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That's what it's all about

I received an email from another Audiogon member yesterday telling me that he was on Ebay and happened to find a listing for a pair of Kharma Ceramique CE 1.0s that looked suspiciously identical to an ad that I have presently running here on Audiogon. I went to Ebay and sure enough, there was the ad with the exact same pictures and copy from my ad originating from some person in the UK with no feedback. I tried to contact Ebay to let then know what was going on and I even had to register with Ebay to lodge a complaint. They noted that it might be as long as 36 hours before they might be able to respond and by that time the auction for "my" speakers could be over. I guess this kind of thing happens all the time, but I would have never thought much about it or been made aware exept another kind member, Dave Frigo, cared enough to advise me. That's what Audiogon is all about...Thanks Dave... Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!
ucmgr
justlisten's avatar
justlisten
489 posts
 
if you look around there are several ads like the one for the Kharmas. there was one last week for some Goldmund Dialogues. the seller was in Europe yet they offered "free shipping" within the US. the Minimum bid was $500 and the Goldmunds got up to $800....if you do the math, shipping a pair of 200 lb speakers from Europe to anywhere in the US would cost almost if not more than the highest bid. its kinda scary people are falling for this stuff...

it could be a holdover from the early days of ebay, when there were good deals to be had, traffic was lower, people were still new to the internet buying thing, and sellers at time had little knowledge on what they were selling. i remember Colnago bikes could be had for $800 or so, now the same bike fetches over $1700 consistantly. ...bottom line is, the days where you are gonna find a "steal" on ebay are pretty much over....way to keep an eye out
slipknot1
1,423 posts
 
Zenith,
My threat-to-sue was more or less tongue-in-cheek. Our society is way too litgious in my book. I was just stunned to see such a pre-emptive move on EBay's part without starting a dispute resolution process first, or, even getting some kind of respose from me. Ucmgr's situation and mine should serve as a warning to others that EBay does seem to be rife with rip-off artists. EBay does have a right to protect itself, and try to protect the honest folks who do business there.
zenieth
381 posts
 
Slipnot1

I couldn't agree more with you about society today. The key word is "try" to protect. Rip off artists are in all walks of life. Ebay is just one of those massive breading grounds. The internet is still very young. And we will see a lot worse in time to come. I hope you get your situation rectified. And I'm sure lots of others are in the same boat too.
slappy
903 posts
 
I dont see the big deal about somone using your pic for thier set they are selling.

I dunno what a vandersteen 1b looks like, never seen one but i have an idea. I have been unable to find any pictures of these on the net.
If i was selling a set, i had no digital camera, and i thought it would help to put a picure of them and i found somone selling a set with a pic, i would probably throw it in.

However, i would also sure as hell state that the picture is not of the actual pair im selling, and go into detail to describe the condition.
ucmgr OP
173 posts
 
Slappy,
I could have less if he used my photos. The Kharma site has some that look a whole lot better than mine, so I guess I should be flattered that he thought mine were acceptable. But the exact same six pictures along with a carbon copy of my text is a little too much wouldn't you say? I've got to believe that whoever listed them on Ebay might have a had a little different intention than "borrowing" a couple of pictures because he was photographically challanged!!!
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