A scam seller on ebay in Japanese Antiques armors/fittings etc.... Beware, their stuff pops up everywhere.

[waljamada]

So being the ebay conossuier that I am (worlds largest flea market and I do love it for that knowing the risks) I discovered a scam seller thats popped up a lot recently in Japanese antiques.  Basically what this seller does is take previously sold listings in Japanese antiques and copies/relists them at a higher price than they even originally sold for (bold bastards). 

 

Not only that they brazenly copy currently active listings for items such as a Jingasa I had asked about here.  So be careful if you find an item you want and its from this seller, stop right there.  They do not have the item, you will not receive it and its just a giant dummy operation. 

 

Im posting pics of the sellers profile.  An image used by that seller of a Zunari Kabuto they have "for sale" that I had already purchased and received from another seller along with proof of that purchase.

 

So beware......

[Ken-Hawaii]

Just one of many, Adam. The lice of eBay.

[waljamada]

Its the first time I've ever run into an operation exactly like this.  Its not a lazy typical ebay scam.

 

That scam account is a seller with 1,400 reviews and a member since 2011.  This is different and a larger more pervasive scam as this shows they must have made accounts going back many years (probably rotates between the more "matured" accounts as others get shut down)....not only that but keeping a continuous drip feed of solds coming in (maybe some real some fake?  all fake?) that also leave reviews including some bad reviews to appear more authentic (two bad reviews months apart are exactly the same for the same item, the robot makes mistakes...same in positive reviews).   

 

I've been ebaying basically since it came out and haven't run into something like this before, maybe I was just really lucky or not paying attention to areas they were targeting. 

 

This honestly took years of efforts/set up or they know how to hack the core ebay systems which I highly doubt.  

 

Its like the Terminator and they've evolved. 

 

This is someone playing the really long game.

[Bruce Pennington]

I had just recently read about this scheme on another forum (maybe Gunboards).  If the bad guys used the same ingenuity, time, and effort in legitimate work, they'd be rich by now!  Such a shame.

[Brian]

If you own the item that they are advertising, you are in a good position to get this account shut down. Report it as fraud, note it is a unique one of a kind item and in your possession, and give them hell. Keep going until eBay closes that account.
Won't stop them, but will be a great inconvenience.

[Babu]

To be honest there are a few that pop up regularly over here that show items listed at the same time that all show fabulously different backgrounds .

I particularly like the mountain bike section where one seller have Fifty bikes for sale all with a different house in the background or numerous high end cameras like Nikon D5 and Canon that again show not a single one has the same background as the others.

If your a business it is normal to bulk list smaller items and to do this you will put things on a set up ”photo platform” to photograph. Ergo most will have identical backgrounds.

 

[Greg F]

Good job Adam, I thought I saw your kobuto still for sale. Hopefully they will get whats coming to them.

[waljamada]

Brian,

 

Last night I did report the seller to ebay.  I also informed 3 sellers whose items were being used on the scam account with screenshots and two responded they will also report them to eBay.  So we shall see what happens.

[waljamada]

Another seller that is listing my exact Zunari Kabuto that I previously purchased.

[Bugyotsuji]

This happens a lot on popular second-hand car sites too.