Author Topic: Suspicious Mark King (Read 585 times)

phylo · « **on:** February 24, 2006, 09:34:29 AM »

Does this seem a little fishy? Wasn't this one recently for sale my G.C.?

http://cgi.ebay.com/1999-Alembic-Mark-King-4-Bass_W0QQitemZ7393319542QQcategoryZ4713QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

1-day lisitng?

pas · « **Reply #1 on:** February 24, 2006, 10:36:49 AM »

Seems obviously fraudulent. This was last listed by G.C. for $3700.00 & went unbid upon...again. I believe the last auction ended a day or two ago. I hope no one gets burned on this.

glocke · « **Reply #2 on:** February 24, 2006, 11:50:25 AM »

Here is what looks like the original listing..

http://cgi.ebay.com/1999-Alembic-Mark-King-4-Bass-Spalted-Maple-LED-MINT_W0QQitemZ7392523949QQcategoryZ4713QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I contacted the bidders to gice them a heads up, and asked the seller about this also..

pas · « **Reply #3 on:** February 24, 2006, 12:00:12 PM »

I contacted the bidders as well - hope no one gets burned. I'm a natural born cynic, but it really IS nice the way Alembic folks tend to look out for each other.

glocke · « **Reply #4 on:** February 24, 2006, 12:51:28 PM »

yeah, I just hate seeing somebody get conned out of their hard earned cash....

bigredbass · « **Reply #5 on:** February 24, 2006, 12:56:02 PM »

WHAT body shape is this particular MK?

I noticed it in the GC post, and now in this one. The lower bout looks to narrow 'in the hips'; was this just a custom order or what?

It's not a bad price (IF this is legit), but MAN is this thing gonna be a handful with 35 and that shape.

Dave?

J o e y

glocke · « **Reply #6 on:** February 24, 2006, 01:16:30 PM »

its obviously a fraud, not only did they copy and past the pics from the GC listing, but also the description..

ajish4 · « **Reply #7 on:** February 24, 2006, 01:39:24 PM »

I notified E-bay TWICE...They never pulled the auction!

yggdrasil · « **Reply #8 on:** February 24, 2006, 04:07:44 PM »

Here's his reply to me - he claims Square Trade is an escrow service:

In the auction he says:

Important notice,PLEASE READ!!!!

Please contact me before you bid at my business email address chriswormer@gmail.com for the Buy It Now price and the terms of sale,otherwise i will not concider your bid.

His reply to my query of that statement:

Hi,

my buy it now price is $2,000.00.Right now im located in London,Uk with some business but the item is located at square trade in the states,the price included shipping .If you are interetsed we will use sqare trade and ebay to end the transaction.Ebay will confirm you the safety of the
transaction and will confirm you that allow us to use the affiliate
program of ebay named SquareTrade.
SquareTrade will hold the transfer details until the item is received
and inspected by you.After you receive the payment
request from SquareTrade you will have to send the payment to
SquareTrade. The transfer will be verified and SquareTrade will
not reveal the transfer details to me until the item will be received
by you. They will ship imediatlly as SquareTrade will
confirm me that have received the transfer details from you.
They will ship the item with a Return Policy for 14 Days.
The Return Policy will work like this:
Sqare trade will ship the item at your address, after has been received by you,
you will have 14 days for inspection. If it will not be
as you expected to be, or you will not be happy with the purchase,you
can return it back via the same service that was
shiped, without paying any shipping costs and you will get a complete
refund back.
To start the transaction you will have to mail me your shipping address
and your full name to start the transaction with SquareTrade .After the payment is
confirmed to SquareTrade by you, they i will ship the item.As soon as i will have your shipping details and your confirmation that
you have the money cash in hand and you are ready to
purchase it, i will pass to SquareTrade the transaction details,and SquareTrade will
notify you with details. You'll receive important guidelines +
instructions from them.
That's about all.
If you can buy it for my price, email me back so we can set up the
transaction. I will wait for your reply ASAP.

Kind regards.

David Houck · « **Reply #9 on:** February 24, 2006, 04:25:34 PM »

Joey; I don't know. It sure looks like a one-off.

I see the auction has ended. Was the winning bidder one of the bidders that you guys emailed?

mica · « **Reply #10 on:** February 24, 2006, 04:29:31 PM »

I spoke with the high bidder, who received the same email as Frank. He's contacting Guitar Center in San Jose to see if they still have the bass there, and that will pretty much settle things.

Luckily, he called here before sending the payment.

The body shape looks like the 3/4 Omega.

David Houck · « **Reply #11 on:** February 24, 2006, 04:40:08 PM »

Thanks Mica!! I was just about to send an email to the bidder myself.

yggdrasil · « **Reply #12 on:** February 25, 2006, 06:59:31 AM »

The scenario set out in the email is a total scam - Square Trade does not hold funds; it's an after-the-fact dispute resolution mechanism. I emailed him back with the appropriate ebay links,noting that he must really mean the ebay-sanctified escrow service and received no reply.
Add to that his location in the UK, the solicitation of a purchase through a direct email link and a direct sale price outside of ebay - well, Square Trade couldn't even be utilized in a dispute.
I'm amazed anyone even bid on this thing - or that it wasn't pulled by eBay. I'm also surprised that ebay remains the sole online auction marketplace of any consequence, considering that they do so little to police the scams on their site - where's the competition?

keith_h · « **Reply #13 on:** February 25, 2006, 07:09:37 AM »

Well eBay now says the item has been removed and is no longer valid.

Keith

yggdrasil · « **Reply #14 on:** February 25, 2006, 08:09:01 AM »

That was after the auction ended, then - damage done!