They'll buy anything on Ebay - Powerbook *box* auctioned off (1 Viewer)

[gregstaten]

(This one ended a week ago...)

I've seen some strange things go for obscene amounts, but this one's the wackiest big-ticket one I've seen. You could have been the first on your box to buy the box -- that's right, just the box -- that a Powerbook 1 GHz comes in. No Powerbook, no cables, no manuals, just the box.

Powerbook Box

Amazing - especially when you see what the final bid was...

-greg

 

[Rob Gillespie]

There was one like this a couple of years ago for a Playstation 2 box. The winning bidder clearly thought it was the box and contents and I seem to remember it making the national news. The seller was really nothing more than a con-artist.

That the bidder here has put up over $1200 clearly shows he thinks he's getting the Powerbook, not just an empty cardboard box. I know the auction says "Box only" but it then muddies the description by giving the tech details of the Powerbook.

 

[Chris Hovanic]

READ THE F'n AUCTION! It clearly states that it is the box only and then goes on to describe the box. Con-artist... I think not.

I think stupid ebay buyer(s) might be a better description.

The starting bid was just a dollar which is a fair price for a nice box. It even has a handle!

I'll say it again... READ THE F'n AUCTION!!!

 

[Rob Gillespie]

If he was legit, he wouldn't be selling a cardboard box for $1200. However much you want to rant and swear, nobody with a shred of decency would sell a cardboard box for $1200. Read the fucking auction or not, the seller is a cad if he allows it to go through at that price.

Of course, the 'dumb' buyer argument holds, but NOBODY would buy a cardboard box for that price, so it's clear the buyer has been misled, even if only by their own reading ability and stupidity.

 

[Chris Hovanic]

ok... lets just blame all our stupidity on everyone else instead of taking responsibility for our own actions.

If someone is dumb enough to bid $1200 on a cardboard box they more than likely should not even be surfing ebay or own a computer for that matter.
Maybe the seller was trying to take advantage of some stupid person but from the looks of his auction (and past auctions) he was just selling a empty box which he started the bid at a whopping dollar. I really doubt he held a gun to the morons head to post a bid for $1200.00 (more than likely the whole thing is just a hoax so people post it in forums like this one!)


Call me a cad (whatever that is) then, cuz I would sell every cardboard box I own for $1200

just my .02

 

[Leo_P]

Quote:
Call me a cad (whatever that is) then, cuz I would sell every cardboard box I own for $1200 Right on!

 

[NickSo]

Quote:
he wouldn't be selling a cardboard box for $1200
Well, in his defense, he did make the opening bid $1.00.
The fishy thing is the 8 bids in a row by 'Kashto' each increasing by about $100... It seems like a dummy account owned by the same guy, and he uses that account to up the bid price...

 

[Greg*go]

Quote:
The box is in perfect condition
LOL, it would've been better if he wrote "perfect working condition!"

There is even a picture of the open box empty to answer any doubts. I think in this auction there are morons, and lucky bastards. But no con-artists. And yes that Kashto fella did up the price a bit (and is likely a personal account by the seller to do just that), but he never overtook the amount by the other fellow with a 20+ rating (and I didn't see any other price raising going on in the other auctions I looked at). Sure this could all be a hoax like the chinese elemantary class with the kid with the mishaped head in it, but there is also a chance it's real.

And judging from the other auctions, it looks like he bought an Apple Laptop, then took it apart and sold it piece by piece, with the Box being the best selling item. Good for him.

 

[John_Berger]

Guys, chill out, please. This happens all too often at eBay. This is more than likely a legitimate auction that some egomaniacal idiot decided to hijack in order to prove nothing more than he's an asshole. He has a zero feedback rating which means that he most likely created that as a throw-away account that day and therefore loses nothing if the account gets closed.

This is no different than the jerks who bid on an item then try to do something completely against the terms of the auction, such as "PayPal or money order only" then they say "I want to pay by personal check" then you never hear from them again.

This has unfortunately happened many times in the past and will continue in the future. It's one of the risks of dealing with eBay. Hopefully, eBay will shut down the accounts of everyone who decided to partake in this fraudulent bidding, not that it will matter to the zero-feedback losers.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

Quote:
I know the auction says "Box only" but it then muddies the description by giving the tech details of the Powerbook exactly. this is why the auction is misleading. if i am gong to sell my dvd rack, i dont list all the oop criterion dvds that used to be on it.

CJ

 

[Greg*go]

Well, this was certainly entertaining. We've all come up with 3 conclusions:

1. it was fake from beginning to end
2. he screwed someone into thinking they were buying a computer
3. someone screwed him out of an auction

Gee, what a wonderful thing. There hasn't been any feedback exchanged for it yet either, so I don't know if it was his dummy account. The $10 for delivery seemed a bit high for a box, but now it doesn't.

Quote:
if i am gong to sell my dvd rack, i dont list all the oop criterion dvds that used to be on it. well, if i remember correctly he says something like "this is what it says on the box" then statest the specs. I've been on eBay, and gotten screwed a couple times, (one time for over $500) but that was because of a liar of a seller. This guy is just misleading in 1 of his auctions. This I find it very funny. then also says "this is the box only" like 3 times in the movie. i hope:

1. he enjoyed giving us all some holiday laughs
2. he enjoyed taking a sucker's money right before the holidays (that's the only downside)
3. someone enjoyed pissing off the buyer by completely overbidding for it and now the buyer didn't get the $3 he was expecting..

 

[Tony Genovese]

The bids were cancelled, so we can move on.

 

[Christ Reynolds]

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The bids were cancelled, so we can move on. feel free to.

Quote:
if i remember correctly he says something like "this is what it says on the box" then statest the specs yes, but he stated them in the auction title too. anyone searching for those specs for a computer would get this empty box. the whole thing was doomed from the start

CJ

 

[Josh Lowe]

I have a brand new box (less than 24 hours old) to a 15" 1.25ghz Powerbook G4.. If a 1ghz box sold for $1200 then mine is a steal at $1000 even. Do I have any takers??

 

[Aaron_*P]

Yes there are the scams on ebay, but in ebays defence I've been using it a fair amount, and in general only once has the person on the other end not been a nice and very honest person (in which the credit card company gives you your money back). Yesterday I bought something for $530, which we had negotiated $30 off for free shipping by email. Paypal wouldn't let me change the dollar value, but within 20 minutes he promptly emailed me the $30 back and in a few hours emailed me the tracking number. That's incredible honesty! Also, your'll get in alot of trouble on ALL ebay auctions if you don't read the fine print, about condition, warranties etc... If you don't read an auction well enough to notice BOX ONLY said numerous times, you shouldn't be on ebay.

 

[Brian Perry]

The key phrase for me in deciding that the seller is a bit on the dishonest side is, "It does NOT come with software or cables." He conveniently omits the word "computer."

As others have mentioned, it is ultimately up to the buyer to sift through the BS. But in the end, the seller will get what he deserves because I'm sure the winning bidder has no intention of paying the $1200 and the buyer will have to go through the hassle of getting his eBay fees refunded.

 

[John_Berger]

It's a BOX. The says it's a box! Where's the confusion here? How is this deceitful? The auction is for a BOX!

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Quote:
The key phrase for me in deciding that the seller is a bit on the dishonest side is, "It does NOT come with software or cables." He conveniently omits the word "computer."
Exactly. It's deceitful by relying on the fact that people don't always read things properly, either due to haste, their own idiocy or perhaps because english isn't their first language. In each case the seller is depending on a misunderstanding of the auction. If he'd been really honest he'd have said "THERE IS NO COMPUTER" or similar, but he doesn't. Similarly, he wouldn't have let the sale go to $1200 if he'd been honest.

Technically the guy isn't doing anything wrong because he does say "Box". Morally though, he's a turd. Whatever capitalist principles you want to bring up in this thread, you will never convince me that this seller is anything more than a con-artist.

 

[John_Berger]

Captialism has nothing to do with it. The first thing about eBay has always been caveat emptor. If a buyer doesn't take his own time to carefully read an auction, that's his fault.

Obviously, if an item is completely misrepresented, that's another story. This auction was not misrepresented, however. It merely had some unethical marketing applied to it, but he did say in the first sentence that it's just the box.

So, who's more responsible for a bad sale? The person who dresses up his auction (even though he still gives the facts about it) or the person who doesn't bother to scrutinize every detail before bidding?

 

[DaveGTP]

For god's sake, he says it over and over again!

Quote:
BOX ONLY.
Quote:
This is the box only

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It only comes with what you see in the pictures. The box is in perfect condition