Ebay: Haven for scammers and crooks

[rowdy322]

Wow, it has been an awful 2 weeks.Ist off, I get a Tascam FW1884 form Ebay, and the firewire ports are dead.Seller claims it was mint and this thing is DOA.Ebay is as usual taking it's slow, unsupportive role and it is a joke to try to resolve.The guy gives me his lawyer's number to call.Then yesterday get a 002 console in, which was already late shipped and turn it on and the thing has a bad power harness, no worky at all.On top of that, he scratched the serial # off of it and claims he has no idea what happened there.Now Digidesign can't help because there is no serail # to match the unit.Oh yeah. of course he sent no paperwork with it.I should have seen this trainwreck coming and this morning I am contacting Ebay and once theses 2 issues are resolved, Adios to Evilbay forever.

Rowdy Out and Ebayless soon!!!!!

[frontierfran]

Digidesign wont replace the power harness despite the missing serial? that was a huge recall on those units...I called them on 3 pm Philly time, and I had a new harness in my lap with instructions by noon the next day. takes 10 mins to fix.
does the numnut you bought it from have a receipt? was he the first owner?

I feel for you man. ebay is getting worse and worse. I just bought an ADK tube mic. didnt come with shock mount or even mount ring, as promised. and it crackles all over the place. I asked the seller, and he told me to talk to ADK directly, and that he was no longer "a part of the deal."

drives me nuts....and yet, I find myself going back for more all the time...thinkin im getting the deal of a lifetime...

[Kestral]

I'm a eBay veteran (been a member since 1999) and eBay has progressively gotten worse and worse. I can't believe a year and a half ago I bought such a high ticket item as a Urei 1176 and sent a cashier's cheque to the US (I'm in Canada). If I had to do it all over again, chances are I would no longer buy high ticket items on eBay.

[Jose Mrochek]

people need to use www.escrow.com or something like that more often.

[G-Dawg]

i was outbid on an 1884 a few weeks back.

[theweasel84]

I dunno about the rest of you, but there's no way I would use ebay for anything costing that much, due to lack of any kind of "insurance" against fraud. I figure that if it's worth paying a lot of dough for, its also worth getting from a reputable dealer.

[Sounds Great]

Ebay is no different than anywhere else. You take the good with the bad.

I have done many hundreds of transactions on Ebay including buying and selling many high-buck items. I have had wonderful success. Just use common sense and caution.

[Mr. Wilson]

Although I too have many successful ebay transactions...205 posi rating...and indeed have gotten some great deals on some PT items, the DIGI listings are currently infested with regular scams...and I'm speaking of several times daily in some cases. I know because it upsets me so that I've reported no less than 90 suspicious listings since March. In almost all cases, ebay silently agrees with me and removes the items before actual fraud occurs, but not always. I'm now contacting the major pro audio forums to see if I can get others to join in the policing of ebay, specifically Digiidesign listings in Pro Audio. Listen love it or hate it, ebay WAS a good place for deals and a fairly easy way to move items you no longer use. It still is, with the majority of items but for some reason the cancer has struck DIGI gear. Specifically 002's and HD cards of various types and a slew of Control 24 listings. The MO is always the same; a 1 day listing at a low ball start bid of $1 and the (ebay illegal) demand to contact an email address in the listing for a specfial BIN deal. This is what allow us white hats to get the listing pulled as it is a circumvention of ebay fees...for those that don't know Buy It Now is an extra ebay charge...so that's taking money from the ebay pocket. Otherwise ebay dosn't care if you think you can "buy" high ticket DIGI gear for idiotically low prices. For instance a C24 for $350.00. Although we all know what "Fair Market" prices are, ebay ignores this dead give away. i should also add that in most of these cases it appears that the legit account is Hijacked, ie. some unsuspecting user's account...many dormant for some time. I don't know how the bad guys do this but if you have a legit account and do some buying and selling as i do, it is a big concern. I come here to report this because I'm not seeing much info on this current situation anywhere on the web. Call me a vigilante if you want, hell I feel like the Lone Ranger some days but I think it's worth it to speak out. FWIW I WAS in the market for and HD card, so I was searching every day for one...this led me to the discoveries I've just reported. Of course I've soured on the idea of finding one at this time, it's just not safe for that specific item. My advise to everyone interested in using ebay is to get involved like me. Otherwise ebay will become a non option for most of us. Right about now I'm glad i don't own any ebay stock, because unless they can cure this cancer, their demise will be hard and fast. Thanks for listening

[xj32]

A quick point about the FW-1884's for what its worth. I own one and they are exceptionally tempermental. Just go to the FW-1884 forum and you will see that.

Sometimes I have to boot mine 1/2 a dozen times before the firewire is recognized. This also includes occasionally having to install and reinstall the drivers a few times before all is well. They also have to be the 1st item in a firewire chain.

My point: The FW seller may not be a scammer and it may have worked perfectly before it left. The two of you should work together to solve the issue.

Call Tascam tech support and have them walk you through it. Just a thought.

The digi...that sounds obviously like a scam.

Paul

[Henchman]

It's quite simple with ebay.
If the deal is too good to be true, then usually, it's a scam.

Never, ever buy a 1 day only auction item. That's a guarnteed scam.
They've hijacked someones account, and need to get the money from non-existing Items before the account owner finds out.
It happened to me. Someone hijacked my accoutn.
I found out immediately, and deleted the items for sale.

I find it quite easy to spot the scam deals, and have bought tons of stuff on Ebay, including 2 laptops.
Never been burned, and saved alot of money.

Only buy from reputable sellers with a good sell rating.

[structuredloud]

Originally Posted by Mr. Wilson

hell I feel like the Lone Ranger some days but I think it's worth it to speak out.

I think ebay really ought to hire industry savvy people to regulate their items in both the computers and pro audio section. Probably video and photography as well. I think apple laptops is the worst right now, I've had to buy and sell one in the past two months and there are more scams than there are legit ones on there.

[RooF]

I am getting the manley 16x2 mic factory but i often scout ebay for fun...
I see this auction for a Manly mixer. It seemed pretty honnest to me so I bid to try my luck.

I bid 4500 bucks then i kinda forget about it... I open my email account and guess what... I have 12 new mails originating from as much as 9 different guys trying to "second chance offer" and they are still comming in...scary
There are good deals on ebay and i have used it in the past without problems but this is my first ebay experience since a year or so and to tell you the truth probably the last...
Not just because of the scams. I like to see the person i am giving my money to. Call me oldschool but I like business relationship to happen on a personal level. Is always stressing to give out money and having to wait to get yourt purchase (if u ever get it!!!)

check this out for fun:

"
Hello

Please reply to this email if you`re still interested to buy my item # 7413107272
Manley 16x2 16 2 Mic Mixer
The selling price will be your last bid price US $4,500.00 About shipping and insurance I'll pay for it.
If you're ready for this purchase, please send me your full name and
address- as soon as I have them I'll start the official procedure,and
eBay will notify you about this. You'll also receive important
guidelines + instructions from them (please go through them exactly).
Waiting for your e-mail!
Thank you."


About shipping and insurrance i'll pay for it...hahahhahahha