How not to get scammed when buying from online auction sites

[Joel Ruggiero]

well i didnt fall for that kind of scam i bought from a company in indiana that just went under i guess or the owner (nikki brindle)i did loose over 700 for my vx got a little back from ebay and insurenace but i will never again use ebay


http://www.philterhouse.com/nikki.html

check out this site for further details on nikki

[Kenny Emeson]

I just happened to have taken a look at this thread before venturing out to try and buy a camera on Ebay. I was out bid for the camera I wanted. However, the next morning when I went to work, I got this email from some dude i believe to be one of these scammers we're discussing. I'm not entirely sure if he is or not, but my instincts tell me to stay away. I mean who the hell sells a brand new GL1 for $800?

************
From: <marrttol@yahoo.com>
To: Kenneth Emeson
Date: Tuesday - January 20, 2004 6:36 PM
Subject: Poser une question au vendeur -- Objet n° 2980671167
Mime.822 (2117 bytes) [View] [Save As]

Hello ,
I'm Toti Battisti from London U.K, please escuse me that i've
contact you like this .. i sow that you are interested to buy
CANON GL1 DIGITAL CAMCORDER - BRAND NEW ,
i have the same product and the price for one unit is
800 $ , i will be glad to waiting your reply to start a fast deal .
My best regards !
Toti Battisti
63 Witon Way Hackney
London E8 1BG
United Kingdom

[Dylan Couper]

Kenny, skip it. First off, it's too cheap for a GL1 (if thats US$).
Plus if he is contacting you outside Ebay, thats a bad sign. Honest people don't do that.
How can the GL1 be brand new? They stopped making them last year.

Ask him if he takes Paypal, see what kind of payment he will take. That is the biggest giveaway.

[Mike Butler]

Good instincts, Kenny. Dylan is right. I mean, you can get a good deal on a GL1, but if the price sounds too good that's a dead giveaway. Of course, eBay sellers are not all like Nikki Brindle or those Euroscammers...in fact some major dealers even have an eBay sales department. Just know who you are dealing with, and NEVER trust those guys who try to sell outside of the eBay system.

[Joel Ruggiero]

ya bvecarefull for nikki brindles she got me good

[Gino Terribilini]

I got screwed TWICE when i was trying to buy an XL1s. Yes, twice... once from some guy from Romania (hey, it was a good deal), luckily i got away with paying him only half. The second from some guy in Florida. I'm in the process of getting my money back, though because i paid with a credit card through PayPal.
One definate way to spot a scam is if the starting price or buy it now price is $1200-$1600. For some reason, they always start or sell at that price. This is a common occurance at Amazon.com. Check out their "new & used" section of XL1s'. At one point there were three XL1s' going all for less than $2K and, wouldn't you know, all the users were "just launched". I'm sure i'm repeating some stuff people have already said, but its for your own good.
Good luck to you all who are planning on purchasing through an auction site (or amazon)!

KENNY- tell him you'll pay him once you get the camera. COD (cash on delivery). He'll probably ask you to pay with Western Union or some other wire service. DON'T DO IT! And if he really lived in the UK, he wouldn't have problems typing in English. And he wants a "fast deal". Haha.

I had a similar experience... almost made my twice-screwage turn to thrice. He said he lived in oregon, but told me to send the money via a wire to somebody who lived in the UK. I smacked him (cybersmack that is) and ran away. He said he needed the money fast because his sister got in a car crash in Romania and needed the money to pay for her medical stuff. Heh.. Romania. Heard that one before!!


JOEL- don't be afraid of eBay. Its really an awesome service. Just don't buy important, expensive things on it.. ;)

- Gino Terribilini

[Mike Butler]

Well, I would stop short of saying don't buy anything expensive or important on eBay. Especially if the seller is something like "ebaysalesdept@reputableknowndealer.com" Some of our forum's sponsors also sell on ebay, as do some of the other major dealers.

I have also had good luck with some of the pawn shops on ebay, and the ones I have dealt with are very cooperative about returning merchandise if defective. Just don't expect them to have any product expertise on these kinds of equipment, they just buy it and sell it along with many other categories of goods like tools, sporting goods, jewelry, etc.

But the Euroscammers still persist: the dead giveaways are the unrealistic price, the request to send money via Western Union (NEVER, NEVER do this!) and the European address that they want you to send the money to. (BTW, to my friends in the UK and on the Continent, not everyone in Europe is a scammer, but the profile is pretty easy to spot) One more thing, the minute one of them contacts you to sell outside of eBAy, please report it to eBay. I had this happen recently with a seller who was supposedly selling an expensive audio mixer (here again, at a ridiculously low price) , and once I reported it, eBay immediately terminated his (her) membership.

[Michael Plante]

I didn't read through the entire thread so I am not sure if this was suggested before.

I have purchased well over 300 items on Ebay in just over a 3 month period. One of them for over $3,000 and suddenly couldn't get hold of the seller. Well before sending the money I asked and received his HOME phone number and address.

So I simply called the police department in their city and less than 30 minutes later the seller called apologizing PROFUSELY and sent my item next day via Fed Ex.

I have had to call the police 3 times and received my items all three times.

I have heard others say the police didn't want anything to do with it but it is worth a try but do it RIGHT AWAY do not wait weeks after communications break down.

[Ken Tanaka]

I can't help wondering why bother with such hassle for products that are readily available elsewhere? The allure of a good price fades quickly against such possibilities.

[Mike Butler]

Readily available elsewhere, well that's one thing.

But to buy hard-to-find stuff, eBay is a very powerful resource. Where else would I have found 34-pin cables (essential) for a Panasonic AG-A650 edit controler, without paying outlandish prices thru Pana's parts dept. Or a used Ikegami monitor, or a motor drive for a 20-year-old Olympus SLR.

Plus it can be useful just to know how low you can buy a certain item. For instance, when I brought up the fact that a dealer on eBay was offering a certain price on factory B-stock on a certain microphone, the salesperson at a place where I often call for equipment offered me a comparable price on A-stock. Sold!

Usually though, for normal commercially available items I just click on bhphotovideo.com (a sponsor of this forum) to buy genuine merchandise at legitimate prices from a trustworthy supplier.

[Michael Plante]

<<<-- Originally posted by Ken Tanaka : I can't help wondering why bother with such hassle for products that are readily available elsewhere? The allure of a good price fades quickly against such possibilities. -->>>

That is a pretty BROAD sweeping assumption.

Where are these places where things are readily available certainly not where I live.

Then again I live in Orlando FL and also in NY so perhaps I just don't live in the right place :)

[Mike Butler]

Where in NY, Michael? Anywhere near 9th Ave & 34th St? (a block from Madison Square Garden) If so, go on over to B&H and check out how much they DO have!

Of course, if you want tubes for your 40-year-old Marantz preamp, or a door handle for a 1973 Corvette, you might want to try eBay. Always be careful of the seller. All the guys I buy from take paypal, and I NEVER do Western Union!

[Michael Plante]

Yes I know of B and H.

I was refering to the 300 plus items I bought off of Ebay.

Basically in less than 3 months they have gone up in value by over $10,000 so I like Ebay and if there are a couple problems so be it heck there are problems every where:)

[Mike Butler]

Michael,

I too have bought hundreds of items on eBAy. I know they haven't appreciated in value like your items, but I don't buy anything i would consider collectible or likely to go up in value. Just good deals on appropriate merchandise. Like a used Canon XL1 from a pawn shop...got it cheap sans accessories (then I bought the accessories cheap on eBay).

Or an Apple G4 PowerBook from a music editor/producer, got it with 1.5 years left on the AppleCare warranty, and I use it for both music and video field post-production (so I can put an edit bay in my hotel room or on the table tray at my airliner seat). Half the price of a new one (OK, I know, the new one has a little faster processor).

Or the indestructible Panasonic AG-6200, 6300, 6400, etc. decks that are no longer available new. And other hard-to-find items.

For new, normal, current model merchandise I just contact B&H (a sponsor) or FullCompass (not a sponsor but nice dealers of pro audio/video gear).

[Dylan Couper]

Hey guys
This is getting pretty off topic from the intended nature of this thread. I'll leave the current posts up for a few more days so everyone can read them then klenze all of the non-pertinent posts.