More Auction Bad News

[RMK!]

OK, A Velodyne DD-18 comes up on ebay. The bid price is at $1600 with less that one day left on a three day auction. It includes a picture and a good description but has a Money Order/Cashiers Check payment requirement (red flag) but the seller had a great feedback rating. I email the seller and he/she responds with all the right answers including version info about the sub and shipping method. I'm thinking I might get this great sub for $2K. I bid accordingly (I am high bidder by $500). Eight hours before the auction is scheduled to close, ebay sends me an email that the Auction has been closed. No explanation or detail was provided by ebay. That night, I get an email from the real owner of the ebay account saying that his ebay ID had been highjacked and that he had ended the auction. This is scary stuff. Short lesson from this is NEVER pay via Money Order etc unless you know the person or perform serious due diligence to determine the validity of the offering. Most of this is common sense and I know most of you are far too cautious/smart to be caught by something like this, but I have been doing quite a few transactions via auctions lately and the fraud factor seems to be very high. Obviously, the auctions themselves are trying to minimize the extent of this increased fraud but I have personally experienced potential fraud in three of my last 10 attempted transactions. I am not picking on ebay but just putting this out there as a warning.

 

[Sheep]

OK, A Velodyne DD-18 comes up on ebay. The bid price is at $1600 with less that one day left on a three day auction. It includes a picture and a good description but has a Money Order/Cashiers Check payment requirement (red flag). I email the seller and he/she responds with all the right answers including version info about the sub and shipping method. I'm thinking I might get this great sub for $2K. I bid accordingly (I am high bidder by $500). Eight hours before the auction is scheduled to close, ebay sends me an email that the Auction has been closed. No explanation or detail was provided by ebay. That night, I get an email from the real owner of the ebay account saying that his ebay ID had been highjacked and that he had ended the auction. This is scary stuff. Short lesson from this is NEVER pay via Money Order etc unless you know the person or perform serious due diligence to determine the validity of the offering. Most of this is common sense and I know most of you are far too cautious/smart to be caught by something like this, but I have been doing quite a few transactions via auctions lately and the fraud factor seems to be very high. Obviously, the auctions themselves are trying to minimize the extent of this increased fraud but I have personally experienced potential fraud in three of my last 10 attempted transactions. I am not picking on ebay but just putting this out there as a warning.

This is why I don't buy over the internet. Some people swear buy it. Theres NO chance this can happen when you walk in a store. Little more money for no worrys/inconvenince(typo?) is worth it IMO.

Sheep

 

[RMK!]

This is why I don't buy over the internet. Some people swear buy it. Theres NO chance this can happen when you walk in a store. Little more money for no worrys/inconvenince(typo?) is worth it IMO.

Sheep

I would not condemn the internet per say. Companies like Axiom do a nice job and provide secure transactions and great products via the internet. On-line auctions are another matter entirely.

 

[Tsunamii]

Even if you do get ripped off on the web and you used a credit card you are held to $50 by federal law. That is if you have a crappy bank. I went trhough it a few years back. Reported it to my bank, they faxed me an affidavit that I filled out and had notarized by the company notary, faxed it back and had my money in a day or 2.
It was a pain but wouldnt stop me from seaking out a legit deal on the web. Sometimes it is good to just use a good price you find from an Authorized dealer as leverage at your local store.
Glad to hear you didnt end up getting burned.

 

[Sheep]

I would not condemn the internet per say. Companies like Axiom do a nice job and provide secure transactions and great products via the internet. On-line auctions are another matter entirely.

Ok, axiom and SVS are good. But what happens when they get damaged or lost in shipping? Go to a store, put it in your car, drive home.


Sheep

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Look at the first and third item here. This guy hijacks the same photos and offers 5 units. Somehow all 5 units have scratches and the same model number. It's amazing ebay can't catch this stuff. I've watched this same photo of Klipsch RF-7 towers get posted by numerous different users. If this doesn't come up, just do a search for the speakers.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=klipsch+rf-7&category0=

 

[mustang_steve]

A good rule of thumb is for any auction of over $500, to verify WHO the person is, employer, etc.

I found honest people will allow for this. If it was a business doing this, they can provide their business license no to me as proof...I will call the state, get the conteact and verify it is indeed a legit business first.

For a person, I will call the place they calim to be employed, after I verify they are indeed legit, and verify that the saide person does work there.

It may seem overkill, but it ensures tha I won't lose my butt.

Only auction i didn't do this with was for a $500 bicycle wheelset, just because I personally knew the seller....he works at the bike shop I used to frequent back in cali.

 

[Tomorrow]

Just last night I was looking at a Genesis sub (12B?). It looked great, but the seller's history left me uncomfortable...one feedback, but ~10 items sold to the same individual. Hmmm. Anyway, I put it in my "Watch this item" list and went on. 20 minutes later I went back to look at it in more detail and it was not only gone from ebay, it was gone from my watch list.

I've not (yet) had a bad experience on ebay, but...................

 

[RMK!]

Look at the first and third item here. This guy hijacks the same photos and offers 5 units. Somehow all 5 units have scratches and the same model number. It's amazing ebay can't catch this stuff. I've watched this same photo of Klipsch RF-7 towers get posted by numerous different users. If this doesn't come up, just do a search for the speakers.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=klipsch+rf-7&category0=

Ebay policy (and mine), caveat emptor. My feeling is they (ebay) are extremely negligent in this regard. I bet they are fending off lawsuits all the time.

 

[ducker]

with the shear volume of the auctions they can't do all the policing themselves.

2 years ago I sold an older Football jersey. After my auction ended some other boob who was selling newer throwback jerseys of the same team/player used my exact picture. I contacted ebay... sure enough his auction was yanked about 2-3 days after I wrote Ebay the note.

they will yank stuff, they just can't check every single auction. I believe they leave quite a bit of that responsbility in the hands of the buyers/browsers.

 

[furrycute]

I recently had problems with an auction on ebay. I was desperately looking for a preamp, and found one by a seller with zero feedback. But I thought what the heck, might as well give it a chance. I contacted the seller, gave me courteous feedback. I paid with paypal via my credit card. I received the preamp. Sure enough the power was on, but I couldn't turn it off! The on/off switch was stuck on the on position. Plus, I got nauseatingly loud noises coming from all in/out jacks.

I promptly sent the item back to the seller. Contacted my credit card company. As of right now, the credit card company is still investigating the dispute. What a dishonest seller. Plus it was partially my fault for trusting a seller with zero feedback.

 

[Mr. Lamb Fries]

Look at the first and third item here. This guy hijacks the same photos and offers 5 units. Somehow all 5 units have scratches and the same model number. It's amazing ebay can't catch this stuff. I've watched this same photo of Klipsch RF-7 towers get posted by numerous different users. If this doesn't come up, just do a search for the speakers.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=klipsch+rf-7&category0=

Private listing bidders???
ONLY $10.00 Shipping???
What a great deal!!!
Just Kidding, On Line shopping is all a gamble. Just be careful!.

 

[MDS]

I don't think it was necessarily a mistake to go with a seller with zero feedback. The sellers that have hundreds or thousands of positive feedback started at zero like everyone else. It's a crapshoot using auction sites and unfortunately there is a chance of getting burned.

The only things I ever buy off of ebay are hard to find, out of print cds and the most I've ever spent was $60. I'd still be pissed if I lost that amount of money, but losing hundreds or thousands would really make me angry and I don't take the chance.

 

[philh]

I've had mostly good luck, although did have an issue with some jewelry. The jewelry was exactly as specified, the seller did accept the product back and refunded my money, but I lost shipping costs. Then I filed a formal complaint complete with suspicious transaction details. He was using several aliases, bidding for the product, and if he got stuck, even leaving positive feedback.

Sold two cars on E-Bay, one transaction went extremely smooth, the other the buyer backed out and I got stuck with EBay fees... long story. Also sold the car for less then I should have.

 

[Mayhem]

I've never been comfortable using ebay, only 8 transactions in many years for me. I do have guidelines when buying from an online company:

1. Always use a credit card. Reason:charges can be reversed, no money out of pocket for fraudulent transactions.

2. I always look for others that have dealt with a specific company before placing a large transaction.

3. For those companies I am unsure about, I will place a small order to see how it is delivered.

I am always suspicious of online concerns, but that doesn't prevent me from still buying from them as they often have the best deals.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Items I've bought on eBay:

$3,000 plasma
$1,400 touchpanel
$700 subwoofer
$700 projection screen
$500 matrix switcher

Items I've sold on eBay:
$2,400 touchpanel (same as above one month later!)
$1,000 projector
$500 touchpanels (plural)
$1,500 matrix switcher (same as above, one month later)

Big dollar items? Yep! But, it is all about trust. I take a dozen photos of the item IN MY HOME! I write that, I make it clear. I make sure that I do NOT use stock photos. I make my phone number available to people who have any questions and I offer a multitude of buying options including PayPal and others.

I've only had a couple of attempted (EARLY!) PC purchases go bad, and I never lost a dime on those transactions. Learned a lot about buyer beware though.

Also bought my Velo. HGS-18 online - Audiogon - good stuff!

 

[furrycute]

Supposed you are a seller, what's to prevent you from registering under a different name and bid up your own auctions? Namely shill bidding?


I've read quite a lot about this issue in some forums. And I have my suspicions a couple of ebay auctions I've been following have shill bidders.

 

[mustang_steve]

The penalties for shill bidding is very high....It's been a while since I researched on it, but I think it may be a class D felony (may fall under fraud)....almsot definately one for anything interstate.

Plus EBay does seem to tkae shills very seriously.

Pardon my carptacular typing but I just got back from the ER....won't be using my right thumb for a while.