There was a thread posted here a few days ago from someone who was looking at a couple of tandems on Ebay. One was a Trek T2000 for $1500 and the other a Cannondale Road Tandem for $1200, both '06 models. Like the old saying goes "If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!"

There has been a rash of low priced 2006 bikes on Ebay recently. They all come with the following comments in their descriptions:

*We give this discount because we are liquidating the 2006 stock.

*IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR IF YOU WANT TO PLACE AN ORDER PLEASE EMAIL ONLY TO OUR SALES DEPARTMENT

*DO NOT BID UNTIL RECEIVING A RESPONSE FROM OUR SALES DEPARTMENT

*PLEASE DO NOT USE Ask Seller A Question OPTION BECAUSE OUR eBay EMAIL ADDRESS IS OVER QUOTA AND WE DON'T RECEIVE YOUR QUESTION

*Please do not bid on the auction!!! Contact us via email for an order (with your size and color to check availability). This is a fixed price sale at the buy it now price.

*Shipping is free worldwide if you buy it now.


I did use the "Ask A Seller A Question" option on one of thes auctions recently and got a response from the account holder that his Ebay account had been hyjacked and the auction was a fraud (my suspicions). As soon as he realized the auction was a fraud he contacted Ebay and was able to have the auction removed. I presently count 312 of these auctions. The guy doing these auctions get's people to pay for the bikes (usually by wiring funds) and then disappears. The sad thing is there are people out there bidding on these bikes.

Fellow tandem riders beware! Don't get lured into bidding on one of these "deals"! ALWAYS check sellers feedback, contact with questions and pay with secure funds only (i.e, PayPal). Never take a chance! I'd hate to see any of you get burned by some scum trying to make a quick buck.

The scammers almost always never have the bike in question. Ask them for pictures of the item. If you word your message carefully, you can avoid saying what the name of the bike is. They get confused and will write you back asking what item you want a picture of. If you are unsure of their veracity, write back nicely and ask them how many other items they have, i.e. you want to see if their cover story holds water by seeing if they are using other names and/or really do have other items up on the block.

I had one guy proclaim that I could not call him because he had gone deaf and his wife was out of the country so I could not call. I eventually got him to send me more detailed photos of the bike. Of course they were the wrong bike. Never heard from them again. If you do this, do not use your main email account. Set up a throwaway account on whatever service you prefer. You will likely start to see spam for medicine and companionship shortly after the exchanges.

Even paypal is not secure, they are not much better than paying by credit card. But do not use wire or personal check for ebay unless you know the person you are dealing with.

Also, make sure you check the category it is listed in. Anyone posting a tandem supposedly from a LBS should be able to figure out it is a bike... Many listings of this sort put the exact same "auction" or should I just say "scam" in a number of categories from collectible Hummels, to Automotive...

Great ideas guys! Keep them coming. The more the buying public is educated about these scammers, the less chance of them being ripped off.

I'm done with Ebay for awhile. Just not worth the hassle of the aggressive sellers.

that posted about these "specials" originally. I was very tempted by this but held back when a little voice said it just didn't seem right. It came from Wyoming and it seemed very odd to me that a bike dealer from Wyoming would have a ton of left over 06 tandems. I seriously doubt there are dealers stocking tandems in Wyoming to begin with.

Just don't ever wire transfer a seller money and that will take care of about 98% of your risk of ebay fraud. They try and get you to complete the tranaction outside ebay. You end up with no bike, no money and no recourse.

Of course you can tell them to shoot a picture of the end of the box. They never seem to get back to me after that....

Agreed. I used to be a hardcore ebayer, (1,000+ transactions) but lately, it's just been one ripoff after another.

I had a friend lose an bike auction (he was outbid). The next day he got an email from the "seller" saying that the #1 bidder couldn't come up with the money, and he was offering the bike at a reduced price to get rid of it. He was contacted through the eBay mail system (no other way to get a mail to the address), but it was a different user name than the real seller.

I told him to email back saying:"I'd like to buy the bike at that price. Please send a better picture of the saddle (from the rear). Please re-list as a "buy it now" for that price plus re-listing fees, and I'll buy it immediately." He really did want the bike, but we were 98% sure it was a scam.

Never heard from again (duh)

Here are two different auctions, two different sellers, but the same bike (same pictures, description):

https://cgi.ebay.com/Seven-Axiom-Tand...QQcmdZViewItem

https://cgi.ebay.com/Seven-Axiom-Tand...QQcmdZViewItem

A Seven tandem with no reserve and $3.00 shipping? Hopefully these auctions will have been yanked by the time anyone else sees this. Creepy.

Cheers.

That was a real listing from about a month ago. I believe Richardson Bikemart was the seller.

You'd at least expect the scumbag to get the name right: Seven Axiom 707? How about Axiom 007.

I'm winning!

Anytime you guys see a scam on ebay, just use the "email a friend" and send it to rswebform@ebay.com, they'll take care of it pretty quick.

I'm winning!

Of course, sometimes a buyer gets pissed, and takes it out on dishonest sellers.

Sadly, NO, THAT IS NOT TRUE.

First, PayPal does not "protect" sales over $1000. Neither does E-Bay. So if it's over $1000, you are at your own risk for some portion of the amount.

Second, ANY payment using a personal check, a money order, or basically ANY means other than VISA is at your own risk.

Therefore, NEVER EVER buy any item over $1000 on E-Bay unless:

EITHER the seller can accept visa (or amex or mc) payment directly
OR you can pick the item up in person and pay cash.

While ebay is a great place to buy a tandem - I have bought two in the last 24 months - it is full of scammers. Not just in the tanden section. If you pay attention to the rules of engagement which have been mentioned here - plus I always call and speak to the seller when I purchase a tandem. You can get a deal. I also have sold half a dozen bikes on line all to my satisfaction - plus have bought lots of hard to find bike parts. 20 purchases in the last 6 months all to my satisfaction. I routinely turn-in scammers in the tandem section - 2 this month alone. You might not believe this, but in the tandem section it's very easy to spot a scam unlike other sections in ebay.

Oh, ebay shut down the scammer listed in post 10.