General Cycling Discussion - Ebay bike advice please

I bid about 10 times unsuccessfully on a bike - it just got too expensive for me. During the bidding process I asked the seller to send me some more pictures via my own hotmail address. As soon as I lost the bidding process I got 3 emails from ebay from people sayinig the auction was over but the person who won was unable to complete the transaction so I could just pay my high bid amount for the bike.

What was wierd was that all three ebay emails that asked me to buy the bike at my last bid were not the same as the first hotmail address. Is this common?

GG

Common enough to have a name of it's own: the `Second Chance' scam. Ebay really does have a policy whereby the item may be offered to the next highest-bidder if the transaction with the high bidder fails, but a scam has developed to try and take advantage of this. See http://www.pacglass.com/second_chance_scam_-_aba.htm

for more info, or google "ebay second chance scam".

Chris

Buying this way also eliminates any of the protections, limited though they may be, that eBay and PayPal offer. Once you go this route, it's a private transaction and you're on your own.

Buying this way also eliminates any of the protections, limited though they may be, that eBay and PayPal offer. Once you go this route, it's a private transaction and you're on your own.


just to clarify- a second chance auction IS handled through ebay. feedback and everything remain intact- you are contacted through EBAY- by ebay- so it is not a private auction.

If you are contacted directly by the seller, I'd run away fast. Another member may have contacted you pretending to be the seller.

Another member may have contacted you pretending to be the seller.

Exactly - but 3 different people?

How fast can you run? :eek: