Hi,
Given eBay has staff that are largely "out of the loop" and completely unable to assist in any technology related issue given eBay policy is woefully out of date with todays markets, it is important in my opinion to stay out of issues in the first place. Why? chances are — an illegitimate or fradulent seller can use some fancy words and easily scam the undertrained eBay or Paypal employees since they're not technology experts. As someone who works in IT, I thought I'd write a list of general things that everyone can follow to protect yourself when buying anything from computers and computer products and the like.
1. Do not purchase anything on the basis of software.
eBay does not protect software purchases as licensing and certification is not a consideration of eBay buyer protection. You cannot know if you'll get legitimate software as eBay doesn't make sellers send along licensing materials with software — to which that software is unauthorized to be used without the license. Software that's provided without licensing material can often be difficult to reinstall if you need to. Burnt discs can often have malware on them if not done in an approved way. You also cannot get support from the manufacturer with illegitimate software.
"Not as Described" claims do not work on software. If you really need to purchase software through eBay, assume you're handing over your money forever and you are trusting the seller fully.
If you get a computer with pirated software or without licensing materials (genuine Windows stickers, or cards with factory-produced software license serial codes), report it to the BSA: https://reporting.bsa.org/r/report/add.aspx?src=us&ln=en-us and let them know who sold it to you. Don't bother reporting to eBay, they will not do anything without a threat from a brand's lawyers.
2. Scutinize listings.
If it's a brand name computer, check out the manufacturer's specifications on their website and compare what the seller is offering. If they differ to the impairment of the system, the seller is short-changing you. A quick google with the make, series and model. An example of this would be "Acer Aspire 5749", where Acer is the make, Aspire the series, and 5749 the model, sometimes model numbers are a bit lengthly.
Likewise applies with individual parts or other kinds of equipment, usually if a listing has a full model number, the seller more likely knows what they're doing (but still be careful!). Don't buy a listing that just has "Western Digital 500 GB", but rather look for a full model like "Western Digital WD5000AAKS". This allows you an insurance policy if you get something totally different to go pursue a "Not as Described" claim to be able to show eBay the manufacturer specifications versus what you got.
Also, it's a good idea to ask the seller specific points about the equipment on high-ticket items so you create a paper trail on what you're expecting that you can also provide eBay or the authorities if you get a knock-off.
Of course... if something reads too good to be true, assume it is too good to be true. A proper listing will not make promises that appeals to your emotions of "This is great!"
3. Be aware of certifications.
Electrical equipment without certification can be extremely hazardous, especially if it plugs into the wall. Keep watch out for any kind of electronics where there is the "CE" (Conforms to Europeon standards) logo or equipment lacking "UL" (Underwriters Labratories) logos.
A "CE" logo should have a space between the "C" and "E" to which the "C" should be able to form a full circle. If the letters are close to each other, then that is the knock-off "Chinese Export" logo that tricks you into thinking it's passed CE certification. Also, Underwriters Labratories markings often are included as a holographic tag, some foreign items don't have these, but it's helpful to see these marks to have peace of mind. It's a good thing if you can see a listing photo with product labels.
If you notice that a label looks sloppily applied or looks layered, chances are it's not legitimate, not done by the manufacturer (or the manufactuer is a knock-off producer) and there's another label beneath.
4. Format (Wipe) and reinstall/reset to factory any computer purchased through eBay and reset any tablets to factory.
You cannot know definitively if the computer you purchase has malware/viruses on it or has been planted for identity theft or was unintentionally left there by an unknowing seller. On new computers, it can help out bigtime to speed up the computer as this process will remove a lot of the factory standard software that's unneeded like that Norton Backup trial that'll nag you. Doing a reload can help with this. And of course, only purchase systems that you plan to do any banking or the like from sources you trust.
5. Use extreme caution when purchasing phones.
Often times used cell phones on eBay purchased are stolen, in particular the big brand names like Apple or Samsung, and often will simply be factory restored before resale and can have their IMEI (identification number) changed from the original printed on the label in the battery compartment to dodge blacklisting. Always insist on the original packaging with all of the manuals if you are purchasing a phone as that can increase the chance that it's a legitimate sale. Better yet, avoid purchasing a used phone as they can have a multitude of problems such as malfunctions or be locked into contracts that won't be transferred properly. Always use your own SIM card that you paid for from a provider directly.
6. If you're not a professional, avoid used Hard Disks, Solid State Drives, or USB Drives, only go for sealed new parts.
Always ensure that whenever you purchase a drive from eBay, that it's a new drive. Used drives often can be damaged in ways that aren't apparent or be worn down and failing already — even if the drive runs fine now. Another possibility is that a used drive can potentially have content that has legal implications like child pornography that's latent on the disk despite having been deleted. When you purchase a new internal drive, ensure that it's in the heat sealed shiny gray anti-static bag, potentially with the manufacturer's logo printed on it and has a seal that's in-tact.
If you're experienced, use a tool like Pririform Defraggler that can read the "SMART" diagnostics data from an internal hard drive or solid state drive and ensure the "Power On Hours" parameter is roughly as long as you've had it on for. If it's not, then you've got a used drive.
6a. If you go for used parts or equipment, do your research.
Ask the seller what kind of environment the equipment was running in, if it was part of a business at any point. If it was a part of a business operation, ask what kind, if it was manufacturing or any other kind of factory industry or construction, avoid it as they tend to be dirty and mistreat IT equipment. Office systems tend to be the best candidates for re-use. Items from a home environment are usually best to avoid used as there's no telling if these parts were run in a dirty environment or if they were physically abused or the like.
Also ask how old the equipment is and google around with "manufacture date", "release date" or the like to see if that is accurate with the make/model number in mind, if the seller grossly misquotes, avoid it.
If the seller can't answer these questions, avoid the listing as it can fail as soon as a day after you get it.
7. Always test USB drives.
Whenever you purchase a USB drive — when you get it — give it a test. Save the maximum amount of data the drive can take to it. There have been various incidents where sellers have sold fake drives where a 500 GB external hard drive will not be an actual hard disk but rather a modified USB 512 MB/4 GB stick that reports 500 GB, but when you save over the real capacity of the stick, it'll overwrite the older data to avoid rousing suspicion with "Disk full". Often times these fake external Hard drives will have industrial bolts glued into them to give the legitimate feeling weight. The same sort of thing can happen with plain USB sticks too. Do this on the same day you receive this as so you can determine if you need to initiate any sort of proceedings to recoup your money.
8. Test new components in general.
It's good practice in general, not just to protect yourself from issues from illegitimate sellers, but also from possible issues that can prop up due to manufacturing defects, try doing some fairly heavy stuff on that new part for some hours and see if there's any failures, have a new CPU , motherboard or RAM? run some heavy programs on them overnight before you commit to using them. Doing this can help keep you inside a possible warranty to claim if you need it very soon.
9. Inspect any computers upon receipt.
It's hard to adequately ship fully assembled computers unless it's packaged by a professional, and even then there's disagreements within the IT industry of best packaging practices since the shipping industry is very unclear on best packaging of IT equipment. If you purchase a computer and receive it, inspect it before hooking it up, if there's rattling inside from gentle tilting (don't shake it), it may be a point to take it in for a quick servicing, or if you're comfortable, open it up and look to see if the components are in place and haven't been shaken loose during shipping. Don't be afraid to hold up the shipping company delivery person and request to be able to open the package to inspect it for damage to determine if you want to accept it or not, you have that right — insist on inspection as you paid through shipping fees for safe shipment.
If you get a brand new computer from eBay, check that it has no scratches on the case, especially around seams or around screws. These scratches can indicate a possibility that the computer was tampered with, perhaps the seller opened the case to swap out parts for parts of lesser quality or outright stole half the memory or something. Also bring up system properties window on the computer when you start it up and ensure that what's there is what is advertised on the listing (You can bring up System Properties easily on Windows computers with pressing and holding the Windows Flag key and then the Pause/Break key on the keyboard or through the control panel).
If you know about it, you can also explore Device Manager to see what components are there and if they match the listing and manufacturer specifications, just don't change anything there and you'll be good. Other operating systems have similar hardware information tools, a quick google should tell you which to use.
Bonus:
When you get a fake product (e.g. see numbers 1 and 7 especially, and if you have a part or product with a fradulent label)...
When you get a fake product (illegitimate, unlicensed software — even if you plan to remove it, fake brand name parts), do not ship it back. Report as "Not as Described" and go through the motions, obviously eBay will want you to ship it back or even in the case of software, reject your claim.
If they want you to ship it back with tracking, decline citing that doing so is illegal and that their policy does not trump the law and that you need to file a police report to protect yourself at this time. They're trained to keep issues internal to eBay and its website since eBay does not like external interferance, so they may attempt to persuade you to go by their processes but in the case of legal issues with IT products, their processes fail ALWAYS STAY PROFESSIONAL while in communication with eBay.
Then from there, initiate a credit card chargeback with your credit card company and report the seller to the proported manufacturer, then as well the RCMP — even if the case feels isolated. Get reference numbers so you can protect yourself from potential flare-ups from the seller.
