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Sutekidane

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 26, 2005
936
2
I just purchased Item Number: 8250948768

I'm worried it may be a scam. I haven't paid yet, and I'm not sure if I should yet. I sent a few emails to the seller, and I'm going to see what he/she replies with. I'll post anything up here for you guys to see.

The deal sounds too good to be true. I hope it's legit, I already commited to buy. I know I jumped the gun... Could I file a claim on this if I never get it?

Thanks, in advance.
 

TsuaSai

macrumors 6502a
Jan 9, 2006
508
68
TX
Looks to good to be true to me. There is not picture and the seller does not have 100% feedback.. I cant see only selling on this cheap yet, unless its stolen. Which i suppose is very possible.

one other thing i noticed as that you are the only person that bid. If it was legit than I am sure many more people would have bid.
 

Sutekidane

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 26, 2005
936
2
TsuaSai said:
Looks to good to be true to me. There is not picture and the seller does not have 100% feedback.. I cant see only selling on this cheap yet, unless its stolen. Which i suppose is very possible.

one other thing i noticed as that you are the only person that bid. If it was legit than I am sure many more people would have bid.

The only negative feedback they have is negligible. Also, the item was on sale for less than an hour, so it's a good chance no one saw it yet hence no one bid on it. That's why I'm not sure what to think.
 

TsuaSai

macrumors 6502a
Jan 9, 2006
508
68
TX
I would just wait and hear that the seller has to say before I paid. And see how you feel about it from there.
 

adk

macrumors 68000
Nov 11, 2005
1,937
21
Stuck in the middle with you
The only thing that looks shady is $11.25 for media mail... rip off! It costs less than $11.25 to ship something weighing 25 pounds via media mail, not to mention that it is illegal to send a PSP via media mail. Other than that, it doesn't look too shady, perhaps request his info and call him before you send payment or something along those lines.
 

CanadaRAM

macrumors G5
Don't email the guy at the AOL address: use the eBay contact a member system. If the account is hijacked, you may get a reply from the real account owner saying "what? I never listed a PSP" Sellers are not supposed to solicit contact outside eBay, and that;s a typical scammer dodge, use a different email.

Also, request the seller's name and address from them. then check them up through http://www.whitepages.com or whatever to verify.

You can request the seller's email address (and maybe other info) from eBay as well, to verify. The seller is notified as soon as you send in the info request, though, so don't do this right away until you have some info from them to compare with.

Pay with paypal so you can have some protection.
Insist that they ship it by registered mail with insurance and delivery confirmation, it may cost extra but you can demand the waybill number and there will be proof it was delivered (or not, if they never send it). Don't accept shipment by regular mail or media mail, cause there's no proof it has been sent or delivered. He could just say "Well, I mailed it a week ago, so tough $^$$ie."
 

Sutekidane

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 26, 2005
936
2
Okay, I got an invoice and an email back stating the following:

Hi there,

thank you for responding. no it is not spam or am i trying to rip anyone off. this is my account, and when i do ship it out i will put insurance on it so i can get you a number and you can verify it was sent out. i got this for christmas, and i dont care for it. like i said in the auction, there is no game included with this.
I will send over an invoice, and thank you for bidding


I requested for it to be shipped with priority mail, with insurance and delivery confirmation. Is there anything else I can do? He gave me his address but it's a PO Box number.
 

flyfish29

macrumors 68020
Feb 4, 2003
2,175
4
New HAMpshire
Don't do it! Scam I would say. IF it is brand new why so cheap? Why a PO? I doubt someone would buy someone else a PSP unless they knew they asked for it. Possible, but not at all very probably. Sure, he can give you a number for insurance, but they don't check to see what it is when someone insures it, they just say they insure what is in the box- it could be a brick...empty or other item and someone could still insure it for $200 if they wanted to.

99%+ of the time when it is too good to be true, it is! Don't fall for a scam- too many ??? unanswered here. Remember, if it is, you are out all the money and have an empty box or wose yet, a very expensive brick. Instead, spend the extra money on a new one or buy a used one if you can't buy new.
 

DavidCL23

macrumors 6502
Dec 14, 2001
383
0
NJ
I am not so sure it's a scam, at least based on the price. I just bought a psp value package off ebay for $160 still sealed in box, and I am meeting the seller in person tonight (I am only paying when I receave the item, so I doubt he's scamming me).
 

cal6n

macrumors 68020
Jul 25, 2004
2,096
273
Gloucester, UK
I've just looked at it and I'd be astonished if that was a scam. Normally they're fairly obvious. I'd just pay with paypal (you're protected) and stop worrying but, obviously, it's your call.
 

DavidCL23

macrumors 6502
Dec 14, 2001
383
0
NJ
cal6n said:
I've just looked at it and I'd be astonished if that was a scam. Normally they're fairly obvious. I'd just pay with paypal (you're protected) and stop worrying but, obviously, it's your call.

Exactly, it just seems like the seller wanted to clearance the psp, just like the seller I bought mine from tonight, which btw, was just as advertised (ie, still sealed in box). This is the auction I purchased:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8251252216
 

Sutekidane

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 26, 2005
936
2
G5Unit said:
It doesn't even say he's selling a PSP! Just the add ons. I hope I'm wrong...

Yeah, I'd check on that, I'd be worried if I were you...

I told the guy that I'm not going to pay, and that if he wants to leave me negative feedback as a non paying bidder, than it's fine. I don't have the money to be buying stuff for $130 anyway.
 

lazyboy922

macrumors 6502
Dec 9, 2003
353
0
Las Vegas, NV
How has he even used it to not "care for it" if he doesn't even have a game or movie. Unless he rented one, I am sure I would have a game or movie to go along with it. I would think one would be included? The P.O. box scares me too.

Maybe i'm totally wrong, I just don't like to see people get scammed.

Wish you luck!
 

adk

macrumors 68000
Nov 11, 2005
1,937
21
Stuck in the middle with you
Sutekidane said:
I told the guy that I'm not going to pay, and that if he wants to leave me negative feedback as a non paying bidder, than it's fine. I don't have the money to be buying stuff for $130 anyway.

This is almost positively NOT a scam. It sounds more like you don't feel like paying for it anymore, caveat emptor.

lazyboy922 said:
The P.O. box scares me too.

Contrary to popular belief (or complete speculation in this case), in order to get a PO box a person must present two forms of ID with an address on them.
 

Music_Producer

macrumors 68000
Sep 25, 2004
1,633
18
From where does everyone get the idea that Media Mail does not provide any tracking services? I ship out USPS all the time, and yes, Media Mail provides Delivery confirmation, and Signature confirmation! Even first class mail has delivery confirmation.

Pay with paypal using your credit card and you'll be fine.. if anything goes wrong paypal will dispute it.. and of course, your credit card company will cover you. If you don't get the item, paypal and the credit card co. will ask the seller for tracking info.. and when he can't provide one.. you'll get the money.

I think the $120 price is perfectly ok for a PSP.. I have a used treo 600 and i'm moving so i'm thinking of getting rid of it for $90.. is that shady? No. Sometimes people don't need things so they put a low price on it.. they just want some money instead of throwing it away or giving it someone else.

It looks like a previous buyer for this item never paid (as you can tell from the feedback.. he mentions ' thanks for understanding') and it looks like you're going to do the same.

The point is, if you had any questions, you should ask BEFORE you bid.. not after. You're wasting the seller's time.. if i was the seller i'd promptly give you a negative feedback and a non paying bidder alert. .Remember that the guy's losing listing fees, etc. when he lists an item, and when someone comes along, wins the bid.. and never pays.
 

Music_Producer

macrumors 68000
Sep 25, 2004
1,633
18
lazyboy922 said:
How has he even used it to not "care for it" if he doesn't even have a game or movie. Unless he rented one, I am sure I would have a game or movie to go along with it. I would think one would be included? The P.O. box scares me too.

Maybe i'm totally wrong, I just don't like to see people get scammed.

Wish you luck!


The item description mentions that he gave the game to a friend.. once again, read and then post.

PO boxes are no reason to be worried about, like another person mentioned.
 

maxterpiece

macrumors 6502a
Mar 5, 2003
729
0
as someone who sells on ebay here and there, I think you have a responsibility to pay for the item or negotiate with the seller. You had every opportunity to consider all these factors before you bid, and since there doesn't appear to be any explicit evidence of fraud, then your bid is a contract.

He probably knows he can repost it and resell it for the same price in another few hours. Tell him you'll give him $10 for his trouble. Otherwise, if he disagrees, repost it as a regular auction and you may even make some money.
 

plinkoman

macrumors 65816
Jul 2, 2003
1,144
1
New York
TsuaSai said:
There is not picture and the seller does not have 100% feedback..

out of all his feedback, only one is negative, the other 30-something are all positive. you would not trust a seller because he can only come through 99% of the time?

seriously dude, things happen, you can be an honest buyer/seller and still wind up with a negative feedback, i have 2 of them. a transaction doesn't always work out perfectly, and some people are dicks, so good luck buying/selling on ebay if you require 100% :rolleyes:
 

TsuaSai

macrumors 6502a
Jan 9, 2006
508
68
TX
plinkoman said:
out of all his feedback, only one is negative, the other 30-something are all positive. you would not trust a seller because he can only come through 99% of the time?

seriously dude, things happen, you can be an honest buyer/seller and still wind up with a negative feedback, i have 2 of them. a transaction doesn't always work out perfectly, and some people are dicks, so good luck buying/selling on ebay if you require 100% :rolleyes:

I am normally not worried about buying thing from people if they don't have 100% feedback.. But when the price of the item is some what questionable to begin with then I have to wonder. Plus this is not a 20 dollar item. To me 130 bucks is a lot there for I just look at things different, and us caution when buying a product that is so much cheaper than it should be. But there are ways to protect your self with pay pal.

Also wondering if there is any update??
 

Shai-Nadir

macrumors newbie
Mar 8, 2005
25
0
if you had no intention of buying it then why did you place the bid. If I was the seller I would definitely leave you negative feedback. I have bought and sold over 200 items on ebay and I am 99% sure that this is not a scam. If I was a scammer and had gone throught the trouble of hijacking someone's account, I would not bother trying to sell only one item for $120.
 

oclor

macrumors regular
Jan 14, 2006
211
5
Boston
The only way for me to predict if something is a scam is to look at the seller's reviews. I once bought a jacket for $200 through paypal and the guy never sent it. I filed a complaint to paypal and they emailed me back saying that it was a scam but too bad because they couldn't get the money back. Paypal sucks and they hung up on me when i called them to try to get my money back. I got screwed so don't trust them. This however doesn't look like a scam since the seller has a good reputation. Good luck and i hope you don't get screwed like i did.
 
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