Meya
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posted on September 7, 2000 05:37:28 PM new
Why would a person pay listing fees to list completely weird stuff? There is a seller, currently running 4 auctions. He has 0 feedback, no sales, but continues to run these strange auctions.
The titles of the items is always odd, some plain type of household item. There is a picture, hosted via AW, which never matches the item listed. As a matter of fact, the picture is usually an outdoor scene or something of that nature.
I can't give more info since you'd be able to figure out who this seller is.
If you're reading this, you know who you are...what's the deal?
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pharlap
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posted on September 7, 2000 05:42:07 PM new
I don't know if this is still the case but you used to be able to run up $10 on your account before Ebay requested CC payment.
If you didn't pay you simply couldn't list anymore. Perhaps this is still how things are done.
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Shoshanah
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posted on September 7, 2000 05:44:05 PM new
Maybe the person cannot aim camera... I remember trying to look at a picture of a nice piece of art glass, and all I could see was an incredibly huge pic of trees and more trees and blue sky..Maybe the scenery was so beautiful, the person forgot about the ITEM...
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Shosh
http://www.oldandsold.com/cgi-bin/auction.cgi?justdisp&Rifkah
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/rifkah/
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Meya
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posted on September 7, 2000 05:51:49 PM new
I don't think I articulated what I mean correctly. I've been watching this sellers auctions now for a few weeks. None of the auctions are "real". None ever sell, nada, nothing.
The description generally is just a couple of words, totally unrelated the item stated in the Title.
Here is an example, not using any words from any of the auctions in question:
Gold Sewing Thimble (for title)
Description would be: Dancing
The picture would be a picture of a building or tree.
Nothing more, no other comments.
There is no real reason that I should care about this, I just think it's odd.
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eleanordew
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posted on September 7, 2000 06:06:36 PM new
Meya, think of it as performance art ....
El
"The customer may not always be right, but she is always the customer."
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pharlap
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posted on September 7, 2000 06:08:56 PM new
Maybe they think someone will be stupid enough to bid...
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barrybarris
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posted on September 7, 2000 06:09:08 PM new
The CIA is doing it. They can send coded secret messages to their operatives around the world for a 25 cent listing fee. Besides, spies don't use morse code anymore...
Barry (and I don't mean The Culinary Institute of America) Barris
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sonsie
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posted on September 7, 2000 06:14:12 PM new
It's probably not the CIA, but it very well could be some sort of private coded message. Remember the personals that used to run in your classified section? Most of them were totally unintelligible, but "coded" so that whoever was looking for the ad would recognize the message. "The eagle flies at dawn" might mean "I got the shipment of diamonds" and "See you at twilight in the park" would mean the person would meet the seller at a particular place and time to take delivery.
That's about the only explanation I can come up with for consistently strange stuff like this, run over many weeks, for no apparent reason.
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Meya
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posted on September 7, 2000 06:15:51 PM new
I guess it is cheaper than long distance.
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Shoshanah
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posted on September 7, 2000 06:24:22 PM new
It was perfectly clear...I was just...well..making a funny...Maybe the person lost his/her job and has too much time...and no merchandise...May be it's a wannabe Tycoon....
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Shosh
http://www.oldandsold.com/cgi-bin/auction.cgi?justdisp&Rifkah
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/rifkah/
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mzalez
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posted on September 7, 2000 06:33:21 PM new
Maybe mentally ill?
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stockticker
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posted on September 7, 2000 06:41:07 PM new
Could be a bet.
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helnjoe
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posted on September 7, 2000 06:45:02 PM new
There could be 3 reasons for this:
1. The person is just nuts - but functions.
2. (S)he thinks it's funny and has money to burn.
3. (S)he really does have a mental problem and I don't want to mock this person because god (small g) has been looking down awfully hard on me lately.
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buyhigh
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posted on September 7, 2000 07:04:42 PM new
Perhaps someone cheating on his/her spouse and arranging coded meeting sites. This explanation is as good as any.
buyhigh
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busybiddy
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posted on September 7, 2000 07:06:32 PM new
Too funny, Meya, but I think I stumbled upon this seller recently.
I was searching for a common item and clicked on an auction. The description was almost nonsensical and the picture was of towels or linens on a rack out in a field. I thought I was losing it; I kept reading the title and reloading the pic!
Glad to know that there really was an odd auction, for whatever reason!
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kathyg
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posted on September 7, 2000 07:10:05 PM new
Everyone needs a hobby.
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texas1958
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posted on September 7, 2000 07:21:27 PM new
Well at .25 cent a pop (or .50 if a featured item) that is certainly cheaper than the hobbies I have. ROFL
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eventer
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posted on September 7, 2000 07:22:33 PM new
Because there's a sucker born every minute & they figure the odds are in their favor?
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bohica2xo
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posted on September 7, 2000 07:34:12 PM new
Do a search on ebay for "everquest" - this is an online game, and people that are addicted to it refer to it as 'evercrack'. You will find lots of strange auctions that never seem to get bids, for large sums of money. If you search for the various everquest items by name you will find many more auctions that seem to close without bids.... Lots of 'evercrackheads' are proud of the fee avoidance game, to the point of bragging about it online (mostly undernet). I suspect the auctions you have found are related to this, just more arcane than usual.
Speed is Nice, but Accuracy is Final.
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breinhold
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posted on September 7, 2000 07:46:30 PM new
ok its driving me nuts! i have to see this persons listings. please give me a clue of what to search for.
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guyuellas
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posted on September 7, 2000 08:05:55 PM new
Going nuts you say! You want to know who it is you say! The clue is 'go look under wierd stuff'. LOL It's not that hard to find. 
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texas1958
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posted on September 7, 2000 08:07:00 PM new
Everquest results in 3553 auctions! Who has this kind of time?
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Meya
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posted on September 8, 2000 03:46:06 AM new
The Everquest guess sounded like a plausible one, except the items are all very small ticket like $2.
I guess we'll never know the answer...
Sorry for not giving clues, but the titles and descriptions are so short.
[ edited by Meya on Sep 8, 2000 03:47 AM ]
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roxw
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posted on September 8, 2000 05:57:29 AM new
I'm with breinhold... I gotta see these auctions!!!!!!
_________________
roxw
I'm learning to laugh! 
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yisgood
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posted on September 8, 2000 07:05:42 AM new
I once came across a humor site that had a section called "the funniest ebay listings." There was a teenager auctioning off his first sexual experience, a man with about 14 children auctioning them off. The description read something like "14 children (as is) good condition but one has a big head."
What's funnier is he even got bids and feedback. One of the feedbacks read "should use better packaging. the one with the big head got a little dented."
At the time I wondered why people were paying listing fees for this.
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Peachy77
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posted on September 8, 2000 01:04:05 PM new
yisgood I haven't heard about that one before... taht is hilarious!
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hamburgler
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posted on September 9, 2000 06:00:28 AM new
14 kids....one with big head.......oh my body hurts and I cant catch my breath. This is just a hilarious post.
Why don't you email this guy and ask him about his products....being real serious and see what he says. AND POST BACK HERE WITH RESPONSE....maybe this will clue us in on whats going on.
I need to get a drink of water.
I remember that site....though I cant find it. It also had someone selling Grandma and it had bonuses of her dentures and rocking chair. It clearly stated NO REFUNDS NO EXCHANGES NO EXCEPTIONS. That was sooo funny! I'll have to see if I can find that again..or does anyone else know??
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hamburgler
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posted on September 9, 2000 06:34:56 AM new
Heres the site....I have to go back now. Only read a few and had to watch tv to try and relax before I bust my gut.
www.whattheheck.com/ebay/
Maybe someone who knows how to do the clickable link will do that....I still cant figure that out!
EDITED TO SAY: THE ABOVE ADDRES IS NOT CORRECT... IT IS:
http://www.whattheheck.com
Hope this link works....thanks for introducing me to it.
DROP THE /ebay/ AS YPU MUST GO THROUGHT HE FRONT GATE I GUESS!
[ edited by hamburgler on Sep 9, 2000 05:57 PM ]
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Meya
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posted on September 9, 2000 06:39:08 AM new
www.whattheheck.com/ebay/
You use UBB code, [*url]http://www.yoururl.com[*/url] remove the *'s.
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preacher4u
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posted on September 9, 2000 10:26:09 AM new
In another episode of why do people do this?, ever noticed when seasoned eBay users bid ridiculously low amounts for expensive items?
Just yesterday, a camcorder I wanted had only one bid from a blue-star user. I placed a high proxy bid, and surely enough outbid him.
But what was his high bid?? $20.00!!!
Did the user really thought that he could get that piece for just 20 bucks?
why do people waste their time like this?
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I'm breathing so I guess I'm still alive
Even the signs seemed to tell me otherwise
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/preacher4u/
[ edited by preacher4u on Sep 9, 2000 10:32 AM ]
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