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Old Muley

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 6, 2009
761
188
Titletown USA
Apparently a ex-surfer dude thought he was getting a Macbook, but ended up with a picture of one instead.

http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/...-laptop-sent/story-25971468-detail/story.html

The story seems a little fishy and the lack of any details about the actual listing raise some red flags, but still...sucks if it's true. Kinda reminds me of when the Xbox first hit the market and people were selling Xbox boxes on eBay. Sellers would write up a post for an "Xbox box" and unsuspecting 12-year-olds would bid without reading the entire listing.
 

The-Pro

macrumors 65816
Dec 2, 2010
1,453
40
Germany
very common thing
there are heaps of people selling pictures of ipads etc. it cearly says picture so your not being scammed.
people then get hyped about the price and bid on it before reading it properly.
sellers are counting on the stupidity of the buyers to make money
 
Last edited:

Mr. McMac

Suspended
Dec 21, 2009
2,968
363
Far away from liberals
Man Pays $450 For Picture Of An Apple MacBook

Poor Paul Barrington thought he had found the deal of the century, but was left sorely disappointed when his delivery arrived.

As you grow older, you start to realize that there is a lot of wisdom in those old sayings that elderly relatives used to take great pleasure in muttering when they heard of your latest youthful misadventure. Perhaps Mr. Barrington never paid much heed to his elders, or he is still willfully ignoring their advice, but it seems impossible that he could have reached the grand old age of 38 without having heard the old adage: “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”

Apple MacBook Ebay Scam 1

eBay Scam: A new career
Mr. Barrington logged on to eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) with the aim of buying himself a new laptop with which he planned to embark on a new career as a wedding DJ. In order to fund his purchase, he flogged his beloved surf board, and was ecstatic when it appeared that he had found himself a MacBook for $450, according to Chris Matyszczyk of CNET.com.

Now, even a cursory glance at MacBooks for sale on eBay would inform you that the highly-prized machines rarely, if ever, sell for such a bargain basement price. Undeterred, Mr. Barrington took the plunge and eagerly awaited his parcel.

Although he did receive an item in the post, it wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. His suspicions were presumably raised when the box could barely have contained an iPod, let alone a MacBook. In fact, there was a MacBook in there, but only in the form of a photo.

Apple MacBook: A cruel trick
As if to rub salt in the wound, the eBay fraudster didn’t even splash out on color printing, leaving Mr. Barrington to contemplate possibly the most expensive black and white printout known to man. Luckily he’s a good sport: “Why bother sending a picture in a box? It doesn’t make any sense. I almost had to laugh,” he said.

Fortunately for him he will receive a refund thanks to eBay’s Money Back
Guarantee, and hopefully that ancient piece of wisdom will ring in his ears the next time he thinks he has found a bargain.

http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/02/man-pays-450-picture-apple-macbook/
 

aaronvan

Suspended
Dec 21, 2011
1,350
9,353
República Cascadia
People often sell their children's crayon drawings on eBay for over $1500 and very often throw in a free Superbowl ticket or two as an enticement. I myself sold a used postcard featuring Seattle's Space Needle for $50 and as a bonus, gave the buyer two free Antiques Roadshow tickets.

This guy may have thought he was in a transaction something along those lines.

Remember the I Am Rich app on the App Store? Seven or eight people purchased it for $999.99 before Apple yanked it the next day.

Caveat emptor
 

0007776

Suspended
Jul 11, 2006
6,473
8,170
Somewhere
People often sell their children's crayon drawings on eBay for over $1500 and very often throw in a free Superbowl ticket or two as an enticement. I myself sold a used postcard featuring Seattle's Space Needle for $50 and as a bonus, gave the buyer two free Antiques Roadshow tickets.

Does ebay ban selling of tickets, or why not just sell the tickets on their own?
 

aaronvan

Suspended
Dec 21, 2011
1,350
9,353
República Cascadia
Does ebay ban selling of tickets, or why not just sell the tickets on their own?

Some ticket sellers have a ban on re-selling in their fine print. I don't think eBay cares and I'm not sure if it's legally enforceable in any case (unless you're scalping.) I don't see why someone who purchases a ticket for an event shouldn't be able to sell it for any reason. I think the "bonus" is just some CYA and probably unnecessary.
 

CEmajr

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,451
1,240
Charlotte, NC
You'd be surprised by how utterly clueless some eBay buyers are. It's like they can't even read. I recently tried to sell an old iPhone 5 box and accessories that I had lying around the house but they deleted the listing saying that buyers could be confused and think it's an actual phone. I'm trying to figure out who clicks 'confirm' and drops a few hundred dollars on something without reading the description.
 

eko91

macrumors regular
Apr 3, 2015
149
7
pure sadness...

WOW... I hope he got his money back!! I dont trust Ebay that much. I rather purchase items through Amazon since their customer service is awesome and trust worthy!
 
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