OMFG! My quest is over!

GyroVorbis · Post by **GyroVorbis** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 11:19 pm

I can't believe my eyes!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... eName=WDVW

Folks, look at my new BroadBand adapter. I'm kissing my monitor... I want to burst into sweet tears of joy. You don't know how long I've been wanting this. Finally, I got my parents to get it as a birthday present.

Oh happy day!

GyroVorbis · Post by **GyroVorbis** » Mon Jul 04, 2005 11:19 pm

Sorry, I seem to of made two posts in all of my exitement... XD

Dreamcast ? · Post by **Dreamcast ?** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 5:28 am

I really hope this works out for you. They have a pretty low feedback. I'd also be wary of them accepting only money orders and cashier's checks. Make sure you make copies of them (front/back) before sending them.

I got scammed a while back by some jackass just like this guy, and for just 2 dollars less than what you payed. Ebay doesn't want to make retribution for their mistake of letting him scam. They require proof of everything, then have the nerve to charge you a $20 "processing fee." Bastards.

A good way of being a bit more sure of your purchase is to buy it in a bundled lot. Considering that there was a limited number of BBAs sold, I find it suspicious that he has a sealed one. That picture has been used to death on eBay.

I don't want to scare you or anything. I just want to give you the facts straight up before you hand over any money.

Be careful and good luck.

- Dreamcast ?

Dreamcast ? · Post by **Dreamcast ?** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 5:33 am

Actually, I have a real word of caution to you. Even if it means getting negative feedback, BACK OUT OF THIS AUCTION!

I gurantee you that you'll lose money. After reviewing this guy's feedback and what not, I'm sure that this is a scam. He only has sold one item, and interestingly enough, it's a wireless XB module. The same one or two items that the guy who scammed me had "sold." I'm pretty sure that was just a "bait auction." He sells something to someone he knows then they leave him positive feedback so to you, it looks like he makes good on his auctions.

With this, if he wants to cause any trouble over you wanting to back out of it, just tell eBay that you have a resonable doubt and if he's really telling the truth, tell him to send the item to eBay and then when they confirm they've received it, you'll pay him and then eBay can send it to you.

- Dreamcast ?

nymus · Post by **nymus** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 11:30 am

If it works out, congratulations! I too got my BBA from ebay for 80-something bucks, so I understand your excitement. It was my first ever ebay purchase so if scamming is as big a problem as it is made out to be, I could have been easily scammed...

Anyway, the BBa arrived on time, in good, working condition. I suppose I should be grateful my seller was honest? How often do people get scammed, I wonder...

LyingWake · Post by **LyingWake** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 12:28 pm

There was some eBay thing on CNBC a couple days ago, they said the ratio for how often scamming happens but I can't remember it. It wasn't high or anything.

Strapping Scherzo · Post by **Strapping Scherzo** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 1:08 pm

I think these guys might be over-worrying a little bit. The reason is, this guy could be a guy like me. I mostly use ebay for buying things, but ocassionally I sell an item. I bought a lot of items before I sold my first one. You've gotta start somewhere. On the other hand, any respectful seller, however big or small, should accept PayPal. I admit the money-order-only thing seems fishy...

Wait, I am a little curious why the only items he has ever bought are trading cards, most of which that were only a couple bucks and bought in the span of a week. Seems fishier now.

Phantom · Post by **Phantom** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 2:17 pm

The account was created at the end of last year, but hadn't been used until recently. I think the most likely scenario is that he decided to sell some items and purchased those baseball cards to get his feedback up beforehand. He bought a lot of those baseball cards. I don't think anyone would go through all that trouble just to scam someone out of $80.

Personally I'd probably go ahead with the deal. Don't blame me if he turns out to be a scammer though.

GyroVorbis · Post by **GyroVorbis** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 7:15 pm

My dad has at least agreed to postpone payment until we arrive at a conclusion.

I might just be worrying too much, but I can't tell you how badly I want this BBA. I'm 15 and there is no way in hell I'd get that much money back (until next birthday, maybe) if this prick decides to rip me off...

Dreamcast ? · Post by **Dreamcast ?** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 12:23 am

Phantom wrote:I don't think anyone would go through all that trouble just to scam someone out of $80.

That's where you're wrong, and a lot of people make their biggest mistake.

Of course if he/she's a scammer, they won't just be after $80. They'll post multiple high priced items and then have them all end around the same time. They get their money then bail. The guy who scammed me and about 10-15 others made out with over $1000.

The money order/cashier's check is the fishiest part. Also, after my own private investigation into my case, I think he had me send the payment to a service that forwards the mail to you at another location, so watch out for that. Do a reverse lookup on his/her address ( http://www.superpages.com ) and see if it is infact a residential address.

Also, if you do decide to go through with it, request immediate delivery confirmation with tracking. If they can't provide you with that, or make excuses, it's a scam.

chronofurb · Post by **chronofurb** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 1:13 am

NO joke, I just my bba today. I ordered it like almost a month and a half ago. The seller said it would be late to ship. I admit, I got worried, but now it is in my dreamcast. And everything I have compiled is uploading blazingly fast, so I am very happy. But the moral of the story is, I thought I got pwned, but the guy just took forever to ship the bba to me.

Post by **BlueCrab** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 1:26 am

Glorious GyroVorbis wrote:Sorry, I seem to of made two posts in all of my exitement... XD

Double post? I don't see no double post.

Phantom · Post by **Phantom** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:40 am

Dreamcast ? wrote:They'll post multiple high priced items and then have them all end around the same time.

That thought did occur to me but there's no way to check that now. For all we know this is the only auction the guy had up. Glorious GyroVorbis, did you happen to check out if he had other items for sale at the time?

EDIT: Google turned up this: http://answercenter.ebay.com/thread.jsp ... =810062916 That's regarding this auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 5983709279. It says there that he did sell multiple items. This was about two weeks ago though, so you would think that feedback should come in on those soon. With this new information I think waiting is the best course of action for now. You could also try to contact the buyer of those headphones and ask him if he has indeed paid and not received anything yet. I must admit that if you add this all up there's a fairly good chance he's a scammer. For now I'd just wait and see if he gets any feedback over the next few days.

Alexvrb · Post by **Alexvrb** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:19 pm

Actually the advanced search functions of ebay allow you to search for recently ended auctions. I have used it to determine average selling price of something I am interested in. Since you can also search by seller, it shouldn't be a problem to see their recent history.

GyroVorbis · Post by **GyroVorbis** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 12:01 am

I'm going to see if I can get a BBA from fatheadpi right now. The bad thing is that I'm up against LyingWake. Doh!

Nico0020 · Post by **Nico0020** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 1:37 am

Ive never had a problem on ebay once, even with people with bad feedback. ive gotten two bba's off ebay cheap with no problem.

Phantom · Post by **Phantom** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 5:09 am

Alexvrb wrote:Actually the advanced search functions of ebay allow you to search for recently ended auctions. I have used it to determine average selling price of something I am interested in. Since you can also search by seller, it shouldn't be a problem to see their recent history.

I didn't know that. http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V ... =30&rdir=0. He sold many items over the past two and a half weeks including several BBA's. The weird thing is that he's only received feedback on two of those auctions, both positive though.

GyroVorbis · Post by **GyroVorbis** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 11:34 am

My dad called somebody who bought a BBA off of him. The guy said that he was getting seriously worried because he hasn't heard from the seller and no BBA has showed up.

Alexvrb · Post by **Alexvrb** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 10:06 pm

Phantom wrote:
Alexvrb wrote:Actually the advanced search functions of ebay allow you to search for recently ended auctions. I have used it to determine average selling price of something I am interested in. Since you can also search by seller, it shouldn't be a problem to see their recent history.
I didn't know that. http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V ... =30&rdir=0. He sold many items over the past two and a half weeks including several BBA's. The weird thing is that he's only received feedback on two of those auctions, both positive though.

Not a good sign - but it depends what he recieved feedback on, versus what he did not recieve feedback on. In other words... if he "sells" a bunch of BBAs, and nobody has yet left feedback on them, that probably means they're still empty-handed but it isn't yet time to leave negative feedback. Maybe they're trying to work it out with ebay, or maybe he's stalling them.

GyroVorbis wrote:My dad called somebody who bought a BBA off of him. The guy said that he was getting seriously worried because he hasn't heard from the seller and no BBA has showed up.

Not good. This is why I'm paranoid with non-paypal ebay transactions.

Phantom · Post by **Phantom** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 4:14 am

Alexvrb wrote:Not a good sign - but it depends what he recieved feedback on, versus what he did not recieve feedback on. In other words... if he "sells" a bunch of BBAs, and nobody has yet left feedback on them, that probably means they're still empty-handed but it isn't yet time to leave negative feedback. Maybe they're trying to work it out with ebay, or maybe he's stalling them.

Yeah, I agree. He just got his first negative feedback btw. I don't think there can be any doubt left about the fact that this guy's a scammer.