Thread: EBay Scam
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Old June 30th 2005, 08:27
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oasis oasis is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: timonium, md usa
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This is a new twist to what I have experienced. Thanks for the heads-up!

My experience is clandestine in nature, too. Here's the rub.

I've received "legitimate second chance" offers -- "legitimate" meaning they came from the actual seller at eBay. And the seller giving the "second chance" to me after the "winner" backed out. Or happens to have another identical item. And the seller even willing to accept PayPal, money orders, whatever.

Where it becomes sneaky (and against eBay rules) is the second chance offer is at my bid. It should have been the next highest bid plus the minimum amount.

It was discovered through my complaints to eBay that at least two of these characters had confidants making bogus last-second strikes at the auction. This meant the seller could extract the extra difference between the bid below mine plus the minimum and my actual bid.

I don't remember what those differneces would have been in those two cases, but it amounted to about a $40 total in the four or five times it happened to me.
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