Expert: Marvinator - 7/17/2004

Question
On Ebay there are these links for sale that claim to sell latest brand new laptops/electronics for one tenth their market price. Are they for real? Why would anyone sell a product at one tenth of its market price, even if its a wholeseller ?

Answer
Thank you for asking this question.  It brings to mind two very important  quotes.  

First is "If it sounds to good to be true, it probably isn't."  

Second is "There's a sucker born every minute."


There are two types of sellers who use this technique in selling. The first is a legitimate seller who feels that the item will be 'bid up' and is merely starting the item low.  You can check the history of the seller and see how many of such items they have sold and how many they are currently selling.  If the number is low, then you may feel that the seller merely is 'marketing'.  If the number is higher (over 3 or 4) then you know this to be a scammer.  

How the Scam works:  You, the bidder, bids and wins.  Easy.  Now comes the scam.  For whatever reason, the seller will tell you that he hates/detests/doesn't trust/can't get a Paypal account and wishes you to use Western Union. He will give you some song and dance about giving him only PART of the Western Union payment code to "prove payment" and he will then provide proof that he has mailed the item. His proof will be faked (hey, you can do amazing things with computers these days) and at that time the buyer will provide the complete code number and the money will be gone before you know what happened.   

At this point I will tell you that anyone that uses Western Union to pay for an Auction is a fool.  Western Union should only be used to send money to someone you KNOW and TRUST.  You see, with the payment code, ANYONE IN THE WORLD can pick up the money WITHOUT EVEN HAVING TO PROVIDE A VALID IDENTIFICATION.  Western Union considers the Code the only needed Identification.  (WU figures that you are not going to give the code to anyone you don't know or trust so why should they mistrust either of you?) Some of these scammers will add another layer of invisibility by telling you to place the money in your own name or a friend's name! Again, remember, all they need is the code.  

So, when you see those sales, check the feedback, check the seller's history and then walk away.  Anything that feels to good to be true, is a scam waiting to happen.

Thanks for writing!