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yah just called goes to a machine....
yah just called goes to a machine....
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i'm all for having a little fun at the expense of people that are willing to spend obscene amounts of money instead of waiting a few weeks. but if i'm the guy who ran this auction, i'd spend the next few weeks in fear of the high bidder showing up at my doorstop to shove two of those playations up my *ss and beat me to death with the third.
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This reminds me of the Playstation 2 launch when people were selling PS2 boxes and idiots were buying them thinking that they contained actual PS2s, rather than just the empty box. Well, no matter what, this seller is trying to be deceptive and should be beaten with his 3 Playstation systems.
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Um, that's someone's ebay username, not a number for you to call.
Oh no! This zero-feedback brand new buyer might ruin his good name on ebay if he renegged on completing this auction!
He's not totally stupid yet. Not until he actually sends the funds is he a total dumbass.
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The lesson here, again, is don't sign anything-- even electronically-- that you haven't read.
Trying to be decpetive? As deceptive as my asking if you can change a $5 for two $10s.
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I applaud the seller. Darwinism at work.
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Brilliant!
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I at first didn't think he was trying to be deceptive until I read the description where he says \"NOWHERE CAN YOU FIND EVEN THE 20GB SYSTEM THIS CHEAP!... BUY THESE INSTEAD!\"
While he's right, you probably won't be able to find the 20GB system that cheap (900$) on ebay, it sort of implies it's a Playstation 3. Of course, anybody who actually bothers to READ will know, that's not what it is.
The seller intentionally was trying to sucker in retards looking for Playstation 3. He did a good job though, and earns kudos from me.
The buyer has 0 feedback. He won't go through with it.
Ouch! kinda like the guys selling *pictures* of their laptops on ebay. gotta read those descriptions very very closely. I don't bid if something smells remotely near the neighborhood of fishy.
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Wahahahah. Booya!
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ROFL. It's not even misleading, except a brief mention of 20GB.
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Hold on a second, ladies and guys. I'm a big proponent of personal responsibility but when someone, as here, INTENTIONALLY seeks to commit fraud, that's where I draw the line. As Amazinglarry points out, the very strong implication here is that it is the PS3 that is being sold. The entire language of the ad is intended to be deceptive. That's textbook fraud.
Maybe the buyer should have been more careful but this is most certainly one of those times where the buyer would be perfectly within his rights to tell the seller to go f#ck himself.
my favorites were the jerks who wanted hundreds of dollars for the rights to domains with the word playstation in 'em. because god knows how much money you could make if your storefront was at playstion3nowonsale.com... 'bestbuy.com'? 'amazon.com'? yeah right- who the hell ever heard of them?
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A contract is not enforceable when one party is mistaken and the other party is aware of and induced the mistake. The language in this auction is obviously formulated to induce exactly the mistake that the buyer made, so he probably shouldn't have to pay.
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My guess, seeing as it's a 0 feedback buyer, is that it is an ebay vigilante weeding out a potentially fraudelently misleading auction.
Just like the ebayer who bid $80 million and change for a PS3...
There are a lot of these people out there, who try to remove bad auctions becuase eBay won't...
Whether they are right or wrong, is not for me to decide (that's for corrupt judges/politicians), but persoanlly, I wish we had more of them.
The great line that seals it - You're bidding on Sony Playstations, 3 of them. Subtle... Nice when people screw with these auctions.
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crayonshinobi: here here! I was going to say something along those lines too.
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Criminals and Retards. Sounds to me like the target demographic for the PS3.
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To \"Buy It Now\" and end auction you have to pay immediately...sooo, buyer is screwed
1) it sounds deceptive and fraudulent. Deliberately misleading.
2) the bidder has 0 feedback. he won't pay.
You have to pay only if immediate payment is required (this is optional when you set up a \"Buy Now\" auction at ebay).
This was certainly a setup. Description like this can be easily confused if you are not careful:
\"You're bidding on Sony Playstations, 3 of them.\"
People celebrating this deception shouldn't be. Isn't the Consumerist specifically about protecting people from ripoffs? And isn't this as naked a ripoff as we're ever likely to see? Just because the offender wasn't a large corporation doesn't make it acceptable.
\"To \"Buy It Now\" and end auction you have to pay immediately...sooo, buyer is screwed\"
You only have to pay immediately on auctions which require immediate payment. This is an option selected by the seller and it may not have been for this auction.
\"Dumbass Ebayer Buys Three Original Playstations For $900\"
WTF??? I thought **Consumerist** was supposed to be pro consumer? Granted, consumers are not always right but this eBay sale seems to have been designed to confuse potential buyers. Normally, Consumerist headline would be \"Arsewipe Ebayer Original Playstations For $900\" rather than the other way around.
Fraud is bad. Making fun of the possible victims may be fun but it isn't what I thought this site was about. I'm rather disappointed in Consumerist and the gleeful \"me too\"ers who've posted in the comments.
In fact, the seller may have violated an Ebay policy with his auction--keyword spamming: sellers can't formulate their auction titles for the purpose of showing up on specific searches (e.g. \"Playstation 3\") if that's not what they are actually selling. It's like selling a fake Rolex and titling the auction \"Looks like a ROLEX!\"
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I can't believe some of the eBay auctions going on, like incredibly generic and super-long E-mail addresses (e.g. \"ps3_super_seller@aol.com\", etc). Some of them had bidding runups up to $50-600. My god, it's like a slaughterhouse of complete stupidity. It's kind of sickening, but I guess it's just as well a good thing that a fool and their money are parted.
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What's all this talk of the seller committing fraud or being misleading? Look at the fricking title of the auction. There is nothing misleading about it. NOTHING.
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HAHA, it is for 3 consoles with no games OR controllers. Meaning these are most likely used systems that dont even work.
I thought the text was very clear. If you are mislead by obvious scams like that, then u need your head slammed into a car door until u wake up from your \"perfect world where no one lies or steals.\"
But in my opinion, if this is a real buyer, it was most likely a clueless parent using ebay for the first time, and knows of the console as a \"Playstation\" and unaware of the numbers really.
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The buyer DID go through with it as he/she used the \"buy it now\" option. So they already ponied up the 900 bucks.
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They have 1 feedback now. So they paid for it. Poor sucker. :(
That 1 feedback is for a Wii in some other auction.
I don't see anything even remotely misleading about the auction. All the necessary information is there. If someone bids that kind of cash for what clearly states, \"You are bidding on Sony Playstations, 3 of them\", then they deserve to get ripped off.
I agree that this site is supposed to help people from getting ripped off, but if you are that stupid.... sorry, no sympathy here.
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Uh, no. I don't get vicarious and vindictive pleasure and fulfilment from seeing someone a bit uneasy with words get ripped off by a conning bastard. I don't have such a superior attitude as that. I just see someone getting ripped off by a con artist with clever wording, someone who just wanted a PS3, possibly for their kids for Xmas, and thought they saw a bargain.
I can't wait until you lot get older, a bit slower, a bit blinder, and you just want to buy your kids or grandkids a gift and one of these twats hits you because you aren't quite sure what its name is.
I'm with Skeptic on this one...what happened to the Consumerist? Who are these posters? For shame.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1623-100x100.png\")
Mrs. Salvatore had worked as a maid her whole life, and continued to work into what would normally be her \"golden years\", saving what little money she could to lavish on her beloved grandchildren.
This year she wanted to give her youngest grandchild, wheelchair-bound Mario, the object of his desire - a Sony Playstation 3. After her second shift she took two buses to the nearest Best Buy, where a pimply 18 year old laughed and told her they were sold out. He suggested she try Ebay.
Mrs. Salvatore took the bus to the public library and asked the nice man at the front desk to help her find the Ebay. She typed \"Playstation 3\" into the search window, just like he told her and found someone selling three of them for only $900. That was her monthly pay, but it meant that she could make Mario and two of his brothers happy that Christmas. So Mrs. Salvatore pressed the button to \"Buy Now\"...
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I'm with Skeptic on this one
Ditto.
I don't get the whole \"fraud is bad, except when I think the scam is obvious, then it's good\" mentality. It's like saying a car thief shouldn't go to jail because the victim forgot to lock their car doors. Last I checked, a crime is a crime regardless of how easy it is for the perp to take advantage of the victim.
And how the hell is this:
HOT ITEM! Not PRE-ORDERED...THERE IS NOWHERE TO FIND EVEN THE 20GB SYSTEMS THIS CHEAP....BUY THESE INSTEAD!not even a little misleading? Should someone only selling regular Playstations even be talking about 20GB systems and pre-ordering?
Not for nothin', but maybe it would be a good idea for Ben or Meghan to contact the seller, the buyer, or even Ebay to get their sides of this story. You probably won't hear from the seller but the other two might talk and put a human face on a messy situation.
I have a product for sale, I tell you what it is, you give me money and I give you the product. This guy wasn't promised a system and sent a smashed PS3, he bought what he contracted for. A hasty decision? Most probably. Will the buyer be more careful in the future. Let's hope.
Consumerist isn't pro-consumer by nature, it's a blog whose editors and readers take the side of who is right, whether that's the consumer or the supplier. Dissenting opinions are welcome.
Let me get this straight: when I got to a big retailer who promises me one thing, but then delivers another, I got screwed. When I go to a small retailer, who seems to be promising me one thing, but then delivers another, I'm an idiot? In other words, while it isn't the customer's fault for failing to read the small print at some huge retailer, and while it isn't the customer's fault for trusting the huge retailer in the first place, it is the customer's fault if the transaction is between two individuals? That's absolutely ludicrous. People celebrating this scam should be ashamed of themselves, if for no other reason than your own sheer hypocrisy.
\"Consumerist isn't pro-consumer by nature, it's a blog whose editors and readers take the side of who is right, whether that's the consumer or the supplier. Dissenting opinions are welcome.\"
Really, then it sure is poorly named. Perhaps it should be called \"WhoEverWeThinkIsRightist.com\".
While my post may be merely a dissenting opinion, I don't really see the value in a post ridiculing an anonymous buyer for falling prey to a blatant scam.
In what world would paying $300 each for $40 Playstations be something a buyer would do knowingly? **Clearly** the buyer thought they were buying a Playstation 3.
In what world would an honest seller offering a Playstation 1 write:
\"HOT ITEM! Not PRE-ORDERED..HAVE IN HAND...All are American Systems,,,
THERE IS NOWHERE TO FIND EVEN THE 20GB SYSTEMS THIS CHEAP....BUY THESE INSTEAD!\"
--with a \"Buy It Now\" price of $900?
This is a very clear case of obfuscation if not outright fraud. The seller meant to deceive and the buyer was deceived. Why Consumerist would take the side of an eBay Scammer is beyond me. Perhaps they should change the name to eBayScammerist.com
Consumerist and its editors should be ashamed.
\"Consumerist isn't pro-consumer by nature, it's a blog whose editors and readers take the side of who is right, whether that's the consumer or the supplier. Dissenting opinions are welcome.\"
Well then, \"Consumerist\" isn't a very good name for the site.
\"'I'm an idiot? In other words, while it isn't the customer's fault for failing to read the small print at some huge retailer, and while it isn't the customer's fault for trusting the huge retailer in the first place, it is the customer's fault if the transaction is between two individuals? That's absolutely ludicrous. \"
I'd say you are absolutely right. Let's take a look at a similar post about a huge retailer: \"CompUSA PS3 Bundle Turns Out to Be A Scam\".
In this case CompUSA is late with 2 pre-orders. How is that consumer somehow more ripped off than the eBay purchaser?? Perhaps Consumerist should re-title the post \"Dumbass PreOrders PS3 Bundle from CompUSA'? Or how about \"Dumbass Leaves Rented Car in National Park--Won't Pay Up!\" Or maybe \"Dumbass Pays Sprint $80 For Calls He Never Made.\"
It is clear, in my opinion, that the seller meant to deceive and that the buyer was deceived. An honest, straightforward seller would not write:
\"HOT ITEM! Not PRE-ORDERED..HAVE IN HAND...All are American Systems
THERE IS NOWHERE TO FIND EVEN THE 20GB SYSTEMS THIS CHEAP....BUY THESE INSTEAD!\"
There is no reason to say an old Playstation 1 is \"HOT ITEM! Not PRE-ORDERED\" unless you are trying to get people to think you are selling a hot, new Playstation 3. Same goes for the $900 \"Buy It Now\" Price.
I thought the words \"dumbass\", \"retard\" and \"ignorance\" did a fine job positioning Ben's opinion. \"Greed\" could go either way.
Funny becomes linked to.
Let me \"second\" the round of praise for the blog entry mocking the bidder as a \"retard\" along with a few commenters as well.
I understand how hard it is being a blogger and all what with racial epithets drawing the wrong kinds of attention. At least you have the good ol' genetic problem / fetal injury / metabolic disorder related brain problem fallback.
I haven't yet checked -- but was the elderly gentleman who bought the Jaguar called a \"retard\" in that blog entry? Or perhaps there was an Alzheimer's or \"LOL Dementia suxxorz!\" line in there somewhere?
\"I thought the words \"dumbass\", \"retard\" and \"ignorance\" did a fine job positioning Ben's opinion. \"Greed\" could go either way.\"
Of course greed can cut both ways. But, how is paying $900 for what you think is a Playstation 3 \"greedy\"? It's not greedy in the \"wanting to have more money sense\" since you are paying above retail. You don't know why the buyer purchased what was meant to look like a PS3. They could easily have been trying to buy a terrific gift for a loved one. Would **that** be greedy?
I didn't think Consumerist was about blaming the victim.!
PS,
Apologies for the quasi double post. The comment system was hanging and I re-wrote my post after the system apparently ate it.
It only hangs like that when you angrily click on the \"submit comment\" button.
has anyone actually called that number yet?