alambrose Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 I saw an Ebay seller (ebay user ID: *******) who is currently selling several high end Gibsons as "NEW IN UNOPENED BOX" no reserve auctions, with the final price usually being about $1000 below current price for the same model new from an authorized seller. He provides stock photos of the guitar, and then a photo of the unopened Gibson carton containing the guitar on auction, and even provides a photo of the side of the box, showing the label with the serial number, etc. I watched one particular auction go right to the end, with a ~$2500 Gibson selling for about ~$1400. I had been tempted, and went to Musician's Friend to look up the model and review the specs. On the Musician's Friend website, when I clicked on a particular model, it would then prompt me to choose which color. After that, it would show how many they had available in that color, the weight, the serial number, and the photos of each individual guitar by serial number. The funny thing is... the "new in unopened box" Gibsons being sold by this ebay seller (******) have the EXACT SAME SERIAL NUMBERS as those being offered up for sale on Musician's Friend! Hmmmmmm... wonder who the pirate is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Hello and welcome to the Forums. Report the seller. Best wishes... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 I removed the ebay sellers name from your post. No free advertising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 A guy working at a big retailer in Germany sold brand-new items he had stolen at his employer. When finally one of his colleagues managed to find four stolen items by serial number listed for auction at evilbay, the damage already was about 140,000 EUR. The thief was finally sentenced to five years and some months of which he served about two third as usual. The buyers lost their gear and lots of their money in the end since the culprit wasn't able to pay full refunds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alambrose Posted November 26, 2014 Author Share Posted November 26, 2014 Hello and welcome to the Forums. Report the seller. Best wishes... Bence Free advertising? This was a public service to warn others... I reported the guy to Ebay, to Gibson, and to a govt intellectual property fraud watchdog; and yet the auctions continue. It really ticks me off, as there is no mention in the guy's ads that these are Chibsons and some poor naive bastards are being taken for a lot of $$$ thinking they're getting the real deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Free advertising? This was a public service to warn others... I reported the guy to Ebay, to Gibson, and to a govt intellectual property fraud watchdog; and yet the auctions continue. It really ticks me off, as there is no mention in the guy's ads that these are Chibsons and some poor naive bastards are being taken for a lot of $$$ thinking they're getting the real deal. In my guess they are no fakes, they were probably stolen. Read my post #4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alambrose Posted November 27, 2014 Author Share Posted November 27, 2014 In my guess they are no fakes, they were probably stolen. Read my post #4. Okay well, the musicians friend website is showing actual photos of the guitar in all angles, including the headstock with serial number. The eBay seller states that the photos he is providing are stock photos, not actual photos, and that the box is unopened. He provides a photo of the box and the label, which includes a Gibson logo, the model and the serial number. I think when you open the box you've got a nice looking guitar with a 3-screw truss rod cover, and a serial number that's been lifted from the internet ads of legitimate sellers. I don't think musicians friend would have photos of the actual guitars if they weren't in possession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 I think MF should check their inventory. As next they should feign a buying attempt at the bay. That's the way they found the worker guilty in the case I mentioned in post #4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alambrose Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 This is getting strange... I have had several emails back and forth with the ebay seller, and I have started digging deeper. I still do not believe that a real (authorized dealer priced $2500) Gibson is being sold at no-reserve auction for ~$1400 or so. The seller lists his location as Woodland Hills, CA; the Musician's Friend website lists their physical location as Westlake Village, CA, about 10 miles away from the Ebay seller. The ebay seller has several Gibsons on no-reserve auction listed as new in unopened box, and showing a picture of the box label with serial number. The ebay seller has 3929 feedbacks with a 98.9% positive rating. He also sells other highly-faked branded items like jeans, and beats headphones, and has only 5 negative feedbacks from the past year claiming fake product. He has sold guitars recently with no claims of fake product on guitars. I did an online chat with a Musician's Friend rep last night, and emailed him a link to the auction showing the same serial number as a guitar that MF had up for sale. He did not really get very in depth except to say, "probably a scammer"... I am still wondering if this ebay sellers guitars are real or fake. If they are real, are they stolen or not; and if not, is it possible that MF is secretly dumping product at huge discounts via unregistered third-party ebay sellers. When you look at this ebay sellers photo of the guitar carton, you can see off to the right that he has a whole stack of Gibsons (or Chibsons) in boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 This is getting strange... I have had several emails back and forth with the ebay seller, and I have started digging deeper. I still do not believe that a real (authorized dealer priced $2500) Gibson is being sold at no-reserve auction for ~$1400 or so. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliasphobias Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 It sounds as if you are on this like stink on stale pretzels. Well done and welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old guy Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 The Chinese are now putting real serial numbers on their fakes. numbers that come up as legit when you run them. you can see this if you go to sites like alibaba or DHgate. to someone that does not know the little details of a Gibsons, and are just relying on a serial search, they would think these are real. To you and me, we can spot fakes a mile away. I do see them all the time on Ebay though. Some are even being sold on dhgate in counterfeit cases and gibson cardboard boxes, so I am sure they are popping up on ebay and amazon. They are probably going to places like Musicians Friend or ZZounds, and other sites that post the serial numbers, and steal the serial numbers right off the site. These guy are sneaky SOB's. they are so bold on the dhate site, they will take custom orders and they advertise they can put any logo or serial number you want on it. it really is despicable what they are doing. In my guess they are no fakes, they were probably stolen. Read my post #4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 The Chinese are now putting real serial numbers on their fakes. numbers that come up as legit when you run them. ... Definitely. They obviously do so since years. In my guess they mainly grab them from Sweetwater's and other websites publishing pics along with serial numbers. Here's a current case of guitar theft, in this case published along with the serial number for good reasons: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/121471-please-could-you-keep-an-eye-out/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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