Advice on buying on eBay please.

[Paul and Val]

Greetings fellow road warriors.
We will be looking to buy a fairly inexpensive motor home in September or October. We have sold our lovely Chaussson in order to fund an expansion of our business. We will be working our pretty little bottoms orrrffff all summer. My dream is to head to Greece for three months after that.
I have been looking on eBay which is where I have been buying cars from for 20 years without any issue. Now however I am somewhat puzzled.
I have over the last few weeks seen several motorhomes which appear to be fabulous value. I have made no contact with the vendors as, as I say we are not in a position to proceed at present.
In every case the seller has lots of vehicles for sale but little recent feedback.
I show one individual motorhome here and also the list of other vehicles for sale. by the same seller

2007 Autocruise Pioneer Jolliet 2 berth Motorhome | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2007 Autocruise Pioneer Jolliet 2 berth Motorhome at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

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and

| eBay

As we live in France, we normally in the past have discussed the vehicle in detail with the seller, confirmed things in writing and after paying a deposit paid the balance on collection. Of the 25 or so cars that I have bought over the years, we have never had a problem.
My question is this.
How do eBay scams work? The motorhome that I have listed above for a 2007 seems to me to be too cheap. I don't quite understand what the seller has to gain however. Am I being stupid (be gentle please)?
Paulus the puzzled.

 

[Googlebot]

It’s a scam, they will ask you to pay a fee for something eventually. Oh the shipping agent has it and the release fee is £100 etc.

If they ask you to part with cash to view it, avoid like the plague.

 

[Bonsaiman]

Is this one of many scammers on ebay????

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

It's a scam, covered in the above link see post 32, there are hundreds of them on ebay

 

[jezport]

By those prices I would say they have been hacked!

 

[bigtree]

Total scam, just this morning I got a reply from a person selling a Porsche Macan very cheap, they say they are selling for a relative and email them.
After I asked where the car was she left the group chat.

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[Paul and Val]

Is this one of many scammers on ebay????

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

It's a scam, covered in the above link see post 32, there are hundreds of them on ebay

Thank you very much for the reply and the link.
Paul

 

[simsy56]

SCAM! Just look at the other items for sale. All have different background scenes, and all are selling for a pittance. Nobody, but, nobody, can offer so many vehicles for sale at such silly prices and make a profit. It just doesn't add up!

Craig

 

[Grianan]

My daughter was looking for a cheap van and sent me some fb links - lovely T6 conversions for 9k. Almost certainly scams.

 

[Diabalo]

If you do find one you are interested I'm sure someone on here will be near enough to give it a look over.

 

[Figaro]

Ebay is stacked out with scams at the moment.
I've given up reporting them

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[Paul and Val]

I really appreciate everybody's feedback.

One thing that might give some assistance is this. I wonder if the bulk of the scams are one person. While they tend to have dozens of vehicles for sale under the same user name, there are several different user names in operation at present involving hundreds and hundreds of vehicles. I suspect that one person or group are behind the vast majority of the scams.

The interesting thing is that they all seem to use the same format. The text is written out as one long paragraph. No different sections or lists. Extremely boring and rather difficult to follow. Having said that, if you are copying and pasting sentences it would make perfect sense.

All three of the example advert texts are officially from different sellers of multiple vehicles. Apart from the length of the description, all use exactly the same format and layout.

An example is here -

Habitation check done. Beautiful motorhome, ideal length at 5.7M to park easily, yet hold all you need and more for your holiday in your home away from home. Can be driven on a normal driving licence. With a super layout, the sofa's are easily two single beds or make up a double bed which is so cosy, and the front cab seats swivel round into the lounge area. The kitchen is great with a full size oven, grill & hob, sink and drainer and a 3 Way fridge, all you need for cooking up a feast. Bathroom with Thetford toilet, sink on a panel which swivels making the shower cubicle. There are a wealth of cupboards for storage, and she has many great extra's such as the TV, solar panel, fiamma wind out awning, fiamma bike rack & more. Even the bathroom & wardrobe doors are bespoke roller doors which save on space And here - Under 3500KG, Central Locking, 3-Belted Seats, 3-Point Seatbelts, Webasto Diesel Heating, Sink, Separate Shower, Mains, Loose-Fit Carpets, Large Fridge/Freezer, Leisure Battery, Flyscreens/Blinds, Heating and Hot water, Grill Double Bed, 4 Burner Hob, 12V Control Panel, Roof Light, Ladder, Double Glazing, Awning, CD Player, Power Steering, Electric Windows, Cruise Control. And here - Full length door with opening window and separate full length flyscreen, Omnistor electrically operated 2 tread entry step. KITCHEN AREA:- Window with night blind and fly screen. Storage lockers above. Rooflight with fly screen. Full size Cooker with 1 electric + 3 gas rings, Grill, Oven, + storage below. Slide out and lift up work top extensions. 240 volt mains socket. Floor level storage cupboard with cutlery drawer within. Stainless steel sink and drainer. 3 way Fridge. BATHROOM:- Full length external door mirror. Thetford swivel cassette toilet. Sink with storage under and mirrored cabinet over. Refillable hand soap dispenser. Separate large shower cubicle. Window with night blind and fly screen. Roof light with flyscreen. 3 Large Fiamma storage pockets.Towel rail and ample hanging hooks. LOUNGE SEATING AREA:- Light and airy U shaped seating area with storage underneath and lockers above. Heki rooflight. 3 large windows with curtains, night blinds and fly screens. 6 LED spotlights. All round ceiling level 12volt lighting. Free standing dining table. Radio turn off/overide switch. 12 volt socket. 240 volt mains socket. TV Ariel socket. 2 x magazine racks. Gas fire with large wardrobe above housing the coffee and dining tables. GENERAL:- On board fresh water storage tank with external filler and locking cap. On board waste water storage tank with easy drain tap. 3 ceiling lights. Loose fit carpets. End U shaped lounge easily converts into double bed. On board Water pump and surge damper new this year. 85ah Leisure Battery new 2015. Fitted batteries charger. Illuminating controls panel. Certificated gas safety check 2015. Spare wheel. Side storage locker. Wind down rear corner steadies and winding handle. Large lockable external gas locker. No pets/smokers. EXTRAS:- Leisure gas fixed refillable cylinder system, with external filler, capacity 11kg /21.5 litres, excellent for uk/european travels, just refill at fuel station, much cheaper and easier than exchanging heavy cylinders. Fiamma 2 Bike rack. Fiamma wind out awning with removable centre tensioning rafter. Fitted Smoke alarm. Fitted Carbon monoxide alarm. Fitted Fire extinguisher. Fitted fire blanket. Fiamma storage pockets in bathroom. Insulated "Taylor-Made" longer length external screen cover. Continental LPG gas filler adapters. Caravan Club Pitch marker. Pair levelling ramps with storage bag. Removable winter fridge vent covers. Fresh water filling hose.

 

[pampam]

I look all the time and get all excited at the thought of a cheap motorhome and yes they usually turn out to be scams ……..everybody is out to rip you off eh?

 

[TheBig1]

They spend little time finding their adverts to clone and copy all the text, without any formatting usually. Then paste it with photos of the vehicle at what is usually a bargain price.

If you make contact, often it is apparent that English is a second language, as most are abroad and run loads of scams as a business model. They only need to catch a few people a week to pay a deposit to make a really great income. Recovery of such losses is impossible

 

[Figaro]

And the worst of it is that ebay don't seem to care or make any effort to stop such adverts.
I used to report them, but within a day or two they're back up again.

 

[Trevor Wbm]

These two vehicles look very similar - one in Lincs and one in Yorks.

2007 Auto Roller 200 2 berth Motorhome | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2007 Auto Roller 200 2 berth Motorhome at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

Roller Team Auto Roller 200

Roller Team Auto-Roller 200 2008, 2 berth motorhome for sale in East Riding of Yorkshire. Manual gearbox and Right-hand Drive with 15,584 miles. Find out more.

www.motorhomedepot.com

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[Emmit]

These two vehicles look very similar - one in Lincs and one in Yorks.

2007 Auto Roller 200 2 berth Motorhome | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2007 Auto Roller 200 2 berth Motorhome at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

Roller Team Auto Roller 200

Roller Team Auto-Roller 200 2008, 2 berth motorhome for sale in East Riding of Yorkshire. Manual gearbox and Right-hand Drive with 15,584 miles. Find out more.

www.motorhomedepot.com

What are the chances of two identical vans being sold on the same drive at the same time with the same photo's.?

One by a reputable intermediary (that's actually sold it?)and the other by a shyster trying to dupe someone.

 

[pampam]

 

[pampam]

I ve never reported anyone for anything in my life ,but this really ticked me off cos i got really excited,and then realised nope its another scam