ebay scam

[vqdriver]

recent observation:

a hi end bike, being sold by an unknowledgeable (is that a word?) seller that was a little underpriced.

it was a local seller, so i inspected the bike to check sizing and found obvious damage to the rd hanger which was reattached to the carbon frame with what looked like sheet metal screws which also prevented the rear wheel from attached correctly. this does not show up well in the many pics he posted. there were some marks on the finish that were consistent with abuse. the seller had no idea of what he had (ex no mention of the powertap wheel) or other various nice parts.

i pointed out the damage and mentioned that he should include it in his description. i did not tell him he had a wheelset worth more than the frame, or point out the edge fork or keo HM Ti pedals.

circumstances led me to believe that this was a stolen bike.

i walked away from the transaction but continued to 'watch' it on ebay to see what happened.

it languished on ebay for a while, and someone finally bought it. here's the kicker. it was a 'best offer' transaction, so the sales price was changed to $1 and the shipping was like 2500, ostensibly a favor by the buyer to save the seller some ebay fees.

what will happen is that the buyer will receive the bike, who knows how it will be packaged, and find the crash damage..... as well as some unmentioned goodies. if they take the powertap wheels and call it even, then it's all good.
but if he makes a paypal claim for the undisclosed damage, he will only be covered for the purchase price, $1

[jasond]

Why not report it to the police that you may have ran into someone with a stolen bike?

[vqdriver]

dude, i'm in LA

[Dave B]

if he pays through paypal he would be covered for all money sent. so shipping would be covered. Plus I am surprised ebay allowed the shipping to be $2500.

[slowgoing]

here's the kicker. it was a 'best offer' transaction, so the sales price was changed to $1 and the shipping was like 2500, ostensibly a favor by the buyer to save the seller some ebay fees.

what will happen is that ... if he makes a paypal claim for the undisclosed damage, he will only be covered for the purchase price, $1

Interesting point.

[keithreynolds]

Maybe the local police were looking for the bike already? If you suspect a stolen bike then try to get the serial number (saying you are trying to decode the measurements). At that point it might be easy to look up on some websites like http://www.stolenbicycleregistry.com/ or others. We are after all one big family.

Sure the bikes gone now and not much can be done, except maybe contact the buyer via ebay. If you review an ebay bike in person and suspect stolen, you could probably contact ebay about it. They might flag the sale and prevent the 2500$ shipping charge. You're obviously trying to find out more about it tracking the sale and posting about it.

I've had a bike stolen and it really sucks.

[cmg]

"if he pays through paypal he would be covered for all money sent. so shipping would be covered. Plus I am surprised ebay allowed the shipping to be $2500."

i thought paypal has a limit to the amount it covers? something like $1200.

[vqdriver]

keith - didn't know about the registry. that's good info.
i thought about contacting the buyer, but ebay protects that info until they leave some feedback.

perhaps the stolen bike comment was unnecessary, since that's just my suspicion, and not based on anything other than the guy was wholly unfamiliar with a very hi end bike. even if the seller owns the bike, he's clearly not disclosing known damage.

the ebay/paypal coverage seems to be nebulous about the shipping charges. i think in this case, common sense would dictate that the whole amount be covered, but who knows what those guys are thinking.

this thread may evolve into one regarding stolen bikes and/or paypal refund policies. but regardless, just beware of this tactic on ebay. that's really my point.

[steveo]

By chance, was it a Parlee?

[Pete Serotta]

We have seen stolen goods sold twice here (after the fact) and after we received a call from Austin Police Sgt asking for some information. (which we gladly dug up and provided).

It turns out a good friend of mine had bought one of the items.

So again thanks. PETE


recent observation:

a hi end bike, being sold by an unknowledgeable (is that a word?) seller that was a little underpriced.

it was a local seller, so i inspected the bike to check sizing and found obvious damage to the rd hanger which was reattached to the carbon frame with what looked like sheet metal screws which also prevented the rear wheel from attached correctly. this does not show up well in the many pics he posted. there were some marks on the finish that were consistent with abuse. the seller had no idea of what he had (ex no mention of the powertap wheel) or other various nice parts.

i pointed out the damage and mentioned that he should include it in his description. i did not tell him he had a wheelset worth more than the frame, or point out the edge fork or keo HM Ti pedals.

circumstances led me to believe that this was a stolen bike.

i walked away from the transaction but continued to 'watch' it on ebay to see what happened.

it languished on ebay for a while, and someone finally bought it. here's the kicker. it was a 'best offer' transaction, so the sales price was changed to $1 and the shipping was like 2500, ostensibly a favor by the buyer to save the seller some ebay fees.

what will happen is that the buyer will receive the bike, who knows how it will be packaged, and find the crash damage..... as well as some unmentioned goodies. if they take the powertap wheels and call it even, then it's all good.
but if he makes a paypal claim for the undisclosed damage, he will only be covered for the purchase price, $1

[rinconryder]

dude, i'm in LA

that made me laugh. :D

[JeffS]

i thought paypal has a limit to the amount it covers? something like $1200.


It depends on the the seller's, and possibly buyer's, reputation with paypal. Generally you can be covered for quite a bit more. Says purchase price AND shipping, but in this case, I think the claim would be subject to quite a bit of scrutiny.

Then again, "covered" is a very vague term in paypal land. I think they're improving but still... I have had multiple claims, the highest being $2500, where paypal refunded me what was in the seller's account and walked away. In that case, something like $200. I called my credit card company (NEVER use a debit card or a paypal balance) and got a refund from them.

Next time I filed the paypal dispute and credit card dispute at the same time. Luckily I haven't had an issue since then. My problems lately have all been with deadbeat buyers.

[jasond]

dude, i'm in LA

Wow, nice comment back. Had no idea you lived in LA.

Jay

[Jeff N.]

Louisiana?

[vqdriver]

Los Angeles

[Jeff N.]

Los AngelesOh, I know...I was just bein' a wise guy. ;) Jeff N.