This post is about stolen goods and senior citizens.  I know you have heard numerous stories about how older people have been taken advantage of.  There are people out there who are eager to exploit people who have a diminished capacity in one form or another.

In that vein, I am convinced that eBay has replaced the local fence when it comes to selling stolen goods from senior citizens. Maybe some of you don’t know the term “fence” when it comes to theft. A fence was the name given to the person who purchases stolen goods at pennies on the dollar and then passes them off for a huge profit. I would be willing to bet that a pretty large percentage of jewelry and such that are sold on eBay are stolen goods.

I have some personal experience in this area with jewelry stolen by someone who helped my wife with the housecleaning. When we reported it to the police we told them that the helper and her husband frequently talked about selling on eBay and maybe they could see if she had sold any of the stolen items there? The officer said that since the items were pretty generic in nature there was basically no way to find that out.

I don’t understand the obsession some people have with eBay in general. I have tried them a few times and what I received was always less than what was pictured or described and I know I am not the only one. Caveat Emptor is definitely the appropriate phrase for that organization.