rollermonkey

Found: NISB Grand Emporium for $100

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There's a "Buy It Now" on eBay, from California, and he's got 5 left. (After I got one.)

It showed up today, and I can't imagine they'll last long at that price.

I'm not going to link it, because it isn't mine to sell, but it should be easy to find.

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But he has a 96.5% positive feedback rating?

Huh. Well, I paid via PayPal, so getting my money back shouldn't be too hard if he flakes.

Based on those negative feedbacks, and how other buys had positive feedback for the same item at the same time, it seems like he might post items when they fall off the back of the truck, but before his source gives them to him.

(Seriously. He's selling stuff for 1/3 off, and we're supposed to believe it's all on the up and up?)

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I'm not sure if I am allowed to say this here, but on Ebay a number of sellers use stolen credit card information to buy lego, then sell it cheaply because Lego sells so much on Ebay. I'm fairly sure in most countries if you buy something for a price that would give you a reasonable idea that something shady is going on, you can be hold accountable to some degree. I would not touch this with a ten-foot pole. Also, this guy might be totally legit, but I wouldn't count on it.

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Ah, so it could be the drop ship scam using a stolen credit card? Some people will get their GE, but not all which is probably why the feedback is mixed.

Edited by Heppeng

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If someone buys Lego from Lego Shop@Home with a stolen credit card and sends it to another address the person who recieves may be the only person who gets in any trouble. I've heard of people being banned from purchasing from Lego Shop at home after this scam.

I'm not sure if I am allowed to say this here, but on Ebay a number of sellers use stolen credit card information to buy lego, then sell it cheaply because Lego sells so much on Ebay. I'm fairly sure in most countries if you buy something for a price that would give you a reasonable idea that something shady is going on, you can be hold accountable to some degree. I would not touch this with a ten-foot pole. Also, this guy might be totally legit, but I wouldn't count on it.

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But he has a 96.5% positive feedback rating?

Huh. Well, I paid via PayPal, so getting my money back shouldn't be too hard if he flakes.

Based on those negative feedbacks, and how other buys had positive feedback for the same item at the same time, it seems like he might post items when they fall off the back of the truck, but before his source gives them to him.

(Seriously. He's selling stuff for 1/3 off, and we're supposed to believe it's all on the up and up?)

Maybe it's just me, but 96.5 feedback percentage for just over 100 feedback isn't good. Especially considering the number of recent negative to positive ratio.

I wish the best of those luck to those that have already ordered... usually when it is to good to be true, it is... but sometimes it actually is real!

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If someone buys Lego from Lego Shop@Home with a stolen credit card and sends it to another address the person who recieves may be the only person who gets in any trouble. I've heard of people being banned from purchasing from Lego Shop at home after this scam.

That makes no sense. I'd complain if they did that to me. Besides, if they have an issue with the shadier end of the resale market, they could very easily cripple the whole resale market by bringing sets out of retirement periodically, much like Disney does with the movies in the 'vault'. I mean, there are single bricks/parts that go for tens of dollars because of artificial scarcity.

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That makes no sense. I'd complain if they did that to me. Besides, if they have an issue with the shadier end of the resale market, they could very easily cripple the whole resale market by bringing sets out of retirement periodically, much like Disney does with the movies in the 'vault'. I mean, there are single bricks/parts that go for tens of dollars because of artificial scarcity.

It's an issue of credit card fraud, not reselling. If you recieve an item purchased with a stolen credit card you apparently considered an accomplice and can have your shipping address blacklisted.

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If this item was linked to credit card fraud I'd hope that TLG and eBay would take action first.

If an item is listed on eBay I think it's up to them to take action on a listing that's iffy. Simply because an item is cheap doesn't always mean it's stolen or part of another crime. I think you'd be covered by PayPal for fees and eBay would inform you if the auction was found to be illegal.

I'm sure you, as a buyer, wouldn't be reprimanded by TLG for a purchase on a legal and public site, if it's discovered that the item is indeed dodgy then you may be asked to return it and be refunded.

There are many items listed by legitimate retailers for less than half price at times both in store and online. I'm sure these will still turn even the smallest margin for the retailer even at clearance so who's to say where these originated and what their original cost was? Let's not jump to conclusions but be cautious where it's necessary.

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Well... Feedback for the first two GE sets sold by this guy are up, and positive. They do state that shipping was a bit slow, though. If this is a dropship scam, he should get 2 positives and 1 negative based on the price offered. I wish there was a way to contact the other buyers to see if it came from LEGO directly, or from CA where the seller's profile states he is located.

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Something shady is definitely going on here. Along with the GE seller mentioned in this thread, two other sellers have listed up cheap Palace Cinemas and Pet Shops in the last few weeks, also at the price of $100 + 15 shipping and with quantity of 5-7. Looking at the feedback of these three sellers, all have also sold numerous Power Wheels cars, again with all three having the same pricing. I wonder if they are the same person, or if maybe they are working with the same supplier

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I ran into a smiliar seller at the end of January. He's still up to his tricks now.

With the seller I ran into, his buyers are all the same two or three accounts. It might be worthwhile to check that out with your seller. I wonder if it's some sort of money laundering operation. I tried to buy a Medieval Market, but he claimed he was "out of stock" when the auction was over. Yet, the next day, he had a new one to sell. He refunded me my money, but it was still a pain.

Too bad I didn't see this at the time. I live in San Diego (wonder what small town it is?). I could have seen whether he was willing to do a "meet in person" arrangement, and see how willing he was to do that.

Good luck.

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^He's in Poway.

I lived in SanDog for 7 years... Bonita and Clairmont Mesa neighborhoods.

Well.. When I wasn't out to sea, that is. ;)

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^He's in Poway.

I lived in SanDog for 7 years... Bonita and Clairmont Mesa neighborhoods.

Well.. When I wasn't out to sea, that is. ;)

Another Navy guy, I see!

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Rollermonkey-

Good luck with this, but as I see it, you are going to get either of 3 things.

1) A Grand Emporium from (insert your retailer here) with someone else's credit information on it because it was purchased with stolen credit card.

2) Nothing

3) A turd in a box.

That's great that you paid with Paypal so that you are covered, but what about the person who's credit was stolen to purchase this set? What about the retailer who ends up out money when the credit card company won't pay for the stolen goods? What about when Lego comes after you asking why you received something with a stolen credit card? The person you purchased from will be gone by then, and you will be stuck holding the bill.

Buying from sites and sellers like this only perpetuates the problem further. It's too bad there are shady buyers to go along with shady sellers in the name of saving a few bucks.

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I think that a bit heavy to throw on someone for an eBay purchase.

This could be completely legit. If retailers can sell items at huge reductions... Especially in the US then what's with the huge assumption TLG are going to be knocking at anyone's door asking why they're receiving stolen goods. There's Rancor Pits being sold for $20 from retailers but if someone lists an item for $100 on eBay the buyers are branded as criminals?

How about seeing how this pans out before people start throwing out judgement?

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I think that a bit heavy to throw on someone for an eBay purchase.

This could be completely legit. If retailers can sell items at huge reductions... Especially in the US then what's with the huge assumption TLG are going to be knocking at anyone's door asking why they're receiving stolen goods. There's Rancor Pits being sold for $20 from retailers but if someone lists an item for $100 on eBay the buyers are branded as criminals?

How about seeing how this pans out before people start throwing out judgement?

Rancor pits and other 'normal' sets are a bit different from the D2C sets. The D2C's like modulars and UCS sets never get discount off, because of this and how hard they can be to locate their price is usually high. Even second hand D2C's drive high prices.

Due to all of this it's incredibly rare to find one D2C set for below RRP, it's nigh impossible to find someone selling 5 or 10. Just based on probability it's incredibly likely something fishy is going on with these products, and it's be widely publicised that these stolen credit card LEGO scans have been happening.

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I think that a bit heavy to throw on someone for an eBay purchase....

I agree with you but I have read somewhere that Lego does not allow any merchant to give discounts in their "exclusive" toys, and the modular buildings are included. If someone is selling such toys at such a discount one thing is for certain, something is very wrong.

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