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Thread: Gibson F5L for $2700?

  1. #1

    Default Gibson F5L for $2700?

    I don't know much about Gibsons, but this seems like a really low price if it is actually an F5L. So is it an F5L?

    http://www.kijiji.ca/v-guitar/saskat...ationFlag=true

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  2. #2
    Member
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    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    The scroll doesn't look right to me.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    I would say it is an F5L, but, I have seen these scams here in Ontario. Just be very careful. Unusually low price, he's "away" right now.... keep both eyes open.

  4. #4
    Americanadian Andrew B. Carlson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    Hmm, an afternoons drive away. But I've been scammed before and my radar is going off.
    Mandolin, Guitar, & Bass for Doug Rawling & The Caraganas
    www.dougrawling.com
    2008 Kentucky KM-1000
    2014 Martin D-28 Authentic 1937
    1964 Gibson LG-0
    2022 Sigma SDR-45VS

  5. #5

    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    Here is the message I sent:

    "Would you be able to send a few more photos, as well as the serial number? When was this mandolin made?"

    Here is the reply I received:

    "Hello ,

    Thank you for contacting me . It is still for sale . Right now I am in Boden , Sweden . I have just moved here, because I have finished my work contract. I have worked there, for one year and now I came back home. I hope this is not an inconvenience . If you like the product , we can make a quick deal . Taxes and shipping are included. I want to make this transaction by a shipping company, they will handle this transaction for us (receiving payment and delivery). All taxes are included in the price and the shipping process will take aprox 10 days.

    Send me an email if you are still interested to buy it.

    Best Regards."

    So I guess that settles it. I will send him my banking information and sit by the door waiting for my new F5L to arrive in the mail!

  6. #6

    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    I guess you could string him along....some people do that for fun. Delivery Company __"Oh, they are just down the road from me" or "I'm in Eskiltuna and it would be no problem for me to swing by!" At least he's not at sea! So where is the mandolin supposed to be now, Sweden or Canada? I guess it will be wherever is most inconvenient to you. Whatever happened to "payment upon delivery"? I never messed with that site --do they have any procedure for removing obvious fraud listings?

  7. #7

    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    Oh, the stringing along has already begun. Will keep you posted.

    Kijiji is for arranging face to face deals locally. The site makes this clear. I have bought things and had them shipped, but it is not the norm. Anyway, they do try to monitor these things. I was looking at an ad for symphony tickets the other day, and the word 'tickets' in the ad seems to have triggered a warning message about ticket scams. Never seen that when buying mandolins though.

  8. #8
    Troy Shellhamer 9lbShellhamer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    I love how the cafe is always on the lookout for this stuff. People should know Gibson scams aren't as easy as they think. Good catch and thanks for posting. Always entertaining.
    *2002 Collings MT2
    *2016 Gibson F5 Custom
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  9. #9

    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    [QUOTE=Franc Homier Lieu;1346973]Here is the message I sent:

    "Would you be able to send a few more photos, as well as the serial number? When was this mandolin made?"

    Here is the reply I received:

    "Hello ,

    Thank you for contacting me . It is still for sale . Right now I am in Boden , Sweden . I have just moved here, because I have finished my work contract. I have worked there, for one year and now I came back home. I hope this is not an inconvenience . If you like the product , we can make a quick deal . Taxes and shipping are included. I want to make this transaction by a shipping company, they will handle this transaction for us (receiving payment and delivery). All taxes are included in the price and the shipping process will take aprox 10 days.

    Send me an email if you are still interested to buy it.

    Best Regards."

    This is very similar to one I had here in Ontario, again a Gibson F5L. He was in Spain, just got a job there. I told him that my Father was unjustly imprisoned in Nigeria, and was the rightful Minister of Defense there. Every month he would send me 10,000 Euros, but I could not break them up. So, since he was in Spain, the Euros would be perfect. I would send him the unbreakable check for 10,000, and he could just simply return the balance and the mandolin...
    Never heard back......

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  11. #10
    Americanadian Andrew B. Carlson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    I called a guys bluff on that scam on an 82 Buick I was selling once. He sent me a check for 4x the value of the car. I waited till it bounced....it did.
    Mandolin, Guitar, & Bass for Doug Rawling & The Caraganas
    www.dougrawling.com
    2008 Kentucky KM-1000
    2014 Martin D-28 Authentic 1937
    1964 Gibson LG-0
    2022 Sigma SDR-45VS

  12. #11

    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    Forgers just aren't as subtle as they used to be. How long will it be before we see listings like this?

    "Authentic real genuine not-fake Gibson woody tubby throaty chop bark low-mid bell-like log-splitter banjo-killer mojo gumption rare bill Monroe bluegrass vegetables horse vintage heirloom F-5 Lloyd Loar mandolin buy me buy it buy it now buy it tomorrow buy it in three days if you have to just buy something found it in swap meet definitely not stolen at gunpoint last chance going soon last in stock last chance for love of god please buy it dammit Floop is a madman help us save us Floop is a madman help us save us!!!!!!!!!11!1!111!

    Starting bid $1,000 (reserve not met)

    Buy it now: $276 Billion

    Item location: Somewhere, presumably.

    Shipping: Local pickup only."

    --Tom
    Last edited by Tom Coletti; Nov-26-2014 at 11:47pm.

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  14. #12

    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    I like the logic of pricing it at $2700---low enough to be a great deal, but not so low as to be ridiculous. If it were $300, we would know it was a scam or fake, at $2700, we are suspicious, but think, well, maybe he's just a motivated seller! Good work, guys! You probably saved some poor SOB from spending his mortgage money on this "great deal"!

  15. #13

    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    The sunburst appears to be too light (brown) without any of the reddish transition color from the middle to the edges that I'm used to seeing on a typical F-5L. Also, the abbreviated pickguard is not original to Gibson F-5Ls. This mando could be worth $2700 but I doubt you will ever see or play it in person judging from the "seller's" reply to your inquiry.

    Len B.
    Clearwater, FL

  16. #14

    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    Quote Originally Posted by lenf12 View Post
    The sunburst appears to be too light (brown) without any of the reddish transition color from the middle to the edges that I'm used to seeing on a typical F-5L. Also, the abbreviated pickguard is not original to Gibson F-5Ls. This mando could be worth $2700 but I doubt you will ever see or play it in person judging from the "seller's" reply to your inquiry.

    Len B.
    Clearwater, FL
    I think the color looks right for an F5-L from 2001 or earlier. I agree that the finger-rest is not original equipment.
    The thing is, none of that really matters. This picture was almost certainly pirated from some other unsuspecting seller.
    The individual running this scam does not have a mandolin to sell, only a picture.

  17. #15

    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    There is no doubt that the pictures shown are indeed a Gibson F-5L.

    There is 100% doubt that the ad, however, is bona fide.

  18. #16

    Default Re: Gibson F5L for $2700?

    You can't tell much from colors online. His camera, his computer --your computer --what your seeing might not be exactly the same color as what I'm seeing looking at the same picture. I can have two computers side by side looking at the same photo and there is likely to be some variation in the color. I agree there is no mandolin, only a picture. Sometimes you can go to Goggle images and find the photo that the guy snaked!

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