eBates scam?
 

So I can't tell if eBates is a scam or not...but here's some math - any thoughts?

Here's how I have earned $1000 in my eBates acct (although I haven't seen a check yet)
First I set out to create two eBay accounts (which is allowable by eBay rules, ONLY 1 can have eBay bucks though!) and of course an Ebates account.

With Seller A, lets create a real listing for a $10,000 high end acoustic guitar on auction for 7 days with a $0.99 starting bid and a $10,000 Buy It Now option and allow for payment on delivery, (this is important). So far so good. For this Ebay will charge you $0.25, with a Final Value Fee of $50 ($100 post April 16, 2011 due to eBay fee changes). As soon as your listing is posted, copy and paste the listing number so that you can very quickly FIND your item. So then open a new browser window and head over to Ebates, log in and click on the eBay referral link. You’ll notice that since you set up a musical instrument, that you are now eligible to earn 1.5% cashback! In eBay paste the listing ID and select Buy It Now!

Go through and pay with eBay, but do NOT pay with PayPal, instead make sure you remove any eBay bucks you may have earned and then select Pay Upon Pickup. Next go through on both accounts and make sure everything looks paid for and delivered by marking both from the buyer and sellers accounts as payments received and delivered.
Next wait for the $150 to hit your Ebates account. Minus the $50.25 from eBay, you just made $99.75.

Funny you should ask. It sounds like what you describe is the scam here, not eBates.

scam - to swindle (someone) by means of a trick
 

eBates is "scamming" us through false advertising. - there's no possible way they can payout on this. Who is losing money in this?

I'm not "Scamming" or tricking, I have come out and completely told all parties involved what I am doing, where does this money come from. How can a service like eBates possibly create money from thin air.

What did eBates say when you told them you were selling things to yourself just to get the cashback?

I spoke with eBay not Ebates. Ebates is almost impossible to get ahold of.

Well, eBates probably could not keep this up, that's true. Unless eBay compensates them more than the fees you paid to eBay for selling.

Either way, I think you have not talked to all parties involved until you spoke to eBates. You might also be careful about that, as they do have a clause in their T&Cs about abusive transactions. Maybe wait until your check arrives?

As far as I am concerned, I use eBates when I am in a hurry, as their website is easier to pull up than my bank's cashback site. They were late with a few payments, but always came through in the end; however, I shop via other cashback sites whenever I can.

Well, if you don't get the check (which I doubt you will) maybe you can put the payment in dispute with yourself and have e-bay send you the $10,000 back?

You've done this ten times without seeing a check?

Ebay purchases are free to list, and only take a final value fee if the item sells. As a buyer I can "return" the item within 60 days. So since the Ebates payout is in 30 days, I'll know then if I get the money.

If I don't, I end up being out nothing since Ebay returns the Final Value Fees. (I'm an Ebay aficionado, I made the first and top selling Ebay and PayPal Fee Calculator for the iPhone - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ebay-...370806576?mt=8)

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.

A) When buyer and seller have anything in common (computer IP, address, phone, etc) - that is a flag - for an eBay rep to look closely at your activity.

B)When large items are returned - that is a flag - for an eBay rep to look closely at your activity.

C) Ebates Cashback gets cancelled when eBay informs Ebates your item was returned. Ebates can go after you for negative balances.

D) Seller could end up owing ebay fees even though buyer's cashback is cancelled.

You might get away with this fraud if you are slippery enough - I don't know - doesn't mean you should scam eBay just cause you can though.

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.

That would make this even more risky for you.

What would you loose if eBay bans you (all your accounts) and will not listen to you/make an exception?

I hope you recorded that conversation.

The eBay rep you spoke to had no idea what they were talking about!

They most likely did not realize eBay pays eBates all that money - and a higher % than ebates passes on to you.

The eBay fraud prevention department does not take kindly to this sort of thing and you are not the first person to think of this!

If that's the case, get it in writing.

Here is where what the OP describes is prohibited in writing:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/...l-bidding.html

eBay said that they do NOT give Ebates a percentage on large dollar value items, they give percentages that are limited - they escalated my claim and said this sounds more like false advertising through Ebates if they can't deliver, and that they don't deal with Ebates directly on these matters.

According to Ebay I'm not shill bidding since I buy the item within a certain timeframe of posting -

RESTRICTED:
Using Buy It Now or a fixed price format to buy an item from someone you know, as long as you don't violate our Feedback manipulation or search and browse manipulation policies

They also told me I could leave feedback for myself : P, but they limit that.