ChrisBcritter Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 Heads up, guys - Did a search on eBay for the Bichi Toys '57 Buick Roadmaster from Argentina; found one listed at $74.90 and put it on my watch list. This morning I got an email titled "Seller offered a special discount $39.90 on OLD VERY RARE BUICK 1957..." saying since I was interested, the seller was offering it cheaper. I was close to going ahead with it but some type of spider-sense told me to check on it, so I sent it to spoof@ebay.com. Sure enough, I got a message a few minutes later saying in part "Most likely, the message you received was not sent to you by eBay." Interesting thing was the fake message was sent to my eBay inbox as well. Anybody else get an email like this? I've never been sent a "discount" email like that before. Here's the car in question: https://www.ebay.com/itm/OLD-VERY-RARE-BUICK-1957-BICHI-CARLOS-V-ARGENTINA-ANTIQUE-TIN-TOY-CAR/362599436340?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 I've discussed it before; it was cribbed from the original '57 Roadmaster promo but molded in styrene - so no warp/shrinkage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 (edited) I think the eBay response is wrong. It is probably a pre-canned automated reply. If a copy of it is in your eBay Inbox then the odds that it is fake are quite low. I also got a special offer last week (addressed "from eBay") for an eBay listing on my watch list. I even responded and communicated with the seller about it and chose not to take them up on the offer (I let the offer expire). When the seller replied to my question, that reply also showed up in my eBay Inbox and the seller's name was correct. It is good to be careful, but in this case I think it is a false alarm. Go to the copy of that message in your eBay Inbox, then open it and review the offer. That should be safe. Edited May 15, 2019 by peteski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gman Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 Try expanding the email address of the sender to see where it really originates from- many times spoofed email will resolve to a totally different address as shown in your inbox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Bartrop Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 At this point, take it as a given that any emails like this are some sort of scam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 From what I am seeing, the actual eBay listing shows no "discount". When I want to go to eBay, I go straight there, never by clicking on a link in an e-mail... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt T. Posted May 15, 2019 Share Posted May 15, 2019 (edited) eBay encourages sellers to send offers to watchers of their items. I sent an offer to all watchers of one of my items last week and one of them accepted and won the item. If you have the same message in your eBay Messages Inbox, it’s legit. That said, always trust your spidey sense. ? Edited May 15, 2019 by Matt T. Typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 (edited) 14 hours ago, Mark said: From what I am seeing, the actual eBay listing shows no "discount". When I want to go to eBay, I go straight there, never by clicking on a link in an e-mail... It will not - it is a side-offer between you and the seller (but through eBay, and legit). Like it was mentioned earlier, that special offer email is also in your eBay messages inbox (becuase it was sent by eBay) - if you don't wan to click on any links in your regular email, go to your messages Inbox on eBay, then open the special offer there, then click the link. Edited May 16, 2019 by peteski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 I get buyers asking about the free shipping they got in an ad when I never offered free shipping. Ebay does some promotional things I think and doesn't necessarily tell the sellers. I don;t mind anyone making me an offer. Worst that can happen is we don't come to an agreeable price. But that does seem strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 (edited) 9 hours ago, randyc said: Ebay does some promotional things I think and doesn't necessarily tell the sellers. . But that does seem strange. Strange? Not really. As you mentioned, eBay tries all sorts of things (with or without telling sellers) to complete the sale. The eBay bucks for example give buyer a discount without affecting sellers ending price. The only odd thing I see here is that when forwarded to eBay spoof reporting, that email came back as possible spoof (which it is not, since it does show up in the eBay Messages Inbox). Edited May 16, 2019 by peteski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbowser Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 I've been getting upset with eBay when they add "make an offer" to my listing when it is relisted. I have to manually go in and change it back, if I wanted offers I would have set it up that way to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBcritter Posted May 16, 2019 Author Share Posted May 16, 2019 (edited) I'm kind of at the point where I just may pass on this one due to (1) a backlog of projects and (2) I'd still have to get a '57 promo for the wheelcovers and bumpers. Paging Paul Hettick, if you'd like to tackle this... Edited May 16, 2019 by ChrisBcritter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted May 17, 2019 Share Posted May 17, 2019 I got one of those emails today. No idea if it was real or a scam. I wasn't interested in the item. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 Here is one I got today. These are not scams - they are real. But the price of this kit is ridiculous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 I do get notifications to send those "offers" to interested parties. I don't know how they determine interested parties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 5 hours ago, randyc said: I do get notifications to send those "offers" to interested parties. I don't know how they determine interested parties. I think ebay tracks who is watching & buying and who is just watching items. I received an offer just yesterday that I purchased. It has a tracking number already. I guess I will see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRIPTROIT 71 Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 I received such an offer in my inbox on Ebay last week on a Peterbilt kit and bought it at the offered price and received it with no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 14 hours ago, randyc said: I do get notifications to send those "offers" to interested parties. I don't know how they determine interested parties. I am "watching" that listing, so they know I'm interested. But I'm not interested in buying it - just whether someone will take the bait and buy the kit for that outrageous price, and/or watching for how long the listing will stay active. I watch quite a few listings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randyc Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 9 hours ago, peteski said: I am "watching" that listing, so they know I'm interested. But I'm not interested in buying it - just whether someone will take the bait and buy the kit for that outrageous price, and/or watching for how long the listing will stay active. I watch quite a few listings. I do that as well. I also have folks watch my items for months and never buy. My stuff is probably the cheapest on ebay and it sits and sits. My whole remaining collection probably won;t bring the $599 that one seller is asking. But ebay doesn't know. They just offer the seller the opportunity to send an offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 The Item I paid for showed up on Friday and it is fine. I am glad that it was not a scam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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