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LlamaBoy · Jun 5, 2003, 10:19 AM

... or I'm just totally missing something in the description. If not, sign me up! This guy has listed for $1899 the following:

17" G4 Powerbook
23 Cinema HD Display
and a Brenthaven backpack.

The link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=14909

It says $1899 each, but I dont know if that means he has more than 1 of these offers or that the 17" Powerbook is $1899 and the HD Display is $1899.

What am I missing here?

Ebay Item

justinf77 · Jun 5, 2003, 10:22 AM

Originally posted by LlamaBoy:
... or I'm just totally missing something in the description. If not, sign me up! This guy has listed for $1899 the following:

17" G4 Powerbook
23 Cinema HD Display
and a Brenthaven backpack.

The link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=14909

It says $1899 each, but I dont know if that means he has more than 1 of these offers or that the 17" Powerbook is $1899 and the HD Display is $1899.

What am I missing here?
Ebay Item

Scam. Check his feedback. Always the buyer, never the seller.

azt33 · Jun 5, 2003, 10:24 AM

Apparently, he's also offering a 30GB iPod, and an Airport Extreme Base Station, or did I misread?

It's definetly too good to be true! It has to be a scam

gametime10 · Jun 5, 2003, 10:33 AM

More than half of the Powerbook auctions on eBay are scams. These scammers somehow hack into accounts with high feedback and post their powerbooks. Once someone wins, they will email the information to the winner and ask them to wire transfer (red flag) money to some European destination. Here are a few tips:

- Usually if the description only contains generic info cut&pasted from the Apple site, then it's probably not legit.
- If it does not list a location or if it lists an overseas location, I would not recommend buying it.
- If it does not include detailed payment instructions or details, I would be sure to contact the seller first before bidding.
- Check the feedback and look at what items he has sold lately. If they have nothing to do with (high-end) electronics, then I would be very wary.
- If it's too good to be true, then it most likely is a scam.

Just a few things I've learned. I ended up with a 1Ghz Powerbook from eBay for $2050 shipped, but what makes me mad is that the guy listed it as brand new, and it was obviously used and even had some nasty dings on the cover and underside. So always be careful and communicate well.

Clarkey · Jun 5, 2003, 10:52 AM

Get a load of this -- I tried to "buy" this item to prevent some poor sap from falling for this scam -- and this is what it said:

Dear Bidder/Buyer

This item is restricted to pre-approved bidders/buyers. You may place a bid or buy the item once this seller has approved you. In order to get approved, you'll need to contact the seller and request to be added to the pre approved bidder/buyer list for this item.

Unreal.

MacNStein · Jun 5, 2003, 11:21 AM

Originally posted by Clarkey:
Get a load of this -- I tried to "buy" this item to prevent some poor sap from falling for this scam -- and this is what it said:

Dear Bidder/Buyer

This item is restricted to pre-approved bidders/buyers. You may place a bid or buy the item once this seller has approved you. In order to get approved, you'll need to contact the seller and request to be added to the pre approved bidder/buyer list for this item.

Unreal.

I tried the same thing... damn, I hate people who do these kinds of things.

SubGeniux · Jun 5, 2003, 11:49 AM

yup, i saw the same thing yesterday, a PB 17" for less than a pound, but.. it wa a closed auction, I emailed the seller and got this reply, i'l post part of it.

�1350 for a 17", about a thousand off the retail price.

The prices are slightly negotiable
- We prefere to deal private with these items because the time is an important issue for us now
and both the seller and the buyer will save precious time and money.
Here is our price list:
Apple Power Mac G4 Dual 1.42GHz 2.0GB+23"+20" = 2250 GBP
(this package includes 23" and 20" Cinema displays)

Apple PowerBook G4,17",1GHz,1GB DDRSDRAM+23" Cinema display = 1950 GBP
Apple PowerBook G4,17",1GHz,1GB DDRSDRAM (without the extra 23"Display) = 1350GBP

Apple PowerBookG4,15.2",1GHZ.1GB SDRAM + 23"Cinema Display = 1750 GBP
Apple PowerBookG4,15.2",1GHZ.1GB SDRAM (without the extra 23"Display) = 1250GBP
Apple PowerBook G4 12" = 1100 GBP

The units are brand new still in their original package factory sealed ,

retep · Jun 5, 2003, 12:16 PM

I'd say all of the 17" PB for auction on UK eBay are scams at the moment. They all have at least one of the following: -

Same photo / description.
Same / similar price.
Require pre-approval of buyer (they do this to open a dialogue with you and offer you a special price).
Offer "special deal".
Registered in one place and give location in another (if at all, or you'll get something like "I'm online!").
In their feedback, they have previously been only the buyer, or they have traded in unrelated items.
Payment methods are money orders, Western Union (or some other wire transfer).

Just a few things I've noticed that you need to watch out for.

killer_735 · Jun 5, 2003, 12:16 PM

I don't know if the European take on this would be the same, but I'm inclined to say that I wouldn't buy something from a country that I didn't live in. Even Canada, for crying out loud; it would be a mess of red tape and holding while someone connects you, just to get through to someone who could help in the event of a scam. If it's in the US, it's not that hard for police agencies to work with each other, or, since it's wire fraud, the FBI to get involved. What about Eurpoe? Do you think you'd be likely to catch a scammer in Germany if you're in Scotland, or do you think it'd be the same?

macnnhelpme · Jun 5, 2003, 12:20 PM

Someone in the UK should offer to pick up the item at their location just to see what they'd say.

euphras · 02:58 PM

I checked the items this guy has bought. Looks like "99 ballons" no, sorry: 99 model cars

STOP POSTING BIG PICTURES INLINE! -- tooki

iWrite · Jun 5, 2003, 02:17 PM

Of course the item is now gone:

Invalid Item

The item you requested ( 2734500447 ) is invalid, still pending, or no longer in our database. Please check the number and try again. If this message persists, the item has either not started and is not yet available for viewing, or has expired and is no longer available.

Again, people, ALWAYS get the contact information of the person/seller on whose item you've bid on (under "Search" and "Member") -- then call them -- then cross reference them through WhitePages.com to see if they check out.

THEN, buy ONLY via USPS money order through FedEx C.O.D.

AlbertWu · Jun 5, 2003, 02:34 PM

considering the "approved bidders" list, it was probably some guy trying to sell to his friend.

PBG4 User · Jun 5, 2003, 02:47 PM

Use a credit card or and escrow service. People not willing to deal with either usually have something to hide.

laseca · Jun 5, 2003, 04:34 PM

I also see lots of auctions on buying the website address or info on how to buy a 17" Powerbook for $285. The bad thing is there are people bidding on them! I'd like to know what kind of info these people are buying. This is just curiosity as I plan on buying mine directly from Apple when it comes so spending several grand on a laptop.

cc_foo · Jun 5, 2003, 08:26 PM

The idea of having ebay, is so that SELLERS can reach a larger group of buyers, and in so doing, hope to get a higher price for their item right?

It doesn't make much sense to sell a expensive computer on eBay for much less than the cost price... Because I bet some of these sellers can sit at the roadside peddling their 17" PowerBook, and get a higher price than what they are getting on eBay.

i.e. if they can sell it locally, why are they being a samaritan by offering a low low price to overseas buyers? If I was a serious 17" PB seller, I certainly wouldn't want to deal with the hassle of overseas communication, packaging, dealing with customs. Unless I just wanted to take the $ and run. In which I would certainly appreciate the distance between me and the buyer.

Some of these sellers say that they need to be paid soon, because "time is important to them". Well, then sell it locally in your neck of the woods.

Is it possible that these sellers are not legit (gasp!)?

SubGeniux · Jun 6, 2003, 05:01 AM

Il ive in Scotland and like the rest of you, pretty seceptical of the deals, but, as a wee test, I might email the seller of that PB17" for �1350 and say that I can come and pick it up. The funny thing is, the seller is based in Holland, I think, but the sale is in italy. I can fly to Italy for around �70.
I'l lsee if they're up for me coming over to pay cash in hand.

Simon · Jun 6, 2003, 05:20 AM

Ah, I hate this.

Some time ago I was looking into a 1GHz PowerBook on Ebay. All of the (about 10!) offers were scam 100%.

- the price was just too unreal (like 100$)

- the specs were straight form apple.com

- no credit cards, no info on paying, just western union money transfer to some place in nigeria... riiiight.

- stupid email addresses that were all from free email services, no phone numbers

- pics from apple.com or just a pic done of the box in a store (just the box, not unpacked)

The problem is that it's clear for us but not for Joe Sixpack surfing the net for the second time in his life.

You can inform ebay of the scam. But, it's a royal pain up the butt since they want you to go through tons of help pages and stupid forms instead of just posting something like abuse@ebay.whatever. And then they are slow. I once informed them and it took them two working days to get the offer off the web and another three days to send me email that they had removed it...

What it would probably take is a big fat lawsuite against them because they are basically providing assistance (and earning from it) for fraud. But I suppose even in the US nobody would win that case against them.

I once saw a guy who registered at ebay with a name like DON'T_BUY-IT'S_A_SCAM and what the guy did was basically just bid something like 100000 Euros for the scam PowerBooks. Nobody overbid him and he of course didn't buy the stuff. That killed some of those auctions. But stupid ebay probably deleted his account for that.

It's really a bummer...