Ebay-Xbox Scams Part II

[damocles]

Search isnt working for me, so forgive me if this is a repost

link

So many idiots, so little time

 

[d1abolic]

I don't see how this is a scam. It states that this is just a picture in the title and several times more in the body, all in large, clearly visible letters. The way i see it, if someone is stupid enough not to know what is being sold then they by all means deserve to get ripped off for them. Maybe then they'll consider going to school and LEARNING HOW TO READ. In fact, great idea. I'm gonna go start a few of those right now

 

[hominid skull]

I don't know how much clearer the seller could have been in the description, but it's a bad thing to do anyway..

 

[Dragnov]

AAAAAAahHAHAHAHAHA. I wonder if they ever get their money back or if they ever actually pay (or forced to pay by ebay).

 

[d1abolic]

Why would they? The description and title are very clear, no court in the world would order the seller to refund the money.

 

[CZroe]

Quick! Someone tell donutlady30 to send a PICTURE of $320 to rmccorma! On non-photo computer paper of course! (For real, I'm leaving it up to you guys & not taking the opportunity to tell her myself... Whoever does reply here!)

 

[d1abolic]

Anyone want to buy TEN MILLION DOLLARS OF monopoly MONEY FOR $500?

 

[CZroe]

I'll buy a picture of it, but the real Monopoly stuff? That's too rich for me!

How much do you wanna bet (In Monopoly dollars) that this is the fault of bid-snipers using bid-sniping software?!
If only we could know...

Edit: See the feedback below? That's this persons entire feedback (Yeah, a 3) Notice the bold? I think I'm right about the bid-sniping app!!

thurlow243@aol.com (41) Oct-07-01 00:18:46 PDT 1276427869 S
Praise : Great communication ...hope its a good seat goodtimeAAAAA++++Paul
nblazej (351) Sep-08-01 15:00:51 PDT 1269123321 B
Praise : Very fast response & payment. Great transaction, thank you. A+++++++++
weenerdog (562) Jul-27-01 14:36:00 PDT 1257095790 B
Praise : Immediate response and payment, couldn't be better! Thank you!!

 

[jonnyGURU]

donutlady gets what she deserves. rmccorma made every attempt possible, in redundancy, to ensure the bidder knew that the item up for bid was a picture printed out by a computer. If he loses his eBay membership for this, THAT would be a crime.

 

[Murpheeee]

amazing part is he got 14 bids on this, from 6 different users.

 

[kranky]

I don't understand you guys sometimes. The AT community is quick to scream "SCAM!" when a company does something that is legal yet misleading when people here get taken advantage of. Now someone posts a ebay auction OBVIOUSLY meant to trick people, but because the description technically is accurate you all want to rag on the bidder.

 

[SuperCyrix]

I would like to point out that the people responsible for these auctions are complete Jackasses. There are two types of people who will bid on these auctions. People who can't read correctly because they are from another country and haven't fully comprehend the English language or complete idiots. Either way, it's wrong to take advantage of idiots or people who can't fully read English. The people responsible for these auctions knew that the bidders who are offering $300+ are expecting the actual system. Is it ok to ripoff money from the mentally challenged or people who can't speak English?

 

[Jzero]

Mentally challenged? The person who bid on the "x-box box" was a completely competent person who just didn't take the time to read careful. That's an idiot, not a person with a disability. I don't think there's anything wrong with taking advantage of morons. As a wise man once said "A fool and his money are soon parted."

I can't say the people offering these shady items are of the highest moral fiber, but they've done nothing that is or should be illegal. A sucker is born every minute, and a moajority of the world's most successful enterpreneurs got where the are by taking advantage of the stupidity of others.

 

[SuperCyrix]

-The person offering these shady items wanted to fool some *idiot* into thinking his box is the actual system. Why else would he put a box up for auction?

-The seller of the box knows that the buyer will be greatly disappointed by his purchase and be out over $300.

-I have to completely disagree with you here and say it's wrong to defraud idiots. For that matter, it's wrong to defraud anyone and nobody deserves to be a victim.

 

[SuperCyrix]

<< donutlady gets what she deserves. rmccorma made every attempt possible, in redundancy, to ensure the bidder knew that the item up for bid was a picture printed out by a
computer. >>



It doesn't matter what precautions rmccorma made. He knew an idiot is going to come along and offer alot of money for his picture. He had no intention of selling that picture for a fair market value when he auctioned it off. His intent was to pass off that picture as the actual system to some idiot. His action may be legal, but his intent was to defraud.

donutlady does not deserve what she gets. She's an idiot and nobody should hold that against her. Some people are born with lower IQs. Only a complete d!ckhead would take advantage of them.

 

[Jzero]

<< -The person offering these shady items wanted to fool some *idiot* into thinking his box is the actual system. Why else would he put a box up for auction?

-The seller of the box knows that the buyer will be greatly disappointed by his purchase and be out over $300.

-I have to completely disagree with you here and say it's wrong to defraud idiots. For that matter, it's wrong to defraud anyone and nobody deserves to be a victim. >>



Perhaps "morally" wrong to defraud idiots, but again, nothing that's illegal or even should be illegal.
Fraud is a crime in which you willfully don't provide what you offer. If I place a bid on a tennis ball used by Anna Kournikova thinking I would get to ball Anna Kournikova, I'd be an idiot, and maybe the seller was hoping that an idiot would shell out a lot of money for his tennis ball, but the plain and simple fact is that, it is clearly stated more than once what is being sold here, and if that's exactly what the person gets, they've got no one to blame but themselves. I can't drag the guy to court and say "I thought I was going to get to ball anna kournikova." I'd get laughed out of the courtroom.

I mean I could say:

"The person offering these shady items wanted to fool some *idiot* into thinking his OPERATING SYSTEM was a product in complete working order. Why else would he put an OS up for sale?

The seller of the OS knows the buyer will be greatly disappointed by his purchase and be out over $300."

Like it or leave it: The most successful in business did not get where they got without stepping on the toes of idiots, and even just plain honest people. This is why I will never be a successful enterpreneur.

Caveat Emptor is the way to go.

 

[SuperCyrix]

<< and maybe the seller was hoping that an idiot would shell out a lot of money >>



Not maybe, the seller is hoping. I don't know the legal interpretation of the word fraud, but what I am trying to say is that the seller is trying to trick somebody into shelling out alot of money for an item that is worth only a fraction of it's actual worth. The intent of the seller is to trick.



<< The most successful in business did not get where they got without stepping on the toes of idiots >>



There is a vast difference here. That picture is worth a few cents, the item he is trying to pass it off as is worth much much more. Business will bloat numbers and make claims on their product, but nothing in the magnitude of this.

 

[Kanalua]

Check out how many scams there are for XBox pictures!!! nearly 30 of them!!!

This one is my favorite! A picture of an XBox and 8 games!!!

 

[Amused]

"Fair market value" is whatever someone is willing to pay for an item. Nothing more, nothing less.

But I agree, this takes advantage of people who are not the brightest.

 

[Cerebus451]

fraud: 1. A deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain.

The people posting these eBay actions are committing fraud, and last time I checked, fraud is illegal. If they intend to send this stuff through the mail, they are committing mail fraud, a federal offense.

There is simply no argument that can be made about these eBay auctions that disproves the fact that it is fraud. In the case of the posted auction, the person is not even selling a poster, but rather a picture they printed out (probably from the web) on their computer. In this case, in addition to fraud, this person is committing copyright infringement, as I am absolutely positive that he did not obtain permission to reproduce the given artwork.

Are these people preying on idiots? Yes. Do the idiots need to learn a lesson? Yes. It still does not change the fact that they are committing fraud.

 

[ericb]

The guy selling the picture with the pictures of the eight games isn't even using his own...they're from IGN. And it's up to $33.

 

[Thegonagle]

Will this picture be adaquate?

320 Dollars

EDIT: updated picture better framed and better quality

EDIT: Re-uploaded my picture, it should work now.

 

[Jzero]

<<

<< and maybe the seller was hoping that an idiot would shell out a lot of money >>



Not maybe, the seller is hoping. I don't know the legal interpretation of the word fraud, but what I am trying to say is that the seller is trying to trick somebody into shelling out alot of money for an item that is worth only a fraction of it's actual worth. The intent of the seller is to trick. >>



In that case, I think I'd better take the manufacturers of Slinky and Pet Rock to task for their grievous frauds.
While I'm at it, Matthew Lesko and whoever is selling that super-dooper powerful thing you attach to your hose that in addition to cleaning your gutters, can be used to do ANYTHING an ordinary hose can do by just sticking your thumb over the end or buying a nozzle. You telling me a piece of metal tubing is worth $20? I can find that in the trash.
What about those bastards at DeBeers selling ROCKS for THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS?! What's UP with that crap?

"trick" is not a legal term. I'm not saying the seller isn't a sh!thead, I'm saying he's not actually a criminal. People like to throw fraud around when things don't go their way in an on-line transaction, but there's a world of difference between "Not getting what you paid for" and "Not getting what you THOUGHT you paid for." Now you might be able to hit the guy in civil court on the grounds that he listed the item in bad faith, but that's STILL neither fraud nor any other crime.



<< The most successful in business did not get where they got without stepping on the toes of idiots >>



There is a vast difference here. That picture is worth a few cents, the item he is trying to pass it off as is worth much much more. Business will bloat numbers and make claims on their product, but nothing in the magnitude of this.[/i] >>



When I first learned about "Caveat Emptor" I also learned about "Charge all the traffice will bear." It's in your best interests to sell your product for many times more than it is actually worth. If you can convince some stooge to buy a rock with a face, or a spring, or a piece of tubing, or a cheap printout of a picture of a popular item for FAR more than it cost to produce or is even worth, then you should do it.

PT Barnum was famous for putting a banner over the exit turnstyles at his circus that said "This way to the Egress!" And people would leave the circus grounds thinking the Egress was another attraction, not knowing that Egress was another word for Exit. Barnum thought nothing of charging them again to re-enter under his no re-entry rules. Did he do anything illegal? No! He clearly labelled on the tickets no re-entry and he clearly labelled the exit as such. It's not his fault his patrons were idiots. He called them "suckers" for a reason.

Both buyer and seller are rubes, I admit.
However, no crime was committed. If stupidity was a crime, we'd all be in jail.

Edit:
I'd also like to add that if they used someone ELSE'S picture, that's copyright infringement, but if I have an XBox, does it say in the documentation that I can't take a picture of it and sell it? It's my picture. If I sell a picture of a JUMBO JET! Would you think you'd actually get a Jumbo Jet? If you did, does that make a criminal?

There's a shop in Cape May NJ that sells what are CLEARLY digital photos run through a photoshop filter to appear "painted" and then printed out on special "canvas-looking" paper. And sells these prints unframed for hundreds of dollars. And people are buying them. I walked in the shop and saw the cool "paintings" and looked more closely and was like WTF?! I complained loudly while I was in the store and I complained loudly anytime I heard someone mention it.
Still not fraud. They're selling "original artwork." Says nothing about them being actual paintings.

 

[Thegonagle]

Message from Ebay:

Invalid Item
The item you requested ( 1298463710 ) is invalid or no longer in our database. Please check the number and try again. If this message persists, the item has expired and is no longer available.

Looks like Ebay just pulled the plug.

 

[SuperCyrix]

<< In that case, I think I'd better take the manufacturers of Slinky and Pet Rock to task for their grievous frauds.
While I'm at it, Matthew Lesko and whoever is selling that super-dooper powerful thing you attach to your hose that in addition to cleaning your gutters, can
be used to do ANYTHING an ordinary hose can do by just sticking your thumb over the end or buying a nozzle. You telling me a piece of metal tubing is
worth $20? I can find that in the trash.
What about those bastards at DeBeers selling ROCKS for THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS?! What's UP with that crap? >>



The huge difference I'm talking about you actually did just illustrate. While the abilities of Slinky and Pet Rock was grossly exaggerated by the companies, you did get what you intended to buy. You got a Slinky and you got a Pet Rock. What is really wrong with what the guys is doing in this and many other auction is that the buyer are not getting a X-box that that does not perform to their liking, they're not getting an X-box at all. They are getting a picture, a box, or some other stuff. No business or corporation dares to pull off something like that.