eBay scam?

[DanoPhoto]

I do not use eBay often, but occasionally troll there for equipment "deals", so this really struck me as odd:
 
"EF 400mm 2.8L IS USM NEW IN BOX" with a starting price of $4.13.  In the body of the add the seller claims that the BUYITNOW price is $1,300.00 but I need to contact him at his gmail account.  curiosity prompted me to send an e-mail.  The response was even more bizarre:
 
"The buy it now price of this item is US $1,299.00, free shipping.We offer 30 days to return it if by any reason you are not satisfied with it.In order to start this transaction we need your ebay username,full name and shipping address...You will get an ebay invoice with the new buy it now price...The item will be shipped only to the payment address."
 
I may not be the brightest bulb on the tree, but this looks like a pretty amatuer scam to me.
 
Reality check, please.

[neuroanatomist]

Scam.  Thanks for not posting the link, I'd recommend reporting it to eBay.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

If the price is too low to be true, than it is almost always a scam.
 
I saw a 70-200mm f/2.8L advertised on our local craigslist for $400 last week.  I dismissed it as a scam, but after reading it, it was too well written for a scam.  I contacted the owner, and he told me how he bought it new several years ago for film photography, and saw a haze on one of the internal lens elements.  He sent it to Canon, they cleaned it, but could not completely remove the haze.  It was not a fungus.  They told him that it did not affect the optical performance according to their testing.  Then he lost interest in film photography and put his gear away in 2005 never to be used again.
 
I went out to look at it, and it was showroom spotless, as was his really nice home.  He said he would consider a offer, and since I had not tested the lens, he accepted $350.  Then he proceeded to bring out his other equipment one piece at a time, all in the original box and looking unused.  I ended up buying it all for less than the usual scammer low prices.  He even had the original B&H receipts.
 
I, have held the lens to the light, several different ways, it is remarkably clean and clear, and autofocuses accurately.  I can't see a haze, and the images are sharp and detailed.  I'm tempted to sell my 70-200mm f/4 IS and use the f/2.8 non IS for everything.  With my new 5D MK III, I might be able to boost the ISO enough to get fast shutter speeds even in low light.

[DanoPhoto]

That is a great experience and a classic example of the benefit of CL over eBay.


99.99% positive it was a scam, but wanted a reality check since I do not "eBay" much.

[agierke]

good eye and thanks for reminding us all to be vigilant when it comes to "to good to be true" deals.

my general rule of thumb is i dont buy anything photography related that doesn't fulfill one of the following requirements:

1. it comes with a US warranty
2. i see it in person and can test it

on big ticket items the risk is too high. i dont want to burn 200.00 on an item that may miss let alone 1000.00+

1000.00 + items i need guarantees....and i will pay several hundred dollars more for an item that comes with guarantees over the one that doesn't.

i had several students burned by bait and switch schemes that NYC camera shops would run where they advertised new cameras for hundreds of dollars less than what B&H would list them at. once the companies had the customers credit card number they would get a follow up call informing them that they would need to purchase several other items that were typically included in the camera box (battery, charger, usb cord, eye piece cover, camera strap, body caps etc). each one of the items would be marked up at a ridiculous price (100.00 + for the battery that was supposed to come with the camera) and in the end these students would end up paying several hundreds of dollars above B&H list just to complete the basic camera. if there was any attempt to to cancel the transaction these companies would all of a sudden stop returning calls and drag out the return process over a period of months.

i know at one point the NYC DA got on their case and was making attempts at shutting these businesses down but it was difficult as they were often run out of back rooms with simply a telephone bank where they could close up shop quickly and reopen somewhere else under another name.

as a result the only camera shops that get my business are the established ones (B&H, Adorama, Calumet, and my local shop). the only items i will get off of ebay are out of production items like Brownies, Polaroid items, sheet film holders etc.

too much risk....

[jessiebailey]

There's a lot of scam incidents lately. I guess almost everyone has been conned out of cash before, whether it is the homeless male on the street corner faking his lack of wealth or a fake debt collector trying to take your cash. There is no have to feel lousy over it since everyone gets caught in one. Although we would like to think we are all too smart to get caught in frauds, occasionally we underestimate the scammer. Everybody falls into these traps every now and then. Fortunately, one can Pay the bills, even after a scam.

[prestonpalmer]

BUY IT!! If the product isn't what they say it is, PayPal warranty kicks in!

[D.Sim]

If the price is too low to be true, than it is almost always a scam.
 
I saw a 70-200mm f/2.8L advertised on our local craigslist for $400 last week.  I dismissed it as a scam, but after reading it, it was too well written for a scam.  I contacted the owner, and he told me how he bought it new several years ago for film photography, and saw a haze on one of the internal lens elements.  He sent it to Canon, they cleaned it, but could not completely remove the haze.  It was not a fungus.  They told him that it did not affect the optical performance according to their testing.  Then he lost interest in film photography and put his gear away in 2005 never to be used again.
 
I went out to look at it, and it was showroom spotless, as was his really nice home.  He said he would consider a offer, and since I had not tested the lens, he accepted $350.  Then he proceeded to bring out his other equipment one piece at a time, all in the original box and looking unused.  I ended up buying it all for less than the usual scammer low prices.  He even had the original B&H receipts.
 
I, have held the lens to the light, several different ways, it is remarkably clean and clear, and autofocuses accurately.  I can't see a haze, and the images are sharp and detailed.  I'm tempted to sell my 70-200mm f/4 IS and use the f/2.8 non IS for everything.  With my new 5D MK III, I might be able to boost the ISO enough to get fast shutter speeds even in low light.

Wow, you got it good...

[MazV-L]

I wouldn't trust any "seller" that asks you to email them directly rather than use ebay messages.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

BUY IT!! If the product isn't what they say it is, PayPal warranty kicks in!

The thing is, he can't buy it, he has to email the seller to get payment instructions, and you can bet there is no paypal warranty coverage for sending money to Russia.

[DanoPhoto]

Right on there!  If was direct thru eBay, then would not be as conmcerned, but the "e-mail me your eBay user name" was a bright red flag.
Reported the listing to eBay.
 

[revup67]

I had a similar experience on Amazon.  About 6 months ago I spotted a brand new 5D Mark II for $1700.  The camera was listed under an Amazon account that sold Fragrances and Scents they also had a stellar scorecard.  I wrote to this seller and they replied stating they got it as a gift but had no use for it.  They requested my email address stating they would send instruction on how to pay with Western Union which was the first red flag.  I replied with my email in hopes only to trap their IP address.  I followed their game and figured out what they were doing.  They hacked a legitimate seller on Amazon, used their account to bait a suspected buyer.  Once the hacker got the email via Amazon email account, he requested use of the victim's email address.  The hacker wrote me and I recorded his IP address in the header of the email and did a trace to find out he was using an ISP (internet service provider) in NY.  I called their support team and reported to them the scam and IP and they closed the account.  Wouldn't you know it, the hacker opens another email account with the same ISP and writes me again.  This went on several times until finally he was shut down for good.  This assures the old adage, if it's too good to be true it probably is.  Hopefully I saved a few people from getting taken by this scammer.

[dr croubie]

Yeah, that sort of thing is completely against ebay rules, I'm always on ebay and i'm seeing a lot more of those types these days. But then, if the starting bid is low, there's no harm in bidding on it, the item is just going to get deleted anyway (or if not, the seller will delete your bid anyway).
It's generally not a scam for money, they just want your email address so they can spam you with other things. Whatever you do, don't email them, your inbox will regret it (through a combination of being smart and owning my own domain name, I get maybe 1 spam email a month).

If you want to report those items, hit the 'report item' on the right of the page, choose the Listing Practices -> Avoiding Ebay Fees -> Contact Info in Listing, ebay are really good and delete items within a few hours of getting those complaints...

[ScottyP]

HAHAHA.
I was selling a lens on Craigslist this week, and I got the most hysterical response from one "guy."  First he sent an email saying just "is the item still available?" and nothing else.
I replied that it was and then I got the funny one.
He sends a message saying "STOP.  Remove the item from Craigslist...I will be paying you $50.00 over your asking price...and I will be sending my movers to come and remove the item.  He'd contact me with another email to "arrange payment."

That would have been a lame scam for something expensive and HEAVY like furniture or something, but for a sub-$200 kit zoom lens it was absurd.

[prestonpalmer]

BUY IT!! If the product isn't what they say it is, PayPal warranty kicks in!

The thing is, he can't buy it, he has to email the seller to get payment instructions, and you can bet there is no paypal warranty coverage for sending money to Russia.

If no paypal, no deal!