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Alembic Club » Swap Shop and Wish Lists » For Sale & Trade » Archive 2004 » Archive through September 13, 2004 » EBay 'Second Chance' Thieves « Previous Next »

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poor_nigel
Intermediate Member
Username: poor_nigel

Post Number: 164
Registered: 7-2003
Posted on Sunday, September 12, 2004 - 7:21 am:   Edit Post

This has now happened to me twice, so I figured I would post a warning here. It seems this is becoming more prevalent, and someone is going to get burned by one of these thieves.

I just received an e-mail from the second highest bidder on that eight-string Alembic that went down a few days ago. He was checking with me about a Second Chance offer from the seller he received offering to sell the bass to him for his highest bid. He was checking because the seller's reply e-mail address was in the UK, not where the bass was being sold from.

Low and behold, when I went through the rest of my e-mail, I had an offer from 'Girlsy,' too! It does indeed tell me to contact a UK Hotmail address to make arrangements for payment and shipping. Joy - I was feeling so left out . . .

EBay does have legitimate Second Chance auctions. I have had one offered to me before. They include a link to a new private auction on eBay and you go through the regular eBay process of buying it, complete with feedback and all. They do not ask you to contact the listed seller in the e-mail, or anything other questionable act that takes you out of eBay’s controlled area.

The first one of these I got was for a Sunn 2000 amp that sold for around $1,500 or so. I was second on it. When I received what appeared to be a second chance auction on it, I e-mailed the winner asking why he did not want the amp, and we all found out it was someone trying to defraud me out of funds. The ‘evidence’ was turned into eBay’s fraud service.

eBay is at best a buyer beware area, and there is really nothing they can do about much of anything that happens to anyone who buys on there. Therefore it is very important to always contact the seller before bidding on any item worth more than you can afford to lose, and always contact the seller using the original auction’s Ask A Question function if offered a Second Chance auction. Always hold hands when crossing the street, and always contact the seller directly (by phone is best) when buying anything expensive on eBay!

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