Chances to buy fake Kindle off Ebay

[desertgrandma]

This thread could directly relate to this one.........the Kindles could be stolen, and when the 'new owner' goes to register.......

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99759

[dougmwpsu]

It could be a Triangulation scam. This just happened to a friend of mine when he bought a new PS3 game on eBay.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5158208/

[pashlit]

Originally Posted by gargoyle67

If bought from ebay and paid with paypal you could just claim the money back via pp.

OK, I asked that seller a question and he actually replied. Then I noticed he does not accept PayPal. And I see he sold like 30 units already. Ebay account can be easily stolen and used for bad things. I used to sell on Ebay and quite often my items were bought by members with US address but ended up being just stolen ones,

[Tiersten]

Amazon do occasionally sell boxed sealed refurbished or old model Kindles on their warehouse site.

I'd be wary anyway if they're selling such a large number of units. If it was just 1 or 2 then you can come up with a reasonably plausible reason as to why they're trying to sell them. If you're selling 30 then they either found a big batch of really cheap old model or refurb Kindles on the Amazon warehouse site or something dubious is happening. If they're brand new latest model Kindles like the K3 or DXG for significantly less than the retail price then I wouldn't trust it.

[pashlit]

OK, I finished my investigation and can confirm that the seller I was watching is a scammer. So, for those of you folks looking to save some $$$ I would strongly advise to rethink it twice before making purchase off Ebay or Craigslist. The best bet is to find a person who just sells his one Kindle. A private seller. When you see a seller with 500 positive feedbacks selling units for such appealing price look at his/her feedback history. If you see that there were no purchases/sales on that account for long time there is a big chance this account just got stolen and real owner is unaware of this fact.
Hope this thread will help you to avoid troubles. Happy reading.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by pashlit

OK, I finished my investigation and can confirm that the seller I was watching is a scammer. So, for those of you folks looking to save some $$$ I would strongly advise to rethink it twice before making purchase off Ebay or Craigslist. The best bet is to find a person who just sells his one Kindle. A private seller. When you see a seller with 500 positive feedbacks selling units for such appealing price look at his/her feedback history. If you see that there were no purchases/sales on that account for long time there is a big chance this account just got stolen and real owner is unaware of this fact.
Hope this thread will help you to avoid troubles. Happy reading.

Did you use the "report this seller" button?

[pashlit]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Did you use the "report this seller" button?

Ooops. I didnt. I usually dont like reporting people. And to tell the truth I dont dislike scammers. People making purchases off Ebay for cheap should be aware of the fact that there is smth behind it and should only blame themselves at the end. Scammers make us smarter...at least some of us.
There is no such a thing as free lunch, isn't it?

[DaAfroSheenQueen]

so why go to all the trouble to "investigate" and "prove that this is a scam" if you don't report the seller?

[pashlit]

Originally Posted by DaAfroSheenQueen

so why go to all the trouble to "investigate" and "prove that this is a scam" if you don't report the seller?

The point is to warn the people who are naive and help them avoid mistakes and loose money. Who cares, u might say. Well, somebody does. That guy sold like 40 units already and continues to relist them and people keep buying em like buns at a bakery.

[DaAfroSheenQueen]

I mean i get that the point is to warn folks, but who are you warning? Usually, people come here AFTER they have already brought the blacklisted kindle to figure out how to go around the blacklisting or to figure out what thier options are. So your not "helping" them if you don't report the guy, your sitting back watching him get over on folks and allowing him to get away with it.

[pashlit]

Originally Posted by DaAfroSheenQueen

I mean i get that the point is to warn folks, but who are you warning? Usually, people come here AFTER they have already brought the blacklisted kindle to figure out how to go around the blacklisting or to figure out what thier options are. So your not "helping" them if you don't report the guy, your sitting back watching him get over on folks and allowing him to get away with it.

Listen. First of all I dont want to report that guy cause he is not an original owner of that account. If I report him he will just use another stolen account and continue his dirty business. I am not gonna chase him all the way down cause its pointless. I used to sell on Ebay and I know how those guys work. So I did my quick research and shared it here but the rest is none of my business. People should have their own judgement when buying off Ebay. I raised that question and pretty much sure this thread will pop up many times in Google search. And I am pretty much sure people will read this thread before committing to such a purchase.

[dougmwpsu]

Originally Posted by pashlit

Listen. First of all I dont want to report that guy cause he is not an original owner of that account. If I report him he will just use another stolen account and continue his dirty business. I am not gonna chase him all the way down cause its pointless. I used to sell on Ebay and I know how those guys work. So I did my quick research and shared it here but the rest is none of my business. People should have their own judgement when buying off Ebay. I raised that question and pretty much sure this thread will pop up many times in Google search. And I am pretty much sure people will read this thread before committing to such a purchase.

You could at least share that seller's name so that no one on Mobile Read buys that kindle. What's the harm in that?

If someone really got their account stolen, then you are doing them a favor by reporting the account so ebay shuts it down until the original owner can reclaim it. I wouldn't want my name sullied by a scammer using my account.

[pashlit]

Originally Posted by dougmwpsu

You could at least share that seller's name so that no one on Mobile Read buys that kindle. What's the harm in that?

If someone really got their account stolen, then you are doing them a favor by reporting the account so ebay shuts it down until the original owner can reclaim it. I wouldn't want my name sullied by a scammer using my account.

OK, I did send a warning to Ebay. Here is the listing. Or one of them:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ht_5478wt_1142

[wellwet]

@pashlit, I bought kindle from that seller and the mails coming to me was looking like someone from china is writing them (always same replies etc.) Seller send me and paypal invoice, not ebay So I didn't pay and gave neg, wrote an alert in feedback (I'm hakansengun)

This is the second DX I bought from a swindler from ebay (first one was 1 month ago, ebay refunded me)

People saying to not to buy from ebay. I'm in Istanbul and Amazon doesn't sell to here, only option is friends who are going to USA, or buying from Ebay So I bought 13-14 DX's from Ebay without problem in last 1-1,5 years (all of my friend asks me for kindles )

Bought another 1 month old DX graphite with cover only for 290 USD 3 hours ago And I will continue to buy from Ebay

[pashlit]

Originally Posted by wellwet

@pashlit, I bought kindle from that seller and the mails coming to me was looking like someone from china is writing them (always same replies etc.) Seller send me and paypal invoice, not ebay So I didn't pay and gave neg, wrote an alert in feedback (I'm hakansengun)

This is the second DX I bought from a swindler from ebay (first one was 1 month ago, ebay refunded me)

People saying to not to buy from ebay. I'm in Istanbul and Amazon doesn't sell to here, only option is friends who are going to USA, or buying from Ebay So I bought 13-14 DX's from Ebay without problem in last 1-1,5 years (all of my friend asks me for kindles )

Bought another 1 month old DX graphite with cover only for 290 USD 3 hours ago And I will continue to buy from Ebay

Je je. Thats what I am talking about. I buy from eBay. Its a good spot to find good deals with reasonable care of course. But listings like the one I was talking about was an obvious scam. Some people do not realize it unfortunately. Good luck and happy reading to all of us.