[ForSale-Swap] Re: PayPal

[Jim Shorney]

On Sun, 15 Apr 2007 13:35:08 -0700 (PDT), John Geiger wrote:

>
>But how many of those auctions have you bid on an
>item, win the bid, pay for it, but never get the item?

Actually, it does happen. More often than you might think, especially with
smaller items. Early in my auction career, I bought an IBM "Pageprinter"
LASER printer at a State surplus auction.  I didn't keep an eye on it and it
vanished before the end of the auction.  I was not able to get my money back
for the reasons I stated earlier, but IIRC it was only about 35 bucks so I
didn't sweat it.  It turns out I probably had the last laugh anyway, as I
found out later that this particular printer had a proprietary IBM interface
(and as such, I wouldn't have been able to use it anyway).

To be fair, one of the buyers who purchases lots of stuff may have picked it
up by mistake. That happens occasionally too, I don't know. But that doesn't
change the end result for me.

It was a lesson well learned, too. If you buy something that is percieved as
highly desirable at an auction, keep a tight leash on it or there is a good
chance it will walk away. Talking to people who have had similar experiences
over the years, it seems more likely than getting ripped off on eBay, since
you have no protection at all other than your eyes. Once the thief is gone,
your item is gone and you have absolutely no recourse. Anyone can walk into
an auction without even registering, pick something up, and walk out without
being questioned. The only exception is vehicle/heavy equipment auctions,
where you must show proof of purchase before you can get off the lot with it.
There's a regular group of people who go to surplus auctions who have kind of
gotten to know each other and will watch out for each other, but this is no
guarantee either.  It just makes it a little safer.

I'm sorry you got ripped off, and I hope you get your money back. But don't
shoot the messenger.


--
TR7/RV7, TR6/RV6, T4XC/R4C, L4B, NCL2000, SB104A, R390A, GT550A/RV550A - all vintage, all the time!