of the people you emailed to report it to eBay, and it will be investigated, and dealt with.

While I know that this wont deter the most stalwart of scammers it has indeed made a large dent in the process.

How do I know this information? I spent a very long time as the one of the brains behind an ebay seller who operated at the very edge of what was allowed to be done by sellers. We pushed the envelope as far as eBay would allow, and at times stepped over the boundaries (both accidental and at times purposely) and were faced with the repercussions of our actions. This seller is the largest reason for many of the new restrictions people like King Jim might encounter in their eBay endeavors.

This post has been purposefully left vague. If you have an idea of what seller I am speaking of, and would like to discuss that portion of the post, please refrain from mentioning eBay user ID's and their business practices in this thread and PM me about it. This is a request born out of my wish to maintain a level of distance between myself and the business that I was previously employed with. I am very happy and sleep much better at night in the year and some odd months since I found less 'sleazy' employment, and wish to keep it that way.

[Jim]

Hi,

Thanks for the heads up there are quit a few changes I should read up on. It's been about 2 years since I closed my eBay store & 6 months since my last sale. I think it's time to sell again. I still have a few $1 dollars bills & other paper money & coins that are worth a few bucks :D

I guess this seller changed his Item description because of the follow quote:

Feedback manipulation

We don't allow members to exchange Feedback for the sole purpose of increasing Feedback scores, gaining eBay privileges, or enhancing reputation.

Actually, there has been a change to the way ebay feedback works.