Watch out for this one!<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
I saw a 2004 Harley 'Fat Boy' for sale on a <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">London</st1:place></st1:City> area classified ad section for £ 3,200 on 20/3/08. I thought way too cheap but (You never know) so decided follow it up. I emailed the seller the same day and received a reply within the hour. The guy told me that he had worked in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.K.</st1:country-region> for 1 year, bought the bike here but was recently transferred to <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Rome</st1:place></st1:City> by the Italian company that he worked for and that was where the bike was now. He informed me that the bike was still crated and ready to ship back to the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.K.</st1:place></st1:country-region> and gave me the email address of the shipper to get details. It appears that I was to register my details and address with the shipper, pay them the total cost of the bike, the shipper would hold back payment from the seller until the bike had been delivered to my address and I had 5 days to inspect and test it. Then once I was satisfied with the bike and informed the shipper, they would then forward my money on to the seller. Sounds good doesn’t it! I looked at the 'Impressive'? shippers website but could not find an address or contact phone number, only a direct email. I emailed them and asked for an address and phone number but was just told register my details, pass the payment on to them and the shipping process would be started the following day. The bike would be delivered to my home address in about 3 to 5 days. All my emails to both the seller and the shipper were answered in about an hour of sending them.
Now I may be a bit of a soft touch (Especially where women are concerned) but I aint prepared to hand over £ 3,200 of my hard earned cash to someone that I can't knock on their door and 'Politely' ask for it back (Even if it is for a 2004 'Fat Boy' that I haven’t seen yet). I asked the company if they would accept 'Cash On Delivery'. They ignored my question and just stated what they had already told me. I searched the internet on information about the shipping company and after much searching I found the company with a domain name that had been registered on the 20/3/08 (The same day the advert had been placed). The shipping company website is www.royal-aircargo.com. See also: http://www.who.is/whois-com/ip-address/royal-aircargo.com/. I emailed both the seller and the shipping company and told both of them to hold the bike and that I have a friend who lives about twenty five miles from Rome who is prepared to inspect it, pay cash on my behalf, hold it for me and I would come over to his place and ride it back to the U.K. so I needed an address for him to view the bike. That was a couple of days ago. I have heard nothing from either of them since sending the last emails. Something smells a little fishy. I have contacted the website where the advert was placed and voiced my concerns. I noticed that the advert was removed the same day.
If I am wrong, may I apologise publicly for my assumptions to both the seller and the shipping company and I deserve to lose the bargain of the century.
If my assumptions are correct, someone (Or more than one) could be picking up a great deal of nothing and paying dearly for the privilege.
Please feel free to make your own assumptions.
This has been going on in auto trader and ebay for years.....once on ebay i bidded against my own bike to up the current bids (using a second account)....saves getting mates to bid on it! LOL.......Within an hour of the auction ending ( I pulled it as I had it advertised elsewhere) I recieved a second chance offer to buy it for my last bid from a user with a seemingly excellent reputation.....I passed on this email to the police and ebay and heard absolutely ziltch!
So what you're saying then Ghosthunter, is someone tried to con you out of some money, and you found out because you were trying to con someone else out of some money?
How dare you both suggest that I am a con artist........Me and my mates always bid on each others stuff! lol.
The bike still sold for over book anyway (off ebay)so I was dead chuffed!
.....if there's an idiot willing to pay then there's an idiot willing to sell! lol.....how else do you think they make replica football shirts so expensive!
A fair point dm but we are not that bright as we quite often end up buying our own stuff!......DOH!
I find biketrader to be better for selling but Ebay offers a bigger shop window. I also find the trader ads to be rather expensive for what they are.
I must admit the stuff I put on tends to sell at the price I wanted anyway. I also tend to throw in a lot of stuff that I won't need like manuals,spares etc and my 99.9% rep of poss feedback means people are happy. I tell them when they arrive that if they change their minds after seeing it then fine.
The rep was 100% but my bank refused to pay an overseas transaction as they thought it was fraudulent. The package was then delayed and I posted it out free,gratis and no cost to him....unfortunately hes no longer a member so i cant restore the rep.
And are you telling me that you have never sold something on for more than you bought it for? For example if you bought a project bike , repaired it and got her roadworthy you certainly would'nt pass it off for the same money as you have to recoup some of the cost of the restoration, even if you are only taking into account the cost of parts.
And are you telling me that you have never sold something on for more than you bought it for? For example if you bought a project bike , repaired it and got her roadworthy you certainly would'nt pass it off for the same money as you have to recoup some of the cost of the restoration, even if you are only taking into account the cost of parts.
That's a bit different to artificially bumping up the price by people who really have no intention of buying in the first place gh! Hence I don't use ebay anymore.
funny isnt it as thats exactly how the used car/bike trade works by artificially raising prices. It does give you room to knock some off or to sell on at cost. You may also sell at a loss to clear stock. However still far to many people are happy to pay sticker price and not haggle!
I have worked at several dealers in my time and have known a huge percentage of the stock to come in on a saturday as a px and be on the floor sunday for 20% more without even being looked at. Some of these were very well respected solus and multi franchise dealerships too.
One dealership had two branches and he used to swap stock reguarly and add upto 10% at one branch because it was in a more affluent area.
I will always move on price or will throw stuff in, for example if someone comes a fair way to collect I will knock off some to cover fuel etc........
Been a lot of write ups in the papers over recent months about the need to haggle gh, so you are quite right in the fact that you should haggle. Works wonders sometimes! Just believe that if you put something on ebay then it should be a fair auction. If I put a bid in and no-one else is bidding then the item should be mine. The seller shouldn't have mates etc trying to make me spend more by putting bogus bids in. Sorry gh but it's out of order! Hence, as I said. I don't use ebay all that often, in fact rarely because of this.
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