nikonette
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posted on October 4, 2000 11:30:15 PM
Hi, I am one of 3 high bidders on an auction for a new digital camera. The seller has a total of 7 he is auctioning off. I feel a little dumb, but I just noticed that he is new, has no feedback, and only accepts personal checks. Yikes! Would you send a check for a tidy sum to someone who has no feedback, you don't know anything about him, and just pray you get your camera and it's the real thing? I can't just cancel my check, since it will be long gone by the time my camera arrives. Right? So is this the risk I'm thinking it is?
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magazine_guy
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posted on October 4, 2000 11:34:25 PM
Seems pretty risky to me- I wouldn't do it.
No track record- you'd be sending big bucks off to a stranger without a single recommendation.
But I thought that eBay didn't allow folks to do dutch auctions until they had a Feedback of 10- to prevent this sort of thing. No?
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chococake
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posted on October 4, 2000 11:43:20 PM
Yes, you need to have 10 or more feedback and also be registered for 60 days. So I don't see how the seller could be having dutch auctions with 0 feedback.
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magazine_guy
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posted on October 4, 2000 11:48:20 PM
Maybe he ran 7 separate auctions?
At any rate, hold your money for a bit- pull contact info- try calling this guy. If it's a scam, there's a good chance the phone info will be bogus, and you'll save yourself some heartburn.
You can also check to see if the phone area code and prefix match the city.
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nikonette
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posted on October 4, 2000 11:50:36 PM
Sorry, this is a Yahoo auction. Guess I posted on the wrong site. So Yahoo has different rules? Uh oh.
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chococake
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posted on October 4, 2000 11:58:08 PM
Well that explains it. Sorry don't know about Yahoo's rules on Dutch Auctions. But, if it were me I would be a bit worried without any feedback. Good luck.
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jozi
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posted on October 5, 2000 02:35:22 AM
Maybe you could ask the seller if they also sell on eBay and if they do, you could look at their feedback there.
If you hve his email address already, try it out on eBay's seller search just to see if you will find something.
Otherwise, I would also be a bit apprehensive about paying a new seller a nice little chunk of change too.
Jozi
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yisgood
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posted on October 5, 2000 08:29:55 AM
That's the big problem with Yahoo, 5 minutes after you sign on, you can do anything the big boys do - even with zero feedback, a free email account and the only validation is a credit card but it doesnt have to be yours.
If it's a really good deal (and not a deal too good to be true) insist on Iescrow or Tradesafe or bidpay. If you want, you can email me at [email protected]. I have been active on Yahoo for over a year and digital cameras is my field. I can at least tell you if the item and price sound legit. I have come across auctions on yahoo that are definitely scams because they offer items at way below market value and make claims that I know arent true.
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nikonette
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posted on October 5, 2000 06:14:57 PM
Well Gang, I lost the auction. I'm actually relieved. The "new" seller has a negative feedback posted today. It appears he was asked by a buyer on a previous auction if he would accept lescrow. And he CANCELED THE BUYER'S BID!! WOW. Talk about obvious. They both claim different things of course. I "asked the seller a question" ie: Are you a business? And how is it you have all these cameras? Well here's his answer: "Look at the new picture". WHAT??? So I checked the closed auction and he's added a photo of the camera in a blister pack. How does that answer any question I asked? Another bidder asked if he took Paypal. His answer: "not available in my country". So now we know he's out of the states somewhere. Very dubious. I will look for another camera on good ol' ebay. At least I can trust most sellers, and get info like email address and even phone number if I want. Live and learn.
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chococake
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posted on October 5, 2000 06:42:22 PM
Whahoo, Nikonette you learned a good lesson and didn't loose any money. This guy sure sounds dishonest.
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debbielennon
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posted on October 5, 2000 08:47:32 PM
nikonette, I saw that auction! The seller listed his location as "HU". Where the heck is that supposed to be? Plus he made reference to having sold many cameras. Uh, where? He had zero feedback. Very fishy. I'm glad that you are out of that transaction!!
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nikonette
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posted on October 5, 2000 09:00:59 PM
The only reason he now has a zero is because -1 plus 1 = zero. Someone gave him a positive! BEFORE RECEIVING THE ITEM! Quote: "he says he's going to send the laptops". HE SAYS???? Whoa, good luck with that. >^..^<
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dc9a320
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posted on October 5, 2000 10:23:18 PM
.hu = hungary, at least when a domain name ends with it. Could be the abbreviation the seller borrowed for listing location on the auction page.
Don't know if this helps...
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