S
SplitPersonality
Guest
This is just a note to alert any other possible Amphicar owners or club
members of a scam that some individual tired to effect on e-bay.. I very seldom
go on ebay and look for Amphicar parts or vehicles, but last Sunday, a friend
called to tell me about a 1963 Amphicar on ebay which looked very good and
the bids were very low with only 2 days to go on the auction. I did search
under the single word Amphicar. There was an auction in progress offering what
was claimed to be a pristine 1963 Lagoon Blue Amphicar freshly restored. I
first saw the ad last Sunday January 25 at which time I believe there had only
been a few bids and as one would expect, it said Reserve Not Met. At 12:30
AM Monday morning, there had been 13 bids and the current bid was $5109. The
car was said to be located in Boise, Idaho and showed 18 different pictures
with the car sitting ouside on snow covered ground for the pictures.
I sent a letter to the seller via ebay asking several things - How long had
he owned it, had he restored it, or was it professionally restored, what was
the actual Odometer reading, since it was listed as 99,999 which I said to
him usually meant that it had turned over. He said it had had a complete
mechanical "refreshing" and that the engine and transmission had been rebuilt and
the vehicle had had 300 miles of land and sea trials since the restoration.
The car did look really nice. I asked how long he had owned it and whether
all of the steel panels were original, among other things.
Anyway, I received NO answer at all. The auction was due to end at 11PM
Eastern time on Tuesday the 27th, so on Monday, I sent an additional note saying
I would feel more confident to bid if I had some of these questions answered.
Still no answer. Any of you who happened to watch the auction end probably
were as confused as I was, because the information on the listing along with
the 2 dozen parts listed under the heading of "Amphicar" continuously said
something like 13 bids with the current figure being $ 5109, I believe. As the
Auction wound to an end Tuesday, the bids had advanced to $ 28,200 with 22
bids and 9 hours left. then as the hours went by, the figures began to read: 13
bids @ $35,550, then 18 bids @ $9,650 with the final information reading 16
bids @ $7,600. It made absolutely no sense at all, nor have any of my ebay
gurus been able to figure out why the ridiculous progression of bids and
figures.
The next day, Wednesday, surprise surprise - an answer posted at 1431 Hrs
(PST I imagine) saying
"sorry it took so long to get back to you, but I have been super busy." The
message was from a "Jeff Carlson" and he basically repeated some of the cars
virtues as stated in the ad, said the mileage was original, and answered none
of my questions. He stated "The total price I am asking for the car including
shipping and insurance fees will be $ 11,250." I would need to make a
deposit of $ 3250 and pay the balance AFTER delivery ! ! ! Might this be a
hint at a fairly crude attempt at a scam ?
So, in case any others of you had e-mail exchanges with this character, be
aware. Did it sound too good to be true ? I wonder whose car he photographed
or what ad he copied the 18 pictures from. The text in his ad had some minor
tip offs that English is probably not his first language, but it was much
better than many scammer's English. Interestingly, he said in the ad: "I reserve
the right to disqualify bidders with poor credit, so please contact me
before bidding." I guess he meant to contact him via carrier pigeon, since he did
not answer the question sent via ebay and only wrote directly to my e-mail
after the auction had ended.
So there are plenty of scammers out there. Hopefully, 2 or more other people
did not send him a deposit which is of course would be down the drain and
furthermore, the auction was all over. If it sounds too good to be true - you
know the rest. Of course, maybe I will find out someone actually did acquire
a great Amphicar at a great bargain after all, but I doubt it.
**************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy
steps!
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1215855013x1201028747/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072%26hmpgID=62%26bcd=De
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members of a scam that some individual tired to effect on e-bay.. I very seldom
go on ebay and look for Amphicar parts or vehicles, but last Sunday, a friend
called to tell me about a 1963 Amphicar on ebay which looked very good and
the bids were very low with only 2 days to go on the auction. I did search
under the single word Amphicar. There was an auction in progress offering what
was claimed to be a pristine 1963 Lagoon Blue Amphicar freshly restored. I
first saw the ad last Sunday January 25 at which time I believe there had only
been a few bids and as one would expect, it said Reserve Not Met. At 12:30
AM Monday morning, there had been 13 bids and the current bid was $5109. The
car was said to be located in Boise, Idaho and showed 18 different pictures
with the car sitting ouside on snow covered ground for the pictures.
I sent a letter to the seller via ebay asking several things - How long had
he owned it, had he restored it, or was it professionally restored, what was
the actual Odometer reading, since it was listed as 99,999 which I said to
him usually meant that it had turned over. He said it had had a complete
mechanical "refreshing" and that the engine and transmission had been rebuilt and
the vehicle had had 300 miles of land and sea trials since the restoration.
The car did look really nice. I asked how long he had owned it and whether
all of the steel panels were original, among other things.
Anyway, I received NO answer at all. The auction was due to end at 11PM
Eastern time on Tuesday the 27th, so on Monday, I sent an additional note saying
I would feel more confident to bid if I had some of these questions answered.
Still no answer. Any of you who happened to watch the auction end probably
were as confused as I was, because the information on the listing along with
the 2 dozen parts listed under the heading of "Amphicar" continuously said
something like 13 bids with the current figure being $ 5109, I believe. As the
Auction wound to an end Tuesday, the bids had advanced to $ 28,200 with 22
bids and 9 hours left. then as the hours went by, the figures began to read: 13
bids @ $35,550, then 18 bids @ $9,650 with the final information reading 16
bids @ $7,600. It made absolutely no sense at all, nor have any of my ebay
gurus been able to figure out why the ridiculous progression of bids and
figures.
The next day, Wednesday, surprise surprise - an answer posted at 1431 Hrs
(PST I imagine) saying
"sorry it took so long to get back to you, but I have been super busy." The
message was from a "Jeff Carlson" and he basically repeated some of the cars
virtues as stated in the ad, said the mileage was original, and answered none
of my questions. He stated "The total price I am asking for the car including
shipping and insurance fees will be $ 11,250." I would need to make a
deposit of $ 3250 and pay the balance AFTER delivery ! ! ! Might this be a
hint at a fairly crude attempt at a scam ?
So, in case any others of you had e-mail exchanges with this character, be
aware. Did it sound too good to be true ? I wonder whose car he photographed
or what ad he copied the 18 pictures from. The text in his ad had some minor
tip offs that English is probably not his first language, but it was much
better than many scammer's English. Interestingly, he said in the ad: "I reserve
the right to disqualify bidders with poor credit, so please contact me
before bidding." I guess he meant to contact him via carrier pigeon, since he did
not answer the question sent via ebay and only wrote directly to my e-mail
after the auction had ended.
So there are plenty of scammers out there. Hopefully, 2 or more other people
did not send him a deposit which is of course would be down the drain and
furthermore, the auction was all over. If it sounds too good to be true - you
know the rest. Of course, maybe I will find out someone actually did acquire
a great Amphicar at a great bargain after all, but I doubt it.
**************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy
steps!
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1215855013x1201028747/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072%26hmpgID=62%26bcd=De
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