This has to be a scam. or am I being too cynical?

J

Jcorstorphine

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I was replying to an advert for a well known motor sailer and the vendor replied that he was selling the boat throught Ebay Buyer Protection Scheme. I reqested the location and a time to look at it and he replied as follows.

I cant arrange a viewing until I know that you are my Ebay buyer.

The scheme works as follows.
I list the boat in private auction and send you the link
You bid and pay Ebay for the boat.
I ship the boat to your desired location
You have 10 days to inspect the boat
once you agree it is as described. Ebay release the money.

SCAM SCAM SCAM
 
Since when did a buyer pay Ebay? Even if you pay by Paypal the money goes in to your account, only if the deal falls through due to not as described, or non delivery does it get pulled back . Thousands of ads invite people to inspect before bidding. I should report it to ebay. A successful bid is legally binding unless the goods are 'not as described' under Ebays rules, and they are very clear that you bid to buy, not to inspect.

Definitely a scam unless he is willing ti let you view before bidding.
 
I wouldn't part with boat-type cash without seeing the boat first. Photographs are no substitute for seeing the boat firsthand.

The EBay side of things? Contact EBay and ask them if it's being sold inline with their terms.

An £15000 EBay bargain saving 50% of the market price isn't a bargain if you end up with thin air. Better to pass that bargain and buy something tangible that you can touch and feel.
 
If this seller is genuine he certainly makes a great impersonation of a scamming idiot.

Buy & prepay a boat without even viewing it? C'mon...

i'd suggest you report him to eBay.
 
When parting with thousands of pounds there is no such thing as "too cynical"

From what I see there is no shortage of boats for sale.

Its likely that this will go unsold - if it does it may be a good time to go take a look at it and make an offer that is fair for you.

No-one sells a boat on e-bay if it can be sold easily via small ads or even a broker.
 
Jcorstorphine said:
The scheme works as follows.
I list the boat in private auction and send you the link
You bid and pay Ebay for the boat.
I ship the boat to your desired location
You have 10 days to inspect the boat
once you agree it is as described. Ebay release the money.
Click to expand...

Apart from the idiocy of not viewing before paying, surely the key is "I ship the boat to your desired location" - no one ships a motor-sailor anywhere to a potential buyer.

This is a standard boiler-plate scam transposed to an object that does not fit the scam mechanism - the Lad from Lagos sitting in some internet café in Nigeria is either too thick to notice or expects to net someone else with that attribute.
 
Barnac1e said:
Apart from the idiocy of not viewing before paying, surely the key is "I ship the boat to your desired location" - no one ships a motor-sailor anywhere to a potential buyer.

This is a standard boiler-plate scam transposed to an object that does not fit the scam mechanism - the Lad from Lagos sitting in some internet café in Nigeria is either too thick to notice or expects to net someone else with that attribute.
Click to expand...

+1
 
I can't see anyone would think this is anything other than a crude scam. Paying big money to someone you have no reason to trust for something you haven't seen that will allegedly be 'shipped' to you later?

It gets the thousands of legitimate sellers on ebay a bad name.
 
This is similar to what happens on Auto Trader when selling a car. I got scam emails constantly and ended up taking the advert off after two days.
 
Genuine vendors will want to sell the boat with no comeback so they will be only too pleased to let you "inspect goods prior to purchase" The whole thing stinks. It's bent. There are loads of these schemes on the go and EBay, bless 'em, let a few slip through the net.

It is a buyer's market for second hand boats in the UK at present. You don't need to go on E Bay to nab yourself a bargain.
 
Scam! My mate was nearly sucked in with a "too good to be true" offer on a camper recently. A few years back I looked into a similar advert, and offered to go and view the camper first in Glasgow, and then in London (it happened to have been possible at the time) - the excuses were free flowing and imaginative! :D
 
ostell said:
Not quite the same (car not boat) but is illuminating: this web page
Click to expand...

No question, this is a scam. even down to the guy living in scotland. I will contact Boatsandoutboards who are running the advert which is for a Colvic 31 for £7200 but needing some work done on it. It is actually a copy of a previous legitament advert on Ebay.

7200
 
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