was that a scam? I suppose he tried to fool you about the gold value, but you were right to call his bluff.

when someone counters an offer with an argument that they can get more selling it to someone else then its always best to politely say "oh well, in that case you should sell it to them" with a smile

if they can indeed sell it for more that's nice for them, doesn't mean you are obligated to up the offer ! I liked your free gift to him 😀

scams, as such, on second hand online sales that I've heard of seem to often revolve around carefully worded descriptions - e.g. pics and text suggesting a later model of graphics card than is actually for sale, that kind of thing

When someone is trying to tell me that the CPU contains as much gold as my engagement ring then it's a scam. 😉
You can't check it unless you take it to a goldsmith and have them melt it down. Pure scam.
Of course he just wanted to back up his ridiculous prices but still. I could've taken it to a professional later to get the gold and surprise surprise! Barely any gold.

I made an offer for a video signal tester from a US seller to be under the value limit for customs and they accepted, shipping costs were already higher than the item price, but all in all I was ok with it... they then sent me a message they'd have to ask for an additional $30 or so for shipping, more than doubling it... and I was like excuse me? of course cancelled the sale... had to wait for a refund and pay the conversion rate twice so basically lost $5 for nothing.

most other times I've been scammed weren't really funny either.

oh yeah that one time recently when a seller of a hardware lot told me "it's not like it's scrap" during haggling only for me to realize when I got it that most of it was rusted to hell and all the hard drives had been disassembled... and of course all the pictured sound cards and amiga cables were missing.

imi wrote on 2021-02-03, 12:28:

they then sent me a message they'd have to ask for an additional $30 or so for shipping

It happens here too but it's rare. Sometimes sellers even want to charge 3 shipping costs even when they are sending 3 items in the same box.
Then again it's very rare, 99.9% of sellers stick to the postage fee calculator that's dead accurate.

I recently put a wanted ad on a Dutch classifieds site for a Compaq Presario 5000 series PC, the older variant without the decorative metal ring on the door of the integrated CD holder. Someone said they had one, then provided low res copies of fellow VOGON oeuvre's photos of a Presario 5000 tower... Yeah, unsurprisingly I didn't fall for it, but it was fun to see them try with literally the first pictures you get if you google for Presario 5000.

$40 sounds cheap to me.
Do you think eBay prices are over inflated and do you think there should be someone regulating prices on used electronics.
I mean electronic have a limited life span.
They have a warranty expiration date and are susceptible to “rate of decay.”
Capacitors. Batteries, electro static, heat, moister, water, corrosion, rust, and power surge damage could damage them.So you are always taking a risk
When purchasing used electronics.
Also the previous owners may have abused or tampered with it or modified it.
Once I purchased a sound card and I did not notice at the time of purchase but the previous owners removed
The ram chips from it.

I think there should be some organization monitoring, regulating and setting the price on used electronics.
At least setting a recommended price and not a trending price.

I once tried to buy a old 386DX on the local classifieds (was very cheap, 15€), had agreed to meet the guy at his location. In the meantime, I recall he had taken his initial listing down.

Went there, I waited for him for about 3 hours, then I receive a message from him:

hi

Someone has offered me 60€ for the old computer, as such I'm afraid it's been sold already. If you want I have a even older one that I'm willing to let go for 90€.

regards,

After coming back home, I looked again, and saw a suspiciously similar listing with the same pictures, but a different location and different account name.

And the description was word-for-word identical to the 1st listing's description, seems a little bit more suspicious to me.

To this day I still don't know if these two listing were from the same seller nor if he really sold it. Still baffled by this one. Perhaps it was a scalper who copied the listing ? I am sure I may never know what truly went down there.

This I think... I have no clue if it's genuine. I'm not gonna say how much I paid for it. 😁

Odd Intel 25th anniversary ornament

Miphee wrote on 2021-02-03, 12:09:

When someone is trying to tell me that the CPU contains as much gold as my engagement ring then it's a scam. 😉
You can't check it unless you take it to a goldsmith and have them melt it down. Pure scam.
Of course he just wanted to back up his ridiculous prices but still. I could've taken it to a professional later to get the gold and surprise surprise! Barely any gold.

for sure some people overestimate the amount and value of gold in PC components. There are lots of videos of people pointlessly destroying various hardware and getting next to nothing, even closer to nothing when taking into account the energy and time needed to do it. I understand the 'gold prospector' excitement, maybe, but expectations need to be set very low!

Vynix wrote on 2021-02-03, 14:00:

I once tried to buy a old 386DX on the local classifieds (was very cheap, 15€), had agreed to meet the guy at his location. In t […]
Show full quote

I once tried to buy a old 386DX on the local classifieds (was very cheap, 15€), had agreed to meet the guy at his location. In the meantime, I recall he had taken his initial listing down.

Went there, I waited for him for about 3 hours, then I receive a message from him:

hi

Someone has offered me 60€ for the old computer, as such I'm afraid it's been sold already. If you want I have a even older one that I'm willing to let go for 90€.

regards,

After coming back home, I looked again, and saw a suspiciously similar listing with the same pictures, but a different location and different account name.

And the description was word-for-word identical to the 1st listing's description, seems a little bit more suspicious to me.

To this day I still don't know if these two listing were from the same seller nor if he really sold it. Still baffled by this one. Perhaps it was a scalper who copied the listing ? I am sure I may never know what truly went down there.

strange, it sounds like some way of making you feel 'invested' in the process, i.e. that after spending hours waiting you simply have to see it through to make the waiting worthwhile - on top of that is he (mistaken) belief that an 'even older' pc is automatically worth more, sounds like a scam that someone may generally use with any vintage collectables, without really understanding the 'market'

Some folks on another forum had told me it's some kind of bait-and-switch scam, in which the seller baits a potential buyer with an item, only to trick the buyer into buying something more expensive. (or so that's how I understood it)

Vynix wrote on 2021-02-05, 10:09:

Some folks on another forum had told me it's some kind of bait-and-switch scam, in which the seller baits a potential buyer with an item, only to trick the buyer into buying something more expensive. (or so that's how I understood it)

yes that sounds like it, thats the term i was trying to remember

its funny though, if you are after one machine and they try to entice you with something 'older', a bit like saying "i want a 1982 trans am" and them saying "well, i sold it but i have a 1972 chevrolet for twice the price!"

Vynix wrote on 2021-02-03, 14:00:

I once tried to buy a old 386DX on the local classifieds (was very cheap, 15€), had agreed to meet the guy at his location. In t […]
Show full quote

I once tried to buy a old 386DX on the local classifieds (was very cheap, 15€), had agreed to meet the guy at his location. In the meantime, I recall he had taken his initial listing down.

Went there, I waited for him for about 3 hours, then I receive a message from him:

hi

Someone has offered me 60€ for the old computer, as such I'm afraid it's been sold already. If you want I have a even older one that I'm willing to let go for 90€.

regards,

After coming back home, I looked again, and saw a suspiciously similar listing with the same pictures, but a different location and different account name.

And the description was word-for-word identical to the 1st listing's description, seems a little bit more suspicious to me.

To this day I still don't know if these two listing were from the same seller nor if he really sold it. Still baffled by this one. Perhaps it was a scalper who copied the listing ? I am sure I may never know what truly went down there.

If somebody unnecessarily made me waste 3 hours of my time, I think I would have wanted nothing more to do with him even if he claimed to have something nice to sell at a great price . If someone can't even cancel a meeting, why trust him for anything else ?

darry wrote on 2021-02-05, 11:30:

Vynix wrote on 2021-02-03, 14:00:

I once tried to buy a old 386DX on the local classifieds (was very cheap, 15€), had agreed to meet the guy at his location. In t […]
Show full quote

I once tried to buy a old 386DX on the local classifieds (was very cheap, 15€), had agreed to meet the guy at his location. In the meantime, I recall he had taken his initial listing down.

Went there, I waited for him for about 3 hours, then I receive a message from him:

hi

Someone has offered me 60€ for the old computer, as such I'm afraid it's been sold already. If you want I have a even older one that I'm willing to let go for 90€.

regards,

After coming back home, I looked again, and saw a suspiciously similar listing with the same pictures, but a different location and different account name.

And the description was word-for-word identical to the 1st listing's description, seems a little bit more suspicious to me.

To this day I still don't know if these two listing were from the same seller nor if he really sold it. Still baffled by this one. Perhaps it was a scalper who copied the listing ? I am sure I may never know what truly went down there.

If somebody unnecessarily made me waste 3 hours of my time, I think I would have wanted nothing more to do with him even if he claimed to have something nice to sell at a great price . If someone can't even cancel a meeting, why trust him for anything else ?

I didn't trust him after that. You can be sure about that, and I ended up not responding to his message that I am not interested in the other computer (which was an Amstrad PC1512, without its matching monitor that also doubled as a power supply, in other terms, a PC1512 without its monitor is as useful as a car without its engine) and let it slide after that.

And if I ever ran into the same seller again, you can be sure of one thing, I'll never put my trust nor money in his hands.