Even though I'm a frequent shopper off of ebay, I must warn all of you as to what happened to a friend of mine the other day. He "thought" he purchased a 2002 GSX-R 1000 for $3000 but it turned out to be a scam. He sent the money by western union and they sent him an invoice, which turned out to be a fake. The company does not even exist according to the Better Business Bureau. So be aware when making major purchases.....:luck:
EBAY, beware......
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
Rough. I would never buy anything that expensive on ebay that isn't in the local area or too far to drive to check it out. That's risky stuff. I usually won't buy anything more than a few hundred bucks. The most I've spent on one purchase was like 180 bucks so far.
I pretty much follow the same rule. I won't spend a huge amount on one thing unless I can go look at it. My brother just bought a bike off ebay.
This guy was located 6 hours away and my bro ain't driving 6 hours to look at this thing before he purchased. It is a 2003 GSXR 6. 10k miles. Been painted black, yoshi slip on, good tires, blah blah. So this guy is a wholesaler with good feedback but never sold anything other than parts. That's flag one to me. And the fact that if its painted, I'm looking that beotch over for damage...which he didn't do obviously.
So he bids on this thing and wins for $4150...solid deal if the bike is what is says it is. Well the guy drives the bike all the way from OH to Harrisburg PA and drops it off. Everything is exactly as desribed. Looks like a backyard krylon paint job though...but I looked it over and doesn't appear to have been down...maybe very low speed. Sounds great, no leaks, nothing.
So basically my brother rolled the dice something crazy and lucked out. He got a steal on this bike.
The only snag at this point is the title...it's clean and the guy brought it with him but there were no places open at that hour (8pm) do to title work. And the guys says he was heading out of town. He says he will just the sign the title and give it to him...well PA doesn't work that way. Gotta have a bill of sale and sign the title and have it notarized. Well going outta town, this guys says he'll do it next week and mail it....
So that chapter isn't finished, but apparently he's followed through on his word up to this point....we'll see.
This guy was located 6 hours away and my bro ain't driving 6 hours to look at this thing before he purchased. It is a 2003 GSXR 6. 10k miles. Been painted black, yoshi slip on, good tires, blah blah. So this guy is a wholesaler with good feedback but never sold anything other than parts. That's flag one to me. And the fact that if its painted, I'm looking that beotch over for damage...which he didn't do obviously.
So he bids on this thing and wins for $4150...solid deal if the bike is what is says it is. Well the guy drives the bike all the way from OH to Harrisburg PA and drops it off. Everything is exactly as desribed. Looks like a backyard krylon paint job though...but I looked it over and doesn't appear to have been down...maybe very low speed. Sounds great, no leaks, nothing.
So basically my brother rolled the dice something crazy and lucked out. He got a steal on this bike.
The only snag at this point is the title...it's clean and the guy brought it with him but there were no places open at that hour (8pm) do to title work. And the guys says he was heading out of town. He says he will just the sign the title and give it to him...well PA doesn't work that way. Gotta have a bill of sale and sign the title and have it notarized. Well going outta town, this guys says he'll do it next week and mail it....
So that chapter isn't finished, but apparently he's followed through on his word up to this point....we'll see.
I have a good friend in Daytona who is 3K lighter in his wallet due to that same scam...Don't buy anything from Ebay unless you use Paypal or some other Escrow service...as soon as someone wants you to communicate or send money "Off Ebay" It is a scam...run! Ask GasMan...he sells/buys on Ebay...
Joined
·
941 Posts
Bottom line is "If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is".
Don't get me wrong, I've bought and sold over a dozen bikes on the internet (Ebay, Craigslist and Cycletrader) in the last 3 years. After a while you can sniff out the real deals from the scams (usually). I ALWAYS ask if the bike is available for viewing, whether I can get there or not; if I get some song and dance about it being in another state from the one advertised, I walk; if I get some song and dance about not being willing to do escrow or paypal, I walk. If I get REAL BAD grammar or misspelling to my emails, I walk (a LOT of these scams originate overseas). Mostly, I get familiar with the prices of the bikes I'm interested in (KBB.com, NADA.com
: these sites arn't the be all/end all for pricing, but they do give you a good feel for RELATIVE values.
Most of all, I try not to be greedy....if I'm looking at a two year old Hayabusa with 1500 miles listed for $3800 bucks; well, if I believe that's a real deal, I guess I deserve to get scammed. Bu the same token, last year I bought a 2003 YZF 600R with 90 miles on the clock for $3900 on E bay; before I bid, I emailed the seller that I wanted to talk about the details of the bike (it had been dropped in the driveway; scraped lowers, bent clutch lever and a busted turn signal) I talked to the seller and got a feel for whether the guy was legit, and he sent me a boatload of photos of the bike and damage. I made a bid, was the only bidder, and the bike and title were delivered as promised. ( I fixed the issues, turned around and made $1500 the next week).
The bottom line is do your homework on the bike and the seller, and don't get greedy. If the seller won't talk to you on the phone, or the parameters of the deal keep changing, it's prolly no good.
Meebe those that have extensive onlinbe bike buying experience could put together a sticky thread on "Buying a Bike Online".
Don't get me wrong, I've bought and sold over a dozen bikes on the internet (Ebay, Craigslist and Cycletrader) in the last 3 years. After a while you can sniff out the real deals from the scams (usually). I ALWAYS ask if the bike is available for viewing, whether I can get there or not; if I get some song and dance about it being in another state from the one advertised, I walk; if I get some song and dance about not being willing to do escrow or paypal, I walk. If I get REAL BAD grammar or misspelling to my emails, I walk (a LOT of these scams originate overseas). Mostly, I get familiar with the prices of the bikes I'm interested in (KBB.com, NADA.com
: these sites arn't the be all/end all for pricing, but they do give you a good feel for RELATIVE values. Most of all, I try not to be greedy....if I'm looking at a two year old Hayabusa with 1500 miles listed for $3800 bucks; well, if I believe that's a real deal, I guess I deserve to get scammed. Bu the same token, last year I bought a 2003 YZF 600R with 90 miles on the clock for $3900 on E bay; before I bid, I emailed the seller that I wanted to talk about the details of the bike (it had been dropped in the driveway; scraped lowers, bent clutch lever and a busted turn signal) I talked to the seller and got a feel for whether the guy was legit, and he sent me a boatload of photos of the bike and damage. I made a bid, was the only bidder, and the bike and title were delivered as promised. ( I fixed the issues, turned around and made $1500 the next week).
The bottom line is do your homework on the bike and the seller, and don't get greedy. If the seller won't talk to you on the phone, or the parameters of the deal keep changing, it's prolly no good.
Meebe those that have extensive onlinbe bike buying experience could put together a sticky thread on "Buying a Bike Online".
Joined
·
39,300 Posts
Yep... listen... its easy. These scams having been going on for YEARS. My grandmother taugh me quite a few good things in life. One fits this story exactly.bumblebee said:
If its too good to be true then it probably isn't!
A 2002 GSXR 1K for $3K... not unless its wadded up like a paper weight!
And as soon as they start talking about them being out of town or overseas or the same with the bike... back away!
Has your buddy contacted Western Union about this?
Joined
·
4,184 Posts
Only buy bikes from ebay that you can go physically look at... Don't go for any overseas crap or sight unseen crap. There are enough on there that you can find PLENTY within 200 miles of your location.
Joined
·
153 Posts
DUDE COME ON!!! You gotta know that is a scam...they may as well put a neon scam sign on the auction...
I agree... if I'm spending over a G I get really cautious... nothing from overseas... I'll read ALL their feedback (I noticed alot of people have 19080980 + feedback... but they all seem to be from the same 4 or 5 people...fishy to me...) and if they're close (one state away or less) I'll just drive and pick it up...pickle.of.doom said:
I also don't bother with e-bay unless it'll save me a good amount of money... $50 on a 500 item... I'll pay the extra 50 down town just to avoid any hassle.:2cents:
Joined
·
4,338 Posts
I've bought and sold several things on eBay, and a few advertised on eBay but completed outside to avoid fees, etc. However, I was smart about it and always checked things out first, etc. If you can't look at it physically and it sounds too good to be true, just save your money and time.
Joined
·
893 Posts
For major purchases, you should use an escrow company. That is how we purchased a motorcycle over ebay. It makes sure that both parties are on the up and up. Just an fyi...sucks your friend got screwed, but there are a lot of dishonest people out there these days. Never hurts to take that extra step to protect yourself!
Laura
Laura
Joined
·
39,300 Posts
Or simply say you'll pay once you see the bike and have title in hand.
Now in EBay defense of honest people...I have sold many things on ebay and did very well for me and purchaser. I have even sold my bike on TWF to a guy sight un-seen in Florida. And we were both happy with the transaction.
But Twisty is 200% right. YOu have to engagauge the brain a bit.
Now in EBay defense of honest people...I have sold many things on ebay and did very well for me and purchaser. I have even sold my bike on TWF to a guy sight un-seen in Florida. And we were both happy with the transaction.
But Twisty is 200% right. YOu have to engagauge the brain a bit.
Joined
·
893 Posts
I have bought bikes off of ebay before and have never had a problem. I don't however buy from oversea sellers and from people with 1 feedback score. i try to buy from sellers that are close enough so i can inspect the bike.
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
