Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

Home · Register · Search · Software · Hosting · Software · Join Upload & Sell

FM Forums \| Forum & Miscellaneous \| Join Upload & Sell
1 2 end

carrjar
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #1 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

Some of you may have been following a thread about a "deal" I found on eBay. And after 10+ years of buying on eBay, I thought I knew all the signs of a scam. Although the seller may be legit, and his story true, I think it's important you read about how everything unfolded. I purchased the item along with 8 others, via PayPal.com, the way I have always done. Called the number I found associated with the business (sultanadrivedotnet) and left a voicemail. Within 5 minutes I received a call back from Keith (Madera, CA-sale was out of WY-red flag) It was the same Keith who I had been corresponding with via eBay. Explained that I was a little nervous about the purchase. He was very friendly and said he'd be sending tracking info, and he did. Via eBay again. All was good, until I started to check the tracking status. Nothing changed from late Thursday to Monday afternoon. I contacted Keith via eBay and he said that the person he was selling the cameras for (Trading Assistant Item) didn't have them in stock and he'd be sending a eBay transaction cancelation, via eBay. At this point I'm ok. He's ready to issue a refund, I'm ready to get money back and learn my lesson. I receive the cancelation email via eBay and just before clicking "confirm" I decide to read the details link. It says, only cancel transaction IF you have been ISSUED A REFUND already or IF you have NOT PAID. The seller was requesting that I do the cancelation before the refund took place and after I paid. After taking a big gulp, I immediately called Keith and he answered. I said, "what the hell is going on?" Again, he was very calm, apologized for the confusion, blamed it on "trading assistant item vendor" and within minutes my iPhone (that I was talking on received an email that I had been credited $3,100 to my PayPal account. I've check PayPal and have indeed been REFUNDED. I exchanged "pleasantries" with Keith, and that was it. What worries me is the other 8 people and what happens if they click cancel transaction before their refund showed up? BOTTOM LINE: IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT IS! Sure, Keith could be 100% telling the truth and a legit seller with some bad luck and bizarre circumstances. However, I see a serious loop hole here and if he is a thief, he's a professional.

Dec 04, 2012 at 01:56 AM

carrjar
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #2 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

I should add, I was never asked to submit payment outside of eBay via PayPal with an alternative email address. The entire payment took place within eBay (and PayPal) the way I would complete any other eBay transaction.

Dec 04, 2012 at 01:59 AM

Wahoowa
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #3 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

It sounds to me like it could be a genuine error.

It's true that many people don't know how everything works with eBay and Paypal. Believe it or not, eBay members have been suspended for having too many refunds or leaving too many negative feedbacks. Also, many times, when there is a scam on eBay, for example, a listing from an account that is hacked, eBay simply erases that type of listing and pretends it never happened.

Glad that you got your money back.

Dec 04, 2012 at 02:06 AM

mmurph
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #4 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

Wow, what a mess! I'm glad you got out of it ok!

Wahoowa, click through to find carrjar's earlier posts.

This sale for nine 5DIII kit's, with 24-105 for $3,100 from someone who normally sells only watches, sounded **very** similar to that plumber that was all of a sudden selling 5DIII's that was a scam.

carrjar played it very well, did his investigation, and called the seller to verify that the account wasn't hijacked. I'm not sure exactly what the shtick was here, but something was up. Maybe the "seller" needed a float of $30K in order to pay a vendor to receive equipment to sell?

Really weird!

Congrats on not getting burned. Sorry to hear you didn't get a camera!

(FWIW, I am selling the 5D3 kit that I purchased from Adorama. Check my posts if interested, otherwise I will send it back for a refund.)

Cheers!

Michael

Dec 04, 2012 at 02:17 AM

mmurph
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #5 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

carrjar wrote:
He was very friendly and said he'd be sending tracking info, and he did. Via eBay again. All was good, until I started to check the tracking status. Nothing changed from late Thursday to Monday afternoon. I contacted Keith via eBay and he said that the person he was selling the cameras for (Trading Assistant Item) didn't have them in stock and he'd be

I DON'T GET **THIS PART** AT ALL!

How does he send a tracking number for something that isn't even in stock? That sounds like pure fraud on someone's part.

I think this guy owes you a full explanation. No doubt he will blame the person he was "selling cameras for ...."

And what about this part of their ad? I suppose it is just boiler-plate for the watch seller:

Shipping of your item will occur within 1 business day

Edited on Dec 04, 2012 at 02:26 AM · View previous versions

Dec 04, 2012 at 02:21 AM

sivrajbm
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #6 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

Glad everything worked out for you.

Dec 04, 2012 at 02:25 AM

Wahoowa
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #7 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

mmurph,

What I wonder is, if the seller wanted to scam, why did he issue a refund. carrjar would have had no recourse through eBay and Paypal because he accepted the cancellation already. And, as I recall, the transaction on the "plumber" account was listed as to pay through direct bank transfer. (And that's what I would have done if I had wanted to scam someone--leaving less or no track.)

Regarding the tracking number, many retailers generate a shipping label even through the package has yet been dropped off. It happened to me from many big retailers many times.

This could very well be a scam, but I'm not sure why the seller didn't take the opportunity to take the money when he had a chance if he really wanted to scam. As always, buyers beware!

BTW, another loop hole through eBay is when buyer leaves seller a positive feedback. So, if the transaction is not completed, never ever leave a seller a positive feedback.

Dec 04, 2012 at 02:31 AM

mmurph
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #8 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

Maybe the 3rd person - that the guy that listed was selling for - hoped to grab the money before the guy listing it for him realized there were no cameras? Pretending that he had shipped?

It just doesn't make sense. He listed it with a picture of a US & Canada Canon Warranty card, for $3,100 shipped with the 24-105 kit lens ...

But he didn't specify Canon US warranty, didn't even specify the lens. May be worth carrjat calling Keith back to get the whole story. Something fishy here!

Here is the original listing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-Canon-5D-Mark-III-With-Lens-/251192369121

Dec 04, 2012 at 02:39 AM

scottam10
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #9 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

Glad everything worked out

How does this guy manage to offer 5D3+24-105 for $3100??

This is so much cheaper than any other seller I have seen.

Yes, the seller sounds dodgy, but a price that cheap should be ringing alarm bells

Bottom line is, if it sounds too good to be true...

Dec 04, 2012 at 02:41 AM

carrjar
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #10 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

I think what saved me here is that I DID NOT accept his transaction cancelation request. He issued the refund within seconds of me calling him. I'm wondering if he needed to buy sometime and hope the 8 others canceled the transaction per his request BEFORE he issued refund. The shipping # was generated via USPS and marked shipped. However (like it often does) the USPS info was not updated.

Dec 04, 2012 at 02:41 AM

dr_teng
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #11 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

The USPS info not updating means he generated an online shipping form and then didn't drop it off. Or the item could not exist and he just generated it (so it couldn't be dropped off). Hard to say in that kind of situation.

Dec 04, 2012 at 03:25 AM

smmokan16
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #12 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

Doesn't sound like much of a scam to me... sounds like there was a miscommunication and they fixed the problem. It's the holidays, they're probably selling dozens of those things.

Dec 04, 2012 at 03:42 AM

sirimiri
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #13 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

carrjar wrote:
...I receive the cancelation email via eBay and just before clicking "confirm" I decide to read the details link. It says, only cancel transaction IF you have been ISSUED A REFUND already or IF you have NOT PAID. The seller was requesting that I do the cancelation before the refund took place and after I paid. ...

And what would have happened had you cancelled the transaction?

Dec 04, 2012 at 03:45 AM

carrjar
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #14 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

Exactly sirimiri. I'm hoping the others got their refund and that it was all a big seller mess that only looks really bad. What's crazy is the seller already left me positive feedback. I'm waiting to hopefully leave positive/neutral feedback for the communication and refund.

Dec 04, 2012 at 03:51 AM

mmurph
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #15 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

Sellers can only leave positive feedback, so they often do it immediately. Probably hoping to increase their chances of getting positive feedback from you.

Dec 04, 2012 at 04:03 AM

Wahoowa
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #16 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

Now, I gotcha. I thought that you had accepted the cancellation before getting the refund. So, that's indeed fishy.

A couple of things not to do on eBay:

- Don't leave a seller a positive feedback before the transaction is complete.

- Don't accept a cancellation or cancel a dispute before you get your refund.

Dec 04, 2012 at 04:43 AM

Access
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #17 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

Almost certainly this is a systematic scam, it's probably rehearsed and he hs lots of practice doing it, it may be a roll of the dice but a roll of the dice is good enough to make some money off since he loses nothing or very little if it doesn't work.

Dec 04, 2012 at 04:47 AM

BluesWest
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #18 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

How does he send a tracking number for something that isn't even in stock? That sounds like pure fraud on someone's part.

I agree, and if I was on the receiving end of this transaction - even with my money refunded - I'd be asking eBay to investigate the seller.

IMO, eBay users have an obligation to help police the system. eBay management by themselves can't catch all the scammers.

John

Dec 04, 2012 at 06:31 AM

campy
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #19 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

The fact that there was no shipping info on the tracking with the USPS is not unusual. They suck at that, and with the holidays you would be lucky to get the package. I would never ever have a $3100 item shipped by the USPS if you don't receive it in a reasonable time they won't even start a trace for 3 weeks.

Dec 04, 2012 at 07:23 AM

carrjar
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #20 · Buyer BEWARE: 5D Mark III on eBay Scam

I will be notifying eBay and have no plans to leave feedback. Here is why I believe it's 100% a scam, and a VERY good one. In his eBay composed message wrote, "We have in fact been told that this new wholesaler does NOT have an inventory of these. We have been working with eBay to go after them for misrepresenting themselves to us and inconviencing you. We have also been instructed to send a cancelation request to you and once this has been accepted by you, we will refund the entire amount of your purchase. Again, I apologize for this complete let down. You deserved better than this. Unfortunately it is out of our control. The cancelation request will be coming soon. Keith 5598713277". eBay clearly instructs to not cancel unless you have NOT paid or have been refunded.

Dec 04, 2012 at 01:48 PM

1 2 end
FM Forums \| Forum & Miscellaneous \| Join Upload & Sell 1 2 end