Scams

Purdman

Purdman

Banned
I was thinking it might be of help if we listed the scams we have seen used by the cue sellers. I know they scan this forum, ebay, and probably all the others. It might help people like Doozie and others. Here are a couple I have run into.

Guy has a cue just like the one you bid on on EBAY. He is in the UK. Wants Western Union wire transfer, forget it.

They copy photo from legit dealer and post cue for sale just to get your money.

Guy pays with a cashiers check, your bank says it's good. You send cue and find out two days later and check comes back no good.

I am sure there are many more. I for one would like to see them all listed. From cuemakers who don't deliver to the scammers.
Don P:rolleyes:
 
If it were me id just ask for the cues first, If not No dice. Its as simple as that
 
i have never had a problem asking for the cue first.

i use four or five TOP cuemakers and one dealer as reference, so if that's not good enough for the seller, then i won't trust him anyway.
 
It is a fine line I think..........We have sold stuff on Ebay and other places and have always got the money first before sending. It is the who trusts who thing. It is hard to send out that 1000 dollar cue with no payment.....just as hard as it is to send the 1000 without having the cue.
 
That's why they have feed-back on sellers and buyers. You need to buy from a seller with tons of positive feed-back and little or no negative feed-back. I only have 7 feed-backs on me but all 7 are positive.
 
I don't claim to be an expert about this but a friend of mine sells on Ebay and he says there are people that sell a bunch of cheap items and get a good rating and then they pull a fast one. Makes it hard to tell who is really on the up and up.

PTM has a good point too. You might never negotiate a deal if neither party has any trust.
 
Could be true Rick but all you have to do is click on each and every item the seller has sold to find out. Yea, E-bay lists every single item ever sold or bought.

I bought a truck for $6,000. You know they wouldn't send the truck if I didn't pay first. No one would expect them to.
 
I think PTM hit the nail on the head. As a seller I would have a very hard time sending out a cue of that value w/o any cash value. For all I know, someone's references is nothing more than their good buddies trying to run a scam on me.

But I do think it helps to buy things on eBay from a seller with good feedback. Of course, that is only valuable if you are purchasing on eBay. Many transactions conspire on forums like these, and are done privately. I know I have SOLD a few items like that on other forums.

When I sell stuff (on eBay and privately at forums, etc) I advertise the fact I accept PayPal, and prefer it. Personally I think it's great for both parties. I'm happy because I get my payment FAST. The buyer is happy because they have recourse if I fail to ship an item I sold them.

I've noticed most scam artists like to accept cash or money orders only, so if I'm buying something of high value I use PayPal. Also, if you are dealing a high value item, I suggest trying to meet face to face and exchange $$ and merchandise at the same time. This isn't always feasible, but I think it should be considered as long as it is a reasonable distance to drive (2-3 hours?). Also, buyers can use an escrow service as a layer of protection, although extra caution is required here as well. Many "escrow services" are nothing short of scam artists taking your money and running. I suggest using established ones, even though the escrow fee may be slightly higher.

Aside from all that, there is so much to be said for "gut feelings". I rarely ever purchase anything unless I feel "right" about not only buying the item, but who is selling it. I can't explain it, except I have learned if I don't listen to it, then it usually comes back to haunt me.

Anyhow, just a few of my thoughts on the matter. Take it for what they are worth.
 
hemicudas said:
Could be true Rick but all you have to do is click on each and every item the seller has sold to find out. Yea, E-bay lists every single item ever sold or bought.
Click to expand...

You are right about being able to click on the item number to view it. And that works well as long as the transaction didn't occur over 90 days ago. It it occured longer than that, you are out of luck and just see good feedback and no way of telling the value, unless someone specifically mentioned it in their feedback.

Not only do people sometimes buy/sell cheap items to build feedback, but they also sell stuff to their buddies to build it as well. Some even go through the hassle of multiple identities to build feedback. My point is that yes, feedback is a good thing, but should NOT be taken for face value. Truly evaluate a seller, especially when large amounts of $$ is involved.
 
paypal scam

Nolimits and others,

My co-worker accepted a large paypal payment about 2 years ago as payment for selling a rare baseball card on ebay. Turned out the lady had set up a paypal account with a stolen credit card. Paypal did not notify him, they just removed the money from his checking account. To make a long story short, the FBI got involved, found the lady and now she's doing time in Texas. My co-worker now gets between $25 and $50 in the form of a check every quarter, from the state of Texas prison system. I guess she has work in prison to pay back all the people she scamed. She'll working a long time to pay my co-worker off.

Just thought you'd be interested.

Shayne
 
here we go again......a new twist on a old scam...just got this from my ebay account....here it is as i got it......juston coleman
Subj: Fwd: SOUTHWEST*FRANKLIN*SATIN CUE (Item # 3654136010)
Date: 01/19/2004 11:39:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: Cuewhiz189
To: Ne1wannabet
----------------
Forwarded Message:
Subj: SOUTHWEST*FRANKLIN*SATIN CUE (Item # 3654136010)
Date: 01/19/2004 11:07:37 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: luca_x20002000@yahoo.com
To: cuewhiz189@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
-------------------
Dear sir,

I noticed that you were bidding on a SOUTHWEST*FRANKLIN*SATIN CUE and I contacted you because I can make you a better offer.
I can sell you the same item, but for 600 USD.Perfect condition,I have many models!!!!
We ship items by UPS Next Day Air service. Shipping taxes are included in price.
Payment will be done through bank transfer, of course.
Please e-mail me if you are interested.

Thank you for your time,
 
cuewhiz189 said:
here we go again......a new twist on a old scam...just got this from my ebay account....here it is as i got it......juston coleman
Subj: Fwd: SOUTHWEST*FRANKLIN*SATIN CUE (Item # 3654136010)
Date: 01/19/2004 11:39:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: Cuewhiz189
To: Ne1wannabet
----------------
Forwarded Message:
Subj: SOUTHWEST*FRANKLIN*SATIN CUE (Item # 3654136010)
Date: 01/19/2004 11:07:37 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: luca_x20002000@yahoo.com
To: cuewhiz189@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
-------------------
Dear sir,

I noticed that you were bidding on a SOUTHWEST*FRANKLIN*SATIN CUE and I contacted you because I can make you a better offer.
I can sell you the same item, but for 600 USD.Perfect condition,I have many models!!!!
We ship items by UPS Next Day Air service. Shipping taxes are included in price.
Payment will be done through bank transfer, of course.
Please e-mail me if you are interested.

Thank you for your time,
Click to expand...
Dead giveaway, I have many models? Uhm, made in China maybe.
We all should work together to stop these scammers b/c they will end up spoiling it for everyone.
Thanks for the headsup Juston.
 
I've purchased many items from ebay without getting scammed; but, I have recognized a couple of scams directed at me from there. I even purchased a couple for Schons from ebay. I got what I wanted and both purchases were good, honest deals.

CAVEAT EMPTOR.
 
Last edited:
deadstroke32 said:
Ebay is the scam way to the world .U will Get SCAMED if you buy from there...
Click to expand...

gee,,,are you a ubid.com user?

ebay is king, and always will be. :):):)
 
i LOVE ebay but would never buy a cue there. too much money involved, and i'd rather see and play a cue before purchase.
 
Does anyone use an escrow service? Basically just a 3rd party that collects the money and the item and then completes the deal. Seems like a good idea for an expensive item.

I've also found that legit sellers will have a phone number. I uncovered one fraud attempt by phoning the seller who the fraud artist was pretending to be.

Western Union payment requests are another dead giveaway.

Also, photos lifted from the cue manufacturer's website. Just request a new photo of some particular detail. If the cue exists, the photo is easy to generate. Caught two fraud attempts that way.

cheers,
jer9ball
 
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