shawnj73

I just looked up Cervelo on Ebay, and there seems to be a company that is closing out 2005 Cervelo models for ridiculously low prices. Example a r2.5 Team w/dura for $1500. I think this is a scam, but wanted to know what everybody else thinks. here is the link!!!

https://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-2005-Cervelo...QQcmdZViewItem

It is posted as a United States ebyer, but they spelled color wrong! HMMMMMMMM!

DrPete 

1. If you look at the seller's feedback, he's run several auctions out of Italy. Suddenly he's in Montana. Hmmm...

2. Any legit ebayer would actually state the asking price in the auction so there would be a record of what you actually paid for the item.

3. This Cervelo is apparently listed as a nonfiction book. I'm guessing that this is a way for these people to hide their scams in non-cycling categories.

Stay away. Far away.

DrPete

bccycleguy

Colour is how "color" is spelled in Great Britain, Canada, etc.

I wouldn't buy anything > $500 without using escrow, since they say they accept escrow, go for it. The max you can lose is your ~$25 escrow fee. I suspect if it's a scam that they would find some reason for not using escrow or would propose that you use their own "escrow" agency, either way you would have your answer.

socalrider

I am pretty sure it is a hijacked ebay account.. That is why all the auction are 1 day..

metal_cowboy

Many scamers set up their own fake escrow companies: just another link in their scam. The auction is obviously a scam, why even risk $25 for such an obvious risk.

shawnj73

I know that colour is the way they spell color, but the ebayer account is located here in the US! That is a little fishy!!!

reneuend

+1 - What the doctor said!

dtrain

This scam is about as obvious as they come.

bccycleguy

The bike could also be stolen. When something is too good to be true, it usually is.

fordfasterr

ahem... the escrow is the scam.

They often require you to use an outside escrow company (usually fake and a front) .. once you send them the escrow money, you never get the product, and they get the money because of the fraudulent/fake escrow company..

lol

Stubacca

I wouldn't put too much emphasis on that. Don't get me wrong - it's very obviously a scam, but just not for that reason.

I live in the US, my eBay account has a US location, I write documents for clients all the time, but sometimes I slip up and write 'colour' instead of 'color', 'tyre' instead of 'tyre', 'summarise' instead of 'summarize'... the list goes on!

dragonflybikes

this has way too many scam red flags:

private auction
1 day auction
using and outside email, not the ebay linked email

I am so confident about it that I sent the real owner of the account (using the ebay ask this seller a question button) an email letting them know that their account has been hijacked.

bccycleguy

If you are ever tempted by something like this then you should ONLY consider using a escrow company which you already have an account with. It can take a few days to set up an account so don't count on it happening overnight.

I once bought a computer on ebay for a song. The guy selling it was kicked off of ebay (delisted might have been the term) and so everyone stopped bidding. I had the last bid and decided to go for it. It took 2 weeks to complete the transaction using escrow.com. I even got the serial number in advance to have it checked to see if it was stolen. But in the end it worked out.

If you're going to play with fire, you'd better know what you're doing.

Arom

i say someone bid, ebay auctions are a legaly binding contract 1 cent for a bike sounds fair to me...

shawnj73

You are right, but this add is fake! I am sorry, if you look at there different listings, they are listing bikes that are not to factory specs? There is no way that any company could get last years Shimano/Campy, Cervelo frames, and sale complete bikes for this price. I for one would love to buy one; but the reality is this is most likely a scam!

Stubacca

What are you sorry about? I agree it's a scam, but the least of the reasons are the ones you've suggested. I don't think it's just 'most likely' a scam. It's most definitely a scam.

• Escrow deal points to a scam (particularly since it's an unnamed escrow company).
• Refusal to record the auction price through eBay points to a scam. If you were legit, you'd want the eBay record of the transaction as a seller, too.
• Not using the eBay linked email points to a scam. A legit user would create a hotmail address in the extremely unlikely event that they were actually over quota.
• One day auction points to a scam.
• The low price is fishy, but nearly as big of a scam indicator as the other stuff.
• The listing category makes it a bit dubious, too.
• The spelling is almost irrelevant. Having a US eBay account doesn't require you to pass a Harvard english exam

jbonus

Ask if you can pickup.

mrkott3r

they are asking for $1500 and charging you 1cent. I think I know where this is heading.....
You have already put a down payment using paypal/escrow so its safe to send the $1500 into my bank account. You never see the money again.
thats the stinky part

la_raza

It is a scam. 100%, without a doubt. Expect to find that auction delisted in the next 4 to 6 hours. The eBay ID owner is the victim of a password phishing scam.

And to the person who said 'go for it, eBay auctions are legally binding' as if that's going to obligate a scammer into selling you a bike for a song - you are a moron.

CastIron

These guys? Again? They seem bent on screwing cyclists out of their dough.

BubbaDog

Saw a listing on the Houston Craigslist this morning for a Cervelo frame for $1, these scumbags must be hitting all the online bases. The listing said they "bought it at a garage sale" in great shape, but didn't know how much it was worth . So just make them an offer and they'll take the best offer they get by the end of the week .Yeah, right, sure, no problem, like you know you have a Cervelo but don't know what it's worth? Smart enough to put it on Craigslist, but stupid enough not to research the value? Funny, the listing has been pulled already, and I was going to offer him double his asking price ....

B'Dog

mermer

Positive 10 feedback rating - yet he now has 289 bikes for sale. SCAM!