> >I just thought I'd point out that while eBay offers limited protection > >against fraud, once you venture out on usenet, you're on your own. > > The protections at Ebay are mostly an illusion of safety. Sort of > like the massively inconvenient "security" measures in USA airports > after 9/11.
I probably should have said extremely limited protection. In theory, (over here) you can get the amount you lost minus $A20 up to a maximum of $300 (so, $280). Of course, even bothering to claim on this 'insurance' wouldn't really be worth it unless you lost, say, $A100-$A400. Even then I wonder how many hoops you'd have to jump through... What sort of "security" measures are they pulling in US airports? I have a feeling that when I rock up to the Qantas terminal carrying a couple of bags chock full of cool Mac stuff, I'll be pulled off to the side, body-cavity searched and have all my items confiscated. :( > > I don't > >know what the situation in the US is like, but sales fraud in Australian > >newsgroups while relatively uncommon, does happen. > > Which pretty much describes Ebay. True. Over here people seem to fear eBay, so you are _slightly_ safer there. I wasn't saying Usenet is bad - far from it, just to take some commonsense precautions. I actually dislike eBay, because everything there (particularly PC stuff) is overpriced. I plan on attending a flesh-and-blood auction one of these days, but I expect the prices there to be driven up by hordes of 'dealers', who then sell the items on eBay for profit. > Things may be different > now, but I suspect that you'll find a somewhat more reliable class of > folks on the news groups than in Ebay. I think it might depend on the newsgroup, I'd say the 'community of regulars' ones (aus.computers.mac) would be essentially rock-solid. > >Oh, and if you (or anyone else) does use usenet, remember to obfusicate your > >email address, > > If you expect any replies to your ad do not obfuscate your email. >....get a throw away email address such as hotmail to use for > newsgroups. That's definately the better idea. Actually, you have a whole lot of killer ideas. I'll be sure to use them next time I post a WTB: on usenet (for a 9" mono VGA monitor) Cheers, Adam. -- Compact Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/>. Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Compact Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/compact.shtml> The FAQ: <http://macfaq.org/> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/compact.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
