Internet Auctions

It would just seem to me that Internet Auctions could allow robbers to
"fence" the goods that they stole. How does the Internet Site know that the
product offered for auction is not an item that has been stolen. How does
the buyer know, that the item they are bidding on is not something that has
been stolen?

blash...

The same way as with a regular auction, a flea market, a garage sale, an
ad in your local paper......YOU DON'T!!!

AndyS...

In the past I have bought things from Internet auctions?

I have come to believe that a large large large part of it
is companies selling factory reconditioned goods, and the
bids are rigged so that they can still sell at a profit..

That doesn't mean that one can't get reasonable value
for their money. I am not unsatisfied with anything that

Jerry Okamura...

I do not know about a regular auction, but your point about the flea market,
or a garage sale is a good one. But for the most part, things that are sold
in flea markets and garage sales are basically junk, so I do not think it is
anywhere close to the problem that Internet sales presents.

Rita...

Here is an article about EBay and stolen goods. I have no idea
how accurate this info is. EBay itself says the percent of all
sales that represent stolen goods is miniscule, but of course the
volume of transactions on EBay is enormous. 30 million transactions
on any given day.

Jerry Okamura...

Thanks for the posting. It confirms what I suspected.

Rita...

Helpful hint. When in doubt, Googgle.

I have bought. But, once I understood the system, I just
lost interest. The probablility that I would get a "great
deal" is nonexistent, and I no longer have an interest in
buying reconditioned junk without a warranty.

I can go direct to the seller, who is usually a respectable
business, and buy from them with some sort of warranty
attached --- not that I've ever needed to use it -- but it
makes me feel better...

Andy in Eureka, Texas