What am I missing here?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6316&item=2462366259

It looks very suspicious to me. The ad itself is poor quality for a dealer. Why is there no warranty? The full factory warranty transfers to a new owner. I scanned prior sales for this guy, and he's never sold anything big before. I suspect a scam.

Melissa in MI

It's a starting bid, kept low to generate interest. What you don't see is his/her reserve price - i.e., the minimum bid price that will make for a sale.

Originally posted by ByeByeSaturn
It's a starting bid, kept low to generate interest. What you don't see is his/her reserve price - i.e., the minimum bid price that will make for a sale.

Not in this case. His BuyItNow is $10500. At that price, if I could see the car in person and get a clear CarFax, I'd be at the door in the morning, cash in hand.

Yeah, but eBay usually says "reserve not met" when there's a reserve. Do they also have an option for a hidden reserve? I've bought through eBay a few times but haven't really sold anything through them in ages.

-Eric

Yeah, and it has a buy now of $10,500. Something smells.:confused:

Angry wife whose cheating husband is out of town again?

It appears to be a "used" AT RX-8 for $10,500?
- 90 miles
- No warranty
- This appears to be the same car for $29,551
http://www.ebizautos.com/jimellis/detail.cfm?iid=166426

I don't know how ebay prices, offers, "Buy It Now", etc works.
On the Jim Ellis page it says warranty available.

I guess this answers the previous post:
RX-8 Discussion > What is your RX-8's value now ?

I don't see that there is a reserve price and it only has 90 miles. Up top it has listed in the description that it is an auto but in the pic and in the description below it states that it is a manual. In the description you have to be an approved buyer to bid. I am guessing that you would have to give out your personal information to a person that may or may not represent the dealership in the background of the pic. It could be legit but it may not be either. I don't see that you can buy it through PayPal which would be a great protection on such a large purchase. I wouldn't bid... but then wait I have a M/T GT with Nav. What would I want with the Auto?

I think the car is in front of one of the Jim Ellis dealership in MARIETTA, GEORGIA . I ran a search on the dealer name on Mazda USA site. Anyone near there? I note bidder must be preapproved - ? marketting trick. Bait and switch ?

John

I smell fish.

At top description:
Mazda : RX-8
2004 Mazda RX-8

Miles: 90 Doors: 2 doors
Transmission: Automatic Interior: Brown
Engine: Don't Know Year: 2004
Warranty: No VIN Number: JM1FE173040111672
Get the Vehicle History Report
Title: Clear Exterior: Other Color
Condition: Used

At the bottom description

Mileage 90
Exterior Color Titanium
Interior Color Brown
Body Style Coupe
Doors Two Door
Engine Rotary Engine
Trans. Manual
Fuel Type Gasoline
Drive Type 2 wheel drive

VIN JM1FE173040111672

Vehicle Condition

BRAND NEW

READY TO RIDE.

Mafor descrepencies: Used at top description, New at bottom. Automatic at top description, manual at bottom.

Also, you cannot bid on it unless:

Note: This listing is restricted to pre-approved bidders or buyers only.

Email the seller to be placed on the pre-approved bidder/buyer list.

It might be a mistaken post.. he probably meant 20k? Because as of right now, the person with 217 100% rating is offering this RX-8 with 90miles for only 10k... what a crazy steal. If nothing is wrong with this car, that is a "BUY NOW" indeed.

The dealer is Jim Ellis in Atlanta area, I found the car listed on the web site and the internet price is $29,995. Sounds like just a slimy sales gimmick to get you in the door. The auction will not allow you to bid unless you are approved, approved to be a genuine sucker :)

Could be fishy since you can't even bid on it unless you are pre-approved.. I just tried buying it with BUY NOW.

Also notice the two VIN #'s are the same... hmm.. maybe calling Jim's lot should solve this quandry...

If it walks like a duck - looks like a duck - sounds like a duck - it's probably a duck. It's a scheme IMHO John\

PS Have bought 8 cars for family and myself via Ebay and this is one of the strangest ads I've seen.

I think Ebay should be notified about this - it cannot be not on the up and up. John

E-Bay hates sellers who do these kinds of tricks maybe this is one to report.

Hey we posted the same thought at the same time. Jinks you owe me a coke.

That is the dealership at which I bought my 8. The seller is not a dealer - just look at his feedback history: no cars. Top says auto, lower box says MT. This is a trick.

Have reported ad to eBay as suspicious - we'll see. If real I'm off to GA. John

I let ebay know about my concerns.

Originally posted by Speed-ER doc
Angry wife whose cheating husband is out of town again?


:eek: LMAO

Ya'll need to get out of each others' heads.

As of this morning (Monday, 9AM) I get the following message when I try to access our $10.5K 8 on eBay: "The item you requested (2462366259) is invalid, still pending, or no longer in our database. Please check the number and try again. If this message persists, the item has either not started and is not yet available for viewing, or has expired and is no longer available." I'd love to know the whole story on this one.

That's what an auction says when Ebay pulls it. Definitely a scam. Probably won't ever know the whole story.

I just had my auction for a 1 terabyte raid pulled from ebay this morning becuase I wanted the buyer to pay the paypal fees if they decided to use a credit card. Whoops! They suggested using a discount for not using credit cards- but you can't add a fee.

Actually I think the reason that eBay / PayPal does not allow this is that it is in violation of their agreements with VISA/MC/AMEX. John

Originally posted by adrian-1
That's what an auction says when Ebay pulls it. Definitely a scam. Probably won't ever know the whole story.

I've had ebay ads pulled by frivolous complaints. In my case, the complaint was that my auction for a PDA violated a patent that had been filed against the manufacturer. Ebay simply refunded my fees and asks me to straighten it all out... if the seller insists, as I did, it seems that they send an affidavit stating that the auction complies with their terms of service. In my case, I had to ask a friend to do a patent search which turned up a lawsuit in New Jersey in which the complaining party lost on appeal. I hate the scam ads, but it really sucks on the other end too - I was mad as hell and it tooks weeks for me to sell the PDA. My point: just because an ad gets pulled does not mean it's a scam. I suspect any serious complaint to Ebay results in the ad being pulled..

I am posting this from my e-mail this morning. Here is the results of e-bays investigation:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting eBay Motors Safe Harbor with your concern. My
name is Quinlan and I will be happy to help you.

Please be aware that the item you were interested in has been ended
early and all bids have been cancelled, as it appears that the seller's
account has been compromised and used by an unauthorized third party.
The seller's privileges to trade on eBay may be temporarily suspended
while we investigate this matter further.

Some eBay members have reported receiving messages asking for User IDs
and passwords or stating that eBay has a warehouse and has inspected the
item in question or even stating the eBay has insured the seller to
forestall possible fraud. These messages appear to come from eBay or
other legitimate companies, but in fact do not. It is important to
remember that eBay will never ask for sensitive information of this
nature through email and that eBay acts only as a venue for buyers and

sellers and does not handle any of the items listed on the site in any
way.

If this seller contacts you to complete a transaction outside of eBay,
we strongly recommend that you ignore the request. Transactions of this
nature are not covered by the Buyer Protection services offered by eBay.


If you have already sent payment, we advise you to take steps to protect
yourself depending on the nature of your payment. For example, if you
paid by personal check, you may stop payment on the check. If you paid
for this item with a credit card, you should contact your credit card
company's security department right away to inform them of the potential
problem with this payment -- most companies provide consumer protection
in these circumstances. If you have made a payment by money order or
wire transfer, you may contact that company for further information at
1-800-325-6000 (Western Union), or at 1-800-926-9400 (Money Gram).


Please note that we do not recommend the use of instant cash wire
transfer services such as Western Union and MoneyGram, and we ask that
users decline sending payment in cases where these are the only methods
of payment offered by the seller. Generally, if payment is sent using an
instant cash wire transfer service and the item is not delivered as
promised, no recourse is available for recovering funds. In most cases,
an escrow service should be used when purchasing high dollar value
items. More information on the benefits and risks of individual payment
methods can be found at:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/payment.html

We emphasize that there is no definitive information regarding the
seller or their items at this time, and our difficulties in confirming
information about the seller may be the result of a mistake or
misunderstanding.

Please click on the link below to learn more about how you are protected
while making purchases on the Internet:


http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/isgw-fraud-buyer-tips.html


I have appreciated this opportunity to assist you. We are committed to
making your experiences at eBay safe and rewarding.

Regards,

Quinlan
eBay Motors
Trust and Safety Department
______________________________
eBay
Your Personal Trading Community (tm)

*******************************************

Marketplace Safety Tip: Protect yourself from fraudulent emails that ask
for sensitive personal information like credit card numbers, passwords,
etc. Just because an email message looks like it is sent directly from
eBay, it isn't always. To learn more about protecting yourself from fake
or "spoof" emails, visit our online tutorial by simply cutting and
pasting the following Web address into your browser window:

http://member.ebay.com/ad/ck/1065-11789-3840-13
_____________________________________________

Important: eBay will not ask you for sensitive personal information

(such as your password, credit card and bank account numbers, Social
Security numbers, etc.) in an email. Learn more account protection tips
at:

http://www.pages.ebay.com/help/account_protection.html

Original Message Follows:
-------------------------

Form Message %42300% 031403
Subject: IV%P10091 Non-Selling Seller [#MO US ?01 -01]

User Feedback: 3
User State: ?01

Browser Info: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1)

Topics > eBay Policies > Rules for Sellers > Non-Selling Seller;
24.18.54.110

Reporting member: loe93 3
Member being reported: tg1532 217 !43433! 090802

Item number(s): 2462366259 $MO


Supporting email from member:


Customer concern: I and others I know have tried the buy it now feature
but apparently there is no such option. It looks like a fraudulant sale.
Can this be looked into. The buy it now price doesn't seem to work and
the listing contradicts itself in a couple of places. Note the manual

transmission vs. automatic and used vs. new showing on the listing. It
doesn't appear that the price they listed this car for is the price they
intend to sell it for. Also the dealership has the price listed on the
internet for $29,950.00. What is going on here?

Ok, I just received this from the seller after I asked for information directly. Judge for yourself.



Hello and thank you for contacting me

I will tell you a few words about the car.
First of all the car is almost new and looks just like in the pictures.It is in imaculate condition and has no schrach on and hasn't been involved in any accident.
The motor runs very well and has a service book also the tires are almost new.
The title is clear ,it is not a salvage one and has only one owner till now.It was bought from an authorized dealer.The car can be easily retitled to your name with no problems.
The car belongs to my brother.He died two weeks ago in a bike accident.
The car is now in Denmark as my brother lived there.I am now here as i took care of the funerals.
Because i can't carry all his things back home i am selling them.
I am willing to sell it and ship it to any of the UE countries or to US.I will not ship to any African,Asian or Eastern European countries.
I know that the price is low but i have no use for the car and I want to get back home as soon as i sell it.
I want to sell the car asap so I am willing to pay 25% of the shipping fees no matter the location.
I require a deposit of 3000USD.The money is a reservation for the car.First one who makes the deposit will be the buyer.I need the deposit to be sure that you want the car and in order to proceed with shipping and all the aditional export taxes.

I wait your further questions and i will provide any infos you need.

Thank you

Regards

Oh, his name is Robin Peterson incognito54@msn.com

I wonder why he used another dealer's car's pic and also their VIN # then... since the car at the dealership is still there.

Nobody ever said you have to be smart to be a crook. Just smarter than your victim.

I would be very leary of an ad like that. One of my friends is currently trying to straighten out the ramifications of a scam.

As of right now, it sounds like the person (scammer) bought a car off of eBay and wanted it shipped to Africa. They sent a cashiers check which covered the cost of the car and freight. Then immediately asked the seller to refund the amount of the freight.

If the scam goes as planned the seller sends out a check for the amount of the freight before they realize that the cashiers check is bogus.

They also give bogus info in the event that they get busted and the scary part is that they have actually figured out a way to falsify Caller ID info. If the seller calls the number listed they will actually call a complete stranger and this is how my friend became involved.

In the last week he has been called by a couple of angry people that got ripped off, a detective in Ohio, and the Secret Service!

To make a long story short, the person running the scam lives in Nigeria and the Secret Service said that they can't do anything to prosecute him! :eek:

Sounds like a new version of the standard Nigeria 419 scam: here's my cashier's check, now please send me your money. Oops, my cashier's check was bad and yours was good. Sucks to be you.

Look what I just found, I posted this in the LOUNGE as well,

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=7244&item=2458905109&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBDW%3AIT

a brand-new Pontiac GTO ($33k) sold for $12k. I had placed a bid of $204 and $209, I think, but were outbid, obviously ;-)

I wonder if that dealer (it's actually only 20 miles from me) did follow up on the sale or if they tried to pull out.

Check out this replt I gto back from the seller:

Hello and thank you for contacting me

I will tell you a few words about the car.
First of all the car is almost new and looks just like in the pictures.It is in imaculate condition and has no schrach on and hasn't been involved in any accident.
The motor runs very well and has a service book also the tires are almost new.
The title is clear ,it is not a salvage one and has only one owner till now.It was bought from an authorized dealer.The car can be easily retitled to your name with no problems.
The car belongs to my brother.He died two weeks ago in a bike accident.
The car is now in Denmark as my brother lived there.I am now here as i took care of the funerals.
Because i can't carry all his things back home i am selling them.
I am willing to sell it and ship it to any of the UE countries or to US.I will not ship to any African,Asian or Eastern European countries.
I know that the price is low but i have no use for the car and I want to get back home as soon as i sell it.
I want to sell the car asap so I am willing to pay 25% of the shipping fees no matter the location.
I require a deposit of 3000USD.The money is a reservation for the car.First one who makes the deposit will be the buyer.I need the deposit to be sure that you want the car and in order to proceed with shipping and all the aditional export taxes.

I wait your further questions and i will provide any infos you need.

Thank you

Regards



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Store more e-mails with MSN Hotmail Extra Storage �E4 plans to choose from!

Did you not read my post on page 2? I asked e-bay to investigate this sale and it has been ended early. The person who posted it apparently used another e-bay members ID to post the ad without authorization. e-bay has said as much that this was a scam. It is no longer being advertised.

No I did. I investigated this on my own long before you posted that. I just found the email in my junk box and decided to post it up as an example for people. I am perfectly aware it's a scam... that email screams that. As someone whom has used ebay a bit and an IT engineer, one would hope that I could spot those sales.

Originally posted by 93rdcurrent
Did you not read my post on page 2? I asked e-bay to investigate this sale and it has been ended early. The person who posted it apparently used another e-bay members ID to post the ad without authorization. e-bay has said as much that this was a scam. It is no longer being advertised.

This happened a few days ago too when my husband and his friends found a dual G5 for some insanely low price. When they emailed the guy, he told them he was "borrowing" a friend's account. Needless to say, eBay got rid of him really quick once it was pointed out.

Ok, here is the 2nd e-mail from the guy explaining how this will go down. Interesting how he makes it look like he is the one taking the risk. Pretty slick. Everyone please be careful.



Hello again

The price I hope to obtain is 10500$ (this price includes the 25% shipping to your door and insurance) and if you agree
with this price we can start to complete the transaction.
As i've told you,in order to proceed with the deal i need a deposit of 3000USD.The payment must be done using a money order service.
I prefer money order because in this way i will ship the car in the same day you make the payment.As i've said my brother lived in Denmark and now i arrived here to take care of his funerals and to solve his problems here and i want to get back home asap.

l'm a fair trader with a very good feedback on ebay which is the proof that l have closed
a lot of sucessful deals.
During this period l learned that the best deals are closed when the risk involved is
minimum. You will arrange payment through western union(www.westernunion.com) .You receive and inspect the
machine you have to send me the rest of the money.The inspection period for it is 3 days.
I have something safe for you because I want you to be sure that you will
receive the vehicle and I hope we will colaborate in future too .
Look what I can do for you:
-you will make the transfer to my location but not to my name(you will use
your best friends name for example as receiver's name)so you can be sure that i will
not pick up the money untill you get the car.So you will make a deposit at western union
and you will give me the transfer's details(SENDER NAME,RECEIVER NAME,MTCN) so i can
check that the deposit was made .(this will only take a few hours because i can check it online on www.westernunion.com)
After i verify I will send you the car imediately.
-only after you will receive the car and check if it is ok you
will have to change the of the transfer to my name so i can collect my money.
So untill you will have the vehicle at your door the money will be deposited on your
best friend's name at western union agent.
I think it is better to not inform western union that you will
change the receivers name in a few days because it is possible they ask you to pay the
fees twice(fees that are quite big for such an amount) also when you go to an western
union office to make the transfer,please don't tell there the reason for you send the
money because here in this country I must pay somes aditional taxes when I receive the
founds.Please say you send the money to your friends or to your partener.
My old buyers of course make the transfer at western union direct to my name which is
easier and i will be happy if you can trust in me but because it is our first deal i
proposed you this very safe and efficient method so you can only deposit the money
first and after you get the car to allowed me to cash it.

After you've completed the transfer you will receive a confirmation that will alow me to track the transfer.
Here are the details that i need:
-sender name and address
-receiver name will be me
-exact amount wired
-MTCN # (10 digits)
-if it is possible a scanned copy of the receipt format .JPEG for me to add to the files
As soon as the payment will be confirmed and the money properly sent, i will IMMEDIATELY
proceed with shipping .
I will ship the vehicle via Lufthansa Airplane Cargo insured and It will take 72 hours until you will have it at your door.
The payment is fully refundable if for any reason you do not accept the vehicle or
if it has scratches, hidden defects, or it is not as advertised. I will even pay for
the shipping back to my location if you reject the vehicle but since it is a state of
the art machine and works and looks perfectly I think it would get to this.
After you check the car and do all the tests with it you must send me the remaining part of the amount directly to my name
Here is my name and adress you need for the western union transfer:
First name: Robin
Last name: Peterson
Address: Vestre Kirkevej 12
Zip code: DK-4000
City: Roskilde
Country: Denmark
If you agree with these terms,let me know and i will be more than glad to
start to complete the transaction with you.
Thank you and I hope that you will have the pleasure to drive this machine.

Kind regards.

Several of us should contact this bogus seller and see how many $3000 deposits he is willing to accept for the same "car".

On a lighter note, I find it humorous that the guys name is Robin. Short for robbing, maybe?

Hope no one falls into his scam...

Just for kicks, I sent a reply and said to hold the car because I'll pay $2K more than anyone up till $20K. I asked to give me their number or to give my lawyer a call and the transaction would be completed. as expected.... no reply yet. If it gets any better I'll let you know.

Maybe if we bug this guy enough the scam will seem less worth it...