[ntomer]

Hi,

I've bought a Sony VAIO UX VGN-UX280P UMPC Laptop in a eBay auction for Rs. 20,000/- This laptop retails in US for $ 1200.

Here is the link for this item - http://cgi.ebay.in/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=320336617781.

This product is locked with a Cingular SIM Card, but the seller says that it can be unlocked for use with other service providers.

I asked the seller about it, and received this mail from him -

"we will get it unlocked. The laptop will cost 31400. You can make the payment to us through, cheque, Demad draft, Icici Quick deposit, Online account transfer, etc. once you make the payment we will ship the item within an hour and provide you the shipping details. you can track it online in blue dart website. You will receiv ethe item in hand within 48 hours of the payment. It comes with full bill and warranty. thank you. Mail us at flymigrussia@gmail.com with your preffered payment option and the no of laptops needed."

I replied to him saying that the only payment method acceptable to me is through PaisaPay and he replied back -

"for payment methods other than paisa pay we are unlocking the laptop for using the indian sim cards, you can recevie and make calls in lap. thank you. "

This conversation with him, couple with the fact that he is offering this with bill 5 years' warranty (which even Sony doesn't offer), made me smell something fishy.

So guys what is your take, if he agrees for this transaction through Paisapay, should I agree.? I believe PaisaPay is a safe option, and he doesn't get the money until I confirm that the item has been received by me.

What do you suggest?

Cheers

Nitin

[suman]

Paisa Pay is safe in the sense that the buyer doesn't get paid till you confirm receipt of the item. However, it doesn't really guarantee that the product is foolproof.

What you should see is the Seller's reputation (read the detailed feedback section) - it should be as close to 100% as possible, the seller should have been around for a while & the positive feedback should be for the particluar item that you are sourcing. Say a guy sells Toasters & 8gb Pen drives & he has a 99.1% positive feedback but the feedback is all for the 8 gb card - doesn't really help you if you want to buy a Toaster. (I've given an extreme example but you get the drift )

[sk456]

spray some AXE deodarant!! Sorry couldnt resist it!

[pranavt]

I believe PaisaPay is a safe option, and he doesn't get the money until I confirm that the item has been received by me.

That is not true. PaisaPay is just an Indian version of PayPal. If the seller is in your city, you can check it before you pay for it. Otherwise, try asking the seller to show it to someone, and someone from T-BHP can go and have a look at it. If it's in Mumbai and near my place, I don't mind helping you out.

Looking at his feedback, his profile looks like a joke.
eBay Feedback Profile for fly_migrussia

edit: Bail. Look at the things he has sold in the past, and the person who has given him positive feedback has been removed from eBay.

[hemanthisgreat]

See the feedback he has received and decide. When I checked he has got negative feedback from a registered user, eBay My World - vijay_venkatraman_in1
The people who have given him positive feedback are no longer registered users.

I say stay away from him. Lot of fishy business going on there.

[ntomer]

Yeah, I'd seen his profile and it did look like a joke, that's why posted here :-(

This lappy at 20K would be as great a deal as one can get. I'll try to find a friend in Chennai who can have a look at it for me.

BTW, if I pay for it on PaisaPay and do not receive the item, or receive a faulty one, won't I get my money back?

\N

Edit: Just saw the other mails. Yep, I agree it would be better to to forget about this whole deal.

[abk]

Dear Nitin,

Keep off! Don't even think twice. I have never bought or sold items over eBay India but I was an active buyer and seller on eBay UK. For having thrown caution to the wind I was once duped. The highlights of the story go like this: A laptop + a PDA was up for bid and I won (think was £220). He had 0 feedback (completely new) despite that I paid him the money upfront via paypal. A few days later having not heard from him I sent him an email to which he replied saying he is about to dispatch both the items. Another couple of days gone and I received an automated email from eBay saying the user has closed his account and I was doing a transaction with him. The mail advised that I stop the transaction and don't pay him up. By then I realised I have been duped. However, my friend who is a power seller on eBay advised me to write to paypal as they have provision to refund 50% of the amount after verifying the authenticity of the claim. Eventually, I got back about £110 from paypal. I tried to hunt that email Id down but to no use. My mate told me to use escrow account for transactions which involve higher amount of money. But then Escrow accounts also have their own limitations. I guess one can hold the payment back only until 14 days. Not sure how paisapay works. But in all sensibility, my very strong advice will be to refrain from doing such business with dodgy sellers on eBay.

Cheers!

[mmmjgm]

Forget the Vaio, think about the 20k you are about to loose if you pay him.

Don't I've spent some time on bid sites, a reasonable amount of time, this does not look anything like being in the comfort zone.

Avoid & back off.

Cheers
M M

[rahulsingh007]

Sir I appeal to you to stay away from the seller as much as possible, Always prefer Paisapay for buying goods from ebay as most of the at low prices good deals are related to phishing ,and the seller does not have much feedback too so most probably he is just cheating on you.

Furthermore I being in computer industry can guarantee you that you wont get the UMPC for sub 30k.

[pranavt]

BTW, if I pay for it on PaisaPay and do not receive the item, or receive a faulty one, won't I get my money back?

Yes, but that will include lengthy paperwork and lots of wasted time.

[ntomer]

Aap sab logon ne meri aankhein khol di :-)

Thanx for saving my 20K bucks.

\N

[Brabus E V12]

I always say to everyone whenever buying something expensive on ebay, buy it after seeing it IN PERSON. If you can't do that just ask the buyer:

"Can I collect the item in person and pay you cash?"

This simple question will tell you whether the seller is a scammer or not. If he says No, its obvious that he is trying to hide something and you can back out.

[lambuhere1]

Originally Posted by ntomer

Aap sab logon ne meri aankhein khol di :-)

Thanx for saving my 20K bucks.

\N

Dont you think this calls for celebration

[SirAlec]

he send somebody a toy pistol for 2000 rupees. lolz

Stay away from that buyer. as the actual cost of this viao is more than double of what he is asking

[Proxima]

Originally Posted by Brabus E V12

"Can I collect the item in person and pay you cash?"

This simple question will tell you whether the seller is a scammer or not. If he says No, its obvious that he is trying to hide something and you can back out.

Not always true. eBay is very particular that items should be bought only off their site. As a thumb rule, it is better never to buy expensive items through eBay unless the seller is a Power Seller and has excellent (995 and above) feedback.