Monkey Business on the 'Bay?

[bob adams]

Last night I tried to snipe this Sansui TU-77AMX and got beat out by another sniper.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5806964293

No problem...all is fair in love and tuner buying right? But then tonight the same tuner shows up and the seller mjbocanegra has a BIN price of $70. I wonder who the first buyer was? :scratch2: :naughty:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-SANSUI-TU-S77AMX-AM-STEREO-FM-STEREO-TUNER_W0QQitemZ5808637630QQcategoryZ73382QQrdZ1QQc mdZViewItem

I smell something rotten. Think I'll mess with him.

[JimmyNeutron]

I sent the seller an e-mail asking if I could see the tuner in person ( since I live in San Antonio ) and also asked if the shipping charges are void since their would be none - as I'd pick it up myself. We'll see what his response is. He relisted the tuner as soon as the previous auction was closed. Sounds kinda fishy to me.

[bob adams]

Yeah I sent him an email and asked him if he could spell "SHILL BIDDING'. I'd love to have one of these tuners but not from this guy.

[bob adams]

And his $28 shipping fee from San Antonio is a little steep considering that tuner probably doesn't weigh 6 lbs.

[billinkansas]

Dude really wanted $70 for the tuner. Probably his buddy slammed it for him, or maybe he has another email address that he uses for this. Maybe this is his way of getting out of the reserve fee charge?

See if he leaves good feedback for the first winning bidder. If he does, then it's a sham. If he leaves bad feedback, then he got screwed and is tired of messing with it and put the BIN on it.

Maybe he loaded up on those Sansui tuna back in '84 - worst case is employee five finger discount at Stereo Discounters or Crazy Eddies.

I ain't buying this one.

BK

[bob adams]

How does the seller know he got screwed by the winning bidder when he lists the tuner a second time right after the first auction was complete? If this guy plays like I think he does then there is probably something wrong with the tuner too. I wouldn't bid his starting $19.99 minimum right now. He's on my Hall of Shame List.

[luvvinvinyl]

Auction ends, relists in only 16 minutes, 25 seconds. Whew! Pretty smelly.

[hoahao]

It's interesting that he wants immediate payment with Paypal too. I've noticed that sort of thing before in my area. Somebody with little or no hash marks goes Paypal only. I've also noticed the more experienced sellers are dropping paypal.

[L'wood]

Paypal credit card payments are about the only safe way to buy. What if you get screwed, if you pay by check you essentially have no recourse, unless I'm all wet on this one. I like to ask for S/N before bidding, this will allow the smell to come to the surface sometimes.

[bob adams]

If you pay with a USPS money order and you get stiffed it's mail fraud. And if shipping the seller should purchase a confirmation of shipping form. That way if the buyer doesn't get his stuff you have proof it was shipped. Conversely if you can't provide it when asked, you have no legal ground to stand on.

[sixt8mopar]

I noticed the winning bidder on the first auction was from Australia.I don't think the seller was offering to ship there?..........Just a thought.

[bob adams]

You can say you're from Mars on your eBay profile. eBay doesn't care. They just want their cut.

[bob adams]

If this is a case of the seller not wanting to ship to Australia then maybe he's legit. But he could clear up a lot of confusion if he had declared the problem with the last auction or answered my e-mail. Or he could have done the right thing and offered it to the next higest bidder before he put it back on eBay and raised his price.

[JimmyNeutron]

I haven't heard back from this guy. You'd think he'd jump all over trying to unload it to a local - easy as apple pie. I think he's a con. Anyone who buys this tuna will probably be ripped too. Be careful.

[wank]

If you pay with a USPS money order and you get stiffed it's mail fraud. And if shipping the seller should purchase a confirmation of shipping form. That way if the buyer doesn't get his stuff you have proof it was shipped. Conversely if you can't provide it when asked, you have no legal ground to stand on.

Actually, if you pay by any method through the mail (including common carriers, e.g. UPS, FedEx) it is mail fraud, and subject to federal criminal prosecution.
If you pay by any method electronically, it is wire fraud. And you get the same place.

[dr.ido]

While I know nothing about the seller I can confirm that bofh-2k is a genuine bidder. He has bought two AM stereo tuners from me in the past and both were easy smooth transactions.

Perhaps the seller just wouldn't ship to Australia?

[bob adams]

Well the TU-S77AMX saga continues. The same buyer from Australia purchased it again for $58.00 this time! Who knows? :scratch2: Maybe they just like selling and buying the same tuner over and over again just to give eBay listing fees? The seller should have tried to sell it to the second highest bidder on the first auction.

[bob adams]

Now the TU-S77AMX is in the Vintage tuner section and his shipping charge is at $30.50.

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-SANSUI-TU-S77AMX-AM-STEREO-FM-STEREO-TUNER_W0QQitemZ5812236372QQcategoryZ73382QQssPageN ameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


:naughty:

[wizard_len]

It's interesting to note that the seller got less money for each successive sale. He probably should have just sold it the first time and been money and time ahead.

[bob adams]

Well on the first couple of go-arounds the buyer was in Oz and the seller did say he didn't ship ouside the US. I'll give him those. But in all cases he was charging a lot more for shipping than he should. It's not like you can't go to the USPS site and get exact fees.

I know that this tuner weighs 7.7 lbs. because the weight is stated in the service manual. This is not a big tuner. Figure another 2.3 lbs for the weight of the packing materials yielding to total weight of ten pounds. Throw in another pound for good measure. Now you have a total weight of 11 lbs. The seller lives in San Antonio, TX (78205). Pick out several destination about as far away in the USA as you can get. How about Honolulu, HI (96818) and Barrow, AK (99723)? Go to the USPS site and plug the zip codes in. USPS Priority Mail, 3-day delivery will cost you $20.90USD. If the seller wants to charge a handling fee he should state that right up front, not bury it in the shipping fees. It's bad business. Does he take us for fools? :banana2: