Is this a bike thief / fence on ebay ...

slowlanejane

I'm scouring for a cut price commuter, so been watching ebay for a while. This seller pops up with good bikes, hasn't got much to say about them, puts them in 1 day auctions, cash only, collection only, has 2-up at the mo and inconsistencies between them w/regard to the personal chat / reasons for selling. Has sold another one recently so 3 x 1 day bike auctions a bit odd to me.

Looked up his ratings and they're all mobile phoone bits & bobs sellers, my suspicious mind says nice line in nicked mobiles with new SIMS?

Anyway, what do you think - I hardly ever use ebay so dont really know how it works, and he may be a perfectly ordinary bloke (or girl) making extra quids buying & selling stuff legitimately.

And if he /she is a suspicious character, what do you do about it?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Trek-7-3-FX-2010- ... dZViewItem

Lillywhite

Only one of those items in his/her rating is for selling something, the rest are for things he/she has brought.

What is suspicious is that he/she has just sold a bike at the beginning of this month.
I'd be very wary.

mattward1979

sounds dodgy.... the strange mash up of English makes me wary, but there ARE some consistencies comparing the two current listings...

Both Hybrids, 18 inch Mens and 19 inch Mens bikes (could be the reason for Unwanted gift..)

Its all cash on Pick up so if your conscience doesnt stop you, at least you wont have to worry about dodgy postage etc.. And when you pick it up, if the house looks like a stolen bike yard sale, you can give the police a friendly tip off

bobtbuilder

The 1 day auction is a bad sign for me. As a seller you want a lot of exposure and hopefully a bidding war on your items to increase the price.

That + cash only is very suspect. I wouldn't touch with a barge pole.

Weejie54

"Cash on collection only" means no PayPal protection and no credit card protection (and seller is breaking eBay rules). If you buy it and it turns out to be stolen, you lose out.

I wouldn't go near it

softlad

I would avoid. There are plenty of other cheap s/h bikes on ebay without risking one that looks like it's being sold, as you pointed out, by someone with an unusual interest in SIM cards....

Stanley222 wrote:

I find it a bit strange that he only shows a stock photo of the bike rather than pics of the actual bike for sale!

he should have taken a pic with one of his mobile phones - it sounds like he has plenty of them..

Weejie54

In what way is he breaking ebay rules in asking for cash?

You can ask for cash but you also have to offer PayPal as a means of payment. If you offer it but don't actually allow it you are breaking the rules.

Simon Notley

Certainly a bit weird - they have sold three bikes, all of which with virtually the same description. Anyone who says something is an unwanted present raises my suspicions - who buys someone a bike as a present without knowing if they even want one (other than hopeful cycling parents for their children!)??

The mobile stuff was all buying not selling, but still a strange pattern of behaviour.

Didn't we have a copper on here who investigated a similar thread and successfully nicked someone?

Peddle Up!

Sellers with low feedback numbers always put me off - I've had more than one bad eperience with them. I know everyone's got to start somewhere, but I'd be very cautious.