Bogus japanese listings finally make it to reverb?

[BeenDown139]

i staggered into work this morning at o'dark:30, popped open the interweb, was a little surprised to see this old girl pop up on reverb:

https://reverb.com/item/35788578-alembic-distillate-bass-1005

for at least the last year or so, i've been seeing it come and go like the tide on ebay, currently listed at least 8 different places with 8 different sellers and prices.  its partner in crime:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-Alembic-Stanley-Clarke-Signature-Ssb-1987S-Bass-Yfu594/164403809830?hash=item26473b0e26:g:CbIAAOSw6Jpfb~3l

currently listed 14 separate times, each with a different seller and price.

as i've said before, i wouldn't touch anything listed from japan with a 10-foot pole.  not even on reverb. or with your pole, for that matter.

who knows? maybe it is legit.  then again, maybe the moon is made of green cheese.

and the so the week begins...

[edwardofhuncote]

Getting an instrument repatriated to the U.S. can be problematic, but it is certainly possible. Members here have done it. One particularly amazing story involving a 1975 Series 1 and the worst case of seller's remorse I ever heard of. The Reverb ad for a Distillate bass you posted looks completely legitimate to me... if overpriced in the market I live in.

Yes, there are multiple listings for the same instrument on ebay; this is common practice there, and we've had a number of discussions about it here though it's been a little while. Bottom line; re-sellers do this all the time, and there isn't anything you can do that you haven't already, just don't buy from anybody you don't trust. If there is a particular one you are interested in, there are a couple Club Members here who live in Japan, who likely know where these instruments actually are hanging up for sale. 

Apologies if I am missing the point... it seems more like a rant that a post about something cool for sale.

[BeenDown139]

there wasn't really a point i guess, i was doing my early morning brain warm-up for a long day of layout and detail and out it popped.

but.... there was some element of a rant there, after my last adventure selling an instrument on ebay, they held my funds for 21 days even though the buyer had already accepted the instrument and left me positive feedback.  They did this to "enhance my reputation as a seller and to prevent fraud".  at the same time they allow multiple listings from different sellers like the examples given, so i gotta say it rubbed me the wrong way when i saw that listing pop up on reverb.  i was hoping for better out of them.

even though i've (probably) bought my last instrument, i still surf the listings just to see what's up.  when i was on the hunt for my last bass, this listing caught my eye:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-Alembic-Jimmy-Johnson-Signature-Bass-5St-Bass-Lgr640/164395359140?hash=item2646ba1ba4:g:McoAAOSw9hZfaZ17

it looked like a really nice instrument, it had what i was looking for, so despite my trepidation, i messaged the seller.  it became very clear very quickly that they had no idea of what they were selling, what it was going to cost me to get it over to the US, but they were very happy to take my money and work the details out later.

back in 2006, i repatriated a spyder from a board member in germany, but it was from a seller that i had actually had good communication with and who had a good reputation, so while it was a bit of a leap of faith doing an overseas wire transfer, it went pretty well.

so, yeah - never buy from someone you can't trust.  The fact the the owner of this instrument (if indeed he does own it) would allow all of these other fraudulent (imho) listings says that he is OK with it.  which makes him complicit with it, in my mind.

after all of the flaky potential sellers i went through on my last bass purchase, i wound up buying from bass central and it all worked out well.  might have paid a little more, but i didn't worry too much about being able to trust the seller.

[gtrguy]

I have bought from TC Gakki in Japan before and they are great. However, before buying in Japan (and elsewhere) you need to make sure your credit card company will let any payment go through. Quite often they will flag it and cancel your transaction, which makes you look untrustworthy to the seller.

[BeenDown139]

so, once again slightly off-topic, so sue me..

i haven't seen this one pop up in a while, pretty sure it won't be listed on reverb, but if you ever see this listing on ebay, run away like the wind:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Alembic-Spyder-Custom-Bass-Guitar-mint-condition/114455044372?hash=item1aa60d6114:m:mRyjOnTZ44ZBgmkOm-Zbu1g&redirect=mobile

just in case it got killed by the time this gets posted, here's what it looks like:

[jazzyvee]

I was looking at a spyder that was on sale in the UK a couple of years ago and got into a conversation with the seller (alleged), and all communication stopped  after I asked for a photo of the electronics cavity so I could check that everything was original. Which is a question I always ask when I'm making enquiries about an alembic I'm interested in unless I have been buying from a member here.