bjorn77 Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 (edited) Ok, so I noticed this ad at a local online marketplace. A guy is selling Lego Technic sets for prices that seems too good to be true. He claims all sets are new in unopened boxes. Here's some price examples: 8110 - 55 eur 9398 - 55 eur 42009 - 60 eur 42000 - 30 eur You get the picture, there's about 30 sets for sale, a few matches bricklink/ebay prices but most are less than half. I email the guy and hears nothing for a few days. Then tonight, he sends me a text message telling me to call him if I'm still interested. I call him and he tells me he's doing business buying/selling Lego and that he is serious. All of the sets except one is still available. He wants me to send an email with which sets I want + my delivery address, and he'll reply with a total sum including shipping that I should transfer to his bank account. When I ask how I should know that he's not scamming me, he just replies that if I have the least doubt I should just forget about it. He will sell the sets anyway. Now, there's of course more than one warning bell ringing here, but at the same time, I really want to believe that the guy's serious. I could easily spend 500 eur on this given how great the prices are. I'm tempted to order one cheaper set to validate the deal, because it'd be worth it even if I got scammed. But then I might miss out on the really good deals. The guy's Swedish but his phone number is Estonian. The marketplace is local for my city (in Sweden) and it is indeed suspicious that he doesn't advertise on the big national marketplaces instead. But it doesn't really strike me that Lego (and Technic in perticular) would be the most profitable market for these kind of scams. The target group is quite small and the money too. But still, this just has to be too good to be true, right? By the way, the possibility of stolen goods has crossed my mind, but since most sets are already off the retail market, I does not seem likely. Edited March 31, 2014 by bjorn77
jodawill Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 I wouldn't do it. Unless you have buyer protection, only buy locally. Don't trust someone to ship you something if there's no way to hold them accountable.
zux Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 Looking from German market perspective (not sure what retail prices are in Sweden) these prices are ~50% below than people ask for USED sets.
dooberfloober Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 If he won't give you some way of knowing or getting back at him for scamming you, I'd not trust him. If you absolutely have to bite the bait, wire him the money for 42000, then when you get it reevaluate. good luck, dooberfloober
dougstar Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 if it sounds to good to be true usually is DONT DO IT!
D3K Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 Is he a local of your town? Is there any way you could go meet him, or go to him, and pay cash and get your sets from him face to face? Does seem too good to be true indeed, but still, from time to time these fantastic deals pop up!
Anio Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 Let me guess. The seller or his supplier is located in China ? :D
Balrog Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 Sounds like the sets he sells fell off a truck or something like that ...
Saberwing40k Posted March 31, 2014 Posted March 31, 2014 Yeah, much as I'd like for this to be true, it reeks of scam. Unless, of course, you could do the exchange face to face, which would eliminate certain problems.
DuckBricks Posted April 1, 2014 Posted April 1, 2014 To quote a friend "If it sounds too good to be true... it is too good to to be true" But if you decide on paying him, please let us know the quality of the sets (if they even come ;) )
Jim Posted April 1, 2014 Posted April 1, 2014 If he is going to sell his sets anyway, why isn't he selling for just-a-bit-below-average? Why these ridiculous prizes? This makes you feel suspicious right away. I wouldn't do it. And if I wanted to take the bait, I would try to pay via Paypal and/or just pay a small amount of money and see what happens.
Kumbbl Posted April 1, 2014 Posted April 1, 2014 (edited) Just One word: scam! This would be senseless Dumping without any needs because he would sell them also for the double prize for sure... Therefore: don't do it you will regret it for sure... Just my 2ct Edited April 1, 2014 by Kumbbl
Robianco Posted April 1, 2014 Posted April 1, 2014 Excuse my ignorance of Technics releases but are these current sets? Available at retail still? (I see that three of them are) I only ask as another member has taken a pretty rough ride from some people for highlighting a cheap item bought from eBay as brand new. It turns out the item arrived all sealed from a retailer but bought through stolen credit card details and shipped direct to the buyer. The buyer then contacted the relevant people and made eBay aware of the scam. Could this be happening here? Maybe through S@H?
S.I Posted April 1, 2014 Posted April 1, 2014 I don'\t think 8110 or 9298 are still available at S@H. Unless you can pick them up in person, I would assume its a scam.
elleana Posted April 2, 2014 Posted April 2, 2014 Is there any way to pay via paypal? That way there is at least some protection if its a scam.
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