Sussex second-hand shoppers told to be careful as Love Island's eBay collaboration encourages scammers

The popular ITV2 reality show announced in January that it would be partnering with the online retailer for the second season in a row, following a successful partnership last summer.

Research released by ITV shows that 53% of viewers who were aware of the partnership bought second-hand, or “pre-loved” clothes in the past three months.

Since the announcement of the partnership last May, the site had 1,600% more searches for “pre-loved clothes” compared with the previous year, while Google searches for the same phrase were up 170%.

Resale site Vestiarie showed that generation Z consumers were most likely to buy (31%) and sell (44%) second-hand items, with millennials close behind.

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A reduced environmental impact and cheaper prices have been cited as reasons behind the trend.

The increase in the number of second-hand shoppers has enhanced the likelihood of an individual being scammed online, with one person recently losing £1100 when buying an iPhone from an illegitimate seller on Facebook marketplace.

Data recently revealed that 35% of all scams worldwide were online shopping scams. In order to avoid falling victim to fraud, experts at Scams.info have provided some helpful tips on how to detect a cyber scam.

1. Pay attention to the payment method

When shopping online, always making a payment through the website itself is crucial. Often online scammers might put pressure on a buyer not to use a site’s secure payment methods, but instead pay through a bank transfer before the product has been seen or received.

2. Look out for extremely low-priced products

Products sold for unbelievably low prices are a definite warning sign. Do your research and look around other websites to check the average price of the product you’d like to buy.

3. Demand current photos of the product

Whatever the pre-loved item you’re trying to purchase, demand that the seller send you a recent photo of it. Ask them to set the product next to a piece of paper with your name written on it, for example. If they’re unwilling to do so, chances are they don’t have the product at all.

4. Check the seller’s profile

Ideally, the seller should have reviews on their profile from previous buyers that you could go through. Also be aware of too many positive reviews which sound the same.

5. Decline overpayments if you’re the seller

While it might not happen too often, scammers may target sellers as well. They may pay more than the set price and then say they’ve made a mistake before asking for a partial refund. The seller will send the refund, only to discover the original payment had been cancelled.