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Powerbook G4: Quick! I'm about to buy this! I need 2nd opinions......
- Thread starter MagnumSSS
- Start date
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So, you think it's legit? He said he's switching Paypal accounts and he cannot accept paypal at the time. He's trying to convince me to send $ via Western Union.
crazzyeddie
macrumors 68030
It's got to be a scam. Anyone selling one of these knows that they can get much more easily (if they are legit or not).
What's your reason for thinking it's a scam. Just the whole "too good to be true" vibe?
What's your reason for thinking it's a scam. Just the whole "too good to be true" vibe?
vlade, there are some suspicions that I have. It's categorized under Men's Clothing. There's no pictures on the listing, but the seller emailed them to me> I asked if it was stolen. He told me he got it as part of a "deal." He wants money to be wired via Western Union and can't currently take paypal payments even though paypal is listed as one of his options. He sent me a big "I give you my word email." I'm not buying it.
How did your pops know it was a scame if he didn't wire the money? Did he contact other buyers who got scammed?
This must be a scam.
How did your pops know it was a scame if he didn't wire the money? Did he contact other buyers who got scammed?
This must be a scam.
Very odd. I don't want to say 100% scam, but it's odd that he would offer to sell other PowerBooks for $1290.
His feedback is almost all as a buyer, but it's not like he bought a bunch of 99 cent items in 2 weeks to jack up his rating.
Will he give you his phone number? Not that you'll know for sure, but you can tell a lot more about a person by his voice than an email.
His feedback is almost all as a buyer, but it's not like he bought a bunch of 99 cent items in 2 weeks to jack up his rating.
Will he give you his phone number? Not that you'll know for sure, but you can tell a lot more about a person by his voice than an email.
I asked him if he would accept local pickup, here was his response-
This really seems fishy to me. It's not a normal EBay seller. You could get the notebook, but if so I'm guessing they're stolen.
Another thing that I've read is that EBay accounts can get "hijacked", for stuff like this (for example, notice that he can't answer emails sent to his EBay registered address.)
If you're considering this deal, then you must be short of cash. If you're short of cash, you probably can't afford to lose this much money. I would buy an iBook instead for the same price.
I give it a 50/50 shot. If you did this it would be a total gamble.
This really seems fishy to me. It's not a normal EBay seller. You could get the notebook, but if so I'm guessing they're stolen.
Another thing that I've read is that EBay accounts can get "hijacked", for stuff like this (for example, notice that he can't answer emails sent to his EBay registered address.)
If you're considering this deal, then you must be short of cash. If you're short of cash, you probably can't afford to lose this much money. I would buy an iBook instead for the same price.
I give it a 50/50 shot. If you did this it would be a total gamble.
Well, I have about a $2000 max budget.....but I'm trying to keep cost low to aid in purchasing other items for my small home recording studio I'm building. Very small, and I need a laptop to do web/internet work, so that's why I'm looking at the powerbook.
As far as the hijacking thing is concerned, my thoughts exactly. Althouh I myself don't check my ebay email too much, It's definitely shady especially considering all of the other factors.
I'm going to pass and email the person who buys to see if he got scammed. I'll try to remember to come back here and post what I find out if the person emails me back.
So, can anyone recommend the best way to get a good deal on a Powerbook G4? Or, is it better to just suck it up and buy new?
As far as the hijacking thing is concerned, my thoughts exactly. Althouh I myself don't check my ebay email too much, It's definitely shady especially considering all of the other factors.
I'm going to pass and email the person who buys to see if he got scammed. I'll try to remember to come back here and post what I find out if the person emails me back.
So, can anyone recommend the best way to get a good deal on a Powerbook G4? Or, is it better to just suck it up and buy new?
Sun Baked
macrumors G5
Try the Apple store... Special Deals
PowerBook G4 1.33GHz/ 256MB/ 60GB/ Combo/ AP Extreme Card/ GigE/ 15-inch TFT/ Aluminum - Apple Certified
Save 16% off the original price
Original price: $1,999.00
Your price: $1,699.00
---
But any time somebody offers to ship you a Mac for a 50% discount off Apple's discounts at the Special Deals section... it's a scam.
Apple has minimum prices the retailers can sell current product for, that's why they tend to toss stuff in for free.
PowerBook G4 1.33GHz/ 256MB/ 60GB/ Combo/ AP Extreme Card/ GigE/ 15-inch TFT/ Aluminum - Apple Certified
Save 16% off the original price
Original price: $1,999.00
Your price: $1,699.00
---
But any time somebody offers to ship you a Mac for a 50% discount off Apple's discounts at the Special Deals section... it's a scam.
Apple has minimum prices the retailers can sell current product for, that's why they tend to toss stuff in for free.
Keep in mind he may actually sell one to the real winning bidder, and scam any off-EBay purchasers.
I think he sent me the same "I'm a trustful guy" email that he sent you. His English isn't that great, it even seems written by the same guy as the Nigerian scam. It seemed like a completely canned response to me.
Your best bet is probably EBay (or the classifieds here), from a real seller. Do you need the fastest PowerBook possible? I've seen Titaniums (1 GHz) go for about or under a grand, and 12" Aluminums for less than a grand.
But for that money, a $900 (after rebate) 12" iBook (1.2 Ghz) from Amazon is a pretty great deal (no tax for most, free shipping.) That's what I ended up getting, plus I installed the monitor spanning hack no problems.
PS- Does Apple actually include an international warranty? From what I recall if you bring a unit from overseas, Apple USA won't have anything to do with it.
I think he sent me the same "I'm a trustful guy" email that he sent you. His English isn't that great, it even seems written by the same guy as the Nigerian scam. It seemed like a completely canned response to me.
Your best bet is probably EBay (or the classifieds here), from a real seller. Do you need the fastest PowerBook possible? I've seen Titaniums (1 GHz) go for about or under a grand, and 12" Aluminums for less than a grand.
But for that money, a $900 (after rebate) 12" iBook (1.2 Ghz) from Amazon is a pretty great deal (no tax for most, free shipping.) That's what I ended up getting, plus I installed the monitor spanning hack no problems.
PS- Does Apple actually include an international warranty? From what I recall if you bring a unit from overseas, Apple USA won't have anything to do with it.
MadMaxMedia
is this the email you got:
How I told you I cant send or receive money with pay pal now.
So i prefer western union.
i'm Excellent seller, good in communications and easy to work with me . I am not a scam artist, and the last thing I want to do is rob you.
I am a very honest man honest in every aspect of my life and like to believe that we have a mutual trust.look i live by the rules ...money to me is nothing in life it the trust that it count ,
If you try to scam somebody in life, later on life will scam you back.
I promise, you won't be dissapointed. I am a man of my word.You can count on me.About our deal I assume we are 2 mature persons who want to make a fair deal.
I understand you are alittle concerned from this point of view but this is not the case.I am a very good ebayer with a very good rating and my interest is to have very good deals on ebay so
i can have in the future good deals.If i will make with you a good deal,you will recommend ! ! me ,maybe ,to your friends or to other persons.For me it is very important to have permanent deals on ebay,
any negatiVe deal will not make good to me.More,i will provide 15 days money back warranty,i mean ,if in 15 days you will change your mind you will resend the item to me on my expenses.I think this is more than fair.
But i need to provide me the payment confirmation, prior to shipping in order to make the shippment.I hope you can understad me and also,i hope we can finalize this deal in the best manner.
You will have my personal quarentee you will receive the item immediately without questions... i promise.
i keep my word in every part of this deal..
mail me asap
is this the email you got:
How I told you I cant send or receive money with pay pal now.
So i prefer western union.
i'm Excellent seller, good in communications and easy to work with me . I am not a scam artist, and the last thing I want to do is rob you.
I am a very honest man honest in every aspect of my life and like to believe that we have a mutual trust.look i live by the rules ...money to me is nothing in life it the trust that it count ,
If you try to scam somebody in life, later on life will scam you back.
I promise, you won't be dissapointed. I am a man of my word.You can count on me.About our deal I assume we are 2 mature persons who want to make a fair deal.
I understand you are alittle concerned from this point of view but this is not the case.I am a very good ebayer with a very good rating and my interest is to have very good deals on ebay so
i can have in the future good deals.If i will make with you a good deal,you will recommend ! ! me ,maybe ,to your friends or to other persons.For me it is very important to have permanent deals on ebay,
any negatiVe deal will not make good to me.More,i will provide 15 days money back warranty,i mean ,if in 15 days you will change your mind you will resend the item to me on my expenses.I think this is more than fair.
But i need to provide me the payment confirmation, prior to shipping in order to make the shippment.I hope you can understad me and also,i hope we can finalize this deal in the best manner.
You will have my personal quarentee you will receive the item immediately without questions... i promise.
i keep my word in every part of this deal..
mail me asap
I got the same exact email. I think it has miscellaneous spelling mistakes in order to look like a authentically typed email, rather than a copy-and-paste job.
If it was a real seller who was copy-and-pasting responses to save time, I think he would have not used such a mistaken-ridden response.
I would give a 1% chance of someone actually receiving a PowerBook from this guy, and then only if it was stolen. Of course, if a guy is selling stolen Powerbooks from across the country, what incentive (obviously not moral) would he have to actually ship an item to you after you've wired him the money?
PS- If you need money to buy a brand new PowerBook, my uncle is having problems transferring money from his overseas account, and I would be willing to pay you a fee for assisting with this. 😉
If it was a real seller who was copy-and-pasting responses to save time, I think he would have not used such a mistaken-ridden response.
I would give a 1% chance of someone actually receiving a PowerBook from this guy, and then only if it was stolen. Of course, if a guy is selling stolen Powerbooks from across the country, what incentive (obviously not moral) would he have to actually ship an item to you after you've wired him the money?
PS- If you need money to buy a brand new PowerBook, my uncle is having problems transferring money from his overseas account, and I would be willing to pay you a fee for assisting with this. 😉
parrothead
macrumors 6502a
Not sure if anyone said this, but if he is claiming to ship from Europe then he is absolutely lying to you. He said that he is using the USPS, aka United States Postal Service. Interesting that the USPS works for the EU as well. 🙄
parrothead, I didn't catch that one, duh! Glad I seeked advice and followed my gut. I learned a lot in terms of what to look out for too!
Peace.
mag
Peace.
mag
Sun Baked said:
Do you have a link to this deal? I just went Apple Store's site and did not see that discount.
Also, I want to have @ 1Gig or slightly more RAM since I will be using this for Audio Recording and need a good amount of memory. I found a link to this 1 Gig memory stick for cheap. Any opinions? Is it a good product?
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4158153
timnosenzo
macrumors 6502a
This looks like a scam to me too. The seller has gone from buying a few low dollar items to selling a sealed box PBook for $1000 under cost? I wouldn't touch it!
You have NO recourse with Western Union if you get scammed, which is why they usually request you use it.
I wouldn't buy this machine. BUT, for a great (and a bit old now) scam regarding eBay and a powerbook, read this:
http://www.mannequin3d.com/powerbook/
It is a great chuckle and story of scam the scammer, complete with gag powerbook and surveillance in Europe!
Also, read this:
http://scams.flipshark.com/westernunion.html
Cheers, and don't buy that book,
James
I wouldn't buy this machine. BUT, for a great (and a bit old now) scam regarding eBay and a powerbook, read this:
http://www.mannequin3d.com/powerbook/
It is a great chuckle and story of scam the scammer, complete with gag powerbook and surveillance in Europe!
Also, read this:
http://scams.flipshark.com/westernunion.html
Cheers, and don't buy that book,
James
