(fwd) WARNING! New Ebay SCAM! (fwd) - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

18 May 1999

...
   It means that the "dealer" has an item X in
their inventory, they see that someone else on Ebay is selling an equivalent X. The
dealer follows the
auction to completion, when complete, the dealer sends email to the second
highest bidder and asks if they would like to purchase the item from them
for the price they offered the seller.

This is a scam? Give it a break guys. If I bid on something and am not the
high bidder I would like a chance to buy. If you don't then don't reply.
Sometimes you can get in a bidding war and end up pay many times the value
of an item, I.E. Imsai or Altec on Ebay,  Is it really that different than
making an offer here to someone who has something you want? So who looses if
a seller contacts you and you agree on a fair price? Ebay? Time to face the
facts Ebay, Yahoo, etc., etc. auctions are going to stay a while. 
 The above was an explanation of the legitimate practice. The abuse is where
 a third party pretends to be the seller, contacts the second etc. bidders
 and requests payment be sent to a blind PO Box, then skips with the funds
 never sending any goods.

 BTW I just sent an inquiry to eBay to see if this is rumor, hoax, or fact. 

Oh.  I got the impression that it was the highest bidder doing this, i.e.
outbidding the legitimate bidders; then selling his stuff to the failed bidders;
and only then backing down on the original sale.  Very nasty, because the
original vendor can't sell to the failed bidders until he has definitely heard
that the winner is backing down...

At a genuine auction in the UK, the auctioneer has the legal power to sign a
contract of purchase on behalf of either party.  So backing down is very, very
difficult.  But this sort of safeguard has yet to reach Ebay, I suppose.

Philip.