For Those Who Buy On Ebay...

[Cordovian]

So I bid on a pre-owned Montblanc 100th Anniversary fountain pen from a seller whose location was listed as the US and with the shipping location being Boardman, Oregon. Nothing looked funny about the listing for the pen I bid on or any of the seller's other items. It just looked like a new member selling a few used items (only the one pen). The only red flag was the seller was new and had no feedback.

I ended up winning the auction and the seller sent me a DHL tracking number the next day. I thought this was strange but I have received domestic packages from DHL before. The fact that the number ended with DE concerned me a bit because that would indicate an origin in Germany. I checked the tracking history in Ebay when it became available and it showed USPS expecting a package from Germany. The USPS website gave the same information. Not good but not horrible.

I used to live in Germany and wanted to know where it was coming from so I dug a little deeper. What I found was that the package did not originate in Germany, it was shipped via Deutsche Post from China (DHL Ecommerce) and was being routed to USPS via Germany. This almost completely masks the fact that the pen was shipped from China. It's almost like Deutsche Post and USPS are helping conceal the origin of Chinese shipments.

I called Ebay and reported the seller and they said they will investigate the location fraud and assured me that, if I receive a counterfeit, I will receive a full refund and possibly be reimbursed for any import duties accrued. While that might give me a "warm fuzzy feeling" about this transaction, it has certainly undermined my confidence in buying or bidding on items in the future.

The disturbing thing is that if the seller had listed their location as Germany, I would have been none the wiser.

[Kodiac136]

What a world we live in. I wish we could all just get along and not try to scam each other. Keep us posted as your pen arrives!

[twin63]

Thanks for posting this. I buy from time to time on Ebay and would never have thought of this happening. Good to know.

[TheRealMikeDr]

I've done a search and selected "Only Show Sellers in the US" and yet still get some from overseas as the Seller can, as you found out, mark it wrong in their account. It could be a mistake, it could be nefarious, hard to tell really. The one saving grace is Ebay will take care of you if you get something other than what was listed, i.e., a fake.

 

The real lesson here is to never buy from someone with no transactions. At least not anything of real value. I tend to look for sellers with 100+ feedback at 100% positive and I've never had a problem on Ebay.

[Cordovian]

  On 6/7/2018 at 5:33 PM, TheRealMikeDr said:

I've done a search and selected "Only Show Sellers in the US" and yet still get some from overseas as the Seller can, as you found out, mark it wrong in their account. It could be a mistake, it could be nefarious, hard to tell really. The one saving grace is Ebay will take care of you if you get something other than what was listed, i.e., a fake.

 

The real lesson here is to never buy from someone with no transactions. At least not anything of real value. I tend to look for sellers with 100+ feedback at 100% positive and I've never had a problem on Ebay.

I normally don't bid on items from sellers with no feedback. However, this sellers items all looked like typical used items a person would sell to get some extra cash. There were no stock photos, no extreme value items...no other real red flags other than zero feedback so I took a chance on this seller. But as they say...No good deed goes unpunished.

[TheRealMikeDr]

  On 6/7/2018 at 5:42 PM, Cordovian said:

I normally don't bid on items from sellers with no feedback. However, this sellers items all looked like typical used items a person would sell to get some extra cash. There were no stock photos, no extreme value items...no other real red flags other than zero feedback so I took a chance on this seller. But as they say...No good deed goes unpunished.

 

You may still be fine - it could be a scam (a fairly well played one) or it could be someone who marked the US as the point of origin to simply try to reach a different market. Looking forward to seeing pics of your pen when it arrives! Can you share a link to the original listing?

[Shannon]

Wow. I buy on eBay with some regularity. I haven't seen this -- yet. I imagine it might be more and more prevelant as more people realize that fakes tend to come out of one geographic area.

 

Fingers crossed for you.

[Cordovian]

  On 6/7/2018 at 5:46 PM, TheRealMikeDr said:

 

You may still be fine - it could be a scam (a fairly well played one) or it could be someone who marked the US as the point of origin to simply try to reach a different market. Looking forward to seeing pics of your pen when it arrives! Can you share a link to the original listing?

 

I'm hoping you're right but my hopes are not very high.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Montblanc-Fountain-Pen-Anniversary-100-years-Limited-Edition-2006-/332665796165?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=SD3N30kQp2ZYeVmjN9kVBAcifm0%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Edited June 7, 2018 by Cordovian

[TheRealMikeDr]

  On 6/7/2018 at 6:38 PM, Cordovian said:

 

I'm hoping you're right but my hopes are not very high.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Montblanc-Fountain-Pen-Anniversary-100-years-Limited-Edition-2006-/332665796165?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=SD3N30kQp2ZYeVmjN9kVBAcifm0%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

 

I think that's the wrong link.

[TestTube]

Ebay sides with the buyer 99.9% of the time in my experience. I deal A LOT with ebay and have for the past decade. I've been "scammed" numerous times only to have Ebay reimburse me every single time (on items as low as 3$ and as high as 700$). Let me know how it turns out.

[Cordovian]

  On 6/7/2018 at 6:46 PM, TheRealMikeDr said:

 

I think that's the wrong link.

 

Ebay has a funky new code that tries to show available items instead of the ended item you're looking for.

 

Try clicking the link a couple more times or search sold items for "Montblanc Fountain Pen Anniversary 100 years Limited Edition 2006".

[TheRealMikeDr]

Got it. Those aren't stock photos - but they may not be real photos of the pen nonetheless - so it's hard to make any judgement from that. Good luck!

 

$250 seems like a crazy good deal if it's real.

Edited June 7, 2018 by TheRealMikeDr

[Mr. Pink]

A scam on e-bay!!! My,my. Just glad I don'r buy anything through them.

[TSherbs]

Have you written the seller to make inquiry?

[Cordovian]

  On 6/7/2018 at 7:50 PM, TSherbs said:

Have you written the seller to make inquiry?

 

Yes, but he/she did not respond.

 

We'll see what gets delivered. I know I can get my money back but I'd rather have the pen.

[DrDebG]

That is most discouraging, but really should be no surprise. It may be the real deal. A US eBayer may be fronting for a Chinese distributor, selling the items and "drop shipping" them from Germany or China to escape import fees.

[Joban]

I hope this all turns out for the best for you.

 

I have purchased on Ebay and have learned to read, read, and read everything. Best part I have learned is to email the seller with questions before purchasing or bidding. Surprising how many are very helpful and honest in my opinion. I think they know a satisfied customer will bid a little higher or at least not complain. Again, good luck.

[TSherbs]

  On 6/7/2018 at 7:57 PM, Cordovian said:

Yes, but he/she did not respond....

weird

[Moonshae]

  On 6/7/2018 at 8:41 PM, Joban said:

I hope this all turns out for the best for you.

 

I have purchased on Ebay and have learned to read, read, and read everything. Best part I have learned is to email the seller with questions before purchasing or bidding. Surprising how many are very helpful and honest in my opinion. I think they know a satisfied customer will bid a little higher or at least not complain. Again, good luck.

 

Most people on eBay are honest or the platform would collapse. There's always going to be some fraud, but if it ever got to the point that people became reluctant to trust or place bids, it wouldn't stay in business. It has come a long way from the days when I joined eBay and there was no PayPal; buyers had to mail a check or MO to the seller, wait for the check to clear, then the seller would ship the item.

[praxim]

I have bought a heap of pens on ebay. Some were worse than expected, some better, and country of origin has never had anything to do with it. The same has happened buying off-ebay. Buying is not a no-thought process, even when the goods are in front of you. It is more that on ebay (etc) there is greater variability in the result.

 

Joban's suggestion to find some reason to talk to the seller is a sound strategy because it gives you more chances to pick up dodgy sellers, although plausible liars still exist.

 

Regarding pens worse than expected, I have received pens requiring significant internal repair work not admitted in the advertising, then given the seller a high rating for "as described", because I knew that what was not shown or claimed was probably a thing wrong, especially at the price. It helps that I like to repair them. However, less practised buyers could be misled by my rating. I will buy from sellers down into the 98 rating range if I am satisfied on review of their negative feedback.

 

Recently I bought a small bit of music gear from someone with a high 98s rating, with most complaints around delivery. After a week of no tracking info, I complained, & was promptly advised of a "tracking number" which I knew to be not a number AusPost would generate. After a few more days of nothing I requested a full refund which I received. The seller was out of stock and hoping I would wait until it came in, yet their ebay claim was to have stock on hand, one of only two places with that claim. Turns out the other (off ebay) seller did not have it either, when I asked directly rather than believing their web page claim. He offered to take a forward order but I do not support deception so have ordered elsewhere.

 

That "one paragraph" post grew in the making.