posted on February 6, 2001 03:06:19 PM new
An empty Playstation box was posted up for auction, stating clearly that "You are bidding on a Playstation 2 box with the receipt." It also had "Disclaimer: Be sure you know what you are bidding on. Email **********@yahoo.com with any questions before you place a bid. I will not retract any bids and all bids are final. Buyer is responsible for verifying the item that they are bidding on. I am not responsible if you receive an item that is not what you think it is."
AND STILL THEY BID... It had 24 bidders, and it closed at $321.00.
The seller had someone bid a flat $100 as the first bid, taking it from $10 to $100, but claims it was nothing to do with him. Seems a little fishy to me...
I am sorry the "winner" is going to get screwed, but if they REALLY WON'T READ...
posted on February 6, 2001 03:28:44 PM new
This same thing happened on eBay---without PUNCTUATION, it appears the item being offered is the PlayStation2 IN THE BOX, complete with the purchase receipt, instead of ONLY the (EMPTY) box and purchase receipt of the Playstation2 that CAME IN the box, and which the seller is KEEPING.
The only difference is that the eBay listing didn't have the DISCLAIMER. My guess is that the buyers on eBay complained, eBay kicked the seller off, and now he's on Yahoo pulling the exact same scam.
And my guess is that Yahoo won't do anything about it when the buyer gets ripped off (I don't know if eBay did).
posted on February 6, 2001 03:43:47 PM new
I've been watching the box auctions for awhile. There are several different sellers.
Ebay is not interested at all. At the outset, they cancelled the auctions, but after a few days, started sending emails saying that the auctions were ok.
The amazing difference (to me) between the Ebay auctions and the one I found on Yahoo, was that the Yahoo one was quite explicit about what he was selling, and TOLD bidders to email him, and that he wouldn't allow bids to be retracted. You would think that would give them a clue? Nope... clueless wonders...
posted on February 6, 2001 05:47:58 PM new
You think Yahoo bidders are stupid, that box went for $425 on Ebay. But then I hear you can always get more for a quality item there.
posted on February 7, 2001 01:04:10 AM new
The difference between the Yahoo box auction, and the Ebay one, is that the bidders were absolutely told that it was a BOX, and told to email the seller. The Ebay box auction was deceitful, and simply tried to disguise that it was a box through the use of missing commas.
Are empty Playstation boxes really that valuable? I have one I could sell.
posted on February 7, 2001 03:28:05 AM new
GEEEEEEEZ! Has anyone stopped to consider that it might be a really, REALLY nice box?
(And please, let us not demean any remaining bidders left on Yahoo by referring to them as stupid.)
posted on February 7, 2001 12:28:27 PM new
If these boxes are REALLY so popular, I have a very nice one to sell. Now.. shall I choose Ebay or Yahoo for my venue?
posted on February 7, 2001 12:51:05 PM new
It's been so long now the ad has fallen off the completed page but here's the worst example I saw of bidders who don't read.
The item was one of those handheld DVD players that cost $1,000 in stores at the time. Title was "get this for $250 off retail" with photo of the actual item. Dutch auction for 999 opening at $5.00 no reserve. Description "I am selling the URL address to a site where you can buy this item for $750."
The Q&A first ? was entered early- how much do you charge for shipping? Answer- there is nothing to ship, you Paypal me your bid amount, I email you the http address of the site that sells these players at a discount. That is ALL this auction is for.
I saw this ad on home page HOT item, current bid $500 which was why I clicked it. Bid history showed the first 8 bidders understood & maxed at $10 and under. The rest obviously thought they were bidding on the real item and outbid each other to $500 at that point. I watchlisted and it ended a few days later with $790 as the top bid. Since it was a Dutch all bidders showed as winners and the total was about $40,000 due the seller. At least the seller was honest, the feedbacks she got later all said she explained clearly to everyone and only charged each bidder the $5.00 opening.
posted on February 7, 2001 01:37:45 PM new
WORD AROUND THE AUCTION BLOCK:
"Boxbay", a new auction site, will be specializing in these wonderful corrigated cartons. Stay tuned for further info!
