Real 50's Esquire only $1500?

[Sidney Vicious]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ORIGINAL-1955-FE...QQcmdZViewItem

Notice that "contact seller before bidding" proviso?

I wonder if when you contact him you find out the BIN is slightly higher . . . .

[Arlo]

Something screwy there. You see all the other guitars he has?? If it were only true I would clean out the whole lot.

[Big John]

Good to see another one of Tadeo's , going by the number of time's i've seen "T G" that man must have had the busiest pencil in Fullerton.


How does a guitar lose it's strap buttons ?

[ehawley]

I don't think you would get the guitar in the pictures! 1500?? No way!

[Dan German]

I'm not all that wise to the ways of eBay, but why is the BIN price in the text of the ad only, instead of with the bid line?

[cacibi]

Seems like all his previous sales are for creams and lotions and not guitars.

[del]

Item Specifics - Item Condition
Condition:
New
Brand :
Hydroderm

?

[dallmon]

Guys something is definitely wrong, like Mr. West said, if you go to sellers other items you will see a slew of high end guitars and all them have a BIN of $1,500. Looks like a scam waiting to happen.

[casterway]

I dunno....$39.99 for a Wayne Henderson acoustic is pretty tempting...

[neocaster]

Originally Posted by ehawley

I don't think you would get the guitar in the pictures! 1500?? No way!

Just think... with one more pickup, it would be worth TEN TIMES AS MUCH!

He doesn't have a reserve because the insertion fee would be higher (only a few dollars, but if he's used to selling small-ticket items, he's probably in the habit of not setting reserves)

How does the fee structure differ on Buy It Now auctions?

[Skip Ellis]

Very odd use of language in description - sounds like he's trying to be hip and doesn;t quite make it. Has anyone contacted him?

[neocaster]

I was in the middle of reporting them for fee circumvention when they all disappeared.

[jwells393]

Something very screwy there. All those vintage guitars with a $1500 BIN and guitar shipping prices ranging from $4.50 to $5.50. All the guitar auctions end about the same time ......... within about 20 minutes. Since the sellers past history appears to indicate sales of lotions, it makes me wonder if someone has hi-jacked the sellers account.

[jclark]

I clicked the link and got an invalid item message. don't know what it means, but looks like the auction has been pulled?

[all_identaties_taken]

It's gone. Probably a scammer who highjacked the account. One of my favorite sellers who sells Baseball stuff suddenly had BMW's for sale. These were pulled and I got a note from the seller saying he had been hacked and that e-bay were dealing with it.

[62_Inca_Esquire]

That guy scams on hijacked accounts if its the guy I'm thinking of (the listing has been removed). All the items he has (He usually posts a bunch of different things) have the same "BIN" price, say to contact his AOL account and that he'll cancel your bid if you bid on the auction, etc.. Its a scam to steal cash from people who want a "once in a lifetime, too good to be true" type deal. He posts stuff every couple days, but there are a bunch of us who report him, so his auctions are pulled quickly.

[Arlo]

Got this as a result of sending an inquiry to the seller!

Seems to sum up the story well.

Our records show that you recently received an email from manu-la71 through the Ask Seller a Question or Contact eBay Member features. This email may be fraudulent and an attempt to do one of the following:

- Obtain your eBay password
- Gain access to your eBay account
- Use your eBay account for fraudulent activity
- Set up an outside-of-eBay transaction which may be fraudulent

This kind of email is often called a "phish" or "phishing attempt," and the people who send them are known as "phishers." Phishers use these methods to try to get your personal information, such as user names, passwords and credit card details. Because the emails may sometimes come through the eBay system, the phisher may seem to be trustworthy and have a good reason to contact you.

***Important - Protect Your Personal Information***
- Don't reply to the sender either through the eBay system or your personal email account.

- Don't open any links or cut and paste any Web addresses into your browser from the phishing email.

- If you think you may have entered personal information such as your password, Social Security Number, or credit card information into a website based on a request from a phishing email, you need to act *immediately* to protect yourself from identity theft. For detailed instructions about the steps to take, please go to:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidenc...ity-theft.html

***What to Do If You've Already Sent an Item or Payment***
If you've already sent payment to or shipped an item to a person who asked that you take the transaction outside of eBay, we recommend you take the following steps:

1. Contact the payment service that you used to make the purchase. If you paid by credit card, most card issuers provide consumer protection in online fraud cases.

2. Please complete the "Item Bought Outside of eBay" form or the "Item Sold Outside of eBay" form. To find these forms, please go to:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/isgw-fraud-non-ebay.html

Click the "Item Bought Outside of eBay form" or the "Item Sold Outside of eBay form" link. Enter your information in the page that follows, and then click the "Submit" button. The information you provide will enable us to work more effectively with law enforcement in case an investigation occurs.

3. If you were the seller and shipped the item to a fraudulent buyer, contact the shipping carrier that you used. That company may be able to assist you further. If you sent the item through the U.S. Postal Service, file a mail fraud claim. To do so, please visit:

http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/

4. Contact the local law enforcement where you sent the payment or item. The authorities where the seller or the buyer lives might be able to provide additional assistance. To find local law enforcement, go to:

http://www.usacops.com/

***Additional Account Safety Tips***
To protect your email and your eBay account, we recommend that you always follow these safety tips:

- Do *not* respond to the sender either through the eBay system or your email account. An offer to buy or sell an item outside of eBay is against eBay policies, might be fraudulent, and will not be covered by eBay protection programs.

- If you received what appears to be a Second Chance Offer for an item that you recently bid on, check My Messages to make sure the offer is legitimate. Second Chance Offers appear in My Messages with a blue background and a subject stating, "eBay Second Chance Offer for Item...."

- If you receive a Second Chance Offer directly in your personal email and it is not in My Messages, it is not a legitimate offer.

- If a Second Chance Offer appears in My Messages with a subject line of "Message from eBay Member," it is not a legitimate offer. Before responding to a Second Chance Offer, make sure it contains both the blue background in My Messages and the subject line of "eBay Second Chance Offer for Item?"

- Never pay for an item you've bought on eBay by using instant cash or wire transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe on eBay. It's against the eBay Accepted Payments policy for a seller to request payment using these methods. For more information about payments that are accepted on eBay, please go to:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/...ts-policy.html

Sincerely,

eBay Customer Support

[Bill]

Well, I did buy a '56 Tele on eBay for $1300 several years ago. Pickups needed rewinding, had some holes drilled in the body and I think an extra hole for a 7th tuner in the peghead. It wasn't in as good a condition as described.

So I sent it back.

[jwells393]

I also sent a inquiry and received the same eBay notice as Arlo. Appears someone at eBay is doing their job.

[smitty54017]

Originally Posted by Arlo

Got this as a result of sending an inquiry to the seller!

Seems to sum up the story well.

Our records show that you recently received an email from manu-la71 through the Ask Seller a Question or Contact eBay Member features. This email may be fraudulent and an attempt to do one of the following:

- Obtain your eBay password
- Gain access to your eBay account
- Use your eBay account for fraudulent activity
- Set up an outside-of-eBay transaction which may be fraudulent

This kind of email is often called a "phish" or "phishing attempt," and the people who send them are known as "phishers." Phishers use these methods to try to get your personal information, such as user names, passwords and credit card details. Because the emails may sometimes come through the eBay system, the phisher may seem to be trustworthy and have a good reason to contact you.

***Important - Protect Your Personal Information***
- Don't reply to the sender either through the eBay system or your personal email account.

- Don't open any links or cut and paste any Web addresses into your browser from the phishing email.

- If you think you may have entered personal information such as your password, Social Security Number, or credit card information into a website based on a request from a phishing email, you need to act *immediately* to protect yourself from identity theft. For detailed instructions about the steps to take, please go to:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidenc...ity-theft.html

***What to Do If You've Already Sent an Item or Payment***
If you've already sent payment to or shipped an item to a person who asked that you take the transaction outside of eBay, we recommend you take the following steps:

1. Contact the payment service that you used to make the purchase. If you paid by credit card, most card issuers provide consumer protection in online fraud cases.

2. Please complete the "Item Bought Outside of eBay" form or the "Item Sold Outside of eBay" form. To find these forms, please go to:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/isgw-fraud-non-ebay.html

Click the "Item Bought Outside of eBay form" or the "Item Sold Outside of eBay form" link. Enter your information in the page that follows, and then click the "Submit" button. The information you provide will enable us to work more effectively with law enforcement in case an investigation occurs.

3. If you were the seller and shipped the item to a fraudulent buyer, contact the shipping carrier that you used. That company may be able to assist you further. If you sent the item through the U.S. Postal Service, file a mail fraud claim. To do so, please visit:

http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/

4. Contact the local law enforcement where you sent the payment or item. The authorities where the seller or the buyer lives might be able to provide additional assistance. To find local law enforcement, go to:

http://www.usacops.com/

***Additional Account Safety Tips***
To protect your email and your eBay account, we recommend that you always follow these safety tips:

- Do *not* respond to the sender either through the eBay system or your email account. An offer to buy or sell an item outside of eBay is against eBay policies, might be fraudulent, and will not be covered by eBay protection programs.

- If you received what appears to be a Second Chance Offer for an item that you recently bid on, check My Messages to make sure the offer is legitimate. Second Chance Offers appear in My Messages with a blue background and a subject stating, "eBay Second Chance Offer for Item...."

- If you receive a Second Chance Offer directly in your personal email and it is not in My Messages, it is not a legitimate offer.

- If a Second Chance Offer appears in My Messages with a subject line of "Message from eBay Member," it is not a legitimate offer. Before responding to a Second Chance Offer, make sure it contains both the blue background in My Messages and the subject line of "eBay Second Chance Offer for Item?"

- Never pay for an item you've bought on eBay by using instant cash or wire transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe on eBay. It's against the eBay Accepted Payments policy for a seller to request payment using these methods. For more information about payments that are accepted on eBay, please go to:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/...ts-policy.html

Sincerely,

eBay Customer Support

You stole my thunder Arlo! Oh well, this is a good time to remind people of all of the phishing emails out there. I've gotten several from Ebay and PayPal over the years, all wanting me to update my password, etc. You'd be surprised how many people actually follow through and provide the information.

Having been in the law enforcement field for 10+ years, it's shocking to see how easily people hand over personal information. I guess that makes us good, trusting people.

[Southern ILL]

Guys be careful..especially after you hit the contact seller button and have to sign in...they are trying to get info. and if you have a payapl balance they can get to it too.

[ThreePlyGuy]

Beautiful women, guitar players and scam artists, loads of 'em!

[PJ]

Lisiting's been taken down, so I guess there was something fishy with this one.