ebay (and other) auctions with insane prices

[neorichieb1971]

There is quite a lot of BS going on with ebay. But the main thing that irks me about ebay is how 99% of it is automated. Ebay should invoke a referee at a moments notice and see it through to the end. Ebay is part of this "unrestricted Capitalism" BS where profits are more important than service.

I won a Saturn wrestling game once for $2. It came in such a bad state I just gave positive feedback and called it a day. I understand how some people wouldn't do that if the product was a more costly amount.

Sometimes losing an auction is a blessing. That sniper didn't know what hit him

[Drachenherz]

People who bid on something without reading the whole description actually deserve to be scammed...

this kind of attitude fuckin sickens me.
nobody deserves to be scammed because they showed some good faith
nobody deserves to get beat up because they didnt stay home
nobody deserves to have their car stolen because they parked at the wrong spot.. etc etc..

I reported that ebay scammer.

I think you're exagerating a bit... Not reading the description of an auction (or something else) is not showing good faith, but stupidity - or even... Greed. By desperately wanting something without taking the time of checking out what the thing really is about...

Being beat up because one went out, or having one's car stolen, is a different thing altogether... It's something where you definetely cannot do something about it, it's not in your hands, thus it is not in ones own responsibility.

This auction on the other hand...

It is NOT fraud when you yourself can easily check what something is about. I agree with you, this scammer tried to trick people and is a piece of scum - and it's good that he has been reported and the auction has been pulled. But be realistic: nobody who can and has the will to read would (or should) fall for such a petty trick. It's called responsibilty for your own actions, and if you cannot be responsible in such a way that you read the whole description text... Well, enjoy the picture of a mega man game as a kind reminder for a next time...

[Ed Oscuro]

Speaking of reading, why don't you start right here and put a stop to insulting people with your arrogant stupidity, Drachenherz?

People who bid on something without reading the whole description actually deserve to be scammed...

Yeah, that's really fucking cute of you to say.

Back in December I bought a couple no-brand compact flash cards for the same price as a brand name because I didn't realize the "Lexar" in the title was there to mislead me (that's fraud btw) and I'm still dealing with the seller's, and eBay's, shit trying to get my money back. The items are shipped back to CA where the fraudster lives but they won't pick up the items, and eBay's pretty useless about understanding that they need to actually enforce the return agreement the seller agreed to ("appeal refused" ) so I'll have to waste some time on the phone with them tomorrow. They'll probably give the seller enough time to dick around that the item will be returned before they "realize" they need to sign off for it at their local PO

[Drachenherz]

Love you too, Ed.

[Ed Oscuro]

You're damn right I love me

You were wrong to say that the blame rests on buyers, and I can't believe you feel like being an asshole on this point is justified. That's a low blow, of the same caliber of saying "that girl she dress like a skank so 'course she get rape." Even a greedy buyer (which is an inappropriate thing to assume) does not justify a scammer's selling. Plus, sellers don't sell things at prices lower than they are willing to sell at, so it seems even more wrongheaded to say that greedy buyers are getting their comeuppance for demanding prices far too low. I mean shit, just look at all those scammy buyers parting sellers from their hard-earned items. No, it's actually the other way around.

eBay seems to have finally cleaned it up, but late last year there was a time period when I could look in certain categories and see the exact same scams and the exact same pictures for high-ticket items with the seller demanding illegal (by eBay standards) terms, to "please email to confirm the sale" i.e. part you from your money. Having tons of items with fake prices no doubt hurt the ability of legitimate sellers to convince buyers they were selling the real deal, and they were now competing with scam auctions at 1/4 the price they could possibly sell an item at, both for attention and for bids. It would be hard to calculate how much money was really lost to sellers as a result of scammers taking over accounts and running them into the ground.

eBay was not making things easy, because if a conscientious shopper decided to take time out to report all the scams, those two dozen reports (at a time) would cause the eBay system to demand a numerical captcha two or even three times per report. Hopefully that has been changed too, although I know that many sellers have legitimate grievances with reporting and I would imagine that spurious reports could be a problem as well.

In my case, I am holding out the possibility of a happy ending - it turns out that eBay, despite having their website peppered with dead-end links (like "Live Chat" which has been AWOL since at least last year) actually does offer some phone numbers and they're not hard to get to. With any luck the seller won't sit on returning contact info long enough that my item is returned through the mail. Progress! It did sound like the Indian customer service gal was hosting a riot in her house, with lots of screaming, though

[rancor]

MMP/PS - Yours for only $800!!

[Skykid]

MMP/PS - Yours for only $800!!

Holy god BUY IT NOW!

Let's give Drach a break folks, he's always been an exceptionally good-natured individual on the forums. I'm sure he didn't mean no harm.

[shmuppyLove]

Fuck took me forever to find this thread ... eventually found it with a search for "insane" lolol

I guess Dreamcasts are all of a sudden OMG RAREZ

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Sega-Dreamcast-W ... 3a7268403b

At least it's BNIB, but still ... $500??? Most of the limited-edition Japan-exclusive models don't sell for that much.

[louisg]

WTF is with PC Engine prices these days? I thought, "hey, I'll treat myself to a cheap PCE game" and looked at W-Ring. It was $50. OK, OK, maybe it's a fluke. Then I saw that Over Ride is about $70+. I think that was about $50 last year. I'm glad I got most of the stuff I wanted when I did!

[Vyxx]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Radiant-Silverg ... 231b8bd6f6

Sealed copy of Radiant Silvergun

*facepalm*

[shmuppyLove]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Radiant-Silverg ... 231b8bd6f6

Sealed copy of Radiant Silvergun

*facepalm*

Agreed. I don't get the point of keeping sealed copies of games. Games are meant to be played. Keep the cases/inserts separate if you don't want them scratched or faded. Hell wear gloves when handling the discs, whatever.

And besides by sealing it like that you've removed a copy of the game from circulation and made all the other existing copies more rare and valuable

[hzt]

Yeah I wish I hadn't read that and learnt about this "Video Game Authority" sealed game grading shit, I already hate humanity enough as it is.

[shmuppyLove]

Not an auction, but seriously WTF is this pricing about?

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/offer-listing/B ... dition=new

In case the link doesn't work, it's an eBay affiliate ("BuyCDNow") listing a Hori Fighting Stick VX for $262.17. Just for comparison, Amazon sells the HRAP VX SA for HALF that price ... which is actually a really good deal. Hrmm ...

http://www.amazon.ca/Real-Arcade-Pro-VX ... 031&sr=8-1

[BIL]

Yeah I wish I hadn't read that and learnt about this "Video Game Authority" sealed game grading shit, I already hate humanity enough as it is.

You definitely don't want to look at this guy's posts then! His site is a den of psychotics. My favourite thread was one about a guy going insane because his PAL Xbox game had a tear in the seal.

edit: I am all for buying sealed games and then ripping them the fuck open. But those beautifully packaged Japanese FC/MD/SFC games were never sealed to begin with, so sealed game obsessives are SOL with those!

[shmuppyLove]

edit: I am all for buying sealed games and then ripping them the fuck open.

If I had gobs of cash lying around, I would do that for the lulz. Like those guys that line up to buy a console on launch day then smash it to shit in front of the people behind them

Delicious nerd tears are delicous

[njiska]

Agreed. I don't get the point of keeping sealed copies of games. Games are meant to be played. Keep the cases/inserts separate if you don't want them scratched or faded. Hell wear gloves when handling the discs, whatever.

And besides by sealing it like that you've removed a copy of the game from circulation and made all the other existing copies more rare and valuable

I can understand sealed collecting because it's so rare to find some item's in that condition, but like you I believe that games are ment to be played. I do have a few sealed games, but they're either dups of something i already have that is opened or something I have no interest in play, but received as a gift or part of a lot purpose. Sealed games only really assist snobbery.

[Leader Bee]

Don't generally know if this is the going price for Secret of Mana but this price shocked me.

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Secret-of-Mana- ... ames_Games

[shmuppyLove]

Don't generally know if this is the going price for Secret of Mana but this price shocked me.

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Secret-of-Mana- ... ames_Games

Wow. I just ...

And it's not even that great of a game. I mean, it's good ... but $5,000??

[BIL]

Not like anyone retarded enough to buy that would be intending to open and play it, anyway.

[Leader Bee]

Apparently it's brand new but there's an awful lot of wear on the top left corner of that box huh?

[moh]

Found myself a new sig

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I can understand sealed collecting because it's so rare to find some item's in that condition, but like you I believe that games are ment to be played..

I knew someone in high school who bragged about buying PS2 games, beating them in a few days, and returning them to EB Games claiming they were defective so he could get a sealed copy that he'd never play again. Always thought that was sleazy, not to mention idiotic; it's fun to actually go and replay old games sometimes, why treat them like they're usable only once ever? All you're left is with a pretty box.

Also, how the fuck did someone who thinks Secret of Mana is worth 5k become a "top-rated seller"?!

[brokenhalo]

Don't generally know if this is the going price for Secret of Mana but this price shocked me.

http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Secret-of-Mana- ... ames_Games

the best part is that the box is wrapped in cellophane, the cellophane is encased in plexiglass, and the plexiglass is encased in a plastic bag.

BUT WHAT'S GOING TO KEEP THE PLASTIC BAG FROM GETTING DAMAGED?????!!!!!!

i wish i was stupid rich so i could do an unboxing video on that SoM.

[E. Randy Dupre]

Also, how the fuck did someone who thinks Secret of Mana is worth 5k become a "top-rated seller"?!

I suspect that some sellers put most of their items up at decent prices, but keep a couple back in reserve at this kind of unrealistic, grossly inflated price in the hope that their high rating, gained from the regular sales, will fool the unwary into believing their schtick about those one or two items genuinely being worth those mad prices.

[BIL]

It would be amusing if someone could gut a mint SNES RPG box, replace the contents with a delicious egg and cress sandwich, reseal it and have it certified 100% FRESH by the VGA, then engineer an obscenely-priced auction win and unboxing video posted to major news sites. The sealed game faithful would riot. It'd probably kick off some kind of sectarian bloodbath between progressive "just a peek to make sure it's not a sandwich!" types and the ultra-orthodox remnants who will permit no mortal eyes to defile their sacred, mass-produced relics.

Then again, some fuck would just invent a VGA X-RAY SCANNER for detecting sandwich-bearing boxes. But you could wrap the sandwich in X-Ray proof film shaped like a SNES cart. Although DEA canine units could probably get around that. It's a real psychological rabbit hole, this hobby of paying for the privilege of never coming into contact with the contents of boxes.

I wonder if they X-ray the boxes already?

[shmuppyLove]

delicious egg and cress sandwich

Gross. Is that a British thing?

[BIL]

It may be! I'd never encountered them until moving to the UK. Lord knows I'd die of shock if I bought a sealed game and found one staring back at me from within the box prior to hopping "across the pond" as they say.

[Ed Oscuro]

I remember about ten years ago I bought a sealed Metroid II for $80

I was the shit

[BIL]

Any foodstuffs inside?

ps

I bought a sealed Leynos 2 recently and when I opened it to pump some lead into enemy mech asses, the disc was barely hanging onto the spindle. Just a fraction of an inch and it'd have rattled about in its case for a week's transit, getting covered in dings and rendering my investment a folly. I occasionally wake up screaming and drenched with sweat at the thought... perhaps I should never have unsealed, let alone gazed upon that pitiless vault - unbeheld by mortal eyes since the year 1997...

pps

Leynos 2's manual art is fucking u g l y, which was also a bit surprising. Looks like some shitty X-Men comic! Where was Urushihara when we needed his hentai-pervin' ass?!

[blackoak]

I think Vimana is going for 47000 yen (~550$) on YAJ. Same with V-V... crazy.