Two highly questionable M9-P "auctions"

[Rob-F]

Take a look at this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/401411274638?ul_noapp=true

And this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/122723866100?ul_noapp=true

It is set up as an auction, but then says all bids will be cancelled, & wants the buyer to contact outside of eBay? An M9P for $1000.00 ?

 

[splitimageview]

Pretty common. Did you report them ?

 

[Rob-F]

Not yet. I wanted to get an opinion or two before I make trouble.

 

[johannielscom]

Take a look at this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/401411274638?ul_noapp=true

And this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/122723866100?ul_noapp=true

It is set up as an auction, but then says all bids will be cancelled, & wants the buyer to contact outside of eBay? An M9P for $1000.00 ?

Violation of eBay policies. They'll kill those sales the moment they spot them.

 

[Rob-F]

I reported both of them.

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

Soliciting off-site sales is indeed a breach of their requirements for sellers. And because it means they potentially miss out on final value fees it’s one issue that, as Johan has suggested, they are likely to actually act on, promptly. I’ve reported them both, (they’re clearly dodgy), but, the more the merrier.
Cheers
Brett

 

[Timmyjoe]

This scam has been going on for many years. I was first made aware of it when the scammers stole pictures from one of my auctions. They have no product to sell, they steel images from other auctions, and then they make the instructions to bypass eBay as a jpg, instead of entering in the text fields of the auction. See below:

By making the instructions a jpg, instead of entering the text in an eBay text field, it doesn't raise red flags with eBay's scam software.

And if you look, the scammers have hijacked that user's account, which is common. They find an account that has been dormant for a while, hack it, steal photos of high dollar items, create a bunch of auctions with that jpg above attached, and even if they only get one or two responses from the hundreds of auctions they list on each hijacked account, they are still making big cash.

Best,
-Tim

 

[jaapv]

Auctions gone 🙂

 

[PKR]

I haven't done any eBay business in years. In the past, buyers and sellers would leave contact info in the ads and in messaging. EBay stopped that when they publicly announced that they wanted to be Amazon. I don't remember all the rip offs and scams back then. They're are plenty now. I bought and sold a lot of lenses in a few years without any trouble. (I would buy many examples of a specific lens looking for an outstanding performer through testing and sell the rest back on eBay.)

After EBay tried to be Amazon, and Peg Whitman left, the auction site changed. It was just after they purchased PayPal that they started poking into buyers/sellers banking info and I quit doing business with them.

They are a group that cares little for anything but profit. A friend who is an engineer, who worked on A bomb fuses, saw some that his company had made for sale on eBay, being sold as electronic devices. He called EBay, alerting them to what they were. Nothing was done. The auction wasn't taken down. I think he then called the FBI.

 

[johannielscom]

...

A friend who is an engineer, who worked on A bomb fuses, saw some that his company had made for sale on eBay, being sold as electronic devices. He called EBay, alerting them to what they were. Nothing was done. The auction wasn't taken down. I think he then called the FBI.

Pretty easy these days to figure out which foreign nation procured those😀😀

 

[PKR]

Pretty easy these days to figure out which foreign nation procured those😀😀

This was some time ago. Hopefully they weren't sold and the seller got caught. I didn't hear any more about it. My friend was enraged, as those items were under extremely tight control, as you might imagine. I believe the seller was in the US.

 

[Pioneer]

EBay has most certainly changed.

I have been selling a few things lately and it is clearly obvious that neither EBay nor Paypal will be going broke anytime soon unless either company succumbs to aggregiously stupid management.

They suck so much money out of each auction that you have no chance of recouping any of your initial purchase without charging outrageous amounts yourself.

The cow is now well fed, let the milking begin.

After the last set of auctions I have discontinued selling anything else on EBay until I explore other alternatives.

 

[Corran]

I don't like eBay/PP fees either - but 13% between the two is not that much compared to traditional auction houses, and of course the market exposure is massive compared to many other options. What annoys me personally is the continued lack of service for buyers AND sellers. eBay of course does not have content experts for everything sold and so it's impossible to explain to them the finer points about camera gear or whatever, if necessary. Last year I sold a NEW product, still sealed, and the buyer complained it was "damaged" on arrival. It was clearly manhandled and damaged from them - but eBay didn't care and forced a return, even when I called and explained the obvious signs of mishandling.

I have sold on eBay since their inception. I still remember the days of Postal Money Orders and all of that. It's certainly a lot easier these days to sell expensive items and post to almost anywhere in the world. The 13% fee is part of the deal and must be budgeted accordingly. On the other hand, it's amazing how many people I see posting cameras, lenses, or whatever in forum classifieds right at the going rate on eBay (or more!), despite not having to shell out that 10% for eBay fees - and they won't haggle at all. I think some have an inflated idea of what they should be able to recoup from their wares! And for genuine problems, eBay does have a system to resolve them. This past week I won an auction for some Ilford photo paper, advertised as "new," but it arrived opened, half-used, and also fogged completely. I had a refund an hour later.

 

[Pioneer]

If you are happy with the current status then you should continue to do what makes you happy. For myself there has to be a better way.

If my bank charged me fees like this I would go back to the mattress, and so would you. The only reason these companies are able to continue doing business at all is because of the reach of the internet, not because of the wonderful personal service they provide for you.

I have also been with ebay since the beginning, selling and buying, but I don't see that relationship continuing any longer. It has beome too one-sided for my comfort.

 

[Corran]

As I said, I don't like the service provided when it comes to some disputes. Much has been written about that elsewhere, and specifically about favoring the buyer (though I have had two big issues as a buyer that were not resolved and I lost several hundred dollars due to a loophole in their system). Of course this is an issue of people abusing the system, which surely can never be "perfect."

If you find an alternative platform with the same international reach but which charges less fees, let us all know. What was the typical commission fee back when people consigned used gear to their local shops? Now I will say I have been selling more often lately (or attempting to) on the Facebook camera groups. This is a new alternative that is really growing. I have found that really interesting, rare stuff priced attractively sells. Common stuff has to be an absolute fire-sale price. This is fairly similar to forum classifieds in my opinion. If I have a nice camera that is selling for around $200 on eBay and I price it at $150 at these places, it doesn't sell. At $100 it's gone quick - and big surprise, I see some cameras occasionally relisted on eBay at a dealer site.

Even with the 13% fees I often come out ahead selling on eBay rather than to a bargain hunter on a smaller classifieds site. You get what you pay for, in a way.

 

[enasniearth]

You see the same items listed over and over with new hijacked accounts

The problem on eBay as a seller is someone can return an item for any reason , usually item not as described , they find something .
As a seller you are responsible to pay shipping both ways in the event of a return .
This policy has been extended to international sales so a lot of postage you have to pay ,

 

[Huss]

I buy on ebay and sell elsewhere.

It's not just the fees I have issues with, it's the fact that they nearly always side with the buyer in any dispute. And allow buyers to return items, pretty much for any reason, months after the sale.

 

[PKR]

I buy on ebay and sell elsewhere.

It's not just the fees I have issues with, it's the fact that they nearly always side with the buyer in any dispute. And allow buyers to return items, pretty much for any reason, months after the sale.

Amazon model? I once was at an event of high tech and big money folks (I was working). The event was small and select, held by Microsoft. Presentations were made by Fed-x, Union Bank, Adobe, etc. and EBay. The attendees numbered under 125 people. When the EBay people took to the stage to present, they were booed for a good minute and a half. I had no idea why this happened. Could it be that all in attendance had been ripped off by EBay? I would describe the group, other than the booing, as very well dressed, civil ..white wine drinking executives.

I've seen enough odd stuff while working as a photographer, that I wish I had taken notes - and photos. The events might make for interesting reading. I could have a chapter on explosions and another on near accidents in various brand/types of aircraft.

 

[aizan]

the same person has also been running this scam with a phillips explorer 8x10 and a ritter 8x10 for months.

have you seen any other photographic items using the same jpg?

 

[Brooklynguy]

I've seen the exact same jpg scam recently on various higher end equipment. For a while it seemed to have died down but now it is back in full force (or maybe I just stopped perusing ebay for a while). Usually it's a short, 1-5 day bid period, and outside payment, by a seller of otherwise non-photo stuff. Don't do it, you get no protection and will lose.

On the buyer's side, the past several camera things I've bought on ebay were definitely not as described, lenses having fungus, etc., and the only way to get fair treatment is to demand a refund, regardless of seller's return policy. An M5 was described as near mint, turned out to have lots of haze, corroded battery well, and will need CLA; when I filed refund request, seller (with "great" reviews) immediately and without hesitation offered discount, knowing full well of his lies. A Zeiss 25mm ZM claimed as excellent had a bad focusing heliocoid, which seller argued was inconsequential; had to force a refund. Even lenses from Japan described as clean are not so. Lots of crap on ebay and buyer be very beware. I've decided to stick to real stores with high reputations and good return and warranty policies.