eBay Scam or not?

simonbe

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Simon
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You know they say something is too good to be true?! There are a few - I have found 3 just on a quick search Sony used cameras (not sure on other makes) listed at the moment well below “normal price”. E.g A7c £480, A7riii £480, A7iii £570. All have photo’s - not stock photo’s. But all new different sellers with zero feedback - only selling the one item.

Anyone else noticed?
 
Are these auctions and do they have reserves?
 
Nope - all buy it now, all running for 30 days. The a7riii has gone already. All went on at similar times. Sellers locations all different.
 
Yup I've seen these for Nikon Z6 etc for about the same price. They have no feedback. If its too good to be true then it usually is.
 
Yup I've seen these for Nikon Z6 etc for about the same price. They have no feedback. If its too good to be true then it usually is.
Yes - someone will end up disappointed. I guess the item doesn’t show up. They claim on eBay/PayPal, inconvenienced for a while until the refund eventually comes through. The fraudster does a runner with a tidy few quid.

Just not noticed so many on at the same time. Makes me nervous buying or selling!
 
Hi, I actually took a chance and won the item, not more than 2 hours later it was removed by Ebay, I have been looking also for a Sony mirrorless and some of these being offered have the same image/s when they are taken down by Ebay then listed again under some made up weird looking names, not only do they list on Ebay UK but worldwide they are also sometimes found being posted from other countries. As the OP says "If it looks to good it is"!!! Russ.
 
Recently saw someone selling a bunch of new nintendo switches for £64 for a new boxed one. Zero feedback and they had more than 12 available. ebay showed that more than 10 were sold.
The listing eventually got taken down.
I wonder if the sellers/scammers actually get any money from doing this, I'd imagine not.
 
It's been happening for a while, only on in-demand cameras and lenses. Fortunately it seems that people aren't being fooled as they never sell.
 
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yes i have noticed the same before

I was looking for sony a7iii and for 2tb nvme drives. Ebay is full of fake listing for these. Never buy from a 0 feedback person.
 
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how do people get away with it though? The funds go into a bank account but paypal / ebay hold the rights to it.. so can withdraw straight away! I know scammers can set up bank accounts.. but there is a limit to how many accounts can be set up before they... get arrested surely? I just don't get it!
 
They may be setting up accounts with stolen or forged credentials, or hijacking other peoples existing accounts.
Then there's the possibility they'll as you you pay direct via PPG/Western Union/BT.
 
I've been reluctant to put so much money forward for an Ebay purchase. I'd like to see the item in person, on collection if at all possible. That being said, Ebay loads the responsibility on the seller rather than the buyer, so there is more of a case for things going wrong (I never received the parcel/the parcel had a brick in it) for the seller.
 
Recently saw someone selling a bunch of new nintendo switches for £64 for a new boxed one. Zero feedback and they had more than 12 available. ebay showed that more than 10 were sold.
The listing eventually got taken down.
I wonder if the sellers/scammers actually get any money from doing this, I'd imagine not.

I've seen that happened with various products the last few weeks.
 
how do people get away with it though? The funds go into a bank account but paypal / ebay hold the rights to it.. so can withdraw straight away! I know scammers can set up bank accounts.. but there is a limit to how many accounts can be set up before they... get arrested surely? I just don't get it!
how do people get away with it though? The funds go into a bank account but paypal / ebay hold the rights to it.. so can withdraw straight away! I know scammers can set up bank accounts.. but there is a limit to how many accounts can be set up before they... get arrested surely? I just don't get it!

Plus afaik ebay are forcing sellers to use bank accounts for payments rather than paypal?
 
I've been reluctant to put so much money forward for an Ebay purchase. I'd like to see the item in person, on collection if at all possible. That being said, Ebay loads the responsibility on the seller rather than the buyer, so there is more of a case for things going wrong (I never received the parcel/the parcel had a brick in it) for the seller.

Back in the early days of ebay it was either cash on collection or pay via cheque and the goods would be sent once it's cleared so we had to be very trustworthy.
I sold a few mobile phones back then amongst various other items and no problems at all.
Then along comes paypal and the scammers see there was a niches for scamming people.
If had a pound for every time I've read about someone either being scammed or good not fit for purpose or having to wait weeks for a refund I'd be a very rich man.
 
I've only ever had one problem selling on ebay. Someone in France bought a lens which I dispatched the next day via the then new 'Global Shipping Program'.
It took ages to arrive and the buyer complained about this and was awarded a refund by PayPal.
I spoke to a representative at ebay who admitted that the global shipping program had problems and that it was no fault of mine that delivery was so slow. He gave me my money.
Checking the tracking later on I found that the purchaser had received the lens, had been refunded his money by PayPal yet had left me nasty negative feedback for the delay.
Leaves a sour taste!
 
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