Well, it's official. I'm not a thief.
But I'm still pissed.
So I’ve been doing ebay recently. Specifically cameras. Buying untested ones from like goodwills and the like, testing them, and keeping the upgrades and selling the handmedowns.
In the process I’ve run into a type of fraud. Stay with me here.
So this is every listing this store had for 2000d camera stuff, that’s a model of camera.
He has “untested” ones. Which on the surface sounds plausible. Not everyone has time, gear, or expertise. But wait…
They aren’t really untested. He knows for a fact they are broken. Here’s how I know that:
He found the broken card slot on that one. So he’s testing them.
Also, more damningly, he sells these:
This is what he does with the ones he can get working. He bundles them with a bunch of chinese place holders. (Nothing wrong with that imo, china makes good stuff.)
But you see the problem? Why wouldn’t he test them when they might be working, which adds a mountain of value, and he has all the parts needed on hand to do so and then turn them into new bundles?
He obviously IS testing them and is selling the duds as “untested” to scam risk tolerant bargain hunters. But “untested” is also “for parts” so it’s totally legal.
It’s not even against ebay policy.
Direct links:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/156988113921?itmmeta=01JXZ66WE8XP0YAHFS8PCM0FET&hash=item248d388401:g:sQIAAOSwKdtoJQXc
https://www.ebay.com/itm/145134050390?_skw=2000d&itmmeta=01JXZ67TW69EA93SRKTGBB7C4Q&hash=item21caa9dc56:g:AtsAAOSwFDVkhyvC
https://www.ebay.com/itm/146613702485?itmmeta=01JXZ66WE8AKKG9MT9A2H42AKH&hash=item2222db8f55:g:0W8AAOSwzJtoOJ4R
So there you have it. Hard proof I’m not a thief, and my punishment for not being a thief.
Guess which is more rewarding:
A. Fleecing people.
B. Exposing it with a blog post.
Here’s the vote button:
Context:
This is what a legitimate version of this type sale looks like:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/146399964998
I used to sell a lot of various stuff on eBay. Mostly to buy food, at the time. Art glass, etc. I learned to say no returns and take lots of pictures, with defects clearly marked. I got into a little chat with someone who mostly sold dishes, she said a common scam was to report dishes broken, provide a picture of a broken dish, and get a refund - when she had packed stuff so it would have had to be unpacked to get broken. After a couple of times she could see they were using the same picture. I stopped selling on eBay because I was not a high volume store, and when they switched away from Paypal the fees were not smaller, and I would have to wait to get my money and eBay also had direct access to my bank account, with automatic clawback of money if a customer complained. Not worth the trouble for little sellers like me. I sold a lot of art glass, coins, and glass Christmas ornaments, it was fun while it lasted. Except for having to explain to someone what regions meant for DVDs. Even though I and eBay were were quite explicit about that in descriptions. Yeah the camera guy seems skeevy.