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Beware Of Scams!


Paul Schwartz

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I've recently had a scam approach when selling. I had a cheap English concertina that i wasnt using so i put it up for sale on Gumtree, Very quickly I had someone offering to buy it at the full asking price (around the £100 mark) from an African country. They said they were going to get their courier to collect it from me and wanted to know my bank details so they could transfer the money. Somehow this didnt seem to ring true. They hardly mentioned the concertina (i.e. its condition, tuning...) and it seemed an awful lot of trouble and expense to go to for what was a pretty cheap chinese concertina.

 

At the time there was a programme on Radio 4 telling how some scammers offer to buy and then send you an over payment by 'mistake' and ask you to refund the difference only to find that their original payment is then reclaimed somehow. I decided that this was what was going on and stopped responding to their emails. Maybe i lost out on a genuine sale but i dont think so. 'If it seems to good to be true, it probably is'

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I think you made the right choice. Anytime someone you don't know wants your banking particulars it's time to back away. Besides, a courier pickup for something in that price range seems out of place. Better to let the potential sale go, you'll likely rest easier as a result.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Daniel

 

It's certainly a low "Buy it Now" price. It looks to be a C/G but it's been heavily worked on over its life - and not by a professional by the looks of it. It might take a bit of work to get it working nicely and the new bellows papers aren't going to do that!

 

If I were in Houston still, I'd try and take a look; that would be the test of whether it's genuine or nt

 

Alex West

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  • 6 months later...

Dear C.netters,

There is a 30b Jeffries for sale on eBay at the moment from the giftshop in Brighton, UK with a Buy It Now price of £1300.

A Google search of the address given in the item description, gave another webpage with a telephone number. I rang this number and a well spoken woman, when asked about the concertina, replied that she "couldn't help me at this time" and put the phone down.

I may just be a suspicious type but this stank to me....

Regards,

Neil

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The offer to buy for £1300 specifies contact outside ebay. Definitely a classic scam. I've reported it to ebay.

The sellers account has been hijacked, there are scores of other items from the same seller all offering the same deal.

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The offer to buy for £1300 specifies contact outside ebay. Definitely a classic scam. I've reported it to ebay.

The sellers account has been hijacked, there are scores of other items from the same seller all offering the same deal.

 

Yes, a classic. I've reported about a dozen of them for "Listing practices" - "Avoiding eBay fees" - "Offers outside of eBay"...

 

THAT should get their attention! ;)

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Hi, does anyone know if this wheatstone Aeola is likely to be genuine?

ebay item no 252676657932 on ebay.co.uk

sorry, can't seem to work out how to paste the link!

thanks

It is buy it now, £2000

Edited by cazann
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Hi, does anyone know if this wheatstone Aeola is likely to be genuine?

ebay item no 252676657932 on ebay.co.uk

sorry, can't seem to work out how to paste the link!

thanks

It is buy it now, £2000

There doesn't seem to be anything to suggest it isn't genuine. It is a very 'late period' Wheatstone, however, and quality is generally held to be variable from later instruments.

It might be very good, of course, but I would want to try before buying!

 

Steve

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There doesn't seem to be anything to suggest it isn't genuine.

 

Agreed!

 

 

It is a very 'late period' Wheatstone, however, and quality is generally held to be variable from later instruments.

It might be very good, of course, but I would want to try before buying!

 

Yes, though the seller does say that "The instrument has been fully refurbished within the last 12 months by Wheatstone Concertinas. This included new action, new pads, new bushes, new springs, new valves, new thumb straps and a full retune. The instrument plays beautifully and has a rich Aeola tone improved by the recent work of Wheatstone Concertinas" - and, if Steve Dickinson has worked on it, I'd expect it to be as good as it could possibly be!

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