eBay - is this dodgy at all ?

Emp_Fab

So I've been watching this bike on eBay, starting price £2000 with one single £2000 bid.  20 people are watching it.  I ask the seller the reg and he provides it.  He offers to bring the bike around if I'm local (I'm not) as he's currently "doing the rounds" which I take to mean that he's taking the bike around to potential local buyers that have contacted him.  I get a HPI check done and it's all ok.

No other bids appear and ten seconds before the end I bid a few hundred over the £2000.  The app screws up and doesn't register my bid.  The auction ends with the winner being the only bidder at the opening price.  I contact the seller to ask him to contact me if the sale falls through.  He replies quickly to say that I can have the bike for £2000 as the (local) winner bid on the bike then saw it when the owner took it round to him and due to an old leg injury, discovered he couldn't get his leg over the bike. 

He wants me to pay by bank transfer on collection.  He seems quite keen not to delay things. 

He's relisted it, exactly the same as before, telling me that if I collect the bike and pay, he'll cancel the auction.

Looking at the original listing, I see this....   Note the identical feedback numbers for the winning bidder and the retracted bid...




This is the original listing...  https://ebay.us/m/knNBYl

Mrs Fab says I can't pay by bank transfer without getting kicked off eBay and that it sounds very scammy.

I'm naive when it comes to eBay shenanigans....

What do you think ?  Legit or scam ?

thermionic

You can pay by bank transfer, but you should go through the exchanging codes thing so that ebay marks it as collected.

Haych

So long as you don't give any money to the seller until you have possession of the bike and keys/signed V5 in hand I reckon you should be ok. 

Now, whether the bike is any good and isn't riddled with issues is totally another kettle of wet swimmy things, but as for the transaction itself then keep your wits about you and all ought to be alright.

I'd give it the benefit of a HPI check first, though.  For the sake of £20 you can find out if there's any other red flags you should be aware of before handing over any money.

stufisher

I wouldn't go near it ... it's reminiscent of a guitar-buying experience I had when I was searching for my Les Paul.

If in doubt ... do nowt!

TeleMaster

Remove the ebay factor. If you have the bike and the V5 it's yours. The same risks apply if you used auto trader or just saw an advert in the paper. If the bike appears okay I wouldn't worry about the bid history, but you'll only know when you meet the person and check the bike over. 

JezWynd

I’m guessing the seller placed the bid himself to stir interest in the bike and was extremely pleased when you contacted him. Whether you regard that as duplicitous is up to you. If the bike’s not dodgy and the price is fair then you might want to proceed - with caution.

Haych

Pretty sure you can't bid on your own stuff, even if the seller had a second shill account for bidding on his own stuff it would be a massive coincidence for it to have the same feedback rating as his seller account - far more coincidental than just another random account having the same feedback score.

I wouldn't read too much into that, personally.  As @TeleMaster points out, remove eBay from the situation and it's just another vehicle sales transaction.  Do your due diligence, of course, though.

Offset

So @Emp_Fab ... I read this to infer that a new car (regardless of make) is completely off the cards...?

RiftAmps

If I wanted the bike, was happy with both the history and current condition, then I'd pay the money and get it. Nothing more to it.

Emp_Fab

Offset said:

So @Emp_Fab ... I read this to infer that a new car (regardless of make) is completely off the cards...?

Not at all!  The Civic still has to go, and I'll be replacing it with a car - of some sort, but a lower budget as the bike will be taking some of it.

TimmyO

I can understand the sider-senses tingling on the sequence of events, but on balance it does also sound within a reasonable set of occurrences. 

Emp_Fab

Thank you ladies.  I shall be continuing with the purchase.

strumjoughlamps

Seller trying to not pay eBay fees for sale.

I’ve sold lots of collection only sales where they have paid via banking app after inspecting item. Nothing dodgy at all, it’s no different to cash on collection.

Philly_Q

Although it doesn't show on the app screenshot above, the bid which was replaced and retracted took place on the day before the auction ended.  The winning bid which then fell through was a new bid.  I think it must just be a coincidence that both bidders had the same feedback. 

thermionic

strumjoughlamps said:

Seller trying to not pay eBay fees for sale.

I’ve sold lots of collection only sales where they have paid via banking app after inspecting item. Nothing dodgy at all, it’s no different to cash on collection.

Probably not a high chance of it happening really, but you're leaving yourself open to "item not delivered" scams unless you exchange codes with the buyer through the app. Buyer turns up, pays, goes away with the item... in a few days they report to ebay that they've paid but the item hasn't arrived. You have no proof of collection or postage, ebay sides with the buyer and makes you refund the payment.

Emp_Fab

Hmmm....  He won't let me test-ride it before I buy.  Is this common with bike purchases these days?

Haych

Emp_Fab said:

Hmmm....  He won't let me test-ride it before I buy.  Is this common with bike purchases these days?

Can't say from experience, I believe the normal rule of thumb is an exchange of cash in case you ride away and never come back, but that implies imbuing trust to the other party that he'll return your cash if you decide against the purchase for any reason.  If he's reasonable then 1.) he'd agree to this, and 2.) will return your cash if you choose not to buy, providing you don't crash the bike on the test ride.

Woodenhead

The winning bidder and retracted bid are the same person, for some odd reason ebay assigned random characters for the same id. When I looked the characters had changed and their feedback has gone up. I take it you didn't get to test ride it? seller has relisted it.

Cols

Emp_Fab said:

Hmmm....  He won't let me test-ride it before I buy.  Is this common with bike purchases these days?

I would regard that in the same light as someone who:

1.  Won’t let you play a guitar before buying 
2.  Won’t let you play an amp before buying
3.  Won’t let you play a pedal before buying
4.  Won’t let you test drive a car before buying

It’s the reddest flag I can think of.  Especially for a £2000 outlay.

Jfingers

Sounds quite scammy to me.

AK99

IME over the years with cars and bikes the 'no cash-no ride/drive' statement is aimed primarily at dissuading messers and time wasters from turning up and hoping for a test spin - but invariably ignored if the prospective purchaser passes the credibility/decent-type test. 

Any time there's ever been a potential issue before a test run, I generally say something to the effect that the bend-it you buy it rules apply, and offer to leave my car keys (or better half) with the seller as collateral for the duration. I've never actually been refused a test-run in anything despite not having the asking price (or indeed any large cash sum) to hand, Wouldn't buy anything without a run/spin either btw - goes without saying.