Scammed on Ebay

[ChrisJR]

Won't deal with PayPal.  Cash in hand, local pickup at a nearby coffee shop if it's an individual.  Never had a problem.  JUst asking "I'm local - can I pick it up?" gets rid of the scammers.(though also limits my options as well - so be it)

Paypal are absolute bastards. I stopped using ebay a few years ago but earlier this year my wife wanted to sell something so we opened a new account. The item we sold was shipped to Germany and the buyer was playing silly-buggers with leaving feedback so I contacted Paypal asking them what it would take to release the money from the sale.

I was told I either had to wait for positive feedback or wait until I had (get this!) 100 positive transactions or otherwise I would have to 21 days for the money to be released, providing I didn't get negative feedback. Naturally I was pretty peeved about the idea of waiting 21 days and they explained to me it would give me a better impression of trading on ebay if I waited this long (the amount was roughly £1000 btw).

Bottom line, I will never use paypal again.

[haefnerphoto]

Here's the Ebay listing that caught my attention, as well as, a continuation of the email communications.  Being in Detroit, I thought the story sounded plausible.  By the way, the seller is no longer a registered ebay user, what a surprise!  Jim

Hi Jim,
I can understand your reason for concern.  This is in fact why we use Paypal as an intermediary for transactions.  They protect both seller and buyer in the event of a dispute.  Your purchase price is covered 100% minus any shipping fees (in this case there are none.)  For example shall we say you purchase the items and find out later that they are not as I described them.  You have 45 days to file a dispute on Paypal which places a hold on the funds until both parties are satisfied the issue has been resolved.

Let me try to retrieve the serial numbers you have requested from the owners.  This may take a little time but I'll get to work on it.  

The company that failed to launch was going to be titled:  "Stark Creative".

I hope this helps.

Regards,
   Brian      


From: James Haefner <jim@haefnerphoto.com>
To: Brian Olsen <centralwisconsinfunk@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 10:28:38 AM
Subject: Re: Five, 30" Apple Displays & Info on Mac Pro systems as requested.

Re: Five, 30" Apple Displays & Info on Mac Pro systems as requested. Brian, I’m still apprehensive.  I’d like more information concerning the equipment, serial numbers would help, as well as, the name of the company that went out of business.  Two of my associates will pick up the monitors and towers, Lowell Jackson and Brian Depoy.  Thanks, Jim


On 4/14/09 7:40 AM, "Brian Olsen" <centralwisconsinfunk@yahoo.com> wrote:

Good Morning Jim,

I can truly appreciate your concern.  Since this group occupies no physical office at this address it may be difficult to visit.  They currently occupy a secure storage locker at this location where their remaining equipment is stored while we liquidate it.  My apologies in advance but keeping up with questions regarding all of these auctions has almost become sort of a part time job in itself on top of my normal workload.   You may retain the Mac Pros for a 25% deposit on our agreed purchase price through Paypal.  This will prevent them from going up on auction at their scheduled time of 8:00AM EST tomorrow morning.  Certified check upon delivery for the remaining balance would be very acceptable.  This check may be made out to:  Sterling Enterprises, LLC  

Might I have the name of the individual whom I will be meeting on Friday to complete our transaction?  Please Email me with any other concerns you may have.


From: james haefner <jim@haefnerphoto.com>
To: Brian Olsen <centralwisconsinfunk@yahoo.com>
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2009 10:10:59 PM
Subject: Re: Five, 30" Apple Displays & Info on Mac Pro systems as requested.

Re: Five, 30" Apple Displays & Info on Mac Pro systems as requested. Brian, Just to be on the safe side I’d like one of my assistants to visit the office tomorrow.  I see that it’s a office support services group, which business should they refer to when arriving.  Thanks, Jim


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[Plekto]

You may retain the Mac Pros for a 25% deposit on our agreed purchase price through Paypal. This will prevent them from going up on auction at their scheduled time of 8:00AM EST tomorrow morning. Certified check upon delivery for the remaining balance would be very acceptable. This check may be made out to: Sterling Enterprises, LLC

That's where you know something is off.  I never deal with PayPal since I can't back out of it if there's a major issue.  If you had to drive there, you agree to pay cash in person on delivery.  And bring 2-3 friends just in case.  It's why I ask.   If they can't arrange for in-person C.O.D., or start making up excuses, I bail.  Scammers will 99% of the time start making up junk at this question, while legit people won't - it's sort of a default litmus test I ask everyone.

[Mark F]

Someone posted earlier that scammers have software that generates false favorable feedback. Is there also software that falsely inflates the number of transactions a seller has entered into?  Or the number of years he has been selling?

When bidding I always look at the percentage rating of favorable feedback and also the number of transactions entered into over several years. My assumption has been that if the seller has been listing for several years he is most likely legitimate.

Someone else pointed out the small difference between some eBay auction prices and buying from a dealer. I have been looking to buy a used Canon 90mm T/s lens for a while and have bid in several auctions.  To my great surprise the winning bid has only been a couple of hundred dollars less than buying the lens brand new. ?  It seems to me to make little sense to take the risk of buying  a used lens, sight unseen, without a warranty to save a couple of hundred dollars.  Am I missing something here?

[Alex MacPherson]

In my case, I lost $2100 for a 1ds Mk ii sold by someone who hijacked another person's account.

So this wasn't a case of false feedback.

I am looking for another place to buy a used 1ds mark ii

I have dealt with KEH before and they are usually conservative on grading. However,I saw a pretty rough looking 1ds Mkii on ebay for sale from them with an EX+ rating. This makes me skeptical about buying this particular camera from them.

What about Adorama and B&H for their used cameras ? Who is better... in your opinion.

[Ben Rubinstein]

In my case, I lost $2100 for a 1ds Mk ii sold by someone who hijacked another person's account.

So this wasn't a case of false feedback.

I am looking for another place to buy a used 1ds mark ii

I have dealt with KEH before and they are usually conservative on grading. However,I saw a pretty rough looking 1ds Mkii on ebay for sale from them with an EX+ rating. This makes me skeptical about buying this particular camera from them.

What about Adorama and B&H for their used cameras ? Who is better... in your opinion.

I wouldn't buy used from Adorama, bad experience and I'm not the only one.

[KenS]

I wouldn't buy used from Adorama, bad experience and I'm not the only one.

I also had a bad experience with Adorma years ago.  I've always bought from BH since then.  No problems ever with BH.

[Alex MacPherson]

Hmm.  Adorama has a demo 1ds Markiii for a good price. I would hate to take the risk on getting burned again though.

bleh.

Maybe I will go with KEH afterall

[Hellstan]

TIPS TO BEAT THE SCAMMERS

Sorry to hear everyone's problems...

FWIW Here are my tips, I hope they help some people avoid losing out.  I've done roughly 300 transactions on eBay, bought and sold all 100%.

1.  don't go looking to buy a digital back or high end DSLR new or 2nd hand on eBay....  with the exception of Calumet (silly prices) good, high end kit can safely be found and Adorama, KEH etc... and places like Capture Integration and Digital Transitions.  Sure look at Craigslist, if you can go and see the back, in the guy's home or studio, do it...  Ebay too, if it's very local and you can call the fella up, take a peek before the auction end date.

2. as said before, if it's too good a deal, then it is... to good a deal to be true..!

3. use eBay for what it was intended for, selling off that old tripod and head, unused lens, spare RAM etc....  It's not the place for new kit.  Unless you want a cover for your phone or a battery charger from China (ALL my new, cheap purchases from China etc have all arrived and been perfect BTW), don't buy new high end stuff on eBay...  you wouldn't buy an iPhone there would you..?

4. if some one is 'selling due to upgrade' and you cannot call them, think about it... often you get a great trade in on an upgrade... so why is he risking a sale on eBay...?

5. paying a little more from a dealer with a guarantee is well worth it in the end, here is a real, 'right now' example:

Since the launch of the Phase One 645 and their collaboration with Mamiya, a good, second hand Mamiya 45mm AF is now hard to come by cheaply, this is a good thing for Mamiya users and owners... so roughly one a week comes up on eBay by a private seller who seems legit... lots of interest, a few questions and they normally go for just under $400 USD plus shipping.

Adorama and KEH sell the same thing 2nd hand for $430-$500 USD, plus shipping and or tax....

On this evidence it doesn't make sense to 'risk' ebay, buy from the dealer, get a warranty/guarantee and sleep at night.

In other words we need to do our research a little bit more than we do to save money.


If I had seen the 'almost liquidated ' Mac display's on ebay I would have worried...  No pic of the screens.... can this person actually sell them...?  Two alarm bells before we even get started...


Hope this doesn't prove too negative and that it can help...

Best,

Steve

All this is true, but I made excellent deals on eBay.
A Noctilux bought from a collector for a ridiculously low price,
advertised as pristine, and it was.
A Rollei Integral II like new, with a Schneider 80, like new,
for a low price too, and it's working like a charm, since 2 years
(1200 $, meaning for me 900 €, namely 1/4 of its price new).

When buying that kind of gear, I always ask the seller
his phone number, I Google him to see if he registers.
99% of the good sellers are selling since a while, and
on different places. So you can easily trace their history.
I check also carefully his feedbacks, his location, his mail
address, etc. As soon as I detect a discrepancy, I stay clear.
This never failed me so far.
My only delusion was for a 60 £ cell phone presented
as new, which arrived filthy, scratched, but in good
working condition.
I warned eBay, Paypal, etc. and left him a killing feedback.
He never reappeared.

[PatrikR]

I have noticed a lot of fraudulent sellers and it is getting worse with each day it seems...

I found that there are 1 cent auctions for such things as desktop wallpaper images, cell phone ring tones or backgrounds and other very, very unusual items that are 1 cent AND come with an instant digital download. Scammers use these auctions to rack up a good 30 or so positive feedbacks and then sit on that account until the auctions are over and no one can see their previous purchases (the item gets grayed out after a while and you cannot see what they purchased)... THAT is when a nice NIB Hasselblad H3D II 60mp camera goes up for sale at a steal of a price....

So watch out for their tactics and be careful with your money. I found it better to purchase things via other methods and not use eBay or Craigslist or anything like that nowadays.

Very true. Everybody should write the item and price in the feedback "Canon 1 Ds (USD500) as described. Honest seller." and not just A++++++++

[DesW]

Paypal are absolute bastards. I stopped using ebay a few years ago but earlier this year my wife wanted to sell something so we opened a new account. The item we sold was shipped to Germany and the buyer was playing silly-buggers with leaving feedback so I contacted Paypal asking them what it would take to release the money from the sale.

I was told I either had to wait for positive feedback or wait until I had (get this!) 100 positive transactions or otherwise I would have to 21 days for the money to be released, providing I didn't get negative feedback. Naturally I was pretty peeved about the idea of waiting 21 days and they explained to me it would give me a better impression of trading on ebay if I waited this long (the amount was roughly £1000 btw).

Bottom line, I will never use paypal again.

Hi,

Thank your lucky stars you are not in Australia!

Here Ebay Aust has made it COMPULSORY for sellers user PayPal on their Listings and when you list, the Cursed PayPal is the FIRST  Payment preference by default--whether you want it or not.
The associated fees/delays and consumer unfriendliness of PP is a blight-particularly to the honest seller. It is no more than an unregulated Bank scam ripoff.
We are all tarred with the same brush now according to Ebay.

They're right Paypal SUCKS!

D

[Hellstan]

Hi,

Thank your lucky stars you are not in Australia!

Here Ebay Aust has made it COMPULSORY for sellers user PayPal on their Listings and when you list, the Cursed PayPal is the FIRST  Payment preference by default--whether you want it or not.
The associated fees/delays and consumer unfriendliness of PP is a blight-particularly to the honest seller. It is no more than an unregulated Bank scam ripoff.
We are all tarred with the same brush now according to Ebay.

They're right Paypal SUCKS!

D

Nothing forbids you to set an account in another country, providing an address,
where Paypal is not mandatory.
As long as you're honest with your buyers/sellers, what's the heck ?

[duntov]

Hmm.  Adorama has a demo 1ds Markiii for a good price. I would hate to take the risk on getting burned again though.

bleh.

Maybe I will go with KEH afterall

I noticed that Adorama sells also on Ebay but they have a scary warranty.  It say "mechanical warranty" which leads me to suspect they will not cover problems with the electronics in cameras.

I highly recommend KEH.  They do rate their equipment conservatively but if you don't like what you get, a refund is quick to get.

John

[Kevin Gallagher]

 From my experience with EBAY (several sales and one or two buys) it seems there are more bad buyers than sellers, EBAY also does not seem to be in a particular hurry to credit your account although charges to it are lighting fast. I listed a Nikon D2H for sale with a buy now price, someone bit on it within a couple of hours. They, of course were in Nigeria so I referred them to my USA only shipping policy. To make a long story short it took EBAY 4 months to refund the sales fee..the best excuse by far was that my CC info wasn't current..welll, they had no problem in using it to apply charges to the account.

[mcfoto]

Hmm.  Adorama has a demo 1ds Markiii for a good price. I would hate to take the risk on getting burned again though.

bleh.

Maybe I will go with KEH afterall

I have done business with both Adorama & B&H in person & via web/mail order. Both are very good, have had no problem with either. In person I prefer Adorama.
Denis

[Alex MacPherson]

Paypal has decided that they will NOT give me my money back... even though the item was sold on a hijacked seller account.  They said the seller provided proof that they sent a package.
I have gone to my CC to have them reverse the charges on Paypal.

[haefnerphoto]

Good luck, my CC company (Discover) said that as long as there was no fradulent charging (meaning someone stole your card and used it) they will pay Paypal.  My situation is that Paypal has a few more days to hear from the seller(scam artist) before they find in my favor.  That doesn't mean they'll reimburse me though.  Jim

[Alex MacPherson]

Paypal told me my case was in the bag too. Don't hold your breath

[Snook]

As requested by some bone heads here in the LL forums, Aliases for sure. I will drop the Richard comment.
In any case , supposedly he turned himself in...:+}

Snook

Could you please let us know who the ebay dealer was in order to stay away from them.
Thanks

[E_Edwards]

Paypal has decided that they will NOT give me my money back... even though the item was sold on a hijacked seller account.  They said the seller provided proof that they sent a package.
I have gone to my CC to have them reverse the charges on Paypal.

Hey Dolce Moda, I have a 1DS MKII to sell, but it's a pity I am in England (and I do want cash only), precisely for the reasons exposed in this thread.

If any professional photographer in the UK is interested and wants to buy a 1DS MKII in person from a reputable photographer, please contact me and avoid the Ebay thing altogether.

I've bought a few expensive cameras from Ebay, but I've always collected and paid in person from other photographers. So far, no problems.


Edward