OM 21mm f2.0 Buyer Beware

[ektar]

If this isn't the right place to post this, mods please feel free to move it.

Not sure what the deal is, but last night I found two sellers of this relatively rare and commonly pretty expensive lens on eBay. Both sellers showed 4 digit positive feedback. But...both listings had the exact same title. And the exact same photos. And the exact same description, down to "Selling my much loved Olympus OM gear." Now, I might have fallen off the cabbage truck, but it wasn't yesterday. So, being a good snitch, I reported the listings as best I could on the iPad.

Got up this morning, and ran my search for an Oly 21... and another 21/2 comes up...exactly the same, new seller. The other two were gone. So, not sure what the racket is, but eBay's watchdoggery is pretty good. And yeah, being a good snitch, I reported this one too, by phone. So, even though eBay is pretty good about buyer protection, it doesn't hurt to be careful. Oh, and don't buy from someone who is "Selling my much loved Olympus OM gear..."

 

[ibd]

I've seen many such accounts selling these fake items. My interpretation is that those are older accounts with many ratings that have become inactive and then hacked (password guessed or otherwise obtained). Best to keep reporting them!

 

[ektar]

Update: eBay has already pulled the listing. It'll be interesting to see if it pops up again.

 

[Arundo Donax]

I saw that lens on a listing a couple of weeks ago. The seller also had a few very rare Leica bodies and lenses, some "new in box" Olympus OM bodies, and various other collectible items. All of the listings were for auction, starting at around US$10.50, and all auctions ended at exactly the same time. The next day, the seller and all of the listings were gone! More eBay weirdness.

 

[Bytesmiths]

I have a watch on Questar telescopes. Not that I could ever afford one… but they have started showing up en masse with starting bids like $1.11, for a multi-thousand-dollar instrument.

EvilBay is pretty good at nuking them, but I report them anyway.

 

[ektar]

Back up again today from yet another seller.

 

[Arundo Donax]

That's the seller I referred to in my comment above! Every auction starts with the same price, and they all end at exactly the same time.

 

[cjoliprsf]

Back up again today from yet another seller.

Interesting, if you look at the photos, you get shown this:

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

So they don't want people to bid - they want 2000$!
And probably they won't send anything in exchange as this is probably against eBay's practices.
Also, since you answer direct to the seller, you probably aren't protected by eBay's protections.
Clever...

 

[RichardC]

And probably they won't send anything in exchange as this is probably against eBay's practices.

No 'probably' about it. It's definitely not allowed.

You see the same 'contact details in image' scams all the time on car sales websites. Often the vehicle is dirt cheap because the owner's job 'moved abroad at short notice'. Just send half the money and the balance on delivery (which always takes a couple of weeks to give the scammer time to get the money out of the bank and scarper).

 

[Mountain_Man_79]

Interesting, if you look at the photos, you get shown this:
View attachment 878102

So they don't want people to bid - they want 2000$!
And probably they won't send anything in exchange as this is probably against eBay's practices.
Also, since you answer direct to the seller, you probably aren't protected by eBay's protections.
Clever...

I see this an awful lot. Typically for higher end items like McIntosh audio gear. However I have a saved search for Nikon df, and I’d say about 1/4 newly listed ones are this exact scam. I report every one. I feel bad for the otherwise legitimate accounts that appear to have been hacked, as if you look at that accounts other items for sale, the people have typically posted dozens and dozens of fake items for sale.

 

[hoggdoc]

Years ago are used to use eBay quite a bit to buy and sell. But lately I don't think I could trust them.

Just too many scammers out there today. I have to ask what is the world turning into these days.

 

[ektar]

It is more buyer beware, but OTOH eBay has a lot of safeguards built in.
On the original issue, the same listing went up three times overnight. eBay had snuffed two of them by the time I reported the third.

 

[Ghostbuggy]

This is the first time I have seen or heard something like this when it comes to Olympus lenses. Computer hardware, smartphones and every once in a while cameras (especially X-Pro2 and 3, noticed it because I kept searching for them) is what I've seen so far. I also report these listings and ebay seems to be pretty supportive in taking these down.
In general, every buyer should stop reading when the seller already asks in the item description only to be contacted directly via mail and the whole deal will actually be handled outside ebay. It's pretty much a guarantee to lose your money without getting anything in return.

However it gets harder and harder, some of these scam offers look pretty good and legit at first glance, I wouldn't be surprised if quite some folks take the bait.