Ebay

[Andrew G]

Found somewhere else, this could be the standard type of scare story but contains some useful info, I've updated my address details since reading this. I do use ebay but am a lot more careful these days as there are too many sharks and dealers using it. I tend to use it more these days to buy from genuine shops who stick up old stock on ebay just to get rid of it.

[quote]This sad tale is from a work colleague of mine:

Like many people of late, some unmentionables have relieved me of my bikes - 5 to be precise, all chained up inside my garage.

I’ve learned some lessons that I thought I’d pass on:

Be very, very, careful about what you buy on Ebay. I bought a high end MTB on Ebay for a £1000, (worth £3,000). I took what I thought were reasonable precautions – they had good feedback 150+ and I paid cash when I collected the bike. As Ebay passes on your address in the event of a sale – even though I collected it, they knew where I lived, and 6 weeks later they came back and stole it (again probably) along with my 4 other quality bikes.

But I collected it I hear you say??!! Yes I collected it from someone at an address in a crummy area in Bristol from the sellers “girlfriend”. The reality is that this person was just one of many this group use to fence bikes for a cut. The police are aware that this address is associated with folks who sell and re-steal bikes but haven’t enough evidence to prove it. The group are pro’s based in Bristol but are operating all over the South West.

Advice from the police was don’t use eBay. It tells thieves too much about what you buy, and where you live, and a lot of the stuff is stolen. You might only by an XTR front mech for £30 but thieves know that’s not going onto a Halfords special. They can also view what else you’ve bought.

Don’t rely on the “positive” feedback. People are reluctant to give negative feedback as they often get it back, so they don’t give any at all. Thus the dodgy sales don’t show. Also in my case, the person had lots of feedback, but it was for kids clothes and body lotion. The seller claimed his girlfriend was selling it for him as he didn’t have an eBay account...
If you do use eBay, change the mailing address to work – that way they can’t come and visit you!

[Sylv]

[quote="Andrew G"]
If you do use eBay, change the mailing address to work – that way they can’t come and visit you!