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eBay is a relatively safe marketplace. Unfortunately, like most online marketplaces, it is vulnerable to scams. eBay tries to keep instances of scams occurring, but with more than 100 million members, and approximately $40 million moving through the site on a daily basis, this can be a little difficult. Sometimes, scams occur.

If you have been scammed, there are certain steps you need to follow to report the incident, and to try to come to a resolution. If you paid for the item through Paypal, the first step is to login to your Paypal account and open up a dispute for the payment. If you did not pay through Paypal, contact your credit card company. In most cases, if you have used one of these two cases, you will recover your money.

The next step is to use eBay’s dispute process to report the seller. This is specifically for items that were not received, or items that were significantly different than what was described in the auction. eBay also has a purchase protection program to further protect buyers. If a settlement cannot be reached with the buyer, the next step is to make an eBay buyer purchase protection claim.

eBay Success - How to Price Your Items

Many new sellers don’t realize how important pricing is when it comes to eBay auctions. Many don’t even realize that ‘pricing’ needs to be done. eBay is an auction site after all! But eBay auctions are not quite the same as the auctions you attend in the offline world. In fact, quite a bit of work goes into determining and setting prices.

Essentially, there are only three prices that can be set for an eBay auction: the ‘buy it now’ price, the reserve price, and the starting bid price. Of these three, the starting bid price is the only one that is required for an eBay auction. The reserve price and the ‘buy it now’ price are optional. The starting bid price is fairly simple - never set it higher than $50 or so - no matter what your item is really worth. This low opening price will get bidders to your auction.

Setting low starting bid prices creates the need for a reserve price. A reserve price is the absolute lowest price that you want to get for your item. You may sell the item below the reserve price, but you will not be required to. In other words, if you set your reserve price at $100, and your highest bid is only $50, you do not have to sell the item to the highest bidder. You can close the auction without any negative feedback or repercussions. Set your reserve price at the absolute lowest price you are willing to sell your item for. Keep what the item is worth, as well as what it cost you in mind.

The ‘buy it now’ option will allow you to set a price, and buyers can buy the item immediately, without bidding, for that set price. This option can be used for any type of item, and it should be set to match your reserve, give or take a few dollars. This option is great if you have multiple identical items to sell.

Shipping has a price, and potential buyers take this into consideration when they are looking at an auction. If you can see your way clear to offer free shipping, you will find that people are placing more bids. Make sure that your potential buyers realize that you are offering free shipping!

Before setting any prices, you need to determine what the item is really worth. The value of the item in different markets might be quite high. However, you are selling on eBay, and it is a different world altogether! Find out the price that similar items sold for on eBay before setting any prices. If it is a collectable, or a high ticket item, have the item evaluated to ensure that you aren’t going to lose money!

Uchenna Ani-Okoye is an internet marketing advisor and co founder of Free Affiliate Programs

For more information and resource links on eBay Selling visit: eBay Selling

Annually, approximately ten million people have something very important stolen from them. It is not their car, it is not their child, and it is not their money: it’s their identity. Identity theft is a crime that is on the rise and costing billions of hard earned dollars a year.

While there is no way to ensure 100% identify theft protection, there are several tips to follow that can reduce your chances of becoming a victim.

-Shred all important documents. Whenever you receive a bank statement or a credit card statement, or even a medical bill, do not throw it away. File the papers in a heavy duty filing cabinet with a lock. When it is time to sort through the documents and get rid of what is not needed, run the papers through a shredder. Shredders can vary in price depending upon quality, but for $30.00 you can have a better piece of mind.

-Do not carry your social security card in your wallet. It may seem convenient to have your social security card in your wallet, but it is not necessary. This is a very important identity theft protection tip and if followed can help preserve your identity. -Lock your family’s social security cards up in a fire proof safe. Try to memorize the numbers and not write them down anywhere.

-Be careful who you submit your information to. Unfortunately, there are some people out there who are not very nice. These people may create websites or send out professional looking emails that ask you for very personal information. They may offer you a job or claim to be your bank updating information. Before you submit any information online, call the company and see if they are sending out emails, or check the Better Business Bureau for company information.

-When mailing out documents with personal information on, use security envelops. These envelops make it virtually impossible for anyone to see through them. For even more identity theft protection, only mail important documents in the blue postal mailboxes. If at all possible, try to avoid leaving personal mail overnight in a residential mailbox.

-Photo copy all of the contents of your wallet and file them in a locking safe. By photo copying all of the items in your wallet, you have records of who to call if the wallet is lost or stolen. In the event that you notice your wallet is missing, immediately begin calling and canceling your credit and bank cards. Even if the wallet turns up 2 days later underneath the car seat, you still took the right step toward identity theft protection.

Remember that just because you haven’t given any personal information out or you haven’t lost your wallet, does not mean you are safe. While taking extreme measures for identity theft protection ensures you better piece of mind, it can not guarantee that somebody has not gotten a hold of some information. Always check your credit report at least once or twice a year to make sure no new accounts have been open that you did not authorize. You’ll only have one identity so protect it.

Greg has experience with identity theft and has provided ways for you to have protection against identity theft. Visit Identity Protection Now to learn about different forms of Identity Theft Protection, information, and solutions today.

Identify theft is becoming a very real concern for many of us. Initially little could be done after the fact to restore your name and police officers did nothing, because there were no laws in place to protect consumers. Legislators enacted laws to assist consumers to restore their good names and to expedite the investigations by way of the creditor.

This type of crime continues and is increasing and this means more and more people’s credit is at risk. This complicates every day life in that an individual may have trouble obtaining a job, getting phone service, buying a cell phone, renting, buying a car, renting a car and many other everyday transactions. Identity theft complicated things and hurts a consumer’s credit until the mess is cleared up which often can take two years. This could mean higher rates for mortgages and loans and any other type of credit, especially when the consumer does not have a choice and cannot wait a few months or a couple of years. In effect a person may lose his good credit for up to two years. There are many statutes intended to protect consumers, but often these statutes are not enough.

Despite these statutes designed to assist the consumer to restore his or her good name and to expedite resolution, when a person’s identity is stolen the victim is still confronted with a very serious problem. The statutes specify what the consumer needs to do and if the consumer does not follow the rules to the letter, the creditor can continue its efforts to collect on debts not owed by the consumer. One of the worst things about identity theft is that often the debts are too small such that it is not worthwhile to hire an attorney, but at the same time the debt is too big for the consumer to absorb.

Some creditors quickly investigate and are able to determine whether or not the debts where in fact incurred by the consumer or if someone else used the consumers identifying information to obtain credit. Some creditors go the opposite way and exploit the fact that the consumer cannot afford to hire an attorney and fight a smaller debt. These creditors often file a lawsuit relatively quickly and then seek to settle the claim for a fraction and if the consumer does not accept they seek a judgment. These creditors in effect are essentially victimizing the consumer twice.

There is no magic number as to what attorneys charge, but generally speaking attorneys routinely seek retainers of $2,000-$3,000 and when the claim is for $3,000, it makes little economic sense for the consumer to hire an attorney. California and probably many other states have statutes that are designed to turn the tables on the creditor when the creditor fails to investigate incidents of identity theft. In these cases the consumer is required to follow certain steps and request certain things from the creditor. The creditor then has to investigate and respond within 30 days.

If the creditor does not have a good basis to pursue the claim, the creditor most not make any further efforts to collect on a debt. If the creditor decides to pursue the claim and files a lawsuit the consumer can then prove his identifying information was used without authorization and may be able to obtain not only attorney fees, but also an additional award for money damages.

The intent of these identify theft statutes is good, but consumers must still come up with a lot of money to fight these claims and more often than not the claim will not result in any advantage to the consumer. Collection efforts may stop and the lawsuit dropped, but the consumer will still be out of pocket for attorney fees and court costs.

All these protective statutes have a good intent to protect the consumer, but generally speaking they afford little protection when the consumer does not know precisely what the consumer needs to do. Even though each situation is different the first thing a consumer should do is file a police report where the consumer resides. The consumer should then contact the three major collection bureaus and place restrictions on who can access the consumer’s credit or if at all.

The consumer should then contact the creditors directly in writing, preferably by certified return receipt or some sort of proof of delivery. If the creditors refuse to investigate or fail to investigate, or continue collection efforts, then the consumer should consult with an attorney. There is no one perfect way to go about restoring a consumer’s good name, but delay or doing nothing is the worst way to go about it.

The author represents primarly consumers visit his website for valuable information.
Personal Injury Attorney Escondido, San Marcos, Vista, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Fallbrook, and Rancho Bernardo.

The best identity theft protection can be hard to find and incorporate into your daily habits. Identity theft is becoming a crime of choice these days because it is so easy to get away with. It is approximated that over 7 million individuals fell victim to identity theft last year and this year is supposed to reach close to 10 million. Scary huh?

The good think is, you have a few options when it comes to protecting yourself from becoming an identity theft victim. Most of the thing that can, and will protect you, have to be done by you all the time. There are also services you can purchase that do a lot of the work of protecting your identity for you. No matter what, to get the best identity theft protection, you need to do some things yourself.

Here are a few things you can and need to start doing today.

You need to watch your mail like a hawk. Mail is one of the easiest ways for a thief to get a hold of your personal information. All they need to do is get a bank statement, medical bill, credit card bill, or others and your identity is toast. They can also steal other things out of your mail like money and items purchased over the internet or phone and are mailed to you.

Have you ever shredded your personal documents that you don’t want to keep around the house? How about those pesky credit card offers that you get in the mail every day? If you are already in the habit of tossing those in the mail, you are giving a dumpster diver the perfect opportunity to find and steal a new identity for him or herself. Go out today and buy a good shredder, not just a regular shredder, but a cross cut shredder that can shred up to 6 pages at a time. Shred everything! Even stuff that doesn’t need to be shredded. Better safe that sorry!

Be aware of shady store employees when paying by debit or credit card. You should never let your credit card be out of your sight. This has mostly been a problem in the restaurant industry when the individual serving you takes your card away to run it. How easy would it be for them to quickly write down your credit card information and start stealing money from you?

Never, never, ever give your personal information out over the phone, this is called phishing. This happens when someone calls posing as someone from your bank or credit card company asking you to verify your social security number. Don’t do it! They already have it and would never ask for that over the phone. Immediately hang up and call that institution and verify that it was not them and report it.

You just need to be aware of everything that is going on around you and in your personal life. You are smart and can protect yourself, but some people get lazy. Remember, the best identity theft protection can be done by you! Work hard to protect everything you have worked so hard to build.

Greg has experience with identity theft and has provided ways for you to have the best identity theft protection. Visit Identity Protection Now to learn about different Identity Theft Protection Services, information, and solutions today.

When you are looking for a way to make money online, you should make sure you have your fraud detectors on full alert when you read through any proposals being presented. In most instances, it should be pretty easy to figure out if someone is trying to rip you off. Just remember the old advice that if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. So when those unsolicited offers drop into your email promising exorbitant amounts of income for only a few hours work a week, chances are it is a scam just to separate you from your money.

Some of the red flags to watch for are the type of proposal being made. Offers that say you have nothing to do to start earning big money immediately, will come with a cost. You will have to pay for someone else to set up your business and heck, all you have to do is keep sending in the monthly fees and you can earn money off all income received from your website. They forgot to mention that if you do not advertise your site no one will know about it and you can not make any money if you have no sales.

Look for contact information before clicking on any links that take you from the main page. If the online business offers you a phone number and a name, do not hesitate to call and ask for that person. While it could be single line into someones basement, at least it has a contact information. However, if the call is answered in an unprofessional manner you may be better off apologizing for calling a wrong number and hanging up. Some legitimate businesses do work from their homes, after all that is what you are hoping to do, and if a child answers do not ask for mom or dad, ask for the name on the website.

Look at the testimonials that are bound to be included on any website offering a chance to make a lot of money. They are usually tucked in between the pictures of a mansion and a new car or two, supposedly of the person that sent you the email. Just remember, you can take your digital camera on a road trip to an upper class neighborhood and take pictures of cars and houses. Be skeptical about investing in an online business opportunity and do some research.

Run the business name through a couple of search engines. Chances are, if it is not a legitimate offer, there will be a few pages that show up of complaints from others that lost money investing in a scam. The company may claim the complaints are from disgruntled people who were too lazy to spend even a few hours a week working in the business, but a reasonably intelligent person can read through several complaints and see a pattern develop. By using due diligence in your research of companies offering business opportunities you can limit the opportunities of someone else of getting their hand on your wallet.

Obinna Heche. Los Angeles - California

Delivering the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home successfully..
http://www.homeincomeportal.com/obhmy365

Whenever looking for at home employment one of the most important things to look out for is work at home scams. These opportunities come in many forms and are evolving every day into more clever and deceptive scams.

These companies feed on your desperations to find real work and try to get you to make decisions with your emotions and not with your brain. When you start seeing the flashing dollar signs and fancy houses and cars on their advertisements it’s easy to shell out some cash in hopes of succeeding.

Here are a few things that can help you spot a work at home scam before they take your money and leave you with nothing. The first thing you want to be aware of, are super exaggerated claims, like you can make 3 thousand dollars a day working fifteen minutes at your computer.

Often they will try to provide evidence that this is possible by posting screen shots of their online accounts. You cannot believe this as this proof is one of two things, either completely falsified, or it is real but depicts the owner’s income from selling his scam program and not the amount that you would generate by following their program.

The next piece of advice is to read all the small print and terms of conditions for any work at home opportunity. Many times you can find hidden charges or explanations of what the culprit is really selling in place of real home work. No matter how legitimate the website may seem it is crucial to read these very carefully and thoroughly.

Moreover, while reading the fine print check out their privacy information as well. This will let you know what the company plans on doing with your information once they get it. Often times they will say things like we reserve the right to share your contact information with our partners. If so never deal with these companies.

One of the simplest ways to spot a scam is by the amount of contact information they reveal. If it’s just a name and email address you should be cautious. Sometimes even if a company is displaying a full address you might want to check it out as well, often times they place fake addresses which have nothing to do with the real location of the website owner.

Finally if you’re still not sure about the legitimacy of a website or work at home opportunity the best thing to do is research it online. There are plenty of watchdog sites that keep large databases of scam companies. You can find ongoing discussions about what these companies are really selling and quickly find out which ones to avoid.

If you follow these simple steps along with some common sense you can avoid being scammed while looking for at home work. You also want to be realistic about your prospects finding your dream job, the reason that so many work at home scams exist is because legitimate work is very elusive and hard to find.

For extra information on Work at Home Opportunities read about Home Rebate Processor and Rebate Processing Jobs