Is this a scam? Ebay content

Apologies if this is genuine but…

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170366392112&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

A whyte E120 is listed on ebay at the moment, listed in Castlewellan Co Down (I'm in Belfast myself, about 45mins away). Its is listed as a Trail version, but looks very much like an XT to me. The listing is not the most detailed, only one photograph and not many details on the original listing.

The seller is unwilling to allow me to pick up the bike if I win, or to allow other members to view the bike as the seller says the bike is at their brother's house (I presume the same brother also took the picture as the seller has no digital camera) so he can post it off as the seller is on holiday (although the seller has been very quick with his/her answers).

The photograph used is in a local forest park in Northern Ireland according to the seller. A very similar photo (with EXIF data and on a nice camera) appears here

The original photographer doesn't own the bike, only took a picture of it. But the picture was taken on Leith Hill, Surrey acc to the tags. He can also confirm the obvious, ie that it's an XT not a trail.

So does anyone know who is selling this bike? Does anyone own the bike or sold it since the photo was taken? Any clarification would be appreciated.

As I said at the top, my apologies if this is genuine.

Wouldn't touch it with a baregpole if they won't let you view/collect.

Double post. Oops

Run away!

Maybe if you ask to collect IN CAPITALS HE WILL LET YOU.

Avoid. Look at the feedback.

I wouldn't touch it with somebody else's bargepole. The whole thing stinks.

I'm going nowhere near it but is it worth reporting to Ebay? Oh, and to try to make sure no one gets conned too, I've mentioned this on a couple of forums…

I'd place a reasonable amount of money on that being a photo taken on Leith Hill. As dodgy and a very dodgy thing.

Yes, it's worth reporting to Ebay. They will check it out and pull the auction if necessary.
If it is a scam it'll be gone before you know it.

report it to e-bay – it stinks.

Reported.

Perhaps its all legit, its just that all the creaking from the suspension linkage has driven him mad !!

I wouldn't touch it with yours!

Expensive bike, only one pic, little or no detail gone into on the bike, claims not to own a digi camera, unwilling to let you pick it up.

Think about it, if you were selling a bike and someone was going to save you the time and hassle of packing it up, finding a big enough box to ship it in, what would you say?

😉

Rather go down with Swine Flu again than bid on that!

😉

also just had a baby, lost his job and hes gone on holiday??

his responses to his bidders is rather snooty!!
give this one a very wide berth!

You're in the position that your only proof that the bike exists at all comes from a photo taken by someone who doesn't know the seller, plus the assertion of a man who stands to get your money in his paypal account that it's waiting to be posted.

If the seller is honest then it's an insanely bad way of doing business, let's put it that way…

So Its not just me thats a tiny bit suspicious then? Lol!

I'm a little disappointed with ebay, I reported this yesterday and it's still live…

I don't think it is suspicous, I think he just a bit of a dick. If you pay with paypal you be fine.

My bet is on the hidden drive-side of the bike there is a massive scratch or something.

I would definatly avoid.

That's definitely Leith Hill.

The seller on eBay claims that his brother took the picture.

The photographer on Flickr says

I couldn’t tell you if he actually owns the bike or not because I don’t know who the owner is

Avoid.

I'd just ask for proof of purchase. He says it's only a few months old so anybody legit would still have the receipt in case of any warranty problems.

No receipt means he never bought it……

so anyone who rides at leith hill missing a whyte E120?

or is it just a kind of made up fictional bike

seen similar scams on other non-bike specific classifieds sites where the seller just happens to be on holiday, and the pictures appear to have been lifted from the interweb.

I've also reported it to ebay and sent them the flickr link-hard for the seller to explain why his brother drove his bike from N.I to Surrey to take one photo. One of his seller feedbacks suggests a previus dodgy sale/scam.

Seems less productive running a scam on ebay with paypal but theres loads of possibilities that would make it work.

maybe this would be a good time to closes this thread and the appropriate authorities to be notified 😉

Did anyone notice the Turner 5 Spot that went for just over £200 the other day. The seller had sold lots of other very cheap bikes and small amounts of gold! Wanted it but couldn't bring myself to bid on it.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/turner-frame_W0QQitemZ110417682896QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR?hash=item19b56821d0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Should be a few of these soon, bikes and frames… quite a few due to special staff purchase schemes on whyte bikes and frames for whyte dealer staff.

Some more cynical would say that some got them just to sell on later and make a bit …

Great bike… B-)

that photo was taken by lord on one i have met his father taking pictures on leith hill,in fact pics of my singlespeed inbred taken by his father on leith hill are on the same site.

heres my bike on leith hill on same site…

I questioned him on the pic and got the response:

Dear xxx,

T

-chickerandbrenda

Reported it too. Still there, worryingly.

AVOID!!!

I said I would wait till he got back from holiday to collect he said

"T"

scam

What does "T" mean?

I'd love to know too!

did a google image search and found this!!!

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3564/3435379288_5ca95d7389.jpg&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/egf/3435379288/&usg=__YvG82MVjykvn3W2u71xivGKK6oM=&h=334&w=500&sz=158&hl=en&start=169&tbnid=Fx7qGMAXvoeChM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3De120%2Bwhyte%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D162

oops should have read all the thread before posting 😳

bumped for rsvktm re the turner see gizzardmans link mate. Sorry cant do fresh post as on phone and its playing up

I was wondering how that photo managed to get 440 views in a couple of days, now I see where they’re coming from…

I wrote to the seller and reported the item to eBay but it seems both were ignored. Honestly can’t believe anyone would bid on an item that suspicious. I really hope the bidder gets a bike or that his £1300 is safe.

looks like its been removed now

I reported it as well.

Great, a little bit late but otherwise it’s nice to know eBay takes the time to deal with issues like this. I got a nice email from the eBay staff earlier:

“Thank you for your report about another member using your image in their 
mountain bike listing (item no. 2028518719)without your permission. 

Let me reassure you that it's our top priority to ensure eBay remains a 
safe and reputable place to shop. We have taken the appropriate action 
in this matter and have removed the listing from the site. 

I'd also like to mention that members are often unaware that using 
images or text found on eBay, or other sites on the Internet, is against 
eBay policy. So, in addition to alerting us in future, please feel free 
to refer the member to eBay's policy page at: 

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/copyrights.html 

There's no foolproof way to stop people downloading your online images 
and saving them. However, you can discourage it by adding watermarks to 
your images using an image editing software. 

Thank you again for bringing this matter to our attention, we appreciate 
your assistance in helping us keep eBay a safe and fun place to shop.”

I think I might take their advice on that watermark thingy…