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Have I been had?

KX36

By KX36
in Epiphone Electrics

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brad1

brad1

Posted
Posted

I'm not very good at looking at pics and deciding if it's a fake.

However, a brand new LP Plus top here in the States would run you about $550.

I think you paid about $350.

So it sure makes me wonder how they could sell it new for that price.

Make sure to do your research before bidding.

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Dannyboyee82

Dannyboyee82

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Looks like the real deal to me.. I just compared it to pics from reputable dealers. Although, the one difference I did notice is that the scratch plate and pickup surrounds are a different colour to the one on the website I just looked at.. but that was the 'heritage cherry sunburst' and they had an aged effect. I could not find a plain cherry sunburst. It could just be old stock, or B-stock I guess.. Get the serial number before you pay the guy, post it here and somebody will check it out for you.

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brad1

brad1

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Why is that one a fake?

 

Look at what he is selling it for. £199.00! It's brand NEW!

That's about half the price you'd pay for a new one.

That should be a red flag with red flairs shooting out at you.

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KX36

KX36

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Look at what he is selling it for. £199.00! It's brand NEW!

That's about half the price you'd pay for a new one.

That should be a red flag with red flairs shooting out at you.

 

I don't know if anyone else has noticed' date=' but it's not unusual for the price of an item with 2 days left until the auction ends to be quite a lot lower than the ending price and it's also not unusual for items to start off at £0.99 or $0.99 even though the seller has no intention of it going for that price. So I don't think that on its own is suspicious.

 

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/jarbjarbnba/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

 

What's more suspicious is all the Buy It Now items are being sold for HALF the RRP. and the guy's username is random letters.

 

At the time, I didn't think about whether it was fake, just whether it was the right guitar for me. [u']I'm so bloody dumb[/u]. I've emailed eBay about it, linking to this post.

 

This is what I get for trying to sneak around buying someone a present when they're in the same room as me.

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LongMan

LongMan

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Look at what he is selling it for. £199.00!

He most likely will not. This is an auction with almost 2 days left' date=' not a Buy Now offer.

 

It's brand NEW!

I hope so[biggrin]

 

That's about half the price you'd pay for a new one.

It would be the half price for the new one, given you get it for that price. But I doubt the auction will end at £199.

 

I own a black beauty, and at least the pictures don't look like a fake to me. Of course you only know for sure if you received the actual guitar.

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KX36

KX36

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Part of me's thinking if I pay for it and have a look at it, I'll know quickly if it's fake. The buyer does have a returns policy, but I have a feeling they will vanish off the face of the earth before the end of the week. There's also ebay's resolution centre and paypal's security... I mean.. if it's a real guitar than that's a great price for it right, the RRP is £370-450 depending where you look.

 

But the bigger part of me's saying the best security's just to not pay, although I may be obliged to.

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brad1

brad1

Posted
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I don't know if anyone else has noticed' date=' but it's not unusual for the price of an item with 2 days left until the auction ends to be quite a lot lower than the ending price and it's also not unusual for items to start off at £0.99 or $0.99 even though the seller has no intention of it going for that price. So I don't think that on its own is suspicious.

[/quote']

 

I disagree.

NEW items do not typically sell for much less than they are worth.

NEW items almost always have a "reserve price" set.

No one is going to sell a NEW LP Custom unless they get their money back that they paid for it.

I've been a ebay watcher for many years. And if you have been too, you would know this.

 

You're thinking of USED items my friend.

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LongMan

LongMan

Posted
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The Inlay on the Headstock

Well' date=' that looks indeed slightly different on my one. The pieces of the split diamond are not that narrow.

On the other hand my Broadway and Swingster have an identical headstock (in theory), but look slightly different. The grape-vine inlay is placed different, and the truss rod covers have different sizes. Also the Epiphone inlay is at different positions (remarkable closer to the top end on the korean Broadway).

 

The screw of the pickguard

Looks the same on mine. What's wrong with it? Apart from the fact the pickguard as whole looks cheap compared to the rest of the guitar (that's why I took it off).

 

And I bet it has an EExxxxx serial

unfortunately not shown

Mine has also an EE serial from 2007. Maybe it's a fake as well? I bought it from a german well known dealer for the regular price, but who knows...

 

I wonder where he gets the New guitars, that are discontinued by Epiphone months ago:-k

A lot of dealers have them still on stock, just have a look at the Thomann, Music Store or Digital Village online stores. I think the higher priced Epiphone LP Customs don't sell that good currently, as Gibson enters the marked with lower priced LPs.

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KX36

KX36

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Well to be "new" on ebay means unused, doesn't mean fresh from the factory. I bought a new guitar from GAK.co.uk in 07 and it was a 14 month old 06 model. I'll wait to see what ebay says. Thanks everyone for their help.

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LongMan

LongMan

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The screw is too near the edge.

Well' date=' now that you point to it...

[img']http://a2.images6.thomann.de/pics/bdb/135013/623633_800.jpg[/img]

I'm glad to see I have the "right" pickguard for my BB[cool]

 

I can't speak for the others, but the pics on thomanns website aren't that new, IMO

Right, some of them are from older korean models. For the Black Beauty they are at least from a 2007 Qingdao model, a sister of mine.

 

nearly all the showroom-guitars do have the new serial#

I was there, last sunday....

Ok, but the headstock front didn't change. So the images are good for headstock inlay and pickguard reference at least.

 

Btw.: Is there a collection of details available that may discover a fake?

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LongMan

LongMan

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Well to be "new" on ebay means unused' date=' doesn't mean fresh from the factory. I bought a new guitar from GAK.co.uk in 07 and it was a 14 month old 06 model.[/quote']

Nothing wrong with "new old stock" guitars I guess, as long as they are original, really unused and were stored well.

 

Just a little story on that (slightly OT): I bought my 2002 Elite ES-335 and 2002 Elite Les Paul Standard Plus just a few weeks ago in a small local guitar shop. Both were new old stock, means almost 8 years old, but unused and in excellent condition. The shop owner could even remember when he had selected that guitars from the distributors stock. That guy does mainly sell to professional musicians, and does not sell over eBay. Otherwise that guitars have been sold years ago.

Btw.: He still has a 2002 Elite 61' SG Standard on stock. Probably I will get that one next month, though it's nearly as expensive as a current Gibson SG Standard.

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Dannyboyee82

Dannyboyee82

Posted
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Also, if you compare the pickgaurd on the Thomann BB to the one that guy is selling they are totally different. I would run a mile from this guy.. it's not worth the hassle.

 

Edit- I just emailed the seller to ask how he can sell these guitars at such low prices. He has a Epi LP Custom Plus for a buy it now of £258.. the cheapest I can find that guitar online is around £550 which is more than double the price he has them at.

 

Alarm bells would be ringing for me!!

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vomer

vomer

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I reported that seller to ebay for his 3 other Epi guitars, I wasn't sure about this one, about 4 or 5 days ago. Looks like they took no action. Don't think I will take the trouble again. If Epiphone don't keep on top of this, why should anyone else bother?

 

Edit to add: PS Don't pay him.

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