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[Matlock]

Re: Danj

If you're not reading the entire auction posting before you lay down a cash promise, you're doing something wrong.

 

[Ponn]

Well, one good thing is I now know who NOT to deal with in the Buy/Sell thread.

 

[Danj]

Re: Danj

If you're not reading the entire auction posting before you lay down a cash promise, you're doing something wrong.

Oh, obviously if you're actually bidding on it you have to read the whole listing, but what I mean is that you have to read it all even if you're just vaguely interested now, to see whether it's bogus or not.

 

[winter]

Good god; the retardedness of both parties, buyer and seller, make me ambivalent in cases like this.

 

[xsarien]

Re: Danj

If you're not reading the entire auction posting before you lay down a cash promise, you're doing something wrong.

Or if you are reading it and still think it's for the system, then it's likely to be intentionally worded to be deceptive. This is almost always the case in these "box" auctions.

 

[Particle Physicist]

All ethics aside this is not illegal. If he was taken to court, even a fairly compitent attorney could get him off quite easily.

yes it is. and he wouldnt get off at all. people dont seem to realize that deceptive advertising IS illegal. thats why you dont generally see many cases on the subject.

 

[Nameless]

yes it is. and he wouldnt get off at all. people dont seem to realize that deceptive advertising IS illegal. thats why you dont generally see many cases on the subject.

How is it deceptive when you state "YOU'RE GETTING AN EMPTY BOX". Preying on the stupid, trustworthy, or inattentive may not be right, but its not illegal. Its not much different from the thousands of "Get a Free [insert item here]" pop-up ads that frequent the internet.

Or a better example, I used to work at Best Buy, and this guy raised or sorts of hell because he purchased a TV after the bestbuy card deal that advertise on interest for 6 months..But read the fine print that stated if he hadn't paid the TV off in 6 months he would be slammed with the back interest at an ubert high rate.

 

[kaching]

Anyway, people like this get what they deserve IMO. I don't care if i'm buying a $5 DVD off ebay, I'll read EVERYTHING backwords and forwards, to make sure i'm going to get what I desire. I make sure its domestically coded, it has the box, its domestically coded, if its the actual DVD or a burn etc...Thats on a $5 purchase. So if are willing to shell out almost a grand, and don't read every friggin sentence and or get someone to clarifiy what you don't understand...You fuckin deseve it.

It's a bit much to expect someone to be an expert on any given product they choose to buy, such that they could easily spot any deceptive advertising that could possibly be associated with that product, esp. when they're buying the product as a gift. There's millions of ways a scam artist could attempt to deceive potential buyers because it all depends on the product in question.

 

[truffleshuffle83]

feedback and item descriptions are there for a reason??? sure its deceptive, but learn to read and take some time to email the seller

 

[Particle Physicist]

How is it deceptive when you state "YOU'RE GETTING AN EMPTY BOX". Preying on the stupid, trustworthy, or inattentive may not be right, but its not illegal. Its not much different from the thousands of "Get a Free [insert item here]" pop-up ads that frequent the internet.

Or a better example, I used to work at Best Buy, and this guy raised or sorts of hell because he purchased a TV after the bestbuy card deal that advertise on interest for 6 months..But read the fine print that stated if he hadn't paid the TV off in 6 months he would be slammed with the back interest at an ubert high rate.

because it may say that. but it also says other shit. like a description of the 360 console and other crap like that. like i said earlier, several cell phone companies are currently in legal trouble for this same type of thing. they would advertise something, and in the fine print it would basically tell you that the deal, really wasnt a deal. yeah, it was written on the ad.. but it was deceptive.

 

[Nameless]

It's a bit much to expect someone to be an expert on any given product they choose to buy, such that they could easily spot any deceptive advertising that could possibly be associated with that product, esp. when they're buying the product as a gift. There's millions of ways a scam artist could attempt to deceive potential buyers because it all depends on the product in question.

Thats why I said if you don't undertsand something get someone who does. For example my aunt who knows little-nothing about computers. She was on EBAY at work, and saw a desktop for $250, to her it was a pretty good deal, but realizing shes didn't know dick about PCs she had me take a look at it. The auction had everything cleverly worded, but to make a long story short, the PC had a dated processor, no OS, and was pretty much gutted.

Of course I don't have to tell you the morale of the story.

 

[xsarien]

How is it deceptive when you state "YOU'RE GETTING AN EMPTY BOX".

I think it's apparent from the article that this was not clearly disclosed.

 

[Ghengis Cohen]

The FTC looks at the ad from the point of view of the "reasonable consumer" -- the typical person looking at the ad. Rather than focusing on certain words, the FTC looks at the ad in context -- words, phrases, and pictures -- to determine what it conveys to consumers.

Read that and make up your mind on the legality of the ad.

 

[Oracle Dragon]

How can any of you possibly be arguing FOR this scumbag? How can any of you possibly have the attitude that "they didn't read the auction, they deserve to get scammed"?

Like other posters have said, that would be legit... IF the auction was 2 sentences long saying "auction for an empty xbox 360 retail carton", and had a single picture, of the empty, open box.

However, it mentions that in one very small section, that proceeds to bombard the reader with retail photos, specifications, and other nonsense. Clearly NONE of that information would be relevant in the LEAST if it was a legit auction for an empty box. It would be totally unnecessary work for the seller to add it, since that's not what they are selling.

The ONLY reason it is included is to confuse prospective bidders, and trick them into bidding. This guy clearly thinks that he can get away with it because he is TECHNICALLY selling the correct product. A scam is still a scam.

Your also imagining the "they didn't read part", as if some guy went to ebay, typed in "Xbox 360", saw this auction, and went to it.

Now imagine this same scenario... except this isn't auction #1 for an Xbox 360, its #347 that they have looked at that day. All of the auctions look the same; picture the seller COPYING AND PASTING someone else's auction for a legit 360 into his own. Then he adds, somewhere, the "only a box" sentence. When its the 347th time you have seen an identical auction, you probably aren't going to read every word over twice. Not to mention the sheer quantity of the text, its not a single paragraph that the seller has slipped the "empty box" clause into, its more like 4 pages of text and graphics.

This isn't rocket science people! You can smell the stink of this being a scam for a hundred miles away; yet still there are posters on GAF saying things like "they got what the deserved for not reading".

 

[FightyF]

I dont see how its fraud if its stated explicitly.

The issue is that even when stated explicitly, it could still be ambiguous when they include information such as system specs, and the wireless controllers and all that jazz.

It's like selling a HotWheel of a Porche, and then mentioning everything about that Porche, it's hp, it's 0-60, it's paint job, it's leather interior, etc.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Or if you are reading it and still think it's for the system, then it's likely to be intentionally worded to be deceptive. This is almost always the case in these "box" auctions.

eBay allows buyers to ask sellers questions. It's vague? FUCKING ASK.
The people who do this are dicks. But when it's my mother-fucking money, I'm responsible and cautious with it. Partial blame must be thrown on the buyers in these cases because they are not utilizing all their resources to make an intelligent choice. Smarter buyers can help cut down on these incidents.

 

[Willy Wanka]

How can any of you possibly be arguing FOR this scumbag?

Agreed. I don't see how anybody can defend these assholes, even if the people they are taking advantage of should know better.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Agreed. I don't see how anybody can defend these assholes, even if the people they are taking advantage of should know better.

I don't think anyone is really arguing for them, rather arguing that these people exist, will continue to exist, and it is really the buyers who are given the best opportunities to stop them.