E Bay - Jumbo Fraud

[flatbaroque]

This is the FOURTH time i've seen these excellent photos of this phantom J-200 bullsheet guitar listed over the past 3 months.I reported it to Ebay the second time I saw it- nothing happened as far as I could see.God knows what any real buyer actually gets.3 day auctions-no reserve. Here's a link to the two most recent.Always a "different" seller in a "different" Malaysian town.

I guess the scam is just a new ebay address and some dodgy feedback each time (selling clocks and watches)- and see if they can suck in someone?

 

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GIBSON-SJ-200-ACOUSTIC-GUITAR-WITH-HARD-CASE-100-GENUINE-/251257845619?pt=AU_Musical_Instruments_Instruments&hash=item3a80227773

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GIBSON-SJ-200-ACOUSTIC-GUITAR-WITH-HARD-CASE-/130885516187?pt=AU_Musical_Instruments_Instruments&hash=item1e79627b9b&_uhb=1#ht_500wt_922&clk_rvr_id=466713870209

[Smurfbird]

I see these in the U.S. as well.

 

My question is if you fall for it and you insist on PayPal and not some bizarre wiring of funds, are you ever out anything when the guitar doesn't show up?

 

I'm asking because this could apply to any number of things bought on eBay. I've never had any trouble. But there's still time.

[onewilyfool]

Try before buy, play before pay, strum before feeling dumb, Pick before tricked, buy local instead of from some yokel, inspect before invest, trust but verify......I don't know how anyone would buy a guitar off of Ebay.....ESPECIALLY VINTAGE.....they always need something....

[jedzep]

Try before buy, play before pay, strum before feeling dumb, Pick before tricked, buy local instead of from some yokel, inspect before invest, trust but verify......I don't know how anyone would buy a guitar off of Ebay.....ESPECIALLY VINTAGE.....they always need something....

 

When I look back at the wonderful old boxes I've had access to and owned because of Ebay, and a generally devoted group of vintage traders, I have the opposite opinion. You just have to know what to look for and what to ask.

 

Nice try with the poetry though, OWF.

[mountainpicker]

Take that poetry and add some notes and you'll have a great song.

[Greg Jacob]

Try before buy, play before pay, strum before feeling dumb, Pick before tricked, buy local instead of from some yokel, inspect before invest, trust but verify......I don't know how anyone would buy a guitar off of Ebay.....ESPECIALLY VINTAGE.....they always need something....

 

Don't forget to drink before you think.

[RusRob]

I am not quite sure how they can be scamming people, If you pay using Paypal they can not touch the money until after the item is delivered. And even then you can not get the funds for at least a couple of days after delivery. If you have ANY complaints against you they will hold funds even longer (up to 21 days) and they can suspend your account.

 

I did notice on the other ID the sale was ended and the bid was only 600.00 That doesn't mean he sold it, it means that he withdrew the offer.

 

I am a pretty new ebay user and have bought 3 guitars so far and have sold 2. I only look for project guitars that are cheap so I am not expecting perfection but I do expect the sellers to be honest about the condition of their offerings. As a seller on ebay I can tell you that the buyer has all the rights and from reading different forums about ebay selling you can't get away with much at all. Any buyer can file a complaint against you for almost any reason and they will side with the buyer. Even if you state on your sale "No Returns" or "Sold As Is" it doesn't mean anything. The buyer can sill return it and get their money back.

 

Now I didn't notice what payment method he was using but ebay really is pushing everything out except Paypal because they own it now.

 

EDIT:

 

I just looked and it is Paypal, Visa and Bank Account, It is also up to 1,225.00 with an hour left. Anyone shopping on Ebay would be foolish not to pay with Paypal.

[flatbaroque]

Good points about PayPal RR - I don't understand how the "scam" works either.

But I still think this is dodgy. Same photos -4 times sold that I know of...twice it has been sold as new...twice as used. On two occasions I asked for year and serial no.- no response from seller.Oh he always has a Les Paul for sale too...and that always gets sold too- by the same "different" seller.

Someone got a "bargain" at $1250 for a custom elite J-200 this time.

 

You said the time it sold for $600 he withdrew the offer? How does that work on a no reserve auction. That's confusing to me.

Not bagging Ebay - I use it too...in Oz there is not much choice.

Cheers

[RusRob]

Something does seem strange if you have seen the same guitar for sale 4 times and the same pictures. I noticed the 2 that you posted were the same pic's and I also saw the LP he had for sale.

 

If you put something up for bid in any form (reserve or no reserve), you can end it anytime up to 24 hours before the the stated end of the auction. So if I put a guitar up and it doesn't get the bids I can end the auction as long as I notify the bidders I am ending it and I get them to agree to withdraw their bids. No harm no foul. But if a bidder says no... and you withdraw it anyway Ebay can give you a bad sellers rating and you also will get bad feedback from the bidders that you pissed off. And remember if you get a bad rating they will withhold your money for a longer period of time (when you do make sales). They also will not let you do it over and over, a couple of times and you are OK. (I actually called their customer support about that because I had guitar that I was afraid wasn't going to even sell for the bottom value it was worth (it did go up in the last 36 hours so I didn't end it).

 

Now it could be that this guy is trying to get someone to pay by check and when they say they are using Paypal he pulls the plug. That could get your ID suspended and the reason he is using more than one ID. Ebay will allow you to have multiple ID's and some people use their other ID's to shill bid, which is bidding on your own items to drive the price up. But if you are caught doing that they can prosecute you and you very well could end up in jail.

 

So something is strange with this guy but is he scamming people? Maybe... maybe not, but if he is it very will may catch up to him especially if he is pissing off buyers by withdrawing the sale.

[flatbaroque]

Thanks RR...that's useful info on Ebay process that I didn't really know much about.

[bigshot]

The rules for international paypal guarantees are different than domestic. Read that fine print when dealing with international sellers!

[RusRob]

I have not looked at international sales, I will only ship to the USA and prohibit people from bidding on my stuff if they are not in the USA or if they have a bad rating through Ebay.

 

So you you very well may be correct bigshot. I am actually pretty new on ebay but as with everything I do I try to find out as much as I can before jumping into something. I hate surprises, especially the kind that can hurt the wallet.

 

I would guess that they still hold your money a few days after delivery if going through Paypal.

[Dave F]

They're probably showing real Gibsons and selling fakes

[blindboygrunt]

They're probably showing real Gibsons and selling fakes

 

i would say you have it right there dave , same thing with levi jeans , caterpillar boots etc.

if something seems too good to be true , it usually is

[aliasphobias]

I got pulled into one of these scams-sort of. I bid on a guitar, but then found out my brother (who lives in a different state) was bidding on it too. I backed out. When the auction was over Mark sent me a text saying he got a "second chance offer" as he didn't win, oddly enough about 5 minutes later I got a second chance offer, when I was no where close to winning the auction. We knew then something was up. Everything looked perfectly legit, the seller was in Alabama supposedly, but wanted money wired to a UK bank account. This guy had no intention of using paypal. We played with him back and forth for about 4 days, figuring that while he was busy with us he would have less time to be screwing the elderly out of their prescription money, then turned him into ebay.

Bottom line, pay with paypal. I usually pay with paypal and a credit card (two lines of fraud protection). These scammers are very crafty, but the first thing they do try to get around the protection offered by ebay or paypal. Communicate through ebay (not personal email), pay through paypal!

[onewilyfool]

By the way, the Chinese are getting VERY clever too....on the "FAKE" websites, they are using REAL Gibson pics of real Gibson Guitars, and the crap the ship to you isn't even close. I exchanged some emails with a guy trying to sell a chinese knock-off on Craigslist....The buyers are usually so disappointed they wind up selling it on Ebay or CL. Some disclose they are fakes, some don't....sigh...