Caution For Ebay Participants

jokerman

Explorer
May 29, 2003
337
12
Manasquan
Just wanted to display a word of caution for some Ebay people. I have been seeing listings for books by a particular seller who never lists the book title or author. The seller lists a book with pics and references that entice people into thinking it's some kind of rare book. If you inquire about the name of the book they offer no response. I saw one of these books go for over 100 dollars only to find out it was one of Beck's common books. I remember asking the seller about the name of the book so I might be able to find the book elsewhere (this was after the item was sold, and I had lost to the tune of my own bid of 90 dollars!) It was not a rare book at all. About a year ago I paid over 40 dollars for a misrepresented copy of More Forgotten Town because I didn't remember the pics shown in the ad. Big own fault of mine! Long story short, look out for a seller who NEVER lists the author or book title who uses the seller name "fleadawgs". End of story. I was just cruising EBAY tonight and was seeing more of the same and wanted to protect others who might find similar circumstances.
 
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BarryC

Guest
I am very familiar with this seller and his/her tecniques of listing the book. He gives the longest possible description about the book but will not tell the title. I too have emailed the seller asking for the title of a book and he did not respond.
I can't remember for sure, but I may have bought a book from him. In my opinion he doesn't misrepresent them, he just refuses to give the title. To this day I can't figure out why. This is extremely odd.
Renee on the other hand has bought from this seller with no problem.
So my advice would be to read every detail of what's in the book and then try to figure out if it's a book you already have. I don't think this seller will ever start listing the title of the book in his auctions.
Barry
 
While I was able to figure out the title of one of his books as "Forgotten Towns of Southern New Jersey" by it's description the photo of the book is set to obscure the title. This is shadey IMHO and I would not buy from him for that reason. I would say he gets positive feed back because he delivers what he sells but he is "over selling" the books.

Steve ~ who does not like shadey salesmen.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,656
8,267
The reason he puts so much info on each page is to catch people like me who have the keywords emailed to them. And it works well, but he should include the title.

Guy
 
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BarryC

Guest
I recognize that one as Forgotten Towns. It's funny how she photographs the book from the edge so you can't read the title.
This seller also does not name the author of her books. It's very odd. But I guess she chose a way of doing things and won't do it any other way. But I still think it's extremely odd. Some people will buy a book based purely on its title because they already are familiar with it and are looking for it. She caters to those who have never heard of these books, it seems.
Barry
njvike said:
I just receieved my usual pine barrens notification and here's what I got:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3576060328&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1

Ken
 

njvike

Explorer
Jul 18, 2003
353
1
Sparta, NJ
home.earthlink.net
BarryC said:
I recognize that one as Forgotten Towns. It's funny how she photographs the book from the edge so you can't read the title.
This seller also does not name the author of her books. It's very odd. But I guess she chose a way of doing things and won't do it any other way. But I still think it's extremely odd. Some people will buy a book based purely on its title because they already are familiar with it and are looking for it. She caters to those who have never heard of these books, it seems.
Barry
njvike said:
I just received my usual pine barrens notification and here's what I got:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3576060328&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1

Ken

Perhaps to disguise it as a rare find?
 

BorderWalker

Scout
Jun 26, 2003
46
1
Middlesex, NJ
At an opening bid of $18.99 for Forgotten Towns, this seller is a borderline crook. Go to http://www.abe.com and you'll find a similar copy for around $3.00. Furthermore, s/he doesn't mention shipping and handling up front, lending me to wonder how much one would be overcharged for that. Annoying.

--Tom
 
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BarryC

Guest
Yes, and many of the books she sells are still in print and go for about $20 new. I think she's trying to make people think the book is more than it is. Something like that. I emailed her about 6 or 8 months ago asking for the title to one book she was offering on Ebay and she didn't even give the courtesy of a reply.
I guess technically there's nothing illegal going on, because she does show a ton of the pictures in the book, plus the longest description I've ever seen. Just weird, that's all.
BorderWalker said:
At an opening bid of $18.99 for Forgotten Towns, this seller is a borderline crook. Go to http://www.abe.com and you'll find a similar copy for around $3.00. Furthermore, s/he doesn't mention shipping and handling up front, lending me to wonder how much one would be overcharged for that. Annoying.

--Tom
 

aserdaten

Scout
Jul 26, 2003
63
0
Ormond Beach, Florida
When requesting name of book and/or its author from this seller, could you not send copy of this request to management of E-Bay site? Make mention of fact you have requested this information before, but got no response. Maybe this would spur management to investigate the situation, or don't they care? If several people did this, it might lead to some action being taken.
 

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,656
8,267
One would assume that Ebay would not do anything, since you have the option to ask the seller a question, and if you are not satisfied you have the ultimate option of not bidding.

Guy
 

njvike

Explorer
Jul 18, 2003
353
1
Sparta, NJ
home.earthlink.net
bruset said:
I seriously doubt ebay would care. They make money off their sellers, and if the seller has such positive feedback they won't want to risk alienating them.

Then it's time to send in a warning on the feedback portion.

problem is that you'd have to win one of her auctions first.
 
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bach2yoga

Guest
BarryC said:
I am very familiar with this seller and his/her tecniques of listing the book. He gives the longest possible description about the book but will not tell the title. I too have emailed the seller asking for the title of a book and he did not respond.
I can't remember for sure, but I may have bought a book from him. In my opinion he doesn't misrepresent them, he just refuses to give the title. To this day I can't figure out why. This is extremely odd.
Renee on the other hand has bought from this seller with no problem.
So my advice would be to read every detail of what's in the book and then try to figure out if it's a book you already have. I don't think this seller will ever start listing the title of the book in his auctions.
Barry

I think I've bought 2 books off of her in the past, but both times I was able to figure out what book it was and compared it on ABE books. It is very frustrating to not have the title, so most of the time I don't bother with her sales.

Renee
 
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