posted on September 22, 2000 05:46:10 PM
Hi all, My washer broke down two weeks ago.So I thought I would go see if there were any certificates up for sale on the auctions.I put in a search and lo and behold,10 certificates came up for the same store.All 10 certificates were in $500.00 incrementes.All were being sold by the same seller.This seller had a very low feedback and stated in his terms paying by paypal gets immediate shipping.No other terms offered by this seller. He did not say that he wouldn't take checks or money orders.Just mentioned paypal.For me a red flag went up immediatly. Remember this is $5000.00 worth of ceritficates. I did not bid because I had a uneasy feeling about it.I did keep a eye on the auctions though and they all sold at $390 to $400.So this seller made almost $4000.00 dollars on these.I forgot about them for a few weeks and decided to go check how things worked out. Lo and behold excatly what I thought was going to happen happened.This seller is now NARU.And three of the buyers have left negative feedback.
One said seller didn't come thru but they lost no money.The seller left bad feedback for one of the bidders saying he never sent payment.Bidders response was I got my money back after it was found you were defrauding us bidders.Another bidder said something to the affect bad seller,dishonest and something about email the other 7 bidders.
What I don't understand is if I could see something was not right.Why couldn't anyone else see it? To me all the flags were there.
Anyways I know I can't list the auction numbers here on a seller.But what about a seller that has been NARU? And if I can't how do I go about inviting this seller here.I would like to hear his side of the story.
posted on September 22, 2000 05:59:19 PM
"Getting a deal" can be an extremely powerful incentive. I believe that most people who get ripped of in any transaction, but particularly online, also "had a feeling" about the transaction, but they couldn't resist the sweet deal.
posted on September 22, 2000 06:10:26 PM
I remember watching a program once on personal protection.They had mentioned that if something don't seem right trust you gut instinct.Don't ignore it.
posted on September 22, 2000 06:13:34 PM
I really feel sorry for the newbies who might not know enough to do all the checks and know that there are some scam artists out there. I saw an advertisement today on an advertising list for three pair of jeans - the first to pay the $12.00 by PayPal got the jeans. I immediately wondered how many people sent this person $12.00!!
posted on September 22, 2000 06:41:11 PM
I saw something similar to this once and it had me wondering too. I came across an Old Navy gift certificate for sale. The seller put in the add that it was a gift and that they didn't like Old Navy. The only form of payment accepted was PayPal and this was before PayPal allowed chargebacks. They had low feedback (in fact I think it may have been zero) so I went to check and see what else they were selling and lo and behold, they had a couple of dozen Old Navy gift certificates up for auction. What are the odds that someone was given that many gift certificates from the same store for their birthday?? I have always wondered if the seller was an Old Navy employee who was ripping them off. Maybe I just have an overactive imagination, but something just didn't seem right. What I really couldn't believe was that people, and lots of them, were bidding on these things and in some cases the bidding went higher than the face value of the certificate! Go figure!
posted on September 22, 2000 07:03:00 PM
sideslam, just very curious...what kind of washer or certificate are you talking about. No idea what those items are. Seriously, when you said washer...I am thinking dish washer or screw washer or clothing washer & what does certificate mean.
Anyway its hard to blame those bidders. Not all are as savvy or maybe experienced as you are. I know one particular seller in Yahoo who would create 3-4 ids and leave feedback for each other to get some rating & sell. Everytime I check one of his ids, he accumulates negatives.
posted on September 22, 2000 07:24:17 PM
comic123, I mean a washer that you wash your clothes with.Certificate meaning a gift certificate like you get at department stores,electronic stores.
