yay or nay?

 

They are "sponsored" links on Ebay for most lego searches.  I had a $1200 order ready to click---they are verified paypal---but that doesn't mean much I found out.  The phone number is no good...so I am going to pass.  But if anyone else wants to risk it--let us know,

 

Website has been live for 5 years--so it's not fly by night, and they are a paying advertiser on ebay. and their business account is linked to the correct paypal address.....so who know.

 

I am going to pass---but man--this is really tempting.

So a few weeks ago, I made a very risky move and bought from this site.  It looked legitimate and I figured Paypal has buyer protection so I bought some sets:

3 Castles at 78

3 Jousts at 97

3 Haunted House at 154

Total: 987

 

I did more research and was getting worried that I was scammed since people were saying its a scam.  Well, I was fortunate that I did receive the sets.  In fact, I received all the sets with the exception of one of the Haunted Houses and another of the Haunted House box was badly damaged.  I called and emailed many, many times, no response whatsoever.  So I filed a case with Paypal.

 

Sidenote: What's really funny was that the items I received were from different companies (I had some that came from Amazon, some from a couple of random toy stores (had their logo on the box), with the packing slip showing the price at full retail!

 

As a company, I really don't understand how this site can be viable if they are buying at full retail and reselling them at those prices.

 

Paypal is still deliberating.  If they refund me the full amount, should I send via Paypal back to the site for the difference (minus the Haunted House)?  Or should I just keep the sets and money to get the sites attention and fix their ways?

What these guys are doing is called drop-shipping. Promotionlists.com orders the sets from a number of companies and put your shipping information on their order from Amazon, et al. Things go bad if Promotionlists.com is using stolen credit cards to pay for the purchases, and pocketing the money from your order.

 

Drop-shopping isn't bad by itself if it's done correctly with a scrupulous, legitimate seller. I am friends with a guy who drop-ships all kinds of product for a living, and he rarely has inventory issues. However, these guys don't appear to be legit if they're buying merchandise for more than you paid them for it. The downside risk to you is you could be asked to return the merchandise from the party that shipped it if it's deemed to be purchased with a stolen CC, although that doesn't happen often.

 

Here's a link to a more detailed blog written by BP member Talon about drop shipping scams.

So a few weeks ago, I made a very risky move and bought from this site.  It looked legitimate and I figured Paypal has buyer protection so I bought some sets:

3 Castles at 78

3 Jousts at 97

3 Haunted House at 154

Total: 987

 

I did more research and was getting worried that I was scammed since people were saying its a scam.  Well, I was fortunate that I did receive the sets.  In fact, I received all the sets with the exception of one of the Haunted Houses and another of the Haunted House box was badly damaged.  I called and emailed many, many times, no response whatsoever.  So I filed a case with Paypal.

 

Sidenote: What's really funny was that the items I received were from different companies (I had some that came from Amazon, some from a couple of random toy stores (had their logo on the box), with the packing slip showing the price at full retail!

 

As a company, I really don't understand how this site can be viable if they are buying at full retail and reselling them at those prices.

 

Paypal is still deliberating.  If they refund me the full amount, should I send via Paypal back to the site for the difference (minus the Haunted House)?  Or should I just keep the sets and money to get the sites attention and fix their ways?

basically you are asking should i steal from them?I don't follow what would give you the right to keep the money for the portion of the items that you receoived

Promotionlists.com is still running sponsored links on my eBay homepage!!

How can they be offering these prices if not a scam? How can they be a scam if they're still in business and advertising on eBay? Ahhh!

Well, I did more research about these scams.  Here's what I concluded:  I decided to not return them the money.  However, I'm planning on not ever opening these sets either.  I've already contacted Paypal and told them I suspect that site to be doing a Triangulation Scam.  Currently I'm expecting contact from either Paypal, the sites that shipped to me, and probably cops to come and pick up those sets.  My logic is, if they are indeed a scam, it would be retarded to give them back the money.  If they were a money laundering scam, the money they'd get from me would be "clean".  If they used someone else's card, you think they would give that to them if I gave them back the money?  If they were legit, they would contact me and verify themselves somehow.  And if I got contacted by authorities, I'd be glad to give it back to them.  At least I have it on file that I reported it.

Well, I did more research about these scams.  Here's what I concluded:  I decided to not return them the money.  However, I'm planning on not ever opening these sets either.  I've already contacted Paypal and told them I suspect that site to be doing a Triangulation Scam.  Currently I'm expecting contact from either Paypal, the sites that shipped to me, and probably cops to come and pick up those sets.  My logic is, if they are indeed a scam, it would be retarded to give them back the money.  If they were a money laundering scam, the money they'd get from me would be "clean".  If they used someone else's card, you think they would give that to them if I gave them back the money?  If they were legit, they would contact me and verify themselves somehow.  And if I got contacted by authorities, I'd be glad to give it back to them.  At least I have it on file that I reported it.

 

Did paypal already give you back the money?

When my son gave them the $154 for the haunted house he did not hear a word from them for 2 weeks, so he filed the paypal claim and they didn't respond once to paypal, so he finally got the $154 back from Paypal.

Yeah I got the money back from PayPal. I'm really not planning to profit any way from this. It's actually caused me more stress because I've read about what could happen. One thing is for sure though, I'm lucky to get my money back and sending it back to propagate the scam is the last thing I want to do. I'm holding into to both, and when the right party comes by to pick it up, I would be happy to oblige.

Today i gave ebay a call about them sponsoring a website that promotes fraud. After being jumbled around for 10-15 minutes i finally got to some ranking official of the fraud department by the name of dan and his response was troublesome. He gave me a line straight from a book saying that this website has been a trusted affiliate of ebay for a few years now and that they are a legit website. I then continued to ask how are they able to sell lego sets 25% below MSRP and to which he responded well it must work for them because they have been in business for a couple years now. I then presumed to hint at him that they could be frauds using stolen credit cards to ship items purchased from there website. He responded with something along the lines of thats a serious accusation and also very silly. Ebay would never allow that to happen and they are to be trusted.

 

I just gave up after that 

 

I know ebays customer support is ridiculous but this just took it to a whole new level of stupidity

Its all about the  

Today i gave ebay a call about them sponsoring a website that promotes fraud. After being jumbled around for 10-15 minutes i finally got to some ranking official of the fraud department by the name of dan and his response was troublesome. He gave me a line straight from a book saying that this website has been a trusted affiliate of ebay for a few years now and that they are a legit website. I then continued to ask how are they able to sell lego sets 25% below MSRP and to which he responded well it must work for them because they have been in business for a couple years now. I then presumed to hint at him that they could be frauds using stolen credit cards to ship items purchased from there website. He responded with something along the lines of thats a serious accusation and also very silly. Ebay would never allow that to happen and they are to be trusted.

 

I just gave up after that 

 

I know ebays customer support is ridiculous but this just took it to a whole new level of stupidity

 

That disgusts me. I am trying to get in touch with them about something like that right now and they don't care.

That disgusts me. I am trying to get in touch with them about something like that right now and they don't care.

Me too which is why I'm "that close" to telling eBay to shove my account and 2099 feedbacks (100%) up their arses!  I think we should start a global petition stating that eBay should operate in a more ethical manner and reduce their extortionate fees.  I will now only buy Lego from LEGO Shop at Home, Amazon or brick & mortar stores.

Me too which is why I'm "that close" to telling eBay to shove my account and 2099 feedbacks (100%) up their arses!  I think we should start a global petition stating that eBay should operate in a more ethical manner and reduce their extortionate fees.  I will now only buy Lego from LEGO Shop at Home, Amazon or brick & mortar stores.

You dont need to sign a petition or start a riot, simple use a different service instead if you feel their fees are outrageous or go out on a limb and start your own online sales service if you think you can provide better service for less cost. People choose EBay because its the best thing out there and most ppl are willing to pay a bit extra to have better service, if someone provided a service that was better for less of a fee everyone would flock to that new site. A perfect example is bricklink, it was created because ebay was failing to meet the needs of the lego market. Is it a pretty site? no but people who buy lego typically arent worried about looks and are there for a specific purpose, better selection, cheaper rates, etc...

You dont need to sign a petition or start a riot, simple use a different service instead if you feel their fees are outrageous or go out on a limb and start your own online sales service if you think you can provide better service for less cost. People choose EBay because its the best thing out there and most ppl are willing to pay a bit extra to have better service, if someone provided a service that was better for less of a fee everyone would flock to that new site. A perfect example is bricklink, it was created because ebay was failing to meet the needs of the lego market. Is it a pretty site? no but people who buy lego typically arent worried about looks and are there for a specific purpose, better selection, cheaper rates, etc...

 

He could use a different service, but that isn't the point. Ebay has become a monopoly where you almost have to use it at certain points. But their customer service for Sellers is crap - they don't care. So it is perfectly fine for him to complain about that.

 

If we all just did nothing, nothing would ever change.

I was just having a rant.  Even though eBay has the most exposure, most of us know that they are taking the plss.

You dont need to sign a petition or start a riot, simple use a different service instead if you feel their fees are outrageous or go out on a limb and start your own online sales service if you think you can provide better service for less cost. People choose EBay because its the best thing out there and most ppl are willing to pay a bit extra to have better service, if someone provided a service that was better for less of a fee everyone would flock to that new site. A perfect example is bricklink, it was created because ebay was failing to meet the needs of the lego market. Is it a pretty site? no but people who buy lego typically arent worried about looks and are there for a specific purpose, better selection, cheaper rates, etc...

Please excuse my ignorance but, I've never heard of Bricklink.  I've just joined it - thanks!  My first sale will be on there before I try eBay.

He could use a different service, but that isn't the point. Ebay has become a monopoly where you almost have to use it at certain points. But their customer service for Sellers is crap - they don't care. So it is perfectly fine for him to complain about that.

 

If we all just did nothing, nothing would ever change.

Thats interesting because i actually did a small presentation college on the ebay buisness model and how they used to favor the sellers, anytime there was a disput the seller always won, sellers could give buyers bad ratings in retaliation for them giving a bad rating. In the end they found that people would make accounts, buy a few items, have a bad experience and then never use the site again. ebay had plenty of sellers but were struggling to hold onto buyers. So they changed their way and went with the strategy "the customer is always right" since then ebay has been very successful. In taking such a stance they often do give their loyal sellers the crap end of the stick, it does turn some sellers away but as long as there are happy buyers and money to be made new sellers will replace the unhappy ones and it has worked well that way.

 

I personally dont think they have a monopoly, there are plenty of other selling websites out there, amazon, bricklink, brickowl, gunbroker are just a few i have used in the past. Most of them are all niche markets but i think thats one of ebays biggest downfalls, its almost too big! it forces them to be generalized and not meet the needs of specific markets that require more attention to datail, like brink link and its catalog thousands of specific pieces, colors, minfigs, etc...

 

Also i dont think you are doing nothing by not using ebay. You are putting your money where your mouth is, ebay gets thousands of complaint emails a day and probably just as many petitions, they all go to the same spot, the trash. What they do listen to is money, and when you say "hey this website sucks, im going to buy/sell with this other site instead" they take notice, so by using someone elses services you are doing something, you are sending a clear message that you dont want to do business with them. if they want to be a successful company they will change policies, lower feels, etc... if they dont they will go out of business.

@TabbyBoy

 

Yeah bricklink.com has been around for awhile, its pretty ghetto looking but its all about function and the rates are nice and low and it has pretty good traffic flow, nothing like ebay but you know that 99.9% of the people browsing the site are looking for lego.

Thats interesting because i actually did a small presentation college on the ebay buisness model and how they used to favor the sellers, anytime there was a disput the seller always won, sellers could give buyers bad ratings in retaliation for them giving a bad rating. In the end they found that people would make accounts, buy a few items, have a bad experience and then never use the site again. ebay had plenty of sellers but were struggling to hold onto buyers. So they changed their way and went with the strategy "the customer is always right" since then ebay has been very successful. In taking such a stance they often do give their loyal sellers the crap end of the stick, it does turn some sellers away but as long as there are happy buyers and money to be made new sellers will replace the unhappy ones and it has worked well that way.

 

I personally dont think they have a monopoly, there are plenty of other selling websites out there, amazon, bricklink, brickowl, gunbroker are just a few i have used in the past. Most of them are all niche markets but i think thats one of ebays biggest downfalls, its almost too big! it forces them to be generalized and not meet the needs of specific markets that require more attention to datail, like brink link and its catalog thousands of specific pieces, colors, minfigs, etc...

 

Also i dont think you are doing nothing by not using ebay. You are putting your money where your mouth is, ebay gets thousands of complaint emails a day and probably just as many petitions, they all go to the same spot, the trash. What they do listen to is money, and when you say "hey this website sucks, im going to buy/sell with this other site instead" they take notice, so by using someone elses services you are doing something, you are sending a clear message that you dont want to do business with them. if they want to be a successful company they will change policies, lower feels, etc... if they dont they will go out of business.

@TabbyBoy

 

Yeah bricklink.com has been around for awhile, its pretty ghetto looking but its all about function and the rates are nice and low and it has pretty good traffic flow, nothing like ebay but you know that 99.9% of the people browsing the site are looking for lego.

 

How is this site still up and their paypal account not blcoked? Its still running ads on ebay lol!