# Another too good to be true item??



## coherent

I was looking for a cheap vacuum pump and came across a really good deal on ebay from a seller. I placed the order and used paypal.
Then I noticed he had sold nearly 100. All within the last 72 hours.

He also had a BS-0 precision dividing head with a 5" 3 jaw chuck and tailstock... $46.73
here is the link.








						BS-0 Precision Dividing Head With 5" 3-jaw Chuck & Tailstock For CNC Milling USA  | eBay
					

1:40 ratio. Direct index plate of 24 holes allow direct dividing in 2,3,4,6,8,12 & 24. Direct/indirect dividing. Semi-universal dividing head. Dividing Head Set x 1. 3 X Dividing Plates. 1 X 125mm 3 Jaw Chuck.



					www.ebay.com
				




I'll bite, so I ordered one, and payed via paypal.

I know that when something looks too good to be true it usually is, but figured no harm no foul using paypal I won't have to worry about losing my money. Will I get my items? Time will tell I guess. Looking at this seller ( mqwhg27) I noted he had 172 feedback and 100% positive and... that he had quite a few items at really low prices and all in the $40-$60 range. All had sold dozens and all in the last 72 hours. So being the good guy I am, I called called Ebay to report something was possibly not quite right. He had sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of items and more sales in the last 3 days than he had total history. Ebay said he was a long established seller with no issues. So, we'll see. Maybe it's legit. If so you may want to take a look. If you buy, use a means that guarantees the item or a refund.  But, with my experience, if something looks too good to be true, it usually is.


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## markba633csi

I think we've been down this road before, and the items never show up.  You'll get your money back, but it wastes your time
Mark
ps just for grins I ordered one too, I figure worst case the chuck is worth 40$   I can use it somewhere


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## coherent

markba633csi said:


> I think we've been down this road before, and the items never show up.  You'll get your money back, but it wastes your time
> Mark



Yep for a 3 jaw chuck a few months ago.  But I have got a couple items for really good prices. Figure as long as it only cost me a little time, I'll waste a little and take the gamble. I'll just assume I won't get it and be reimbursed but be pretty happy if I do.


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## markba633csi

I wonder if Ebay lets flaky sellers purge negative feedback?  Hard to believe he wouldn't have some if he wasn't delivering items
Should be interesting to see what happens.


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## matthewsx

For less than $50 I'll give it a try.


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## projectnut

Don't be surprised when/if it arrives it's a "made in China" knock off.  It's identified as a BS not a B&S (Brown & Sharpe) dividing head with a B&S #7 taper.  #7 collets aren't that popular today, and if I remember correctly only go to 1/2".  A cheap set usually costs around $100.00 while the B&S originals usually cost around $45.00 each.


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## matthewsx

I fully expect cheap knockoff. I've been eying a Taiwan made unit on Craigslist locally  that I think is a pretty good deal at 5 times this price. If I get this one it'll probably be the basis of a 4th axis for my homemade CNC mill/drill project.


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## HarryJM

For that price I just order one. If it does not work out then maybe sell on ebay for a little profit


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## MrWhoopee

37 sold in the last 2 days. That same dividing head (at least the same pictures) is available from several other sellers for ~$240. I ordered one too, but I won't hold my breath.


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## BGHansen

Do a search on eBay for "Mitutoyo Absolute Caliper" and sort by lowest cost first.  You'll see lots of sellers with positive feedback with comments like "good stuff".  I bought an 8" and 12" for something like $10 each but it was a scam.  Did get my money back, but still a pain.  Wish you guys luck with this one.

Bruce


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## MikeInOr

No where in the description does it say that it is actually made out of metal!  

125mm is 3" not 5".  I have never actually seen a 3" chuck... must be for those micro-mills.

You guys are crazy!... I ordered one too.


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## coherent

I expect it will fall through. I think what happens is someone in China who can't read or write English well posts the ads and either doesn't convert the currency correctly, or posts their cost.  Obviously they can't sell at a loss, so the deal falls through. Its common practice for the "pro" import sellers that when their  feedback score drops to a level that negatively affects sales, they simply close that account, and start another. Many of the big time import sellers use a dozen or more different accounts/names at any given time.


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## cjtoombs

markba633csi said:


> I wonder if Ebay lets flaky sellers purge negative feedback?  Hard to believe he wouldn't have some if he wasn't delivering items
> Should be interesting to see what happens.



I don't think you can leave feedback on canceled orders, which is what I expect to happen.


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## coherent

Hmm something's up. Maybe my call earlier to Ebay initiated an investigation? When you click on the item, it's gone. Any when you list any items for sale by that seller, it's zero now.


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## MikeInOr

cjtoombs said:


> I don't think you can leave feedback on canceled orders, which is what I expect to happen.



Ebay will not allow you to leave feedback on canceled orders until 10 days after the order has been canceled.  You can then leave negative feedback.

Sellers can not purge negative feedback... they can only create a new account.


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## markba633csi

Seems like the feedback system falls apart if the seller just opens a new account. Ebay should have some system in place so feedback scores follow the seller somehow-  IDK, but I see a loophole here that should be closed


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## Djl338

Hmm, he’s also selling a mitutoyo 300mm digital caliper for $29.00

Mitutoyo 300 mm caliper


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## Superburban

markba633csi said:


> I wonder if Ebay lets flaky sellers purge negative feedback?  Hard to believe he wouldn't have some if he wasn't delivering items
> Should be interesting to see what happens.


I found another like this a few days ago. He had 100% feedback, but just for small stuff over the years. Then on the 11th, he had tons of items at unbelievable prices, and lots of sales starting then. Its like they milk the account for a year or so, then try to get as much as they can in a few days.


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## gr8legs

Well, I clicked on the link above and got a 'not available' but eBay redirected me to essentially the same listing / same price at <https://www.ebay.com/itm/BS-0-5-Ind...-Chuck-Tailstock-CNC-Milling-New/183846477608> and the seller claims to have 10 HP VFD for about $50 - so I ordered both pieces and am now crossing my fingers. A teensy risk of $100 total for these items seems worth it.

You always want to be cautious with a seller with not much feedbacks - but sometimes it is worth it as new sellers are trying to establish a good reputation and offer low prices like these. The eBay guarantee (and the one on your credit card) are pretty foolproof IME.
Stu


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## BenW

Scammers use bots to hack accounts, and if they find an account that has good reviews, they upload tons of items for low prices (and change payment info to their own accounts..). 
Like you guys say you get the money back, but for every thousand orders there's bound to be a few that don't ask for a refund... 

Sent from my LYA-L29 using Tapatalk


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## ErichKeane

Ugg... I ended up ordering the 10HP VFD from that seller last night.  I was hoping it was just a mis-price and the guy would give me a discount instead of cancelling.  I guess it turns out he's just a scammer :/


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## projectnut

MikeInOr said:


> No where in the description does it say that it is actually made out of metal!
> 
> *125mm is 3" not 5". * I have never actually seen a 3" chuck... must be for those micro-mills.
> 
> You guys are crazy!... I ordered one too.



1in= 25.40000mm.  125 divided by 25.4= 4.921259842519685‬.  Not exactly 5", but close enough for Chinese measurements.  It doesn't say it's made out of metal, but the shipping weight is 50.7 lbs.  If it's plastic it's some dense stuff.


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## markba633csi

So this seller is actually an innocent victim of somebody else?  Man, that's low


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## jim18655

I watched something a few months back and it turned out to have a missing number in the price. I expect this will be the same.


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## Ed ke6bnl

keep us up to date


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## Bi11Hudson

And who in their right mind would give free shipping on a fifty pound package? That smells of a scam, so bad it stinks to high heaven. And yeah, I ordered one too. Just on the offhand chance it does work out.

By the way, he's closed the initial account and has a new name, account. So it can't be a mistaken reading or conversion. Has to be a scam... ...


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## Norseman C.B.

Well I took the bait too,  we"ll see what happens with this one ...........
The really cheap three jaw chuck debacle was a bit irritating, but you can get your money back
maybe this one will work out ..............


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## higgite

From the seller’s feedback profile:
“This member, mqwhg27, has decided to make his/her Feedback comments private.”

From eBay feedback profiles help page:
“If you choose to make your feedback profile private, *you won't be able to sell items on eBay *and the feedback comments you've received will be hidden from other members. However, your overall number of positive, neutral, and negative feedback ratings will still be displayed.”

From item listing:
“This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available.”

Sound familiar?

Tom


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## Djl338

The sellers new name/store ,” /fpvmodrtgfa”Fpvmodrtgfa store front 
Dividing head is for sale, along with other large items that would cost more to ship then the sale price. I fell for the 6” chuck deal a while back, don’t know if I want to roll the dice again


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## MikeInOr

projectnut said:


> 1in= 25.40000mm.  125 divided by 25.4= 4.921259842519685‬.  Not exactly 5", but close enough for Chinese measurements.  It doesn't say it's made out of metal, but the shipping weight is 50.7 lbs.  If it's plastic it's some dense stuff.



Ok, you win... My early morning math was definitely wrong!  

I am very curious what we will get... If anything at all.

My father responded to a CL add once "12 powermatic cabinet saw $1"... I still have that 12" Powermatic 71 cabinet saw... with new bearings and a new shaft on the blade elevation... But for $1 the guy even loaded it for him!


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## Be_Zero_Be

Has anyone received an eBay shipping notice with tracking number?


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## martik777

Free shipping to Canada too, I'm not fallin' for it. Watch for "Seller no longer on ebay"


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## matthewsx

Either they have too many of these things and are dumping them or it's a dedicated scammer sticking to the same item.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BS-0-Preci...&itm=192948689053&_trksid=p5411.c100167.m2940

John


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## hman

Djl338 said:


> Hmm, he’s also selling a mitutoyo 300mm digital caliper for $29.00
> Mitutoyo 300 mm caliper


Shucks, Dj, that ain't nothin' ... here's one for $4.58, free shipping!








						MITUTOYO ABSOLUTE 12" DIGITAL CALIPER BRAND Vernier 500-196-230 300mm/12" in BOX  | eBay
					

Electronic digital vernier caliper. Mitutoyo Absolute Digimatic Caliper 0-300mm / 0-12". Caliper Total Length: 39.5cm/15.56"(appr.). - A digital caliper equipped with standard outside and inside jaws.



					www.ebay.com
				




I've noticed something common to just about all the "scam likely" ebay listings.  The lead photo has the brand name geyed out.  In addition, none of the photos that do show "Mitutoyo" have the "Mouse over to zoom" feature, so you can't take a good, close look.  And the "Mitutoyo" name looks a lot brighter white than any of the other white lettering on the face - photoshop?  Finally, they all claim 12"/300mm calipers, but the photos that do show the entire caliper are of 6" units.

LOTS of red flags popping up here!

PS - just for fun I checked the Mitutoyo website,




__





						Mitutoyo
					






					ecatalog.mitutoyo.com
				



Turns out that 500-196-230 is NOT the part number for any of their 12" absolute units.  Tried a search for that part number, and got "No products match your search criteria."  Final nail in THAT coffin, as far as I'm concerned!




__





						Products and Solutions | Mitutoyo America Corporation
					

As your trusted metrology partner, Mitutoyo has the best-in-class metrology solutions you need to ensure accuracy. Explore Mitutoyo’s product portfolio today.




					ecatalog.mitutoyo.com


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## hman

projectnut said:


> Don't be surprised when/if it arrives it's a "made in China" knock off.  It's identified as a BS not a B&S (Brown & Sharpe) dividing head with a B&S #7 taper.


projectnut and matthewsx - Definitely BS!  Check the "Item specifics," and note that the brand is given as "Unbranded."


Interestingly, the item matthewsx posted CLAIMS to be located in Sacramento, shipping less than a week.  So it shouldn't take too long to see what you get, if you want to take a chance on it.


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## WesPete66

Funny, but earlier today I was looking at a drywall lift on ebay. They tend to sell for ~$137 on sale, or $170 regular, imported.  So I find a listing for $37 buy it now & shipping included. Then I notice other similar listings..  I couldn't bring myself to buy thinking something was not right.  Maybe I should give it a shot.


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## Boswell

You all have way too much free time if you have time to spend on this type of dead-end


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## MrWhoopee

matthewsx said:


> Either they have too many of these things and are dumping them or it's a dedicated scammer sticking to the same item.
> 
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/BS-0-Precision-Dividing-Head-With-5-3-jaw-Chuck-Tailstock-For-CNC-Milling-USA/192948689053?_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIM.MBE&ao=1&asc=20140131123730&meid=63c3457cfa7d4d7499e2200b48e59d9c&pid=100167&rk=2&rkt=15&sd=323831686994&itm=192948689053&_trksid=p5411.c100167.m2940
> 
> John



Damn! That one's even cheaper, and it's in Sacramento. All 3 of those vendors are based in China and created their accounts mid 2018. They (He) sold mostly military models judging by the feedback .

I believe that the "BS-0" refers to the size.


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## C-Bag

That's an insane price, so I'll be watching how this comes out and if it gets there and is functional I'm going to jump on that too!


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## hman

Boswell said:


> You all have way too much free time if you have time to spend on this type of dead-end


Yup.  I'm retired-ed


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## jim18655

My brother and I each ordered one. See what happens but paypal and ebay guarantee get your item or money back.


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## Pr3ssure

there have been 16 sold.... today. I'm guessing it's all of you.


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## markba633csi

Wow this thread sure took off!  "for entertainment purposes only"


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## higgite

markba633csi said:


> Wow this thread sure took off!  "for entertainment purposes only"


Yeah, but who is being entertained, us or the ebay seller? 

Tom


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## mmcmdl

I am !  The tool is stated to be " of good quality " .


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## ratranger

Well, I'm going to give it a shot.  It'll work for the stuff I tend to work on.  Plus like others have said, pay through paypal with a credit card and you have levels of ways to get money back.


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## rgray

The ebay feedback system seem to be broken.
Last year I suckered for a too good of deal on a 3D printer.
Shipping from china so would take awhile.
Seller had pages and pages of items....then the next day nothing...then couple of days later pages of items again.
I followed the tracking number and that kept me at bay for the 3 weeks or so till the package got here.
I was shipped a 50 cent piece.
So went about the process to get my money back. And looked into the sellers feedback etc.
Hundreds of positive feedbacks that told of him being a scammer. 
When I attempted to leave negative feedback I was not allowed to do so.
Others could not leave negative feedback also so left positive and wrote about him being a scammer.
When I initially bought I looked at the feedback score and baised my purchase on that. If I had read the feedback I would have known not to make the purchase.

Ebay wanted me to do a police report to get my money refunded.
I never did it and my credit card company refunded the amount. 
Ebay is quickly becoming a buyer beware outfit.


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## coherent

Just keep in mind that if you actually receive a box or envelope, if it seems too small or light, I'd video the labels, and you opening it. Have some proof that it's not what you ordered if it's a scam. Don't return to sender without instructions to do so from Ebay it could void the Ebay return/refund policy. Ebay/Paypal is pretty good about refunds if there is not any tracking or you don't receive anything, but if there is tracking and they show it delivered, then it's now up to you to prove it was a scam. Unfortunately there are buyers who scam honest sellers, so they have to protect sellers also.


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## markba633csi

I think the CC company will refund in any case, they send you a form, yada yada,  couple weeks for investigation, then money refunded
About the feedback:  Ebay really should do something, they need a complaint department that gets results
M
ps I rarely ever have a problem with domestic purchases except occasional shipping damage


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## Djl338

hman said:


> Shucks, Dj, that ain't nothin' ... here's one for $4.58, free shipping!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MITUTOYO ABSOLUTE 12" DIGITAL CALIPER BRAND Vernier 500-196-230 300mm/12" in BOX  | eBay
> 
> 
> Electronic digital vernier caliper. Mitutoyo Absolute Digimatic Caliper 0-300mm / 0-12". Caliper Total Length: 39.5cm/15.56"(appr.). - A digital caliper equipped with standard outside and inside jaws.
> 
> 
> 
> www.ebay.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've noticed something common to just about all the "scam likely" ebay listings.  The lead photo has the brand name geyed out.  In addition, none of the photos that do show "Mitutoyo" have the "Mouse over to zoom" feature, so you can't take a good, close look.  And the "Mitutoyo" name looks a lot brighter white than any of the other white lettering on the face - photoshop?  Finally, they all claim 12"/300mm calipers, but the photos that do show the entire caliper are of 6" units.
> 
> LOTS of red flags popping up here!
> 
> PS - just for fun I checked the Mitutoyo website,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mitutoyo
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ecatalog.mitutoyo.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Turns out that 500-196-230 is NOT the part number for any of their 12" absolute units.  Tried a search for that part number, and got "No products match your search criteria."  Final nail in THAT coffin, as far as I'm concerned!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Products and Solutions | Mitutoyo America Corporation
> 
> 
> As your trusted metrology partner, Mitutoyo has the best-in-class metrology solutions you need to ensure accuracy. Explore Mitutoyo’s product portfolio today.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ecatalog.mitutoyo.com



Whaat??, its almost as funny as the Nigerian Prince needing to get me my millions, emails I get.  Don't think I've seen feedback scores in the 70's before...


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## projectnut

There seem to be far more scammers on eBay lately.  Many that claim to be from "California" are actually fronts for businesses in China. I ran into one a couple years ago selling "precision protractors".  The item did arrive, but was badly damaged.  When I contacted the seller their answer was "that's to be expected when shipping all the way from China".  We went round and round for 3 weeks until I finally told them that unless the item was replaced I would open a complaint with eBay.  Low and behold a new undamaged protractor arrived special delivery in 3 days.

I now only buy from vendors I can verify are headquartered in the US.  Sometimes it takes some research to dig through the layers, but in the end it pays off.  I'm sure there are plenty of scammers in this country.  The difference is that they are accountable to our laws, and the credit card companies have access to their cash flow.


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## nnam

Knock off is the name of the game in that area of the world.  Everything from medicine, food to non-life threatening things.  If it's not knock off, then it's fake.  Like judges, constitution, law, freedom, liberty, and even history text books.  This sounds funny, but its' very true.  They make up pretty much everything.

But we do get cheap stuff that we can't afford otherwise, so not all bad.
I just got screwed with a battery order and in a process of getting my money back.  The seller is gone.


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## RJSakowski

Wow! Mitutoyo Absolute calipers for 1/4 the price of HF calipers.  The seller has been selling since last March and has already sold more than 200.
It does raise the question of how we as buyers can become more defensive. This particular seller has negative comments, most in the past month and pertaining to a  scam or non-shipment. Both strong reasons to avoid this seller.  Actually, if you want a real deal, four gallons of epoxy from this seller for less than $10 and free shipping worldwide via USPS! Buyer beware!


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## MikeInOr

rgray said:


> The ebay feedback system seem to be broken.
> Last year I suckered for a too good of deal on a 3D printer.
> Shipping from china so would take awhile.
> Seller had pages and pages of items....then the next day nothing...then couple of days later pages of items again.
> I followed the tracking number and that kept me at bay for the 3 weeks or so till the package got here.
> I was shipped a 50 cent piece.
> So went about the process to get my money back. And looked into the sellers feedback etc.
> Hundreds of positive feedbacks that told of him being a scammer.
> When I attempted to leave negative feedback I was not allowed to do so.
> Others could not leave negative feedback also so left positive and wrote about him being a scammer.
> When I initially bought I looked at the feedback score and baised my purchase on that. If I had read the feedback I would have known not to make the purchase.
> 
> Ebay wanted me to do a police report to get my money refunded.
> I never did it and my credit card company refunded the amount.
> Ebay is quickly becoming a buyer beware outfit.



I have never not been able to get a refund on a paypal purchase.

Looking at the sellers positive feed back on the dividing head... about 100 positive feed back for purchases less that $1.  .15c jewlery pendant... they are scammers... like I said I did order one though.

I did have a $2500 laptop show up on my credit card a couple years back.  It was shipped to me then diverted in shipment to an address 200 miles away.  I received a UPS notification that the package had been diverted... even before I saw it on my credit card.  I did file a police report, just a formality for my credit card company.  Local cop called the cops in Portland and they went out and picked up the package from a little old lady that was holding it then going to forward it to someone (I was able to give the local deputy the forward address from the UPS notification).  I was impressed with my local sheriff's deputy for following up... I think the little old lady should have been investigated though... mail fraud is a federal offense I believe!


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## MikeWi

I notice that the original ad, and a similar one I found yesterday both had  seller names that were random groups of letters. I find that suspicious all on it's own.


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## Bob Korves

If it looks too good to be true...


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## Winegrower

How does the scammer make money here?   I only sold one thing on eBay, but I did not get paid until the buyer got delivery, as I recall.   These guys can get around that some way?


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## Winegrower

Because, if I knew that, I think I have a bunch of new Bridgeports that I could let go for, say, $79.95.


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## ErichKeane

Winegrower said:


> How does the scammer make money here?   I only sold one thing on eBay, but I did not get paid until the buyer got delivery, as I recall.   These guys can get around that some way?


Thats what I don't understand... The only thing I can think of is that they hope no one notices that they didn't get their thing and keep that money?  It doesn't seem to make sense to me.


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## Djl338

That's one of the low cost scams.  If you don't pay a ton of money for something, maybe 10% of the usually large number of buyers will forget they spent that relatively small amount of money...until it's too late to file a claim


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## RJSakowski

Winegrower said:


> How does the scammer make money here?   I only sold one thing on eBay, but I did not get paid until the buyer got delivery, as I recall.   These guys can get around that some way?


From PayPal, at least, the seller's account is credited and mine debited almost immediately.


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## mcostello

I bought into the small boring head fiasco and got Mine. The one with the misprinted dial that does not matter for My application. I bought into the small lathe chuck deal and had the order cancelled with feedback not working, got My money back. I just bought into this dividing head deal and time will tell.


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## Bob Korves

I have better things to do than wasting my time trying to beat a scammer at his own game...


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## darkzero

mcostello said:


> I bought into the small boring head fiasco and got Mine. The one with the misprinted dial that does not matter for My application. I bought into the small lathe chuck deal and had the order cancelled with feedback not working, got My money back. I just bought into this dividing head deal and time will tell.



Not sure if it was the same one but the boring head deal many of us bought for $25 was not a fiasco. The seller was Industry Recycles which is a reputable ebay seller. Been around for a while and that's all they sell, surplus items from liquidations. Sometimes their deals are awesome, sometimes not.

The lathe chuck was too good to be true & a waste of time that I didn't bother with, just like this one.


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## Winegrower

Bob Korves said:


> I have better things to do than wasting my time trying to beat a scammer at his own game...



I wish I did too.


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## darkzero

Winegrower said:


> How does the scammer make money here?   I only sold one thing on eBay, but I did not get paid until the buyer got delivery, as I recall.   These guys can get around that some way?



Interesting, I have never heard of getting paid after delivery. I have been buying & selling on ebay since 2003, it has always been "don't ship until you get paid" for as long as I remember.

Back then the window to file a Paypal dispute was only 60 days & ebay did not offer a money back guarantee. This type of scam has been around for a long time, sellers sell what they don't have in hopes of the buyer missing the window for a dispute. Now that the Paypal dispute window is 180 days & ebay offers money back guarantee (even for sellers who don't offer returns) it's much harder but people still try to get away with this scam these days.


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## ErichKeane

darkzero said:


> Interesting, I have never heard of getting paid after delivery. I have been buying & selling on ebay since 2003, it has always been "don't ship until you get paid" for as long as I remember.
> 
> Back then the window to file a Paypal dispute was only 60 days & ebay did not off a money back guarantee. This type of scam has been around for a long time, sellers sell what they don't have in hopes of the buyer missing the window for a dispute. Now that the Paypal dispute window is 180 days & ebay offers money back guarantee (even for sellers who don't offer returns) itxs much harder but people still try do get away with this scam these days.


Could they perhaps be just getting paid then pulling their money out of PayPal, then removing their bank account? It would seem that if you can get a few grand in sales that this would make sense.

Victim ends up being either PayPal or eBay, whoever gets caught holding the bag. If it's eBay, at least they have an incentive to fix it...


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## darkzero

ErichKeane said:


> Could they perhaps be just getting paid then pulling their money out of PayPal, then removing their bank account? It would seem that if you can get a few grand in sales that this would make sense.
> 
> Victim ends up being either PayPal or eBay, whoever gets caught holding the bag. If it's eBay, at least they have an incentive to fix it...



Yes, that was very common in the past. All that resulted was a ban from ebay & paypal but there are ways around that. But these days I hear Paypal can still get the money back even after transfered into a bank account unless that bank account is withdrawn & closed. Not sure of the truth in that though.


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## ErichKeane

darkzero said:


> Yes, that was very common in the past. All that resulted was a ban from ebay & paypal but there are ways around that. But these days I hear Paypal can still get the money back even after transfered into a bank account unless that bank account is withdrawn & closed. Not sure of the truth in that though.


Presumably if they are making enough money on each, they could have a way of getting many free bank accounts to make it work.  That way they can withdraw/close the account easy enough.


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## darkzero

ErichKeane said:


> Presumably if they are making enough money on each, they could have a way of getting many free bank accounts to make it work.  That way they can withdraw/close the account easy enough.



Perhaps but you will still get your money back from ebay. What happens between ebay & the seller no idea. As I mentioned this scam still goes on today but the few times I have experienced it were from sellers with an actual selling history that cared about their account still being active. Once a claim was filed the money was immediately returned by seller.


----------



## ErichKeane

MikeInOr said:


> Ok, you win... My early morning math was definitely wrong!
> 
> I am very curious what we will get... If anything at all.
> 
> My father responded to a CL add once "12 powermatic cabinet saw $1"... I still have that 12" Powermatic 71 cabinet saw... with new bearings and a new shaft on the blade elevation... But for $1 the guy even loaded it for him!


Sure I'm quite sure I'll get my money back, just interesting that this isn't widespread enough for Ebay to crack down on it.


----------



## Superburban

I have had a few of these deals where Ebay caught on, and did the closing, and refunding before I realized something was amiss. Had one about a month ago, where shortly after I made the purchase, there was many giving negative feedbacks, saying the item never arrived, and the tracking showed it delivered to the wrong city/ state. I looked, and even asked on the Ebay forum, and found no way to report to ebay,. and get them a heads up that a big scam was going down. Still when I try to use the report item to ebay link on an add, I get a blank page. I saw trhis one on the 11th, and you could see the classical scam. The seller had 100% feedback, but all for small under $5 or so items, for over a year. Then on the 11th, they suddenly have several items that are a super bargain, and they have sold many starting on the 11th. And again, no way to report it to Ebay.


Would be interesting to see ebay or PayPal list who looses, and who gains on these scams.


----------



## higgite

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Tom


----------



## Cadillac STS

A couple months ago I bought something on eBay. A RS485 USB adapter. It never came.  Contacted seller saying I didn’t receive it. No reply. Asked eBay to step in and they refunded the money.

Might be same with this deal. Maybe a guy has a pallet of these and just wants to move them.


Not long ago there was the deal with 24 cans of Tap Magic for very very low price and it was real.


----------



## coherent

Well, on my original post I said I found this buyer looking for a vacuum pump and gauge kit which I ordered. I just received shipping notice. Although the item location was listed as California, the shipping tracking shows item accepted in China and that it is an "epacket". A little research shows that epackets can not exceed 4.4lbs (2kg). The researching the pump model, it alone weighs 13.5 lbs. So no idea what was shipped, but can guarantee it's not what I ordered.


----------



## ozzie46

Not long ago there was the deal with 24 cans of Tap Magic for very very low price and it was real.


Not for me, it wasn't real. Cancelled my order on me.

Ron


----------



## coherent

ozzie46 said:


> Not long ago there was the deal with 24 cans of Tap Magic for very very low price and it was real.



I believe that was an Amazon deal , not Ebay.


----------



## markba633csi

Yep that was Amazon,  I got one, I think it was around 12$ or .50 / can


----------



## rgray

coherent said:


> A little research shows that epackets can not exceed 4.4lbs (2kg). The researching the pump model, it alone weighs 13.5 lbs. So no idea what was shipped, but can guarantee it's not what I ordered.



At least I got a U.S. 50 cent piece on my deal that was supposed to be an $800.00 3d printer.
Wait maybe I should check it closer it may be counterfeit.


----------



## higgite

rgray said:


> At least I got a U.S. 50 cent piece on my deal that was supposed to be an $800.00 3d printer.
> Wait maybe I should check it closer it may be counterfeit.


It was probably just an innocent typo on the seller's part. Or a glitch in their English-as-a-second-language translator made in China. I'm sure they intended to say "3D Printed" instead of "3D Printer". A 3D printed 50 cent piece for $800 is a heck of a deal... for somebody. 

Tom


----------



## FOMOGO

Speaking of too good to be true, just ordered this. We shall see. Mike

eBay Logo
	



Enter your search keyword

 


Advanced

 
​
















* TOP 7.5KW 220V 10HP 34A VFD VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE INVERTER CE QUALITY *


Item price$48.59Quantity1Item number183846475406Shipping service                                           FedEx Ground or FedEx Home Delivery                                                                                
 
​

​


----------



## higgite

Strange that none of the nineteen $48.59 VFD buyers have bothered to post feedback, but the 100 pieces of crystal beads for $0.16 buyer did. 
But, what the hey, what could possibly go wrong? 

Tom


----------



## MrWhoopee

higgite said:


> Strange that none of the nineteen $48.59 VFD buyers have bothered to post feedback, but the 100 pieces of crystal beads for $0.16 buyer did.
> But, what the hey, what could possibly go wrong?
> 
> Tom


The first order was 6/13, hasn't received it yet. 

Has anyone received a shipment notification yet?


----------



## higgite

MrWhoopee said:


> The first order was 6/13, hasn't received it yet.


Good point. I missed that.

Tom


----------



## Latinrascalrg1

Its strange if this is a scam for the ad to state they only take PayPal as a payment option!  I would think that would make getting their cash more difficult but then again maybe they have someone on the inside or they have a way of collecting the credit card info from paypal to use at a later date.


----------



## nnam

Maybe they collect info and later send targetted ads.  That would be very clever.  They got all the info.


----------



## Superburban

higgite said:


> Strange that none of the nineteen $48.59 VFD buyers have bothered to post feedback, but the 100 pieces of crystal beads for $0.16 buyer did.
> But, what the hey, what could possibly go wrong?
> 
> Tom





MrWhoopee said:


> The first order was 6/13, hasn't received it yet.
> 
> Has anyone received a shipment notification yet?


That seems to be the MO of these folks. Open the account, sell small things for a year or so, then sudenly offer many items cheap, so the sales go viral. They are all based in China, so the delay offers them more time to take the money and run. I bet E-bay/ PayPal is loosing money, but since it is a small percentage of their total intake, they eat it. I would think Ebay/PayPal would have a way to detect those patterns, and alert them to watch.


----------



## nnam

Superburban said:


> That seems to be the MO of these folks. Open the account, sell small things for a year or so, then sudenly offer many items cheap, so the sales go viral. They are all based in China, so the delay offers them more time to take the money and run. I bet E-bay/ PayPal is loosing money, but since it is a small percentage of their total intake, they eat it. I would think Ebay/PayPal would have a way to detect those patterns, and alert them to watch.



I think you're right.  They sell things for a few cents.  Some of the buyers have very heavy volume feedback, buying several single purchase few cents items. So maybe that's a same seller.  They may find a loop hole in eBay or Paypal system that "learn" and give credit to sellers who has good track record.  Maybe with that, the payment to them go out a bit early and they run.  I think they ship to some cheap item to an address in the US and use that tracking.  Once the tracking shows delivery, they get the money.  I am just guessing.

I bought a battery few weeks ago, it happened like that.  They sent something to some place in the US.  The seller is now gone.  I got my money back though.


----------



## Superburban

Interestingly, I had another cheap item, that had tracking, and was moving through the system, then when Ebay shut them down, the tracking stopped there. Leads me to wonder if some of these sellers have a way to manipulate the china post tracking site.


----------



## FOMOGO

Time will tell. Not much to loose being covered by e-bay, and my last fortune cookie told me I would fall into a great deal. Cheers, Mike


----------



## ptsmith

Bob Korves said:


> I have better things to do than wasting my time trying to beat a scammer at his own game...



Well put! I couldn't agree more.

Look at the seller's completed items. Over 200 of them. The oldest being 4 days ago. No current items listed. Look at his feedback. Oh wait, you can't because he has it hidden. Look how many he's received in the last month. Three. He sells over 200 items in 4 days and only has 3 feedback in the past month.

The guy stole someones ebay account via a phishing email so he has an existing account that has a respectable amount of feedback vs opening a new account and having none, threw a ton of buy-it-now auctions up at ridiculously low prices, sells a bunch quickly, pockets the money and then disappears before ebay and paypal can figure out what's going on. It's happened many times before and is nothing new.

So yes, why bother?


----------



## ptsmith

Oops! I didn't think of this: He had over 200 listings. Each listing had multiple items. So he actually sold thousands of items in 4 days. So maybe he hit 6 figures in total sales?


----------



## mmcmdl

I need 3 of those vfds Mike ,and saw that ad last night . I can't make out good from bad ads anymore on the bay . Frustrating .


----------



## Superburban

mmcmdl said:


> I can't make out good from bad ads anymore on the bay . Frustrating .


Ain't that the truth. I just got a old multimeter that was listed as tested, and working fine. I guess they only tested one setting, this is what the inside is like. Yes, the wires are soldered to the 9 volt battery, and the corrosion extends down to the lower circuit board. I guess no more ebay, unless they have pics inside and out.


----------



## mmcmdl

I have a lot to sell on Ebay , Craigslist , here etc . When possible , I get my son to shoot a film of the tools working in action . I sell many engines on CL that way and I don't pull the engines until they are in my driveway and the cash is in hand ! 

Anyone in need of a strobe tach ?


----------



## Tim9

I don’t think it’s an outright scam on the B & S indexing Head. Could be any number of other possibilities as far as the low price. For 50.00 it’s worth the risk of wasting time IMO. Personally I’m thinking they are poor quality units which will need some tlc to get working smoothly. Or they might be missing the worm gears. There’s no mention of 40:1 ratio.
   Heck... with EBay it could be anything... even a store which is front set up to launder money.


----------



## Bob Korves

It is eBay's store, and they need to run it in a businesslike manner.  If not, shun the site, close them down, and do business with people you can trust.  Demand excellent support for a safe and proactive site, and shun them if they do not deliver.  We don't have time to put up with flakes...


----------



## martik777

FOMOGO said:


> Speaking of too good to be true, just ordered this. We shall see. Mike
> 
> eBay Logo
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Enter your search keyword
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Advanced
> 
> 
> ​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> * TOP 7.5KW 220V 10HP 34A VFD VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE INVERTER CE QUALITY *
> 
> 
> Item price$48.59Quantity1Item number183846475406Shipping service                                           FedEx Ground or FedEx Home Delivery
> 
> ​
> 
> ​




That's the same seller as the dividing head


----------



## martik777

Superburban said:


> Ain't that the truth. I just got a old multimeter that was listed as tested, and working fine. I guess they only tested one setting, this is what the inside is like. Yes, the wires are soldered to the 9 volt battery, and the corrosion extends down to the lower circuit board. I guess no more ebay, unless they have pics inside and out.
> 
> View attachment 296687



I've been very satisfied with this one: https://www.banggood.com/ANENG-AN80...-p-1157985.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN 

includes a good selection of test leads


----------



## hman

Superburban said:


> Ain't that the truth. I just got a old multimeter that was listed as tested, and working fine. I guess they only tested one setting, this is what the inside is like. Yes, the wires are soldered to the 9 volt battery, and the corrosion extends down to the lower circuit board. I guess no more ebay, unless they have pics inside and out.


Arf!  What a horrible mess!


----------



## Tim9

I just want to add that I have already purchased and received 2 VFD's from this same EBay seller. I don't think its a scam. It could be a lot of things we aren't taking into account. Including recent Tarrifs or politics in Hong Kong. There were almost 1 million people on the streets of Hong Kong just yesterday demonstrating China's new policy on departing People in Hong Kong who spoke out against the Party. FWIW...China backed down. But I'm guessing a lot of Hong Kong nationals are nervous as we speak.
   Also...its like this seller is now having a damned fire sale. Just liquidating inventory of their US based warehouses. 
   Anyway...for 50.00 I'll chance it. Haven't had any problems with this seller in the past. VFD's are operating just fine.


----------



## Superburban

martik777 said:


> I've been very satisfied with this one: https://www.banggood.com/ANENG-AN80...-p-1157985.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN
> 
> includes a good selection of test leads


I'm old fashined, and still like to see needles swing. But I was looking a t several digitals, and that was one, I think I will give that one a try. Probably still use the analogs for voltages, and a digital for resistances, and the other features. That way I do not have to keep batteries in the old analogs.


----------



## martik777

Listing has ended, 42 sold and he now has zero items for sale


----------



## ptsmith

I think he's been shut down. If you go to his completed items and click on any one of them, it states "ended", not "sold". And if you click on the ended item, it shows that there is still one or more available, *but* you can't make a purchase. There's no "buy-it-now" button.

The irony here is that I questioned why you guys wasted your time on this, yet I keep wasting mine! Probably more than y'all have!


----------



## Superburban

ptsmith said:


> The irony here is that I questioned why you guys wasted your time on this, yet I keep wasting mine! Probably more than y'all have!



I think we all fit that. Kinda like playing the lottery, you know the odds are against you, but you keep trying.


----------



## MrWhoopee

ptsmith said:


> I think he's been shut down. If you go to his completed items and click on any one of them, it states "ended", not "sold". And if you click on the ended item, it shows that there is still one or more available, *but* you can't make a purchase. There's no "buy-it-now" button.
> 
> The irony here is that I questioned why you guys wasted your time on this, yet I keep wasting mine! Probably more than y'all have!



It's pretty simple. You know that eBay will make good, so there's no risk, and you'd just kill yourself if people started receiving them and you hadn't bought one. Besides, we've had a couple of days of entertainment.


----------



## hman

The lottery ... a statewide or nationwide "dumb tax"


----------



## ptsmith

I did play the ebay lottery once about 6-7 years ago. I wanted a Nord C2 organ really bad and one was for sale on ebay for $2,200. Really low at that time. The seller was very questionable, so I called ebay to let them check it out and see what they thought. They said buy it. So I did. Sure enough it was too good to be true. I got my money back but I no longer will buy super low priced items unless it at least has a chance to be legit. I hope you guys get your stuff but I really doubt you will.


----------



## ptsmith

hman said:


> The lottery ... a statewide or nationwide "dumb tax"



There's a great youtube video on the lottery. The guy equates the odds of winning to a roll of side by side baseballs, running from one coast to the other, and you randomly stopping your car and picking up the single winning ball.


----------



## pstemari

rgray said:


> ...
> Ebay is quickly becoming a buyer beware outfit.



Becoming? I mean, they've stepped up their purchaser protections over the past few years. Originally you read the feedback and took your chances.

My greater concern is that Amazon is turning into eBay, with sketchy overseas merchants flooding the system with dubious items. I recently bought some supposedly UL listed pigtail extension cords. They looked a bit dubious when I received them, so I checked with UL. The listing was fraudulent. 

As far as I can tell they were cutting up UL listed extension cords and adding plugs. The giveaway was that the UL registration numbers in the cord and the place didn't match.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


----------



## pstemari

darkzero said:


> .... these days I hear Paypal can still get the money back even after transfered into a bank account unless that bank account is withdrawn & closed. Not sure of the truth in that though.



Oh, absolutely. The fine print on all the ACH payment schemes (direct deposit paycheck, online bill pay, etc) contains a clause that allows the banks to fix errors. That's the big difference between ACH and wire transfer—wire transfers are instant and non-reputiatable, ACH takes place in nightly check processing runs and can be rolled back or corrected.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


----------



## ErichKeane

I just got a shipping notice from this one:








						CE UPDATED 7.5KW 220V 10HP 34A VFD VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE INVERTER GOOD 607885243678 | eBay
					

10HP 7.5KW 34A 380V. Variable Frequency Drive Inverter VFD NEW. All of them are original and never be taken apart. So far we have finished the assets re-organization and obtained wholesale financing.



					www.ebay.com
				




It claims it ships from LA and has an estimated arrival date of Friday the 21st, however it is a chinapost/epacket type shipping number. So I guess we'll see!


----------



## coherent

Tim9 said:


> don’t think it’s an outright scam on the B & S indexing Head. Could be any number of other possibilities as far as the low price. For 50.00 it’s worth the risk of wasting time IMO. Personally I’m thinking they are poor quality units which will need some tlc to get working smoothly. Or they might be missing the worm gears. There’s no mention of 40:1 ratio.
> Heck... with EBay it could be anything... even a store which is front set up to launder money.



I can't see how it's not a scam. I just got my shipping notice. From China, not California as listed. Also says ePacket. EPacket max is 4.4 lbs. The dividing head says weight is 57 lbs. No way they shipped the dividing head in an ePacket.  Likely paper, nothing or who knows.. maybe it'll be a rare 50 cent piece! Better odds than a lottery ticket I suppose.


----------



## ErichKeane

coherent said:


> I can't see how it's not a scam. I just got my shipping notice. From China, not California as listed. Also says ePacket. EPacket max is 4.4 lbs. The dividing head says weight is 57 lbs. No way they shipped the dividing head in an ePacket.  Likely paper, nothing or who knows.. maybe it'll be a rare 50 cent piece! Better odds than a lottery ticket I suppose.


I wonder if it is the wrong address scam. I've got a other one like that going (with a Chinese Fluke) I think. They ship to a different address in your zip code so that tracking shows it delivered. That way eBay will side with them on the refund.

My other one they did a closed business it looks like, so it is in delivery limbo. eBay won't refund until the end of the estimated delivery time, so I still have to wait a while .


----------



## higgite

coherent said:


> I can't see how it's not a scam. I just got my shipping notice. From China, not California as listed. Also says ePacket. EPacket max is 4.4 lbs. The dividing head says weight is 57 lbs. No way they shipped the dividing head in an ePacket.  Likely paper, nothing or who knows.. maybe it'll be a rare 50 cent piece! Better odds than a lottery ticket I suppose.


One red flag that it won't be shipping from California is this tidbit from the "Delivery details" section near the bottom of their listing.
"-Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility.
Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying."

Tom


----------



## Downunder Bob

There is always a new scam somewhere. I got caught out 6 months ago, was not on ebay or any other major site, just some guy with a reasonably real looking name,

He was selling cordless power tools, about half price, had all the promotional pictures for mixed bundles they all looked genuine Makita, Milwaukee plus a few others. The add said it was a stock taking clearance. from somewhere in USA and quoted 6 weeks delivery.

I'd been wanting to get a Makita set for some time, so bit the bullet and ordered, paid with credit card, he didn't accept paypal, warning, warning.. Anxiously followed the tracking number, until it said due at my PO, in 24 hrs. then the tracking number suddenly disappeared, and you got it, the goods never turned up. I tried to contact them and the entire website had disappeared.

Then I noticed I had been billed a second time, so contacted my credit card company, had to cancel the card and wait for a new one. The CC company would not refund the original purchase, something about time out, it was over six weeks, but did refund the subsequent one.

I put in a police report, my son's a cop, he followed it up for me, Apparently the scam was being operated from Russia, although he claimed to be in USA, California I think, about every month he would put up a new site selling pretty much the same stuff, under a new name, rake in all the sales for the month, shut down the site, but cleverly keep the tracking number running long enough so that you thought the goods were still on their way. In the end he couldn't be tracked, even his bank acct was closed. so they couldn't claim the money back.

I now only buy with paypal, I have had them get my money back before, pretty good.

So as they say buyer beware. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.


----------



## markba633csi

I would totally believe the Russia angle,  if they can invade ATMs and gas pumps why not Ebay. Easy pickins
M


----------



## matthewsx

coherent said:


> I can't see how it's not a scam. I just got my shipping notice. From China, not California as listed. Also says ePacket. EPacket max is 4.4 lbs. The dividing head says weight is 57 lbs. No way they shipped the dividing head in an ePacket.  Likely paper, nothing or who knows.. maybe it'll be a rare 50 cent piece! Better odds than a lottery ticket I suppose.



Yep, epacket tracking number generated but package not in system yet.


----------



## C-Bag

Downunder Bob said:


> There is always a new scam somewhere. I got caught out 6 months ago, was not on ebay or any other major site, just some guy with a reasonably real looking name,
> 
> He was selling cordless power tools, about half price, had all the promotional pictures for mixed bundles they all looked genuine Makita, Milwaukee plus a few others. The add said it was a stock taking clearance. from somewhere in USA and quoted 6 weeks delivery.
> 
> I'd been wanting to get a Makita set for some time, so bit the bullet and ordered, paid with credit card, he didn't accept paypal, warning, warning.. Anxiously followed the tracking number, until it said due at my PO, in 24 hrs. then the tracking number suddenly disappeared, and you got it, the goods never turned up. I tried to contact them and the entire website had disappeared.
> 
> Then I noticed I had been billed a second time, so contacted my credit card company, had to cancel the card and wait for a new one. The CC company would not refund the original purchase, something about time out, it was over six weeks, but did refund the subsequent one.
> 
> I put in a police report, my son's a cop, he followed it up for me, Apparently the scam was being operated from Russia, although he claimed to be in USA, California I think, about every month he would put up a new site selling pretty much the same stuff, under a new name, rake in all the sales for the month, shut down the site, but cleverly keep the tracking number running long enough so that you thought the goods were still on their way. In the end he couldn't be tracked, even his bank acct was closed. so they couldn't claim the money back.
> 
> I now only buy with paypal, I have had them get my money back before, pretty good.
> 
> So as they say buyer beware. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.


Thanks for laying all that out Bob. You are lucky your son is a cop and gave you info that us civies never get. That is usually kept under raps because some kind of operational jargon like "on going investigation "etc. it's getting harder and harder to decipher whether something on eBay is a good deal or a scam. The OP's "deal" has to be a scam but does eBay not do anything because of incompetence or overwhelmed? I saw basically the same unit a couple of months ago for $275 and thought that was too good to be true.


----------



## Winegrower

I think we generally know when something is a scam.   The title of this thread gives a big clue.


----------



## MikeInOr

Just sent seller the following message through ebay:

"I see that after a week this dividing head hasn't been shipped yet and EBAY tells me the expected delivery date is between June 18th and June 20th.  When should I expect to receive shipping information from you for this dividing head?

Thank you,
Michael"


----------



## ErichKeane

MikeInOr said:


> Just sent seller the following message through ebay:
> 
> "I see that after a week this dividing head hasn't been shipped yet and EBAY tells me the expected delivery date is between June 18th and June 20th.  When should I expect to receive shipping information from you for this dividing head?
> 
> Thank you,
> Michael"


Interestingly, my dividing head came with a guaranteed delivery date of June 19th, so I guess I'll have an escape a little earlier if things are bad


----------



## Suzuki4evr

coherent said:


> I was looking for a cheap vacuum pump and came across a really good deal on ebay from a seller. I placed the order and used paypal.
> Then I noticed he had sold nearly 100. All within the last 72 hours.
> 
> He also had a BS-0 precision dividing head with a 5" 3 jaw chuck and tailstock... $46.73
> here is the link.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BS-0 Precision Dividing Head With 5" 3-jaw Chuck & Tailstock For CNC Milling USA  | eBay
> 
> 
> 1:40 ratio. Direct index plate of 24 holes allow direct dividing in 2,3,4,6,8,12 & 24. Direct/indirect dividing. Semi-universal dividing head. Dividing Head Set x 1. 3 X Dividing Plates. 1 X 125mm 3 Jaw Chuck.
> 
> 
> 
> www.ebay.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'll bite, so I ordered one, and payed via paypal.
> 
> I know that when something looks too good to be true it usually is, but figured no harm no foul using paypal I won't have to worry about losing my money. Will I get my items? Time will tell I guess. Looking at this seller ( mqwhg27) I noted he had 172 feedback and 100% positive and... that he had quite a few items at really low prices and all in the $40-$60 range. All had sold dozens and all in the last 72 hours. So being the good guy I am, I called called Ebay to report something was possibly not quite right. He had sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of items and more sales in the last 3 days than he had total history. Ebay said he was a long established seller with no issues. So, we'll see. Maybe it's legit. If so you may want to take a look. If you buy, use a means that guarantees the item or a refund.  But, with my experience, if something looks too good to be true, it usually is.


I am really interested in how this worked out. Please plost if you and the other buyers actually get their COMPLETE  dividing heads


----------



## jim18655

I got a notice that my order has shipped. 
Might get "lost in transit" or empty package.


----------



## Choiliefan

If the package is coming from China it will have to pass through US customs.
Wonder if the declaration will list it as a dividing head or what?


----------



## ErichKeane

jim18655 said:


> I got a notice that my order has shipped.
> Might get "lost in transit" or empty package.


I just got a shipping number today too! Obviously China post. However, I have a guaranteed delivery date of today, so if it does not show up by tomorrow I am going to fill out the refund form.


----------



## Djl338

I’ve got a shipped notification a week ago, but it’s just a label created. Hasn’t moved since then, guessing it won’t make it here by delivery date of Friday


----------



## Suzuki4evr

I honestly hope that you all get your DH's and that they are all in perfect condition.


----------



## ratranger

Hmm, well I got a tracking number, epacket.  Checking on the china ems site it shows it moving through the system.  But an epacket can't take a 50lb item, nor is it fedex or from california as it says in the listing.


----------



## MrWhoopee

Got my shipping notification also. Shipped 6/19,  delivery 6/21!?


----------



## markba633csi

Anton Chigurh: "You know how this is going to turn out don't you?"  "I think you do"


----------



## jim18655

markba633csi said:


> Anton Chigurh: "You know how this is going to turn out don't you?"  "I think you do"


Yes, we get our dividing head and you're all envious and mad you didn't order one also.


----------



## ErichKeane

jim18655 said:


> Yes, we get our dividing head and you're all envious and mad you didn't order one also.


Heh, I'm sure that won't happen... That said, I'd be super mad if everyone here scored on one of these cheap and I had skipped it.  It seems that the worst case I have is that I am stuck without the $70 (or whatever) for a few weeks until Ebay refunds it.

Additionally, if enough of us end up needing to be refunded, perhaps it'll hit Ebay's bottom line and they'll start trying to cull their scammers.


----------



## Be_Zero_Be

I got a shipping notice as above also.
Time will tell


----------



## mcostello

Shipping notice sent also.


----------



## Cadillac STS

Just got the shipping / tracking number. Looks like it may be legit but shipping from China.


----------



## ddickey

And the ebay add said item location in CA didn't it?


----------



## Norseman C.B.

Got my shipping notice this morning also.
The add said it was from Sacramento when I purchased it,  we'll see come Friday 
when it's supposed to be delivered.......................


----------



## higgite

What’s up with the epacket tracking numbers? The original listing says “Economy Shipping (FedEx SmartPost®) “. Does epacket hand off to Fedex, who then hands off to USPS? Sorta like a double reverse, run-pass option?

Tom


----------



## Superburban

Its gotta be legit, they are obviously a high volume, low markup business, nothing else would explain why it would take 5 days to ship the items.

Yea, mine also says epacket from China. I'll probably get a toy whistle.


----------



## Latinrascalrg1

Superburban said:


> Its gotta be legit, they are obviously a high volume, low markup business, nothing else would explain why it would take 5 days to ship the items.
> 
> Yea, mine also says epacket from China. I'll probably get a toy whistle.


If its legit and they are shipping thru the "Epacket" deal with the USPS then the shipper would be held to a maximum weight limit of 4.4lbs including the packaging to the US which would mean you are most likely NOT gonna get what you ordered (if you get anything at all besides the shipping info) considering the actual weight of a dividing head setup of that size!


----------



## mattthemuppet2

guys, none of this is legit, they're simply creating a paper trail to stall you beyond the 45 day (?) Paypal guarantee. Tracking won't update and if it does it'll never arive by the day it's supposed to. Then you'll email the seller and they'll say "so sorry, must be lost, can I resend item?" to string you along a little further. It's just a scam like any other - offer something too good to be true, hope a bunch of people bite, hope some of them forget to chase after you when it turns out to be too good to be true.


----------



## MikeInOr

Sorry to ruin everyone's fun, I contacted ebays fraud department and reported the vendor as suspicious.  The vendor now has 0 items for sale... down from about 100 auctions on Monday.  Ebay told me they should be getting back to me next Monday.  Yes, of course, I will let you know what they tell me as soon as I hear something.


https://www.ebay.com/sch/fpvmodrtgfa/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=


----------



## jim18655

My brother also got a "ship notice" and he's in California. I would assume he'll get /not get his before me on the East Coast.


----------



## ErichKeane

Welp, my dividing head was supposed to have been delivered yesterday and it clearly wasn't. I put in a refund request, but it seems to just send them an email, and eBay won't do anything until the 26th!

Additionally, I'd done the VFD, but it has an expected delivery date of the 21st, so I can't fill out the form until Saturday.


----------



## Cadillac STS

ErichKeane said:


> Welp, my dividing head was supposed to have been delivered yesterday and it clearly wasn't. I put in a refund request, but it seems to just send them an email, and eBay won't do anything until the 26th!
> 
> Additionally, I'd done the VFD, but it has an expected delivery date of the 21st, so I can't fill out the form until Saturday.



The reason for them to wait until the 26th is the seller needs time to reply. After the 26th eBay will send you a message and ask if you got it.  If not click the refund button and eBay will pay your money back, credit back to same source it came from.


----------



## MrWhoopee

I was just checking on time limits. It appears that you have 30 days from date of delivery (used to be 45 days) to file a case with eBay and 180 days to file with Paypal.

It's a good idea to file for a refund ASAP. The package is already in transit so it can't be recalled. If it turns out to be the real thing, you can always fix it later. Remember to take pictures of the package before and as you open it, just in case. You will get your money back and the scammer is out the cost of packing (whatever it is) and shipping.


----------



## ptsmith

Some of you have undying optimism. Holding out hope until there's no hope left.  You guys need to start facing reality. Quit being in denial and accept the obvious. At this point you should concentrate your time and efforts on getting your money back.


----------



## ddickey

Found the same item at a cheaper price.


----------



## MrWhoopee

ptsmith said:


> Some of you have undying optimism. Holding out hope until there's no hope left.  You guys need to start facing reality. Quit being in denial and accept the obvious. At this point you should concentrate your time and efforts on getting your money back.



What you fail to recognize is that, for many of us, this has become a game. No one seriously believes they will receive one of these. Even if I don't get my money back, I've had a week of entertainment for $46.73. I've lost more than that in 15 minutes in Reno with just about the same chance of being a winner.

Here's one, supposedly in Hong Kong, for the same $46.73.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/BS-0-Preci...ck-Tailstock-For-CNC-Milling-USA/202711687896
The "vendor" has good feedback, mostly for Chinese art type items. Given the price, it's the same scammer who has hijacked another account.
Maybe I'll buy another one and start selling them myself.


----------



## Be_Zero_Be

I requested a refund today.
I have low expectations for positive results.
This has been a very entertaining and informative thread.


----------



## Suzuki4evr

I have this feeling that this story is going to be moved to the "GOOFS & blunders" section.


----------



## nnam

I ordered with two expected outcomes:

1. it's a scam, I get money back
2. It's a defective/rejected factory item

I recently saw a few of very low price hydraulic pullers.  Two came both defective, but probably fixable by people like us.

They can ship with low shipping price, by gaming the shipping system.
One time, I returned a several hundred pound electric motor with provided label of 25 lb.  The UPS store clerk took it no problem.

So, at least, this is a defectiveitem, with very low labor cost, and rejected inspection pricẹ It can be cheap.  Add to some trick in shipping, the price is possible.

That said, I don't hold my hope high, maybe 5% and I will have a broken toy to play with.

Otherwise, I watch and get money back. Ebay has been very reliable for me.

For the defective puller, the seller also did partial refund, on top already low price.


----------



## Suzuki4evr

nnam said:


> I ordered with two expected outcome:
> 
> 1. it's a scam
> 2. It's a defective/rejected facotory item
> 
> I recently saw a few very low price hydraulic puller.  Two came both defective, but probably fixable by people like us.
> 
> They can ship with low shipping price, gaming the shipping system.
> One time, I returned a several hundred pound electric motor with provided label of 25 lb.  The UPS store clerk took it no problem.
> 
> So, at least, this is defective, with very low labor cost, and rejected price, it can be cheap.  Add to some trick in shipping, the price us possible.
> 
> That said, I don't hold my hope high, maybe 5% and I will have a broken toy to play with.


Or maybe just a chuck you can use


----------



## nnam

I don't think of decent chance of getting this one, but just for talk, I am a bit baffle at the price of a temperature controller board with LCD display and all.  Send all the way from china. The manufacturing, packing, shipping and profit, somehow still make it at $1.76.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/W1209-Blue...temperature-control-switch-Board/192119650327

I ordered 4.  One still worked and didn't need the other 3.

If I send one of this within the US, I would get charged by a hand a leg for "uneven" envelope (got told once about that).  Here, our government entity happily transports a china item for pennies.  Odd.


----------



## matthewsx

fyi.





__





						eBay Money Back Guarantee policy
					

eBay Money Back Guarantee covers most transactions on eBay. It means buyers can get their money back if an item didn't arrive, is faulty or damaged, or doesn't match the listing.




					www.ebay.com


----------



## Superburban

nnam said:


> I don't think of decent chance of getting this one, but just for talk, I am a bit baffle at the price of a temperature controller board with LCD display and all.  Send all the way from china. The manufacturing, packing, shipping and profit, somehow still make it at $1.76.
> 
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/W1209-Blue...temperature-control-switch-Board/192119650327
> 
> I ordered 4.  One still worked and didn't need the other 3.
> 
> If I send one of this within the US, I would get charged by a hand a leg for "uneven" envelope (got told once about that).  Here, our government entity happily transports a china item for pennies.  Odd.


The reason they can ship it so cheap, is partially in the way international postage works. Long ago, it was agreed that each countrys post office only needs to get an international package to the intended country. From there, it is the countries postal system to get the package to the reciever. The original idea wss that international mail was roughly equal, so the costs were shared. That way they did not need to factor in what the intended countries system would charge, and add it to what they charge for moving the package.  Now in this case, Chiona post just needs to get the container to the us, from there, it is our post office that bears the cost to move the item from the port of entry, to the receiver. I understand that many locations in china, all they have to do is deliver the package to the shipping office, and China subsidizes the cost of shipping the container to the US. So likely in this case, the only cost to the seller is to drive the package across town. So our post office is bearing the majority of the cost of delivering the packages.


----------



## Superburban

MrWhoopee said:


> The "vendor" has good feedback, mostly for Chinese art type items. Given the price, it's the same scammer who has hijacked another account.
> Maybe I'll buy another one and start selling them myself.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 296920


I do not think the accounts are hacked. Rather, it is a seller that opens a ton of accounts,. and sells small stuff to build up a good reputation, and feeedback, so PayPal will transfer the money quickly. Then after a year or more, they bombard the account with super deals like thease, and hope to get enough money as they can, before they get shut down. Since this is happening so much, I suspect it works for them. 

A Hijacked account would likely be reported to Ebay before any money can be transferred, or at least any significant amount of money.

All of these I have seen, are always sellers from China.


----------



## MikeInOr

Superburban said:


> I do not think the accounts are hacked. Rather, it is a seller that opens a ton of accounts,. and sells small stuff to build up a good reputation, and feeedback, so PayPal will transfer the money quickly. Then after a year or more, they bombard the account with super deals like thease, and hope to get enough money as they can, before they get shut down. Since this is happening so much, I suspect it works for them.
> 
> A Hijacked account would likely be reported to Ebay before any money can be transferred, or at least any significant amount of money.
> 
> All of these I have seen, are always sellers from China.



I would go so far as to suggest that there is a whole system at work to automate the selling and buying of cheap stuff to create the feedback history.  I highly doubt any of the cheap stuff is ever even delivered... just the purchase made and the feedback given... probably all automated with some software system.

I do wonder how they make money with it?  I think someone above said they sell a bunch of stuff and hope the buyer never notices that they never received what they purchased?  I have never had an issue getting my money back for an item through ebay.


----------



## Bob Korves

160 posts, accomplishing... nothing!, while taking a chance with your money.  I would rather watch the grass grow.  For those who have continued to post this far into it, I have a bridge I would like to sell you...


----------



## MikeInOr

Bob Korves said:


> 150 posts, accomplishing... nothing!, while taking a chance with your money.  I would rather watch the grass grow.  For those who have continued to post this far into it, I have a bridge I would like to sell you...



It is evidently interesting enough for you to be post #160!


----------



## Bob Korves

MikeInOr said:


> It is evidently interesting enough for you to be post #160!


You too.  Would you like to buy a bridge?  It is a really nice bridge, connects one part of New York City to another.  One only, will sell fast.  No refunds...


----------



## Superburban

Thats a depressing thought, taking a bridge in NYC, and ending up in NYC. But then again, the other choices from NYC is more NY, CT, or NJ. Except for CT, the others are equally as depressing. Sad to think of SW CT as the best choice. How about an airport, have one of them for sale?


----------



## hman

As I recall, somebody here in Arizona once bought a bridge ... that had previously connected one part of London to another


----------



## ptsmith

Superburban said:


> A Hijacked account would likely be reported to Ebay before any money can be transferred, or at least any significant amount of money.



Ebay accounts get hijacked all the time. I think they target accounts that aren't very active. The owner may not care enough about their account to even read the warning emails.

Or something. Somehow they pull it off.


----------



## ptsmith

MikeInOr said:


> It is evidently interesting enough for you to be post #160!





Bob Korves said:


> You too.  Would you like to buy a bridge?  It is a really nice bridge, connects one part of New York City to another.  One only, will sell fast.  No refunds...



Come on, MikeInOr got you on that one! You either have to admit it or come up with something better than that!


----------



## MikeInOr

Well the Dividing head disappeared from my "Purchase History" this morning and a problem ticket with the vendor was automatically created in my ebay account... no communication from the fraud department though (I doubt I will actually receive any).  The problem ticket states "Item failed to arrive" and "Seller will respond by June 27" is listed in the ticket.  So it sounds like I will receive my refund on the 27th when the seller fails to respond.

Other purchasers might want to consider opening a ticket if it is past their promised delivery date.

Hidden deep down in the bowels of ebay is this page... if anyone is interested:
https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/resolving-issues-sellers/avoiding-seller-fraud?id=4024

I used the "report an issue" to report the seller as most likely being a scammer.  I reported 4 other sellers at the same time, they all had the same products at the 80% off retail pricing on all of them and the seemingly random character names of the same length.  I forget the other sellers I reported so I can't look them up to see if they have been shut down too.  I wonder if ebay is going to automatically issue refunds to all the other buyers?  Not just dividing head buyers but many other items all with multiple available in the the auction.

I have been buying and selling on Ebay since you could view ALL of the auctions on their sight in a single VERY long page (Jan 1998).  My experience is they do not look out for anyone but themselves... unless you call them on something.  Only recently have they actually had a way to contact them about a problem... and they still like to hide it as much as possible!


----------



## ptsmith

It just dawned on me that people buying items that they know have a good chance of being a scam are rewarding the scammers and perpetuating the problem. Thanks for being shamelessly greedy and making the world a worse place!


----------



## ErichKeane

ptsmith said:


> It just dawned on me that people buying items that they know have a good chance of being a scam are rewarding the scammers and perpetuating the problem. Thanks for being shamelessly greedy and making the world a worse place!


Alternatively, we're taking money out Ebay/Paypal's hands in a way that would result in them fixing their scammer problem and better locking them out in the future.  Short term, we're rewarding the scammers, long term this likely leads to the end of the problem.


----------



## MikeInOr

ptsmith said:


> It just dawned on me that people buying items that they know have a good chance of being a scam are rewarding the scammers and perpetuating the problem. Thanks for being shamelessly greedy and making the world a worse place!



I don't believe the scammer will actually get anything out of their efforts?!?!?!?  My best guess is that ebay will be the ones that might end up with the buyers money if they shut down a scammer and the buyer does not file a claim??????

Ebay is very closed and secretive about how they actually work and what they do about scammers.  I am very curious about what they do when they do find an obvious scammer seller!?!?!?!  I have dealt with Ebay enough to know that all they really care about is collecting their cut!  I am very interested to know if the other dividing head purchasers are contacted by ebay and offered a refund? (I really doubt they will be!)

As a programmer I know a routine to search for sellers that fit the profile of this scammer would be easy to implement... but they don't?  I was easily able to find 4 additional scammer sellers by searching for other sellers that had the same product at the same ridiculously low price and all their feed back is based on sub $1 purchases.  To me this is a research project about how ebay actually does work... something I couldn't do without the feedback from the others on this board that also hit the buy button.

My hunch is that the scammers aren't really the root of the problem.  I purpose that the real problem is that ebay enables these scammers and takes their cut of the profit!


----------



## higgite

MikeInOr said:


> I don't believe the scammer will actually get anything out of their efforts?!?!?!?  My best guess is that ebay will be the ones that might end up with the buyers money if they shut down a scammer and the buyer does not file a claim??????
> .
> .
> My hunch is that the scammers aren't really the root of the problem.  I purpose that the real problem is that ebay enables these scammers and takes their cut of the profit!


So, you're saying eBay is the real scammer by profiting from the scam attempts of other scammers? Sort of scamming their legitimate customers and the scammers. I suspect the FTC would frown on that.

Tom


----------



## MikeInOr

higgite said:


> So, you're saying eBay is the real scammer by profiting from the scam attempts of other scammers? Sort of scamming their legitimate customers and the scammers. I suspect the FTC would frown on that.
> 
> Tom



They are very secretive... does anyone know how they actually do operate?


----------



## higgite

I'm not 100% positive, but I think they charge sellers to sell stuff. 

Tom


----------



## MikeInOr

higgite said:


> I'm not 100% positive, but I think they charge sellers to sell stuff.
> 
> Tom



Ebay takes a pretty decent percentage cut from each item sold.

Some times they have a "Free, no fee auction promotion".  I would guess this is how the scammers get their feedback... without having to pay ebay.

Auction Final Value Fees for eBay Store Subscribers

Selling PriceFinal Value FeesItem not soldNo fee$0.01 to $50.008.75% of the final selling price$50.01 to $1,000.008.75% of the initial $50.00, plus 4% of the remaining final
selling price ($50.01 to $1,000.00)Equal to or over $1,000.018.75% of the initial $50.00, plus 4% of the next $50.01 to
$1,000.00, plus 2% of the remaining final selling price ($1,000.01
to final price)


----------



## Superburban

Does Ebates take their 2% back?


----------



## ptsmith

The free auctions only applies to $0.35 insertion fee.

That is an old final value fee list, or one for sellers that have an ebay store.. It's been 10% for a long time now. 

When I started selling on ebay I think the final fee was 5.5% or something like that. I think the money back guaranty is a big part of why they've gone up so much.

So you guys buying scam %^&* is costing me money! 

You should something from me to make up for it. 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/dallas-mus...ame=STRK:MESE:IT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562


----------



## MikeInOr

Superburban said:


> Does Ebates take their 2% back?



When I get a refund from ebay I get 100% of my money back.  I do not know how the interaction between seller and ebay works as far as refunds go.


----------



## mmcmdl

MrWhoopee said:


> What you fail to recognize is that, for many of us, this has become a game. No one seriously believes they will receive one of these. Even if I don't get my money back, I've had a week of entertainment for $46.73. I've lost more than that in 15 minutes in Reno with just about the same chance of being a winner.



That's 2 30 packs of Colorado Cool Aid which would provide me with a few days of entertainment . ( as long as the mountains are blue )


----------



## mmcmdl

Bob Korves said:


> 160 posts, accomplishing... nothing!, while taking a chance with your money. I would rather watch the grass grow. For those who have continued to post this far into it, I have a bridge I would like to sell you...



Bob , come on over , the grass is growing and the paint is drying . BTW , where and how much for the bridge  

I think the only thing getting divided here will be hard earned $$$$ from fools buying this junk .


----------



## ptsmith

Where is everybody? This thread died quickly once any hope of this being legit was gone. I thought you guys were in it solely for the entertainment. It doesn't appear now that that was the case.

I'm not trying to be a jerk about it, but come on, you guys shouldn't be at all surprised with the outcome.


----------



## MrWhoopee

Not surprised, just not much happening while the packages are in transit. I'm just hangin' out 'til I can file for a refund tomorrow. Been watching the tracking info, curious to see what the package actually contains.


----------



## C-Bag

MikeInOr said:


> I don't believe the scammer will actually get anything out of their efforts?!?!?!?  My best guess is that ebay will be the ones that might end up with the buyers money if they shut down a scammer and the buyer does not file a claim??????
> 
> Ebay is very closed and secretive about how they actually work and what they do about scammers.  I am very curious about what they do when they do find an obvious scammer seller!?!?!?!  I have dealt with Ebay enough to know that all they really care about is collecting their cut!  I am very interested to know if the other dividing head purchasers are contacted by ebay and offered a refund? (I really doubt they will be!)
> 
> As a programmer I know a routine to search for sellers that fit the profile of this scammer would be easy to implement... but they don't?  I was easily able to find 4 additional scammer sellers by searching for other sellers that had the same product at the same ridiculously low price and all their feed back is based on sub $1 purchases.  To me this is a research project about how ebay actually does work... something I couldn't do without the feedback from the others on this board that also hit the buy button.
> 
> My hunch is that the scammers aren't really the root of the problem.  I purpose that the real problem is that ebay enables these scammers and takes their cut of the profit!


I would really be interested to know the truth. On the surface it doesn't make sense that the scammer would get anything unless there are more people than we know that have no clue they can get their $$ back and go, oh well, it was only $46. Every once in a while I get a tech audio book, like the Kingpin, or the guy who started the black market on the dark net and a couple of others. And truthfully they scare me more than a horror book. It's not my forte so I'm always astounded by this world I know nothing about.


----------



## john.k

reminds me of a guy selling a vintage motorbike,with a some parts stolen by a repairer who disappeared.(not all scams are on the flea)......anyhoo ,he is sending mucho dinero to a lot of guys called Joseph John,or John Joseph,etc......one of the replies to his ad......."we have just recieved a shipment of these parts and they are selling quickly"............really...a shipment of 1916 Indian parts?.......how dumb would you be ....or desperate..............but in the early days of the flea,I bought masses of vintage bike bits for peanuts,and made a fortune just by identifying them correctly,when the vendors didnt have a clue.


----------



## Suzuki4evr

What's new on this topic? Did the buyers get their D Heads?


----------



## MrWhoopee

No tracking update on mine since 6/20. Refund requested, eBay will step in on 6/29.


----------



## Dhector

Question. I am one who also got on this deal and have been watching this thread. I called EBAY and they said you get 30 days for a refund-AFTER it is showed "delivered". Since its past the "auction page" delivery date, a case can be filed already if wanted. They also said that paypal has a 90 day refund, AFTER it is showed "delivered". So in that case, fraud or not, it certainly seems like getting a refund should be no real problem other than wasting time. I havent dealt with any scams on ebay so this is all new to me. Of course I had purchased before the "Scam talk" showed up in this thread or I may have thought about it a little harder. Any thoughts on what I was told from ebay's customer service call?


----------



## Toolmaker51

Online Auctions: Personal Rule #1 
For new tool items [and most things] at auction sites. If there are dozens of sellers with identical picture and text of item, they will not be my choice of seller. Most of them are busy copying/ pasting. If one demonstrates initiative and product knowledge, that's a good indication. 
Other details seem to pop up with certain goods; size, weight, if it is not as mass produced, "last one", or situation out of ordinary.

If they combine shipping that's ok, I'm more comfortable when they surcharge a little for bigger stuff. I take that meaning they have margin to operate in. Free [as if anybody believes THAT any more] shipping would have to be pretty small to get that back out from their selling price.


----------



## Norseman C.B.

I am in process of send it or refund myself, waiting till the 29th for action and communication from the
seller or asking  E-Bay to step in and make it right..............   We shall see for certain if it's      ....................


----------



## MrWhoopee

On the few occasions when I've had a deal go wrong, eBay has acted quite quickly. I've received my refund much sooner than expected.


----------



## Norseman C.B.

MrWhoopee said:


> On the few occasions when I've had a deal go wrong, eBay has acted quite quickly. I've received my refund much sooner than expected.
> [/QUOTE
> 
> Same here ...............


----------



## ErichKeane

Just did my ebay appeal since I got nothing from the seller, and got the refund almost immediately:

We didn't receive valid tracking information from the seller.
Final decision:
This case was found in your favor.


I'd also done the VFD, but my communication with the seller time doesn't expire until the 28th.


----------



## nnam

ErichKeane said:


> Just did my ebay appeal since I got nothing from the seller, and got the refund almost immediately:
> 
> We didn't receive valid tracking information from the seller.
> Final decision:
> This case was found in your favor.
> 
> 
> I'd also done the VFD, but my communication with the seller time doesn't expire until the 28th.


So what was the shipping tracker says?  Mine is last seen June 20 at Xi'an EMS.
I am waiting until tomorrow to file.  So I suppose you messaged the seller with no response?


----------



## ErichKeane

nnam said:


> So what was the shipping tracker says?  Mine is last seen June 20 at Xi'an EMS.
> I am waiting until tomorrow to file.  So I suppose you messaged the seller with no response?


Mine said something like that.  I did the 'I didn't receive the item' thing which had me send a message to the seller, then gave them a few days to respond.  I went in today and clicked on the same form to have ebay step in, and they immediately refunded.

I ended up having a Fluke 100 from China fail to be delivered as well (Did the "Business Closed" scam) that was also immediately refunded.


----------



## alloy

When I was in the middle of moving and spent my first night at the new place my phone exploded with emails and PayPal notifications.   We hadn't got our internet installed yet and apparently in the middle of the night I  had just enough signal to receive emails but not enough to open them or make calls. 

I had made over 50 sales of high end electronics and had well over $8000 deposited in my PayPal account. 
I don't sell electronics just transmission parts.  I've been on eBay for 20 years with a perfect feedback rating.  

I had to drive down the hill to get signal and called eBay.   They told me to get on my computer and then call them back.  I explained that I had just moved and had no internet and was limited to my phone.  They told me a phone has limited functionality and I needed my computer.  I told them I was not going to get on public Wi-Fi with my computer.  So after arguing for awhile I got ahold of their fraud unit and they asked many questions to verify my identity. 

So after that he told me I was a prime target because I'd been on eBay for 20 years and had a perfect feedback so when people looked at that they would not hesitate to buy from me.  The hackers tried to get into my PayPal but couldn't.  So after a 2 hour phone call I got all the fake items cancelled and money refunded.  Was quite an ordeal. 

So within a couple of hours I started getting emails from people asking why I cancelled their orders.  One said she was low income and needed the tablet for her sons school work.   This was after eBay sent everyone an email telling them the items were fake and my account had been hacked. 

So all seemed OK. Then about two weeks later when I tried to order materials from 6061dude (stoner metals)  I found out I had been blocked.  Turns out eBay notified everyone I bought from and had them block me.   So after looking I finally got most of the phone numbers and called the suppliers and got them to unblock me. 

Then,  two weeks later my debit card was involved in the Home Depot breach and my card was automatically cancelled without them even calling me. I got a notification in the mail a week later. 

About a month ago I got a call from my banks fraud department and asked me if I'd ordered $67 worth of food from Burger King in New Jersey. So card cancelled again. 

Bad things can happen to decent people.  When I see the too good to be true I stay away from them.


----------



## Be_Zero_Be

Just minutes ago, I got a full refund from eBay.
The refund is verified in my PPal account.

Here is the test from eBay email :

You've been given a full refund

Hi Robert,

Unfortunately, we didn't receive valid tracking information from the seller. We're sorry you had a problem with your purchase.
We refunded US $54.46 to your original payment method, which includes item price, shipping, and tax. Please allow 48 hours for it to process.
See case details 

BS-0 5" Indexing Dividing Spiral Head 3-Jaw Chuck Tailstock CNC Milling New 
Seller: 
    fpvmodrtgfa 

Amount:     $49.96 
Quantity:     1
Case #:     5202XXXXXX 
Case opened:     Jun 20, 2019 
Case closed:     Jun 27, 2019 

It's been a fun ride


----------



## Be_Zero_Be

BTW - If you all actually get a dividing head - I will spit on the ground and curse your name.  LOL


----------



## coherent

I filed a dispute with ebay today for the 2 items I ordered. They said the seller has 3 days to respond or make it right and if he doesn't they will process refunds. I'm sure this is a scam. Not quite sure how or what, but imagine 5-10 days gives them plenty of time to sell thousands of dollars worth of items, withdraw or transfer the cash and close the bank account. Doubt that ebay can catch, prosecute or even locate the seller in some of the more obscure foriegn bank locations.


----------



## ErichKeane

coherent said:


> I filed a dispute with ebay today for the 2 items I ordered. They said the seller has 3 days to respond or make it right and if he doesn't they will process refunds.


In 3 days you have to go in and click to have them 'step in' to do the refund.  I don't think it happens automatically.


----------



## Norseman C.B.

ErichKeane said:


> In 3 days you have to go in and click to have them 'step in' to do the refund.  I don't think it happens automatically.




Yup, they don't do it if you don't tell them to !! .............


----------



## coherent

Just got delivery notification of one of the items. Delivered to a mail box in MD. I'm in Arizona. Wouldn't fit in a mail box anyway! Called ebay again. Said they were reporting seller to fraud dept and issuing a refund, so we'll see.


----------



## mcostello

Mine was delivered to Santa Cruz, which is not next door to Ohio.


----------



## pontiac428

How do you guys have time (and patience) to deal with this stuff?  I don't, not at all.  I'm convinced it's just better to go with Amazon or order from a brick and mortar source, even if it costs a little more.  Someplace with a phone number to call.  Going "fishing" for deals and hoping to pull out a China-made whopper of a bargain just doesn't jive with my good sense.  No intent to offend, I'm just baffled when these threads come up.  If nothing else, it's good marketing research we can benefit from.


----------



## Superburban

I got one refund today, I have to wait until the 28th to file for the other. 

Curious if any others gave the same tracking numbers, here is mine.

LT810901156CN 
LT810901099CN


----------



## PMartin

I never been a fan of eBay and now I know why. It look like it is not too hard to get your money back but still must be a hassle.


----------



## alloy

pontiac428 said:


> How do you guys have time (and patience) to deal with this stuff?  I don't, not at all.  I'm convinced it's just better to go with Amazon or order from a brick and mortar source, even if it costs a little more.  Someplace with a phone number to call.  Going "fishing" for deals and hoping to pull out a China-made whopper of a bargain just doesn't jive with my good sense.  No intent to offend, I'm just baffled when these threads come up.  If nothing else, it's good marketing research we can benefit from.




I'm on there for several reasons.  First is my sales.  EBay reaches people and places I could never on my own.  I've sent my transmission parts to over a dozen different countries. Hot rodders are everywhere it seems.  My 60 day sales total is as of today is $3053.  It's been as high as $4900. My total sales in 20 years is $159,000.

And then there are the deals I find.  I needed a 1" roughing end mill for aluminum.  New I found  one for $120 plus shipping.  I found the same one on eBay for $45 shipped.  

Stoner metals has deals on their aluminum.  They have small quantities sometimes with free shipping.  I'm currently using 1-1/2" x 2" aluminum bar.   He has 3 pieces 12" long for $40 and free shipping.  If you get the 18" long ones it's $20 for shipping.  So I order 10 of the 12" long ones and don't pay shipping.  I cut them at 4" so this works out perfectly for me. 

I have a web site for my parts and I often get comments about customers checking my eBay feedback and that puts them over the top to purchase from me. 

EBay isn't perfect,  neither is anything else.  They told me they have over 100 full time people in their fraud department.  Just think how wonderful it would be if all the low life's out there got a real job. But that will never happen.  And if it did what would happen to the business of stopping fraud?   I'm betting millions of people would be out of a job


----------



## ptsmith

How did get  your 20 year total sales? I don't how to do that.

I have never thought to look at those numbers. I just did. My last 30 day of sales was less than $1K, but I had a good income tax return season and sold $10,845.20  in the last 90 days.. 12 month sales shows $30,728.00. That's much more than I realized.


----------



## Boswell

Ebay, is just like the tools in our shop. When used on the correct problem it can be perfect. Used incorrectly it can be ineffective or even dangerous.
or something like that


----------



## alloy

ptsmith said:


> How did get  your 20 year total sales? I don't how to do that.
> 
> I have never thought to look at those numbers. I just did. My last 30 day of sales was less than $1K, but I had a good income tax return season and sold $10,845.20  in the last 90 days.. 12 month sales shows $30,728.00. That's much more than I realized.




A few years ago before eBay thought of another way to screw us out of more money you could go on and see your total lifetime sales.  I think you can now in their analytics application but you pay for that. 

I've been keeping track of my yearly sales through PayPal. I just add my sales to my total every year. 

The free PayPal business app gives you two years of sales figures.  Compares this year to last year,  gives you average sale amounts,  best and worst months.


----------



## Be_Zero_Be

"LT812767499CN " Was my "Tracking Number"


----------



## mattthemuppet2

I wonder what the next "too good to be true" thread will be on. Wait a couple of months and you know it will happen. You also know that the outcome will be exactly the same as it was before. Someone once said something about doing the same thing twice and expecting a different result...


----------



## markba633csi

I just waited a few days after the supposed first delivery date and asked for a refund-  If I don't get money back by the 27th then Ebay steps in. 
Oh well,  so much for that slight detour;  back to our regularly scheduled program- Learning Arduino and building coffee roaster devices


----------



## ddickey

Coffee roasting devices? Do tell.


----------



## markba633csi

Been using a popcorn popper, but tired of the small 3 ounce batch size.  Saw a cool design using a stainless pot, a gearmotor and a pair of 500 watt halogen lamps, so I'm attempting to roughly duplicate it
I can post some pics of his design if you are interested- it's on a site called "Homeroasters"
Here's one shot of it:


----------



## chips&more

ptsmith said:


> How did get  your 20 year total sales? I don't how to do that.
> 
> I have never thought to look at those numbers. I just did. My last 30 day of sales was less than $1K, but I had a good income tax return season and sold $10,845.20  in the last 90 days.. 12 month sales shows $30,728.00. That's much more than I realized.


Go to your selling page. Then look at your seller level for some of the info. Then click on seller level, go down to the very bottom and it will have sales to date.


----------



## Winegrower

Wow, I just got the Dividing Head!   It looks terrific, new, $49 with free shipping.   Could barely carry it into the shop.


----------



## Winegrower

Sorry, just kidding.  I apologize.


----------



## Bob Korves

Now we are at 210 posts, and none of us have gained anything beyond some knowledge of how the system works.  Has it been worth it for you all?  Willing to play games again with the next scammer?

If something sounds way too good to be true, first put on your iron shorts and think about it again.  The cost of eBay making refund payments for all those trying to take advantage WILL be passed on to ALL the buyers through increased fees.  TANSTAAFL.


----------



## alloy

Winegrower said:


> Sorry, just kidding.  I apologize.


----------



## nnam

Be_Zero_Be said:


> "LT812767499CN " Was my "Tracking Number"


Interesting, mine is different.  Ended with 549CN


----------



## higgite

Winegrower said:


> Wow, I just got the Dividing Head!   It looks terrific, new, $49 with free shipping.   Could barely carry it into the shop.





Winegrower said:


> Sorry, just kidding.  I apologize.


You always see on forums where someone will post "without pics it didn't happen." In this case, it's true. 

Tom


----------



## markba633csi

I think it was a useful learning exercise, won't be doing it again- "fool me twice shame on me"
Mark


----------



## Be_Zero_Be

Sometimes I just feel like engaging in an exercise in mind candy.
I entered this game with eyes wide open.
For me, the ride was worth the effort.
This time the outcome was harmless to me.
Next time, who knows.
Activity keeps the mind sharp ... even if it's frivolous activity.


----------



## dlane

Mine was delivered to somewhere Florida, I’m in California. Had to call eBay as my password wouldn’t work
1-866-487-3229 , got a full refund.


----------



## Be_Zero_Be

Just got an email from eBay saying my order was delivered.
My mail won't come for two more hours.
Here is the tracking data - I live near Seattle, WA


----------



## Superburban

One of mine made it through NY, to VA, and says it is on time for delivery on Sat.  The other has not changed since the 21st.


----------



## Flyinfool

Gee, I almost came to my house, I am not far from Madison WI.

So does that mean that ebay and PP will not refund your money because it shows as delivered to your front porch?
I once had a box delivered with a rock in it so that it was about the correct weight, and I never was able to get my money back because it showed as delivered and I could not return the item that was ordered. But in my case it was actually delivered to me.

I believe that unless you have a confirmed PP address in Madison WI, PP will/should still refund you as it was not sent to you. That is why many places will not ship to any address other than your confirmed PP address.


----------



## Be_Zero_Be

I already got my refund.


----------



## Superburban

It would be interesting to know what was delivered. i had one a few years ago, that when I filed for the refund, the tracking stopped there, and never proceeded further. Makes me wonder if it was a fake tracking link, or a boggus tracking company altogether, as it was like China post, but a name I never heard of.


----------



## matthewsx

MikeInOr said:


> Well the Dividing head disappeared from my "Purchase History" this morning and a problem ticket with the vendor was automatically created in my ebay account... no communication from the fraud department though (I doubt I will actually receive any).  The problem ticket states "Item failed to arrive" and "Seller will respond by June 27" is listed in the ticket.  So it sounds like I will receive my refund on the 27th when the seller fails to respond.
> 
> Other purchasers might want to consider opening a ticket if it is past their promised delivery date.
> 
> Hidden deep down in the bowels of ebay is this page... if anyone is interested:
> https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/resolving-issues-sellers/avoiding-seller-fraud?id=4024
> 
> I used the "report an issue" to report the seller as most likely being a scammer.  I reported 4 other sellers at the same time, they all had the same products at the 80% off retail pricing on all of them and the seemingly random character names of the same length.  I forget the other sellers I reported so I can't look them up to see if they have been shut down too.  I wonder if ebay is going to automatically issue refunds to all the other buyers?  Not just dividing head buyers but many other items all with multiple available in the the auction.
> 
> I have been buying and selling on Ebay since you could view ALL of the auctions on their sight in a single VERY long page (Jan 1998).  My experience is they do not look out for anyone but themselves... unless you call them on something.  Only recently have they actually had a way to contact them about a problem... and they still like to hide it as much as possible!



Thank you Mike, this link may be useful to others here.

John


----------



## jim18655

Filed a claim on Monday, resolved today, no hassle at all.  Almost instant refund.
Tracking number LT*****5379CN (numbers omitted to keep from being used by another scammer)


----------



## jim18655

Full refund. Might be an envelope with a picture of the dividing head. Tracking info:

Time and datePlaceMessage               Friday, Jun 28, 2019 5:19 AM                                                                 LAKELAND                    ,                    FL                            ARRIVAL AT UNIT               Friday, Jun 28, 2019 3:23 AM                                                                 LAKELAND                    ,                    FL                            DEPART USPS FACILITY               Thursday, Jun 27, 2019 10:01 PM                                                                 LAKELAND                    ,                    FL                            DEPART USPS FACILITY               Thursday, Jun 27, 2019 8:02 PM                                                                 LAKELAND                    ,                    FL                            ARRIVE USPS FACILITY               Thursday, Jun 27, 2019 7:30 PM                                                                 LAKELAND                    ,                    FL                            ARRIVE USPS FACILITY               Thursday, Jun 27, 2019 6:04 PM                                                                 TAMPA                    ,                    FL                            DEPART USPS FACILITY               Thursday, Jun 27, 2019 4:35 PM                                                                 TAMPA                    ,                    FL                            DEPART USPS FACILITY               Thursday, Jun 27, 2019 2:12 PM                                                                 TAMPA                    ,                    FL                            DEPART USPS FACILITY               Thursday, Jun 27, 2019 12:21 PM                                                                 TAMPA                    ,                    FL                            PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY               Wednesday, Jun 26, 2019 6:29 AM                                                                 MIAMI                    ,                    FL                            PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY               Tuesday, Jun 25, 2019 7:15 AM                            N/A                             INBOUND INTO CUSTOMS               Tuesday, Jun 25, 2019 7:15 AM                                                                 ISC MIAMI FL (USPS)                                                                      ARRIVED AT INTERNATIONAL SERVICE CENTER               Friday, Jun 21, 2019 9:45 AM                                                                 BEIJING EMS                    ,                    CN                            FOREIGN INTERNATIONAL DISPATCH               Friday, Jun 21, 2019 9:45 AM                            N/A                             ORIGIN POST IS PREPARING SHIPMENT               Friday, Jun 21, 2019 8:53 AM                                                                 BEIJING                    ,                    CN                            FOREIGN ARRIVAL AT OUTWARD OFFICE               Wednesday, Jun 19, 2019 10:25 PM                            N/A                             Acceptance


----------



## MrWhoopee

I just received this:








*eBay sent this message to XXXXXXXXXXX.*
Your registered name is included to show this message originated from eBay. Learn more.​






The seller asked us to review this case and make a final decision



Hi xxxxxx,






The seller has asked eBay Customer Support to review this case and make a final decision.






We'll review the case details, such as messages sent in the Resolutions Center about this case and other emails sent through eBay between you and the seller. If we have questions, we'll get in touch with you. We'll get back to you within 48 hours.

You can view the details of this case in the Resolution Center.





*BS-0 Precision Dividing Head With 5" 3-jaw Chuck & Tailstock For CNC Milling USA*Item # :323831686994Sale price:$46.73Quantity:1Sale date:Jun-13-19 09:05:20 PDTSeller:mqwhg27Case #:5202510135Case opened:Jun-25-19 12:07:58 PDTView purchased item


----------



## ErichKeane

MrWhoopee said:


> I just received this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *eBay sent this message to XXXXXXXXXXX.*
> Your registered name is included to show this message originated from eBay. Learn more.​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The seller asked us to review this case and make a final decision
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi xxxxxx,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The seller has asked eBay Customer Support to review this case and make a final decision.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> We'll review the case details, such as messages sent in the Resolutions Center about this case and other emails sent through eBay between you and the seller. If we have questions, we'll get in touch with you. We'll get back to you within 48 hours.
> 
> You can view the details of this case in the Resolution Center.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *BS-0 Precision Dividing Head With 5" 3-jaw Chuck & Tailstock For CNC Milling USA*Item # :323831686994Sale price:$46.73Quantity:1Sale date:Jun-13-19 09:05:20 PDTSeller:mqwhg27Case #:5202510135Case opened:Jun-25-19 12:07:58 PDTView purchased item




How far did you go in the process?  Had you already appealed and got your money back?


----------



## MrWhoopee

ErichKeane said:


> How far did you go in the process?  Had you already appealed and got your money back?



No, I had only taken the first step by contacting the seller. They had until tomorrow (6/29) to respond.
I just now received my refund notice.

​

​
We're sorry you had a problem with your purchase​


​

​
​


​

​
You've been given a full refund​


​

​
Hi xxxxx,​


​

​
Unfortunately, we didn't receive valid tracking information from the seller. We're sorry you had a problem with your purchase.​


​

​
We've issued a refund of US $46.73 back to the original funding source you used to purchase this item. The refund includes the purchase price plus original shipping. Please allow 48 hours for it to process.​


​

​
​
See case details​



​

​
​
​









​
​
​

BS-0 Precision Dividing Head With 5" 3-jaw Chuck & Tailstock For CNC Milling USASeller:mqwhg27Amount:$46.73Quantity:1Case #:5202510135Case opened:Jun 25, 2019Case closed:Jun 28, 2019






It may be like when my internet goes down. The first complaint is treated like an isolated incident, by the time they get the 10th call they know it's not isolated.

It's interesting that my tracking number still shows "In Transit" since 6/20. I, too, would like to know what is in the package.


----------



## jim18655

I got the same " didn't get valid tracking number" message from ebay and almost instant refund. I wonder if they use random tracking numbers from other sales to scam ebay and buyers? That would explain tracking packages delivered to wrong addresses.


----------



## Djl338

Well that looks familiar, just got that notice as well, but looks like you overpaid for something you didn’t receive! I must have gotten the special scammed sale price

“


Unfortunately, we didn't receive valid tracking information from the seller. We're sorry you had a problem with your purchase.​



We've issued a refund of US $42.59 back to the original funding source you used to purchase this item. The refund includes the purchase price plus original shipping. Please allow 48 hours for it to process.​


----------



## RJSakowski

Superburban said:


> It would be interesting to know what was delivered. i had one a few years ago, that when I filed for the refund, the tracking stopped there, and never proceeded further. Makes me wonder if it was a fake tracking link, or a boggus tracking company altogether, as it was like China post, but a name I never heard of.


I entered the tracking number given by be_zero_be in the USPS tracking site and it is  legit tracking number.  The package description is small packet.  It appears the scammer is using using real tracking info to create the fake tracking.  Most likely to create enough of a diversion to cause a delay in a refund request.


----------



## BGHansen

Glad you are all getting your money back.  I'd be willing to bet the tracking number is legit for someone else's product.  I sell stuff on eBay and my USPS tracking numbers are something like "9505 5128 xxxx xxxx xxxx xx".  Seems like the numbers are likely pulled in sequential order, so just pick a number and enter it.  Nothing is secure about the number, so it would be pretty easy to plug a few into the USPS tracking site and you'd eventually hit a legit one.  Probably works the same for China post.

Bruce


----------



## Djl338

Seller name, if anyone is interested is.... 龙 吕   translates to  "Long Lu"


----------



## MikeInOr

We're sorry you had a problem with your purchase​



​



You've been given a full refund​



Hi Michael,​



Unfortunately, we didn't receive valid tracking information from the seller. We're sorry you had a problem with your purchase.​



We've issued a refund of US $49.96 back to the original funding source you used to purchase this item. The refund includes the purchase price plus original shipping. Please allow 48 hours for it to process.​


----------



## higgite

And the beat goes on.

Tom


----------



## Norseman C.B.

I got my refund today also, after just telling them of the problem and told to wait for the required 48 hours.
Apparently they found no legit tracking and refunded me in 24 hours, just waiting
for the refund to be posted on my credit card, another 48 hours or less..................


----------



## jim18655

I got email from ebay "my package has been delivered." Refunded this morning because "no legitimate tracking number."
Wonder what I got...


----------



## jim18655

A little south of me:



Time and datePlaceMessage               Friday, Jun 28, 2019 10:46 AM                                                                 LAKELAND                    ,                    FL                            DELIVERED IN/AT MAILBOX               Friday, Jun 28, 2019 8:35 AM                                                                 LAKELAND                    ,                    FL                            OUT FOR DELIVERY               Friday, Jun 28, 2019 8:25 AM                                                                 LAKELAND                    ,                    FL                            SORTING/PROCESSING COMPLETE               Friday, Jun 28, 2019 5:19 AM                                                                 LAKELAND                    ,                    FL                            ARRIVAL AT UNIT               Friday, Jun 28, 2019 4:36 AM                                                                 LAKELAND                    ,                    FL                            ARRIVE USPS FACILITY


----------



## Superburban

One of mine got delivered to a mailbox in Chester VA, the other has been sitting in China since the beginning.


----------



## Choiliefan

This is better than "where's waldo"...


----------



## jim18655

Nothing here. Random tracking number to keep you guessing.


----------



## richl

Mine supposedly went to chantilly va. Ebay has been notified, waiting till the 4th than refund.


----------



## ratranger

I gave it a few days after the "expected delivery" and messaged the seller.  Asked why a 50lb item was being sent epacket from china when it was supposed to be fedex from cali.  No answer after 2 days, so filed a claim with ebay.  After 2 days the seller contacted ebay saying for them to review it, and fake tracking info full refund.


----------



## markba633csi

Seller's name was "Long Lu"?  More like "Long Gone!" ha ha

WOW 250 posts and counting!


----------



## Superburban

markba633csi said:


> WOW 250 posts and counting!


Now 251!


----------



## Tim9

Oh well...It was worth a shot. Anyway, he's gone to the dark side. Just amazing this guy spends a year selling items to get good feedback....Then goes to the dark side thinking he's going to get away with this scam. 
   I'm sure Ebay has been down this road before and they won't lose any money And why this jackass thinks his too bit scam like this will work is beyond me. 
   Anyway...Looks like I'll be filing a claim also. It is what it is.


----------



## nnam

I had a bad eBay experience yesterday on something else, so I will be more careful next time.
I bought a TV, returned, so far so good.  However, the cancel of Squaretrade warranty that I bought didn't go anywhere.  No communication via eBay messages at all.  I then saw an email message asking me to login to their site and to cancel.
I didn't like that and messaged them again.  No response.

EBay refused to do anything, even when I said seller communicated outside eBay is against eBay recommended practice and in their listing description says I may be able to use 30 days money back guaranty.

Ebay said the listing does not have eBay 30 day money back guaranty and they can't do anything about it.

I ended up created an account at Squaretrade to cancel and got my refund.

Not totally bad, but I can see someone can screw me if they don't honor what they say at all and eBay refuse to help if eBay 30 days money back is not an option.


----------



## Choiliefan

Any time you buy an ebay item described as-is or parts/repair it cannot be returned unless the seller agrees to it.
I've sold quite a few items on ebay and this as-is policy has covered my ass several times -- especially valuable with overseas sales.
Always read the fine print and ask questions before bidding.


----------



## Cadillac STS

Got a full refund same day just for asking for a refund from the original ad.


----------



## Tim9

ALLOY seems to pretty much nailed it on what happened here. I just got off phone with EBay and was informed that what happened is that the sellers account was hacked. Who knows why and how the hack occurred... Or the motivation of the hacker. May even have been out of spite by a disgruntled employee.
   Anyway that explains why everything in his store was suddenly selling at rock bottom prices. In fact... most everything was selling for @ 49.00.
   Seems to be fairly common now....hackers are going after the EBay stores. Also makes sense for me since I did order couple of VFD’s from him and they arrived on time and fully happy with those purchases.


----------



## markba633csi

Let's hope our cards don't get hacked- I'm going to be watching my Chase bill closely


----------



## Latinrascalrg1

markba633csi said:


> Let's hope our cards don't get hacked- I'm going to be watching my Chase bill closely


Keep a very close eye on the low dollar charges.   Some hackers have gotten smarter and have discovered they are better off scamming many people for few dollars at a time over a Long Time span because  NOBODY pays attention to a couple dollar hits vs trying to empty the victim's accounts because that sets off all the alarms. So they sit back and collect a dollar here and there multiplied by hundreds or thousands of accounts equals a nice almost stable monthly paycheck.


----------



## Superburban

Tim9 said:


> ALLOY seems to pretty much nailed it on what happened here. I just got off phone with EBay and was informed that what happened is that the sellers account was hacked. Who knows why and how the hack occurred... Or the motivation of the hacker. May even have been out of spite by a disgruntled employee.
> Anyway that explains why everything in his store was suddenly selling at rock bottom prices. In fact... most everything was selling for @ 49.00.
> Seems to be fairly common now....hackers are going after the EBay stores. Also makes sense for me since I did order couple of VFD’s from him and they arrived on time and fully happy with those purchases.


'


I do not buy it. Of course that is what they would tell Ebay when caught. But that does not explain why it is the same scenario every time. 

Also, it looks like they were items added, not that someone hacked their account, and then changed prices, they would have to load all the new items. Also, the items sold for several days in the middle of a week, They admitting that they do not check their sales for days at a time? Last, if the account was truly hacked, I would think they would be using every method to contact Ebay, and get things blocked, and corrected. That never appears to have happened. It was not until we started filing claims, that things started to take place. I have had some deals where Ebay steped in, closed the account, and refunded my money within days of the sale, Before I knew anything was wrong, citing fradulant activity. Thats what I would expect to see if there was a hacked account.


----------



## markba633csi

My feeling is it's somehow a collaborative crime;  payback for the tariffs?
"spooky action at a distance" in quantum terms


----------



## davidcarmichael

MikeInOr said:


> No where in the description does it say that it is actually made out of metal!
> 
> 125mm is 3" not 5".  I have never actually seen a 3" chuck... must be for those micro-mills.
> 
> You guys are crazy!... I ordered one too.


Nope. 125/25.4=4.92


----------



## MrWhoopee

Just took my refund and ordered a set of collet blocks. I now have everything I need.


----------



## higgite

MrWhoopee said:


> I now have everything in need.


Oh, you dreamer, you! 

Tom


----------



## MrWhoopee

Hey, my package arrived in San Francisco! It's in the same state as I am, I wonder how close it will get.


----------



## Djl338

If this was a hacked account,why did I get a refund from assuming the seller?  Good ole’ Long Lu
From Paypal...
“龙 吕 refunded $42.59 USD from your purchase on June 13, 2019.”
does this thread hold the record for numbers of posts on something that is unrelated to hobby machining?


----------



## alloy

Djl338 said:


> If this was a hacked account,why did I get a refund from assuming the seller?  Good ole’ Long Lu
> From Paypal...
> “龙 吕 refunded $42.59 USD from your purchase on June 13, 2019.”
> does this thread hold the record for numbers of posts on something that is unrelated to hobby machining?



When I got hacked they weren't able to break into my paypal thankfully.  Two entirely different passwords.

 Ebay refunded all the money out of my account.  Ebay said they got into my account and most likely were trying hard to get into my paypal once they started seeing the sales come in. He said it's good I caught it quickly.  They would eventually get into my paypal given enough time.  I remember him saying to not have similar password with ebay and paypal.

What gets me with this one is it looks like something is actually being delivered.  Well, unless they found a way to fake tracking.


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## Firstgear

You can set up your PayPal account that requires Paypal to text you a 6 digit secondary password.  It’s the only way to go.  I set this up after someone hacked my eBay account and I didn’t realize until I bought a case of oil only to find out someone had changed my ship to address!

I was screwed....no money back just a hard lesson.  I have set my eBay account with secondary security.  It’s available.


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## nnam

I didn't get money back right away as some other said.  Ebay said I needed to wait 4 days before getting eBay involved.  Strange enough, the seller just opened the case.  I don't know what's the reasoning.  But if they did ship the product, it could be so they have enough time for it to be shipped?  Ok, wishful thinking probably, but the item arrived at the USPS somewhere in San Francisco.
Now, eBay said to be looking into it and will get back.


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## matthewsx

My seller also opened a case, maybe it's a stalling tactic?

BS-0 Precision Dividing Head With 5" 3-jaw Chuck & Tailstock For CNC Milling USA
Quantity: 1
Total: $ 46.73
Here's what happened
Jul. 1 :
The seller has opened a case

Jun. 28 :
You didn't get the item
You requested
A refund
Comments
This item is too large and heavy to be delivered by ePacket and tracking says it hasn't even left China. FRAUD


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## nnam

I think I need to calm down.  What if it's not a fraud.  I would wait, to see where it got delivered.  If it's not my house or not the correct item, then I will get my money back anyway.  That was the intention when I bought it.  So filing a claim was a bit "early".  Many items bought from China took a lot longer.  That said, I would say be very vigilante about this would be a good thing since it's so cheap.

I am curious if anyone gets anything yet, and if any delivered item ended up somewhere not their house yet?


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## JimDawson

Djl338 said:


> does this thread hold the record for numbers of posts on something that is unrelated to hobby machining?



I think so


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## Superburban

nnam said:


> I think I need to calm down.  What if it's not a fraud.  I would wait, to see where it got delivered.  If it's not my house or not the correct item, then I will get my money back anyway.  That was the intention when I bought it.  So filing a claim was a bit "early".  Many items bought from China took a lot longer.  That said, I would say be very vigilante about this would be a good thing since it's so cheap.
> 
> I am curious if anyone gets anything yet, and if any delivered item ended up somewhere not their house yet?


If it is legitimly shipped, then starting a claim will not change anything. Once they ship an item, they cannot turn it around. Also they have a chance to make a statement, if it is legitimate, they will speak up.


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## nnam

Scanned through the thread, I now know severval got delivered to a wrong address. Definitely a scam.


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## higgite

I don't have a dog in this fight, or this thread, but it's like a train wreck.... painful to watch, but I can't look away. 

Tom


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## coherent

I used Paypal vs Ebay for a refund. They contact the seller (payee) and give them 10 days to respond with proof that the item was delivered to your Ebay/Paypal shipping address. If they can't or fail to respond, Paypal will make the refund to the payment card or source used.  Tracking shows my 2 items/ePackets delivered in states other than where I live, so no brainer. If the scammer was a little smarter he would have at least sent something to your actual address, but then again my guess is they use valid tracking numbers they somehow figure out (prob pretty simple) coming to the US but not for anything "they" ship. So they aren't even spending a dime on shipping anything.


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## alloy

Speaking of hacked accounts, seems last night I went into the business of selling men's health supplements on my web site.

Called godaddy and some virus got into wordpress and redirected everything to a web site in china. To fix it I had to pay $169.  They said it will be back within 12 hours. 

Not back yet.

I can't believe godaddy didn't protect my site for what I pay them per year for hosting.


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## Cadillac STS

Mine was marked delivered yesterday to my home. Nothing came. I already got my refund a few days ago though.


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## Utah Smitty

Well, my greed for a cheap price got the best of me X2.  Same seller, same cost.  I even got a 3 delivery notifications on 2 items.  2 of them to San Antonio, TX, and 1 to Boise, ID (I live in northern Utah).

I've already contacted the seller, who hasn't responded. BTW, he's shown as a Top Rated Seller in his listing even though you have to sell 100 items to meet that , plus a good feedback score.  His is 53% and dropping.  He's also went private feedback, so we can't see any of the comments, and he's not supposed to keep selling.... but he does.


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## FOMOGO

I had ordered a 10hp VFD on e-pay for $48 knowing full well that it probably wasn't happening, but had gotten some great deals in the past on other items, so gave it a shot. Got my refund from e-pay, and ordered this one from amazon.  Should have it in a few days. Mike
       Arriving July 5 - July 10


            Track package         





        Mophorn 220V 7.5KW VFD Variable Frequency Drive CNC VFD Motor Drive Inverter Converter for CNC Router Milling Machine Spindle Motor Speed Control (7.5KW VFD)    

                                                   Sold by:              Mophorn                Product question?                    Ask Seller        



           $219.58

            Business Price


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## pstemari

Mophorn? ISTR they were one of the 3p merchants that swooped into Amazon a while back. I don't recall them selling anything nearly that big/high voltage+power.

I've received ok stuff from some of them, eg USB power meters, small DC boost converters, etc, but I don't know that I'd trust them for something running 240VAC @ 50A or thereabouts. 

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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## RJSakowski

I use Paypal rather than a direct credit card transaction whenever possible.  The thought of giving my credit card information to someone I don't know makes me extremely nervous.

One way to curb all this illegal internet activity would be to make it a capital crime.  Or at least a prison term at hard labor.  Think of it as a business.  If the rewards outweigh the risks, it's worth doing.  We can't do a lot about the rewards bur we surely could d0o something about the risks.


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## Flyinfool

Unfortunatly most of the scammers are not in this country, makes it hard to prosecute them. Many other contries do not so much mind that they are taking USA money and spending it in their home country and employing people. Makes them less likely to track them down for us.


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## MrWhoopee

So close..
My package actually got within 250 miles of me, but over-shot the mark and landed in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. I was really hoping to see what was in it. Oh well, it's been fun. If eBay ended up eating it, hopefully they will find the motivation to trap this type of scam coming in. I could write the routine to catch these, and I haven't done any serious programming in 30 years or more.


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## MrWhoopee

RJSakowski said:


> I use Paypal rather than a direct credit card transaction whenever possible.  The thought of giving my credit card information to someone I don't know makes me extremely nervous.



Just remember that in the case of fraud, the most you are legally liable for is $50, and I've never heard of anyone even having to pay that. The credit card companies want you to just relax and use that card. Back about 15 years ago, both of my credit cards went wild. It was a slight inconvenience, cost me nothing and I had new cards within a day or two. Debit cards are another matter. If they get compromised, you're broke until the bank makes it right (which they will). It can take a week or more for them to fix it, meanwhile you're borrowing from friends and family. It happened recently to my SIL. I do not have, nor have I ever had a debit card. 

Because I hate getting that surprise when the credit card bill arrives, I have my Paypal account draw directly from my checking account. As insurance against my Paypal getting hacked, I turned off over-draft protection on my checking. If they drain it, I don't want them draining my savings too.


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## RJSakowski

Bank of America has been really good at catching anomalies in our credit card accounts.  Sometimes too good. They have deactivated our credit cards at some particularly inconvenient times.  When we travel to Europe, we rely on the cards for the majority of our transactions and having a card suspended will leave us pretty much high and dry.  Fortunately, most of the times this has happened we have been able to have them reactivated with a phone call but in one instance, there was an illicit charge and the card was canceled.  We always carry a backup card for events like that and we were able to continue with our trip.

Also, more than some bogus charges on the card are at risk.  The cards are a part of our entire financial identity.  I prefer to have as little exposure as possible which is why my preference is to use PayPal for transactions.

MrWhoopee, I don't have a debit card for the same reason.  If I ever were to get one, I would open a special checking account just for use with the card and limit the amount of funds in the account.  Our bank is pretty good about inter-account transfers.  We can do them over the phone and they are usually completed within a few minutes with an e-mail message confirming the transfer.


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## Djl338

Well, I live in VA, got my refund last week.


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## Superburban

Our local mail carrier uses that "delivery attempted, no access to delivery location", when she forgets to deliver the box, with the mail, and does not want to come back. That code is too easy for them to use, and allows them to cover up their mistakes. It seems like we see that at least once a month the last year or so.


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## Norseman C.B.

My package was delivered in/at mailbox in Mcallen Texas today............ Long way from Oregon..........Got my refund days ago


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## hman

MrWhoopee said:


> Debit cards are another matter. If they get compromised, you're broke until the bank makes it right (which they will). It can take a week or more for them to fix it, meanwhile you're borrowing from friends and family. It happened recently to my SIL. I do not have, nor have I ever had a debit card.
> 
> Because I hate getting that surprise when the credit card bill arrives, I have my Paypal account draw directly from my checking account. As insurance against my Paypal getting hacked, I turned off over-draft protection on my checking. If they drain it, I don't want them draining my savings too.


I was very fortunate in that my credit union in Oregon allowed me to get a second debit card, in a special account that is NOT able to access any of my other accounts.  I can transfer money into the account electronically, but never put in more than about $50 to $100 over my currently anticipated purchases.  If anybody were to steal/abuse the card number, all they could get would be that $50 to $100.

Among other things, this saves me from having a credit card hacked, mainly from the attendant hazard of having the card voided by the bank just when I need it (like on a trip).  I know there's no perfect solution, but this seems the best way to limit exposure.


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## nnam

This turns out to be more headache than I thought.  Lesson learned.  I still didn't get refund.  They said they tried to refund me, but something they didn't say keeping it from doing the refund.  But something is odd.  They transferred me to a few people compared to previously they can just refund and few minutes later it shows.  I also got refund for other items, but just not this one.  I am worry eBay may have lost money on this.  This is just very odd a big company like this would have problem with the seller's scamming after all these years.  I thought it's pretty obvious for them to prevent such a scam.


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## BGHansen

nnam said:


> This turns out to be more headache than I thought.  Lesson learned.  I still didn't get refund.  They said they tried to refund me, but something they didn't say keeping it from doing the refund.  But something is odd.  They transferred me to a few people compared to previously they can just refund and few minutes later it shows.  I also got refund for other items, but just not this one.  I am worry eBay may have lost money on this.  This is just very odd a big company like this would have problem with the seller's scamming after all these years.  I thought it's pretty obvious for them to prevent such a scam.


Sorry to hear about your problem with eBay getting your refund.  I think part of the problem is there are so many seller/buyers on eBay that they can no longer monitor each and every item.  There are literally millions if not billions of items listed.  That's probably why they have a "report item" button and rely on the buying/selling community to rat out suspected scammers.  

I took a shot years ago (seller was in China) on a buy it now for a 6", 8" and 12" Mitutoyo Absolute digital calipers.  Something like $15 for the 12" one delivered.  I figured they were knock-offs, but took a shot anyhow.  Didn't receive the items on the expected delivery date and reported it to eBay.  They said wait a week for a response; no response so got a prompt refund.

I list stuff on eBay and if I try to put my email address and/or a web site in the description, an error message pops up immediately.  Get some note about keeping things within eBay to protect the seller and buyer.  Uh, maybe so, but cynical me says eBay is in business to make money and gets paid when an item sells on eBay.  If a private deal is made outside of eBay, they get nothing.  So, it's fair that eBay screens out the emails and web sites as they are providing a service.  But sure seems with today's artificial intelligence and screening auto-bots, they should be able to somewhat protect against scammers by populating a database with past scammed items.  If they can check instantly for an email address or web site in a listing, seems like a dividing head for under $50 should be able to be flagged also.  

By the way, there are still listings for new Mitutoyo Absolute calipers for under $30, buy it now from China.  Scams?  Probably.  And no, I haven't taken a second shot.

Good luck with eBay!

Bruce


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## higgite

BGHansen said:


> If they can check instantly for an email address or web site in a listing, seems like a dividing head for under $50 should be able to be flagged also.


I agree with most everything you said, but I doubt seriously that Ebay has the personnel that even knows how much a dividing head costs or should cost, and I doubt they care. But they do, or should, care about scams that can cost them potential commissions on future sales.

Tom


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## matthewsx

nnam said:


> This turns out to be more headache than I thought.  Lesson learned.  I still didn't get refund.  They said they tried to refund me, but something they didn't say keeping it from doing the refund.  But something is odd.  They transferred me to a few people compared to previously they can just refund and few minutes later it shows.  I also got refund for other items, but just not this one.  I am worry eBay may have lost money on this.  This is just very odd a big company like this would have problem with the seller's scamming after all these years.  I thought it's pretty obvious for them to prevent such a scam.



Ebay seems to be in on the scam with providing false information to their customers and not actually getting money refunded even when they say they have. Their systems are horribly broken and I'm afraid they will become a supplier I cannot do business with any longer. 

They provided two different incorrect points of data through their website and automated phone system and only after talking with two different people there do they acknowledge they will refund my money that they said was refunded on July 1.

Definitely more than $46.73 worth of hassle.

John


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## Firstgear

Words to live by....if it’s too good to be true, it’s not true....hence why I didn’t spend my money....it’s just not worth my time to go down the path of getting my money back.....don’t go down the path to begin with!


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## Superburban

E-bay should easily be able to identify sellers that suddenly are selling magnitudes more then they have been in the past. Then it just takes a human to take a look, and maybe even stop further sales until they talk with the seller. I have tried the report item link, and just get a canned response, and still go through this whole deal. My theory is still that E-bay is not hurt enough to care.


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## empiretc

Purchased an item from  mqwhg27, and got a tracking number within a day.  Our item was delivered in Annandale, VA which is about 1,800 miles from us.  Have tried contacting everyone with no response.  Had to File a claim with PayPal but have not heard back yet.  Now we see, "This user is no longer registered on eBay. " It was an obvious scam as they received over 200 negative feedback in the past month. Really wish we could contact other buyers to see if they were given the same tracking number. Hopefully we get a refund.


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## Firstgear

MrWhoopee said:


> Just remember that in the case of fraud, the most you are legally liable for is $50, and I've never heard of anyone even having to pay that. The credit card companies want you to just relax and use that card. Back about 15 years ago, both of my credit cards went wild. It was a slight inconvenience, cost me nothing and I had new cards within a day or two. Debit cards are another matter. If they get compromised, you're broke until the bank makes it right (which they will). It can take a week or more for them to fix it, meanwhile you're borrowing from friends and family. It happened recently to my SIL. I do not have, nor have I ever had a debit card.
> 
> Because I hate getting that surprise when the credit card bill arrives, I have my Paypal account draw directly from my checking account. As insurance against my Paypal getting hacked, I turned off over-draft protection on my checking. If they drain it, I don't want them draining my savings too.


You can set your PayPal account up where after entering your username and password, that they will text you a six digit number that must be entered to gain access.  So even if they have the first two they need your phone to enter in the six digit number.  I feel better having that extra layer of security.


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## jim18655

One email to ebay and almost instant refund was issued. Bank account shows the refund and no suspicious activity.


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## Moper361

Th


ozzie46 said:


> Not long ago there was the deal with 24 cans of Tap Magic for very very low price and it was real.
> 
> 
> Not for me, it wasn't real. Cancelled my order on me.
> 
> Ron


Thats because Ron was greedy and Ron got 24 cans of tap magic  but good Lucķ to Ron first in best dressed as they say lol


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## Tim9

As others noted... I too used PayPal since I was skeptical about this low price. And to further protect myself, I used PayPal backup credit card for payment instead of a debit from my account. Lots of good other posts here like getting a text message c6 digit code to log into account. The internet is the new Wild West... overrun with Putin’s Russian Mafia. It is what it is.


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## nnam

Another very strange twist to my case, I got refunded twice.  Now, on phone with ebay to resolve it.


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## higgite

nnam said:


> Another very strange twist to my case, I got refunded twice.


Now THAT's what I call too good to be true!

Tom


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## FOMOGO

Got a notice from ebay that my money had been refunded to my pay pal account for the first 10hp VFD I ordered. Checked, and no refund deposit. Called today and was told by the bot that the seller has appealed, and I have to wait for their decision. Today I got the one I ordered from amazon for $202.00, will be trying it out first on a 3hp, 3 phase, Quincy compressor I recently picked up. If that goes well, will try it on my big lathe. Mike


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## rgray

nnam said:


> Another very strange twist to my case, I got refunded twice. Now, on phone with ebay to resolve it.



I wouldn't waste to much time on that. Any time that has happened to me they have figured it out and corrected it all on their own.
They are much better at correcting those mistakes than they are correcting the ones where it's in their favor.


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## Bi11Hudson

Well, mine got refunded last week, eBay couldn't find any tracking info once it was shipped. Not the same vendor as the ones listed here, so it must have been a widespread problem. Now it shows up in my "feedback" column as delivered June 1(July 1??). Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, Over?

In any case, I did have a couple of others with long delivery times and free shipping, that's what I watch. A carbide router bit, a fancy one, for a couple-three bux, delivered? Not a chance, but I tried it, and lo and behold, it showed up last night. So, I'm pleased there. One for two on questionable buys, that ain't too shabby, all things considered.

.


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## martik777

5 HP VFD $17.99









						UPDATED 220V 4KW 5HP VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE INVERTER VFD NEW  | eBay
					

The input for this VFD is 1 phase.  How To Install This VFD. （220V class for single phase, single phase connected to any two phases）. Other Functions:Frequency lower limit, starting frequency, stopping frequency, three skip frequencies can be respectively set.



					www.ebay.com


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## Superburban

martik777 said:


> 5 HP VFD $17.99
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> UPDATED 220V 4KW 5HP VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE INVERTER VFD NEW  | eBay
> 
> 
> The input for this VFD is 1 phase.  How To Install This VFD. （220V class for single phase, single phase connected to any two phases）. Other Functions:Frequency lower limit, starting frequency, stopping frequency, three skip frequencies can be respectively set.
> 
> 
> 
> www.ebay.com


Interesting, Feedback of 64, all positive. All but 4 under 40 feedback themselves. So a new seller, mainly selling to new buyers. And all sales but 1, in Hong Kong Dollars, so most likely local buyers. 

These are all similar scenarios. I still do not buy that the accout gets hacked. My money is on the seller being a scumbag. They have to be making something out of all the effort they put into these scams, or they would have stopped a long time ago. I just do not see whay E-bay is not catching them sooner.


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## Flyinfool

I think eBays only recourse is to have people flag the scams for them. How can ebay possibly differentiate a great deal from a scam? Yes they could compare each item to similar items and expect a similar price. But that would also stop anyone from listing something real cheap just to get rid of it.

In the grand scheme I think that the actual number of scams vs real sellers is so big that they are still making a lot of money and can absorb the loss as a cost of doing business.

I think these scammers put up these created accounts, sell a bunch of stuff real cheap, and then clean out and close the payment account real fast before ebay can yank the funds back. this leave ebay holding the bag and the scum make a quick bundle.

I would bet that ebay has people working on solutins non stop, every time ebay figures out how to control one scam the scammers come up with a new one. A given scam probably has to hit a loss threshold before they start putting people on it.


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