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An eBay question for you...


tpg

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I recently bid a decent sum of money on a rather high-dollar item that later sold for about three-times by bid amount when it ended on Thursday. That night, I received an email from someone (I don't recognize the name) saying they could give me a good deal on an item just like the one I bid on but didn't win. This sounds all well and good, but I am slightly confused about how I got this message. The email came directly to my main email inbox and does not mark eBay Seller: seller_name as the sender or subject. Instead, it came directly from the person's Hotmail email. The messages section of My eBay also does not have a new message listed.

So, I am wondering how it is that someone got my email from eBay and managed to send a message directly to my inbox (my email and eBay username are 100% completely NOT related) without the message coming from eBay. Also, how exactly would they know that my email is associated with bidding on this item if they didn't use eBay to get my email (again, my email is totally unrelated). What is going on here? I am tempted to respond because it would be nice to get a good deal on something for a change. However, I would not like to open up a torrent of spam emails or worse by responding. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice? Thanks all...

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I's skip it.... why wouldn't he also sell whatever it is on eBay to make more of a profit? If he wants to sell it to you that bad, have him sell it in an auction & end it early for you. That has scam written all over it. At the least be sure to use PayPal.

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Hello,

A few years back I was bidding on a Mark Levinson #39 CDP.After not winning the auction I recieve several emails from different people claiming to offer me the ML unit for a ridiculously low price.I deleted them figuring it was a scam.

Like yourself I cant figure out how they got my email or knew I was bidding on it.I did forward some of the emails to ebay,never heard back from them.

I would ignore them as you would probably lose your money.

Greg

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hey tpg, If it looks like a duck, smells like a duck, walks like

a duck.......it's probably be a duck. And if it's too good to be

true, it's too good to be true. So beware. ebay is a

scammer's paradise right now - better to hold off and wait for

something to come your way that you're sure about. Take

care. Hamish

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When this happens to me, I tell the seller to list it on ebaY with our agreed upon price as the Buy It Now price and let me know what the auction number is. I tell them that I won't be salty if somebody else gets to it before I do but regardless they still get their end of the deal. That way I get to check out who they are, feedback, etc. I've done this several times with absolutely no response. Nada. Zilch.

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Happened to me with La Scala's, not once but three times. That's why I don't like E-spay, it happens more than people think, but that's the down side of the internet. There will always be evil people out there, mixed in with the good honest folks. One must be careful.

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Heck when I bid on those rsw15 they had on the klipsch store, I recieved emails claiming that the winner lost and you can do the second bid. It was rather amusing saying do not contact ebay (ROFL) but I contacted amy and guess what, look at the warning now!.

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I got outbid on a sub Thurs night . I was working and was not able to place a final bid . Since then I have received 5 second chance offers .

Anytime you get one of these forward the message to spoof@ebay.com . Now I have no idea if they actually do anything , but ebay will respond and let you know if it's genuine or not .

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Thanks, guys...

I was pretty sure it would turn out to be too good to be true. I didn't reply to the person, and I don't think I will. If I reply, it may confirm what my email actually is and release a torrent of these kind of emails (or worse).

In response to a question above, I never asked the seller any questions, so I don't think he could have gotten my direct email that way. I will let this pass... Thanks again for the responses.

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The e-mail does come to you through E-Bay; there is a seller's option

that if you have multiple identical items to sell, or the first buyer

fell through, you have the option of a "second chance" offer to other

folks who lost...That is a legitimate Ebay option...

The other way is just to send you a private message to your user name,

they don't have your e-mail, but can private message you the offer and

it goes through the Ebay anonymizer system, kind of like how this forum

works.

Just FYI.

K

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The e-mail does come to you through E-Bay; there is a seller's option that if you have multiple identical items to sell, or the first buyer fell through, you have the option of a "second chance" offer to other folks who lost...That is a legitimate Ebay option...

The other way is just to send you a private message to your user name, they don't have your e-mail, but can private message you the offer and it goes through the Ebay anonymizer system, kind of like how this forum works.

Just FYI.

K

You have to be just as careful with the second chance offer. I recently bid on a Mac C-2200 preamp where I was the 2nd highest bidder. I sent the guy an email right after the auction, telling him that I hoped his sale went fine, but if for some reason it did not to let me know. He emailed me back and said that he had already received the money, and was going to ship it the next day. The next day I got a very official looking email from the "seller" saying his deal fell through, and he was offering second chance. The english was kind of poor in this message, but it did have a lot of official ebay stuff and a click here if you wish to purchase.The "from" email was different from the earlier message the seller sent to me. I did not reply to that email, but instead sent the seller a message direct through ebay. The real seller confirmed that it was a scam, he was paid, and had sent the item.

So be very, very careful on high price items that you get a second chance offer on. Instead of responding from the email, send a completly new message to the seller, through ebay.

Travis

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Absolutely!

I generally don't do anything on Ebay that is that high priced - but I

just wanted to point out that the 2nd chance option is a legitimate

seller choice, but definitely be careful, especially if they can't

spell and want Western Union... ;)

Not that being unable to speak and spell the English language is a bad thing... ;);)

K

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I have used eBay's second chance offer myself. But, this was not a second chance offer or any type of email from eBay. It came directly from a Hotmail email that I'd never seen before. I had no correspondance with the seller, so I don't see how it could have come from him.

The general rule I've picked up is that if an email is most likely legitimate, it will have something like "eBay Seller: seller_name" in the subject and will have multiple eBay signatures throughout the email. Plus, you'll get it in your eBay messages section. This message had no eBay signings and didn't show up in My eBay. So, I am assuming it is fake...

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