My Ruby Marketplace Nightmare
So last month I tried buying this cool gaming headset on Ruby Marketplace. Saw this listing with insane discount, got all excited like a kid in candy store. Sent my payment fast – and then poof! Seller ghosted me completely. Money gone, headset never came. Felt like an idiot punching air.
How I Fixed My Shopping BS
After sulking for two days straight, I sat down with cold pizza and decided: never getting scammed again. Dug through forums, talked to mods, tried all kinds of crap that didn’t work. Finally nailed down five stupid simple rules that saved my butt ever since.
The 5 Steps That Actually Work
Step 1: Profile detective mode ON. Now I comb through seller profiles like a paranoid badger. Zero reviews? Hard pass. Negative comments about late shipping? Exit immediately. I screenshot everything shady before confronting them. Caught three sellers copying legit profiles last week this way.
Step 2: Payment lockdown. Never again sending cash directly. Only use Ruby’s official payment system where money sits in limbo until I get my stuff. Once seller tried begging me to use direct transfer “to avoid fees”. Told him to kick rocks – same dude got banned next day for fraud.
Step 3: Communication armor. I make sellers jump through hoops before buying. Ask dumb questions about product details Ruby’s chat system. Real sellers answer quick. Scammers either disappear or reply with copy-paste nonsense. Blocked six accounts that got aggressive when I asked for more photos.
Step 4: Reverse image search everything. Sounds obvious but nobody does it. Right-click product images and search. Found same “handmade necklace” photos on Alibaba at 1/10th price. Seller blocked me when I called him out. Also found stolen product shots from Instagram influencers.
Step 5: Always unbox on camera. Made this rule after got sent bricks instead of smartwatch. Now record full unboxing starting from package seal. Saved me twice already! Sent video to Ruby support – got refund same day while scammer got nuked off platform.
Living Scam-Free Now
Been using these rules religiously past three months – 28 purchases, zero losses. That fake headset sting? Turned into blessing. Even helped my niece buy concert tickets without drama. Still find scammers daily, but now they’re like mosquitoes behind window screen. Annoying but powerless.
