Originally Posted by
wanaflyforless
The EBATES offer is not a scam. They get a comission from eBay based on price of item you buy. eBay probably pays EBATES 2% or 3% - EBATES is simply passing on a large portion of the referral cash they get from eBay to you.
You would be scamming eBay - not ebates. eBay does have people looking for people doing what you describe and has been known to close people's eBay accounts for fraud. When that happens, people have reported no longer being able to speak with ebay phone CS - all calls are responsded to saying you must write/email ___ fraud prevention department. Sometimes online access to your ebay accout is completely blocked while any balance owed ebay (ebay fees) is sent to collections. Other ebay accounts/future ebay accounts made from the same IP address, same mailing address, or same phone numbers may also be closed/blocked. There are threads on slickdeals/fatwallet discussing this.
I spent an hour on the phone with eBay double checking everything and they said that it was completely legitimate to purchase items from yourself and earn money through Ebates. They said I cannot do this with eBay Bucks, but that this is legitimate through eBay. So I don't think this is the case.
Also throughout my Ebay experience I have >3 accounts and over $500,000 in earnings last year alone on one of these accounts so I talk with Ebay personnel on a regular basis.