About a week ago I ordered 4 tower bridges off of eBay from a top rated seller for 220 each. The seller is a top rated seller with over 200 Feedback The day after the seller notified me that he was out of stock on tower bridges. However he willl make things right Last night I went to the mall to pick up some cafe friends sets at my local Lego store When I returned home. There sat 15 Lego sets. FedEx droppe off 5 ssd 5 Death Star and 5 tower bridge. All shipped from Walmart with stolen credit cards. 2 town hall were not even packed. They slapped at tracking label right on the Lego box Now the question is. What do I do. Who do I contact. How do I cover my ass.

Or they obliged so they could keep their scam going.....they know someone will always bite on their deals.

Scams are a very real threat, but you shouldn't become overly paranoid about it, a lot of sellers may fit certain criteria and it is up to the buyer to make an informed decision BEFORE committing to buy something. You are not a detective (no matter how much you may think so) and so the best thing to do is if something sounds fishy don't go for it, don't try to draw conclusions from things you don't fully understand. I have nothing against people being put off by suspicions, but it becomes an issue when you click on "commit to buy;" as you enter a legally binding contract with the seller and it is really unfair to then turn around and expect a refund. Do your homework beforehand! As a new seller (of things other than lego) I find this especially frustrating.

My experience (twice) is that scammers cancel an order and refund your money quickly. I watched both times and the scammers lasted another two to three weeks before their info became unavailable on ebay.

It appears that the illegal drop shippers have taken a toll on legitimate sellers as of late. Every set that is undervalued is questioned and the whole eBay process is being scrutinized. The main factor that helps me decide is the photo of the item. If the seller doesn't have a photo of the real set or will send you one, I will pass on the item. Unless the listing is an eBay TRU listing, generic photos are a major red flag IMO.

The main factor that helps me decide is the photo of the item. If the seller doesn

This site is cool.......its mainly used for people that do online dating so they dont end up getting catfished!!

This site is cool.......its mainly used for people that do online dating so they dont end up getting catfished!!

I'm either old or not up on current lingo. I had to look up catfished. Hilarious.

Scams are a very real threat, but you shouldn't become overly paranoid about it, a lot of sellers may fit certain criteria and it is up to the buyer to make an informed decision BEFORE committing to buy something. You are not a detective (no matter how much you may think so) and so the best thing to do is if something sounds fishy don't go for it, don't try to draw conclusions from things you don't fully understand.

I have nothing against people being put off by suspicions, but it becomes an issue when you click on "commit to buy;" as you enter a legally binding contract with the seller and it is really unfair to then turn around and expect a refund. Do your homework beforehand! As a new seller (of things other than lego) I find this especially frustrating.

As I mentioned in the original post, I didn't find out about the scam potential until after I already bought it. The issue being that, unless you are informed about the specifics of such a scam, there are no obvious warning signs. I did not suspect anything until I read about the scam. Also, when I asked for a refund, I told him that I understood if he did not oblige since I had already sent the money and committed to the transaction. I figured that if he sent the refund, that's great, but if not, I'd have to deal with the consequences of my purchase.

Yeah its from a documentary called catfish......it has been spun off into a 30 minute reality TV show on MTV................damn I wish MTV still played music videos *SIGH*

As I mentioned in the original post, I didn't find out about the scam potential until after I already bought it. The issue being that, unless you are informed about the specifics of such a scam, there are no obvious warning signs. I did not suspect anything until I read about the scam. Also, when I asked for a refund, I told him that I understood if he did not oblige since I had already sent the money and committed to the transaction. I figured that if he sent the refund, that's great, but if not, I'd have to deal with the consequences of my purchase.

I think if someone is willing to send you 2+ photos of the item you're buying + a paper and his name/nickname on the Ebay written over it then its ok... thats what I will do... simply posts pictures with a little paper on the corner writing my nickname on Ebay on it...

Yeah its from a documentary called catfish......it has been spun off into a 30 minute reality TV show on MTV................damn I wish MTV still played music videos *SIGH*

It's sad because I actually did see the movie. Didn't even know people were using it as a verb now. I didn't know about the MTV show either (I'm sure I'm not missing out on much there).

It's sad because I actually did see the movie. Didn't even know people were using it as a verb now. I didn't know about the MTV show either (I'm sure I'm not missing out on much there).

Catfish the movie is awesome. Catfish the show....is alright. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but I am entertained by it occasionally.

just give you guys a heads up about this seller. He has posted numerous sets. His location is Singapore It is Local pick up only All his feedback is from sellers with 1 or 2 ? Red flags? http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=sfhuang2007&ftab=AllFeedback

Lol, looks like he made like 10 different accounts and left feedback for himself as a seller. I think someone's going to get scammed on this one...

Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks for the heads up!

Why? Were you going to go to Singapore and pick up a set from this guy? Lol

Why? Were you going to go to Singapore and pick up a set from this guy? LolNo I'm just saying.

Why? Were you going to go to Singapore and pick up a set from this guy? LolNo I'm just saying.Da boy wants Brickpoints man! #mybro

HAHA... i mean sure why not probably find some other cheap knock offs.. i just found it really funny that it was local pick up :D

I cannot believe this :/ I wonder if the little kid just didn't read the auction correctly or the seller was a skeezer???

Well I don't think many people will be buying from that ebay store in future!

From the comments, he paid $240!!!

This is quite interesting. My initial analysis is that the kid is a just a troll looking for attention. I have actually dealt with that seller through eBay (Aunt Rachel's Store). I bought a bulk lot and some old Batman sets from her a while back and it was a good deal and came exactly as described, no problems... Then, about 2 months ago, I noticed on eBay a bunch of listings that had used my custom made images that I use for my listings. You guessed it... Aunt Rachel... I immediately emailed her (very cordial and polite mind you, but firm), and she replied right away, apologizing and saying that she "found the images on Google." Finding that hard to believe, I then immediately searched Google for some the minifigures of the images she stole from me, and the only ones I could even find were on like page 3 or 4 of the results. So, clearly she was lying, and just jacked them directly from my eBay page. It was funny too, because it was painfully obvious that she stole the images because the rest of her LEGOs that had her normal pics looked like, ehem, total crap. Anyways, she did immediately take them down. Also, she asked me if would license them to her. I said no, so she made her own knock off versions copying my exact layout, but looking very doodoo. Hooray! Anyhow, all that being said, she's clearly a bit shady, but had excellent service on the items I bought from her in the past. Also, she has almost 9000 feedback rating, 99.8% positive. Despite her shadiness with the whole images thing, I definitely still side with her here. Also, and this is the most important part, is that I searched her "completed listings" on eBay, and since the beginning of April she's probably sold about 20 custom Mr. Golds, all auction style, and all explicitly stating that they're "CUSTOMS". The highest one sold for $56. Also, as I stated earlier, her eBay store as is named "Aunt Rachel's Store." The kid says in the beginning of the video that he bought it "ON EBAY, FROM BRICKSHOP." This clearly is false because as seen on the business card, Brickshop is the Bricklink storefront name. So, even if the kid was even more confused that we all originally though, and he in fact bought if from Bricklink, I highly doubt that this lady does her eBay legit and then screws people on Bricklink. It makes no sense whatsoever except for the kid's a troll out for attention. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I never post anything in the forums, because it turns in to an investigative, ranting tirade. Haha, if you read this far, I'm impressed! -PB