G5 For $650

[Dan8302]

I was looking on ebay and found a guy selling G5s from $650, and that is a buy it now. I know this is a great deal, but it sounds to good to be true. Help please, cuz i would love one of these, but don't want to be ripped off. It is posted at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2770631588&category=51036

Thanks for the help

[Kurt Cobain]

It looks impossible to me,
With my crappy experience with eBay I'd step off of that deal. I've had lots of people deceive and meliciously mislead me or simply lie. In one case there was a person who sold something incredible for low price and it turned out to be a false bid, since that person's account was hacked and used to sell a mac.

Now that freaked me out.

Maybe those stories will have you think about such weird offer.

[kanker]

Uhhh.... If it's sounds too good to be true, it is. I don't know if you noticed, but he apparently has nine of these for sale. You can barely pick up a 500Mz G4 for $650- think about it!

PS- He's in England, you are not- and he's got it posted in USD, not GBP.

[Kurt Cobain]

I know but i think its literally too good to be true.

[krimson]

Sounds WAY too good to be true... like when my uncle bought 3 Onkyo ($900 retail) receivers from this guy for $200 each, and he wrapped them up and gave them out as xmas gifts, when we opened ours, there was a cinderblock inside.

[Sun Baked]

Yes 9 of them for $650 dollars. http://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?postid=380969

1 question.

If they really wanted to sell them so cheap, why an international transaction?

They'd be able to sell them much easier locally -- and for more money.

Time for somebody to make some money for Christmas shopping.

[Kurt Cobain]

Originally posted by kanker
Uhhh.... If it's sounds too good to be true, it is. I don't know if you noticed, but he apparently has nine of these for sale. You can barely pick up a 500Mz G4 for $650- think about it!

PS- He's in England, you are not- and he's got it posted in USD, not GBP.
Yeah, which makes it suspecious.
Assuming the shipping would be like a hundred bucks, I still wouldnt trust an overseas deal that easily.

Its incredibley tempting though :S

[Kurt Cobain]

Originally posted by krimson
Sounds WAY too good to be true... like when my uncle bought 3 Onkyo ($900 retail) receivers from this guy for $200 each, and he wrapped them up and gave them out as xmas gifts, when we opened ours, there was a cinderblock inside.


there you go..

I almost got an old 333mhz imac instead of a 500 b&w, luckily after i started questioning the girl who sold it. To back up her stupidity she said her uncle works in Apple(r) for over 35 years...

So yeah, too tempting, too unreal.

[Kurt Cobain]

on the other hand, the guy has pure positive feedback

[Dan8302]

Ya, good feedback, but all he has ever sold was like pottery and china, so i think it's BS. But so so tempting

[kanker]

Originally posted by Kurt Cobain
Yeah, which makes it suspecious.
Assuming the shipping would be like a hundred bucks, I still wouldnt trust an overseas deal that easily.

Its incredibley tempting though :S I just noticed the free shipping in the US on the auction. WOW

[krimson]

i've only gotten some small stuff, mostly vinyl, from overseas via ebay, but i'd check with your credit card company, paypal or whatever on their policy on fraud, try to get it in writing, and never ever send cash :)

[Sun Baked]

Originally posted by Dan8302
Ya, good feedback, but all he has ever sold was like pottery and china, so i think it's BS. But so so tempting But I can see somebody needing 9 PowerMac G5s to keep their knick knack hobby in order.

Could be their updating to Dells.

[krimson]

i just looked, 8 left

[MoparShaha]

There's no way this is for real. He could easily get twice the amount, and it'd still be suspicious, with the free shipping and all. Don't trust the feedback. Many accounts have been hijacked by phony emails going out requesting username/password. I've gotten many myself. Some people are stupid enough to give that info out in an email. Anyways, don't buy it, it's a gauranteed scam. Gauranteed!

[gwuMACaddict]

Originally posted by MoparShaha
Don't trust the feedback. Many accounts have been hijacked by phony emails going out requesting username/password. I've gotten many myself.

this is true- my parents eachhave an ebay account with excellent feedback and get mnay fake emails asking for ssn and email passwords and the like, claiming to be from ebay. ebay is aware of the fraud and working to correct it.

i shot the guy an email... i'll post his response if i get one...

[hvfsl]

I might bid for it since I live in London, but I will ask if I can pick it up. Emailing now, I will let you know how it turns out.

[Makosuke]

Riiight...

Some guy (gal?) who says he's in England is going to sell you nine $1700 computers that can't possibly be more than three months old for $650 each, and ship them to the US for free, but will only accept payment in cash or money order. Sure, that's legit.

(I might add that even economy shipping from the UK to the US should cost at least $100 for a G5, probably twice that.)

They also don't even bother to explain why, exactly, they've got $15,000 worth of nearly-new computers laying around that they're so desperate to get rid of they won't even auction them to get two or three times what they're asking--only a buy it now price of 1/3 that will do. Nope, nothing in the listing but a chunk of text and one image copied form Apple's site.

I don't think I've ever seen a more painfully obvious fradulent auction, and I'd guess it's a hacked account.

If all that weren't enough, why does the seller seem to be specifically trying to sell to the US ("free shipping within the US", price in USD), when they appear to be in England? Maybe because it's a whole lot easier to rip somebody off when they send a money order to another country. They're probably not even in England--some Eastern-bloc country, more likely.

Seriously, if you were trying to sell that much hardware, don't you think you'd maybe ask around locally, where there are probably dozens of drooling Mac users willing to buy them for twice what you're asking, or at least leave the items open for auction where the price would undoubtedly be bid up much, much higher?

[cr2sh]

Stunning.. simple stunning. I often wonder how people manage to get taken on ebay... it would take a total lack of practicality to fall for something like this.. yet you have people like Kurdt saying its "tempting."

If you think this sounds like a good deal.. go for it. You have to learn your lesson somehow.

[QCassidy352]

look, it's clearly a scam. There is absolutely, 100% no way you would ever see this computer if you bought it. This is a hacked ebay account; the real owner probably has no idea it's being used for fraudulant sales.

But, if you absolutely must check, ask him to use escrow through escrow.com (accept no other escrow service under any circumstances). Say that you'll pay the full cost of escrow.

Then, sit back and watch the excuses fly as to why he can't do it. "I need the money now," "company policy doesn't allow the use of escrow," "ok, but only with my escrow service, scamescrow.com."

If you want to have some fun with the guy, ask him about escrow. But if you even consider sending one dime to this crook, you're insane.

[Kurt Cobain]

Ladies and gentleman.

Here is what i've got by email from ebay:

Please be aware that auction:2770631588 -Apple Power Mac G5 Desktop
1.60-GHz has been ended early and your bid has been cancelled. Please
note that we have recently ended all listings for the
sellerparkavenue288as it appears the account has been compromised and used by an
unauthorized third party. The seller's privileges to trade on eBay may be
temporarily suspended while we investigate this matter further.

.........

there you go:(

[Kurt Cobain]

Originally posted by cr2sh
Stunning.. simple stunning. I often wonder how people manage to get taken on ebay... it would take a total lack of practicality to fall for something like this.. yet you have people like Kurdt saying its "tempting."

If you think this sounds like a good deal.. go for it. You have to learn your lesson somehow.

lol, do you really think im that neive..?
If its a fraud either ebay cancels the bid since I've had a couple of cancelled bids, or i dont pay after contacting the seller.

obviously its a rip off, and I mentioned its too good to be true, as much as its 'tempting'.

[cr2sh]

Originally posted by Kurt Cobain
lol, do you really think im that neive..?

check and mate. :cool:

[m4rc]

Please, next time people won't take the advice and continue with the 'it's very tempting' line, let them get on with it. There are so many scams on ebay, so many warnings around.

As has been said, the id's are stolen. They are nearly always full of little orders, with great feedback. When you try and bid, you will usually be contacted directly by email and they will try and scam you that way.

Ebay close hundreds of these scams a day. There are some bargains on ebay, but not that good. And as has been said, they could have got so much more for the G5's than that, noway was this ever going to be genuine.

[hvfsl]

This is the email reply I got (I asked if I could pick the G5 up):

I'm brocker and I have one contract with UPS.
The owner of units ask me for UPS and Money Order documents.
Without this document's I can't take my commission

Thats a new one on me. :D Common ones are, we are a warehouse and dont allow members of the public in, or I wont be in on that day you want to come.

[Kurt Cobain]

true.

I kinda dont get that I was from the begining saying 'this' was impossible to be real, and then along with that the shiz word "tempting", which had a couple of you long timers predict I'm a n00b.

I'm talking from the undead world FYI.
:cool:

[QCassidy352]

Originally posted by hvfsl
This is the email reply I got (I asked if I could pick the G5 up):

I'm brocker and I have one contract with UPS.
The owner of units ask me for UPS and Money Order documents.
Without this document's I can't take my commission

Thats a new one on me. :D Common ones are, we are a warehouse and dont allow members of the public in, or I wont be in on that day you want to come.

ooh, yes, very original. Transparent, but original. I like it. ;)

[yoman]

this whole thing could have been not a scam entirely. maybe the guy raided an apple reseller in England last night. stole a couple of G5s and was trying to sell them quick to get his hands of them. $650 x 9 = $5,850 - $900 in shipping to U.S. = $4,950. Not bad profit. However i don't think this scenario was the case. It would make a neat Hollywood Movie though.:D
Just Kidding.

[sethypoo]

Hmm.....

Invalid Item

The item you requested (2770631588) 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.


It's gone. :p

[cr2sh]

Originally posted by sethypoo
It's gone. :p

It was never there to begin with.

We get more posts about "is this an ebay scam?" than probably anything else (maybe the "desktop or laptop?" question) but seriosuly... how obvious does it have to be?

If I ever start trying to scam ebayers, I think my goal would be to stay practical.. If I threw up a dual g5 for $2500 explaining I simply decided I wanted a laptop.. I could rip people off... but this... this isnt even realistic.

[makingmesick]

I have to agree with cr2sh on this one. Some people have to learn the hard way.

I myself was scammed in a very similar auction. They ask you to send the money via Western Union, once you do, that's it. No product, no money, no response. Nothing you can do about it.

My powerbook cost me $1000 more than it should have because I fell for one of those damn "too good to be true" deals. I wish ebay had caught it before I sent the money, but then again, it was my blind ignorance for sending it in the first place.

A warning to everyone out there buying on Ebay, BE CAREFUL. If it sounds to good to be real, then dammit, it probably isn't.

I still purchase small items from Ebay, but anything worth a substantial amount, you should really look into before you throw your hard earned cash at it.

[QCassidy352]

ok, i've got one for you. 2 powermac G4 Dual 1.25's on ebay. The auction looks suspicious - not like the guy's prior auctions, and payment in USD, not british pounds as his other items have been. But the seller does sell computer items. There's no buy it now, which is a hallmark of scams, nor is payment by western union or money order only. In fact, he says he accepts escrow.

But the auction just doesn't look right. Cheaply done... not much detail. There is one picture of the actual item, not a stock online photo.

So I e mail the guy. Here's what I say:

"I'm guessing your account has been hijacked, as your other auctions are not in USD and look different from this one. But if this really is your auction... you'll accept escrow via escrow.com? thanks."

He replies:

"Dear Sir,
I have 2 Apple PowerMac G4 for sale.I will ship the package with all the accessories provided by the manufacturer and have 1 year of warranty fully covered by every service center.The price is in USD because the Mac is US voltage and i sell them in US.
All the manuals and the original documentation are in English.I accept escrow.com if you pay the fees.Where are you located?
Thank you."

The little voice in my head is yelling "scam." But he accepts escrow.com. I don't see how this would work for him if it were a scam. Thoughts?

[yoman]

Originally posted by QCassidy352

He replies:

"Dear Sir,
I have 2 Apple PowerMac G4 for sale.I will ship the package with all the accessories provided by the manufacturer and have 1 year of warranty fully covered by every service center.The price is in USD because the Mac is US voltage and i sell them in US.
All the manuals and the original documentation are in English.I accept escrow.com if you pay the fees.Where are you located?
Thank you."

The little voice in my head is yelling "scam." But he accepts escrow.com. I don't see how this would work for him if it were a scam. Thoughts?

hmmm... if he accepts escrow it seems as though he's legit. his english grammar is a little poor for an Englishman. Maybe he's an immigrant. if a little voice is telling you scam then look back in your life to see how often that little voice has been right. If it has then heed its advice. That's my opinion of course.

[themadchemist]

Originally posted by cr2sh
It was never there to begin with.

We get more posts about "is this an ebay scam?" than probably anything else (maybe the "desktop or laptop?" question) but seriosuly... how obvious does it have to be?


No need to be indignant about it...I mean, sure these scams look obvious to you and me, but some people are new to this whole racket. At least they are following intuition enough to ask others, instead of blindly bidding (or purchasing) as at least one person did in this $650 G5 debacle.

[sethypoo]

Originally posted by cr2sh
It was never there to begin with.

We get more posts about "is this an ebay scam?" than probably anything else (maybe the "desktop or laptop?" question) but seriosuly... how obvious does it have to be?

If I ever start trying to scam ebayers, I think my goal would be to stay practical.. If I threw up a dual g5 for $2500 explaining I simply decided I wanted a laptop.. I could rip people off... but this... this isnt even realistic.

How could it have never been there to begin with if it was the topic of this forum?

:rolleyes:

[cr2sh]

Originally posted by sethypoo
How could it have never been there to begin with if it was the topic of this forum?

:rolleyes:

I was referring to the g5 for sale - it was a scam. I guarantee you this guy doesn't have any g5s. Hence my comment. Try to keep up next time, eh? :)

The hyper-sensitivity of this place is amazing. This is, hands down, an obvious hoax. Any amount of common sense would tell you that... I comment on it and get called indignant. That's not the way it should work. Its not like I'm being an elitist here... I'm simply saying we shouldn't entertain ridiculousness.

[amnesiac1984]

I had a similar experience very recently and these scams are very common in the mac section of ebay.co.uk.

They are usually a maxed out G5 or 17" going for £1200 buy it now, normally with at least one cinema display if not two and a list of dream accessories as long as your arm (iPod 40G, iSight, Panther server unlimited, Logitech speaker system (top of the range), with 8gb RAM etc etc)

But when you email them they try to get oyu to buy outside of ebay and mail the money to poland. On inspection of their feedback all they have bought and sold are items of less than £1! Faked feedback.

[jxyama]

Originally posted by QCassidy352
"Dear Sir,
I have 2 Apple PowerMac G4 for sale.I will ship the package with all the accessories provided by the manufacturer and have 1 year of warranty fully covered by every service center.The price is in USD because the Mac is US voltage and i sell them in US.

either this guy's a scam or a thief. he doesn't know what he's selling for one. one year warranty "fully covered by every service center" - he either didn't read the mac warranty (90 day phone support, 1 year hardware) or just assumed it's a generic warranty. (there are no "service centers" for apple... apple stores, yes, but they aren't called service centers.)

in addition, all macs carry universal power supply that can adjust its voltage. the price being in USD because "the Mac is US voltage" makes no sense at all.

i imagine he will "accept escrow" until the transaction is to take place and then reneg on using it by claiming it doesn't work for him or that he's having technical problems...

[jxyama]

Originally posted by themadchemist
No need to be indignant about it...I mean, sure these scams look obvious to you and me, but some people are new to this whole racket. At least they are following intuition enough to ask others, instead of blindly bidding (or purchasing) as at least one person did in this $650 G5 debacle.

even if you are "new," if you are thoughtful enough to look up the going price of the G5, then it should look obvious to anyone that this is a scam.

having been here a while, we do get a pretty constant flow of these auction related questions. while i'd personally stay away from posting any comments if all i have to say is how idiotic one would be to believe such a deal could be real, i don't really fault other posters from thinking like that. it's quite ridiculous if you thought this through at all. i understand the temptation and inpulse to ask, but it's still quite silly, in my opinion.

[jxyama]

Originally posted by makingmesick
I myself was scammed in a very similar auction. They ask you to send the money via Western Union, once you do, that's it.

sorry to hear about your ordeal. :(

i wish more people would understand exactly what Western Union is doing. it's money wiring - a quicker version of stuffing your envelope with cash and mailing it. it's not a transaction of purchase like using a credit card - you really are just sending CASH.

ebay should do a public service and make people aware about this. if any seller even mentions Western Union, the sale should be called off.

[QCassidy352]

Originally posted by jxyama
either this guy's a scam or a thief. he doesn't know what he's selling for one. one year warranty "fully covered by every service center" - he either didn't read the mac warranty (90 day phone support, 1 year hardware) or just assumed it's a generic warranty. (there are no "service centers" for apple... apple stores, yes, but they aren't called service centers.)

in addition, all macs carry universal power supply that can adjust its voltage. the price being in USD because "the Mac is US voltage" makes no sense at all.

i imagine he will "accept escrow" until the transaction is to take place and then reneg on using it by claiming it doesn't work for him or that he's having technical problems...

yeah, you're right, and I decided not to bid. I still think that using escrow.com, there's not much chance I could get burned... but I just have a bad feeling about this guy.
I'm thinking the G4s exist, and maybe even will be sent to the winning bidders, but are stolen.