eBay/Craigslist Another EBAY SCAM - - -

[MikeD74T]

I occasionally sell foam insulation on Craig's List. Each time I get calls that aren't worth my time to return. Example,when I list a 20 sheet minimum I don't answer requests for 3 sheets. I sell to buyers that know what the product is, recognize a good deal, & bring cash. My end is legit & their cash is also. I don't care to know their name, address, or intended use of the insulation.
Scammers are on boths ends of EBAY. Since, despite your interest, you didn't bid so maybe he thought you were a scammer. Feedbacks on EBAY are a pretty good indicator of honesty. Without your bid he couldn't evaluate your honesty.Was the tractor too far away to go look at? I wouldn't commit $14K without looking, maybe your seller wouldn't either. He seemed anxious to sell, you seemed reluctant to buy. My guess - he found another buyer. MikeD74T

 

[Charlesaf3]

I think barney may have gotten it above - real tractor, real price, not necessarily owned by the seller.

The cellphone thing wouldn't be a biggie. Lots of people, including me, only have cellphones now. Cash wouldn't be a biggie either - lots of forgeries out there, though there are ways around that - meet at the bank, wire transfer, etc. Failure to give serial number - that's a biggie.

 

[Roper14]

I don't have the answer as I have moved on...back to searching...
-the guy was out of state (maybe no big deal)
-was a cell phone (did a reverse search on the net and it came up as such - and it was located in the area he said he was from) I know several people who only have cell phones also...
- as mentioned earlier I had no problem giving him cash - it was just the trickle down effect of everything else ---anyway good luck to everyone else---

 

[Roper14]

I missed the one reply above - I've been a member of ebay since 1998 (only 21 transactions - but simple 100% feedback) -- he has been a member since June 23, 2008 with no feedback---and yes it is my guess either there was no tractor at all or I was used as a pawn to get a higher price ---yet I was also told "the the tractor was considered sold"...so i be the gullible one and take peeps at their word---what I get for living in the south

 

[dgl24087]

I believe I looked at the auction you were talking about, checked the completed listings and it said the auction was "ended early by the seller because the tractor was no longer available".

 

[vansimplement]

Ebay is one of those things that goes from a love to hate relationship (and vice versa) pretty quickly. I manage to do just fine selling small, low-dollar things with them, which gets rid of stuff that would never go locally. On the other hand, scams start right up when I try selling an ATV (or similar)... gets kind of frustrating at times.
I just play it safe and sell stuff that very few people will ever notice

 

[jasperab]

My son-in-law ran into the same type of scam on E-Bay with a Harley Davidson motorcycle. I told him to back off and notify E-Bay. He did and the ad was pulled the next day.
However, I did buy my last car, a Suburu Forester, on E-Bay. I got it from a dealer in Nashville and flew down with a cashiers check and drove it back. Great vehicle, especially with the gas prices. I get 27mpg with an SUV.

 

[gemini5362]

My son-in-law ran into the same type of scam on E-Bay with a Harley Davidson motorcycle. I told him to back off and notify E-Bay. He did and the ad was pulled the next day.
However, I did buy my last car, a Suburu Forester, on E-Bay. I got it from a dealer in Nashville and flew down with a cashiers check and drove it back. Great vehicle, especially with the gas prices. I get 27mpg with an SUV.

I bought one of my vehicles a 1998 chevrolet tracker on Ebay. It was in wisconsin and I had a friend of mine go and check it out for me. The company that owned it had some relatives near me that offered to drive it down for 300.00 so I had them do it. After the car got here I found out that wisconsin has some used car laws that protect buyers. Basically there was a checklist of things that had to be checked before it could sell. Antifreeze, brakes, tires etc. I also found out that If i had not aproved of the car I could tell them I did not want it and get all of my money back except for the shipping fee. I would recommend that anyone who is thinking about buying something like a car look at the buyer protection laws in the state that the car is located in.

 

[Haoleguy]

Roper14 - It's always good to be a cautious purchaser even if it means that you lose a good deal now and again. Just one point about cell phones. I'm not sure how you tracked the cell phone location to the area but I know many folks who have different area codes. I myself have a San Diego area code and live in Connecticut. The reason for this is that I use a SIM card for an unlocked phone and the reason it is San Diego is that is where the company is that I bought the SIM card from.......Cheers

 

[EFC]

to avoid getting in a CASH is king argument...a valid cashiers check or money order is almighty close...

yippee

In 9 years of being in business i have only taken a handful of bad checks and all of them were cahiers checks.

Buck