The eBay bogus ad F-4 that reappears over and over

[ollaimh]

I inquired about a suspicious h 4 Gibson mandola in the same format. they replied that they were in the Shetland islands and I would have to send a wire transfer to their account. it happened that I had a friend from Aberdeen Scotland who was in the shetlands so I told them he would pick it up and pay cash. they did not ever reply. surprise surprise.

there are scammers on our local kijiji for sale ads in the Canadian maritimes. they say they will buy what you are selling at your asking price but that they are out of the country and they will send a shipper to pick it up/ I said ok send the shipper with cash. they wanted to do paypal and sent me an invoice for $900 to release the $ 3500 they were paying. I hope no one falls for that but when I get e mail that says they are out of the country right now it's usually a red flag. I answer that they should contact me when they are back in the country.

on the other hand I have had great results with ebay. only one disappointing item which although returned and refunded the seller retained $25 he should not have. it was too saml to bother with. otherwise in the areas of odd stuff that interests me I have acquired a lot of great instruments at very good prices. mandolins guitars and related stuff bids near market prices but I got a round back five course octave mandolin for $450 with shipping and tax, and it is a cannon. or my sasso bouzouki from 1915 which was cheap and when repaired is a special instrument($500ish--I think). Portuguese guitars, harps, lutes and the like have all been bought by me with great results. however you do have to be alert to scammers.

[Gary Hedrick]

Well the F4 and its companion the '27 H1 are back again......these buggers are persistant if nothing else...