Paul Read Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Well they finally got me. I bought a buy-it now Jeffries last night and it was a scam. Some good soul let me know but the payment had gone through (of course). It was a Paypal Visa payment so we'll see how the support works. It was an odd pay system where you buy-it-now but it others can buy until you pay. Ah well...................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Read Posted March 2, 2006 Author Share Posted March 2, 2006 (edited) Well they finally got me. I bought a buy-it now Jeffries last night and it was a scam. Some good soul let me know but the payment had gone through (of course). It was a Paypal Visa payment so we'll see how the support works. It was an odd pay system where you buy-it-now but it others can buy until you pay. Ah well...................... The good news is that what Paypal won't cover on fraud Visa will. Lots of time on the phone required though! I think the lesson is that they've realised that the hidden bidder's names is a give-away. With this buy-it-now approach they get you immediately before the warnings can come up. Edited March 2, 2006 by Paul Read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 It was an odd pay system where you buy-it-now but it others can buy until you pay. Never heard of it before. Was it eBay? And in particular, did you really mean, "others can buy until you pay," or did you meant "bid" rather than "buy". Seems to me that if it were "buy", they could collect from several people for the same "sale" before disappearing into the slime from which they came. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baxter Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Well they finally got me. I bought a buy-it now Jeffries last night and it was a scam. Ouch. I feel for you - I almost jumped on that one myself. It was entirely plausible. Best wishes for getting everything straightened out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baxter Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 It was an odd pay system where you buy-it-now but it others can buy until you pay. Never heard of it before. Was it eBay? It's a feature eBay added a few years ago. Nowadays some sellers will list items as "Buy It Now" only, so there's no bidding. Seller names the price, and first come first served. I am sure eBay has worked it out so no more than one person will pay - it's just that two people could be entering credit card numbers at the same time, and whoever types fastest wins. Case in point, if I had decided to go for this instrument, Paul and I could've been in that very race last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex West Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Paul Very sorry you were caught by this. I haven't been checking out the eBay listings recently but I understand that the one you were caught by was the Jeffries which was advertised in Australia back in January. Lots of people thought that was a scam as the seller had a private listing and was also de-registered from eBay halfway through teh process. The good news was that there were genuine reasons and I ended up buying the concertina using a trusted intermediary. I didn't pay any money over until we were both absolutely sure that it was what teh vendor said it was. It doesn't help you I know, but my experience was that not everything that looks like a scam is a scam. However I was biting my knuckles until the box arrived a couple of weeks ago! I'll post separately on the Australian Jeffries sometime later when I've got to grips with it all. It's a high pitch Ab/Eb and the bellows definitely aren't supple! Alex West Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baxter Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 I'll chip in that this one didn't even look like a scam. It looked a lot like the legitimate Morse sale that happened a few weeks ago. The seller had fine feedback. The only possible tip-offs were that the seller's previous transactions happened from 2000-2003 with nothing since, and the price of the instrument was a bit low relative to its apparent value. I'm guessing someone hijacked an account, perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Read Posted March 2, 2006 Author Share Posted March 2, 2006 I got a happy ending. Because of the early warning and fast action, the seller has refunded the money to Paypal. I think for their scheme to work they need some time to open/close/move bank accounts. My heartfelt thanks to ebay member Nhgetz who e-mailed me the warning and Triskel 2002 who sent a later warning. It serves as another lesson. It does make me think that paying by Visa is a good route to go as they confimed that, because it was fraud, they would fully reimburse me if Paypal did not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Getz Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 Hi Paul- Thanks for the thanks. A tip, and why I spotted the Jeffries as a fraud: Being in the market for a concertina and trying to educate myself regarding value I've been keeping every 30+ button non-chinese Anglo and English on my watch list in eBay. My watch list is now about 85 items long and I keep items there even after they have been sold. This makes it easy to refer back to check if an item's copy or photos have been lifted from a prior listing. I don't know how long eBay will let my list grow, but it has been a good resource for scam detection. Those of you in the market for a box might consider cultivating your own such lists. Regards, Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted March 2, 2006 Share Posted March 2, 2006 I don't know how long eBay will let my list grow, but it has been a good resource for scam detection. You could also save a copy of the auction page on your own machine. I'm not sure it that will copy all the photos onto your machine, but it should get you all the basics you would need to recognize a scam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hall Posted March 8, 2006 Share Posted March 8, 2006 I don't know how long eBay will let my list grow, but it has been a good resource for scam detection. You could also save a copy of the auction page on your own machine. I'm not sure it that will copy all the photos onto your machine, but it should get you all the basics you would need to recognize a scam. I think 90 days is the length of time Ebay keeps old sales available in their system, and probably some scammers know this and time their bait accordingly. Jim's idea is a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Read Posted March 8, 2006 Author Share Posted March 8, 2006 I don't know how long eBay will let my list grow, but it has been a good resource for scam detection. You could also save a copy of the auction page on your own machine. I'm not sure it that will copy all the photos onto your machine, but it should get you all the basics you would need to recognize a scam. I think 90 days is the length of time Ebay keeps old sales available in their system, and probably some scammers know this and time their bait accordingly. Jim's idea is a good one. One last word of warning on all this. Paypal managed to get $110 on this scam by charging exchange fees on a US$ card on a US$ purchase (twice with the refund). So Paypal is the only winner. I would actually have been better off if Visa had refunded me. Still, it could have been worse. The moral is - avoid Paypal if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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