Another ebay telescope sale scam?

[JamesF]

Looks like one to me:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Astro-Physics-AP130EDFGT-Gran-Turismo-Apochromatic-Telescope-Refractor-/261520813791

James

[kalasinman]

why?

[Cornelius Varley]

Definitely a scam.  The seller requires you to contact them directly through their gmail account, which is always the first indicator, The second one is that the price is always the same. Another reason that this is a scam is that the "seller" usually has a number of items to sell, always contact them first, always the same price.

[JamesF]

Yup.  Also the seller appears to have listed nothing for sale in five years, so to list a rare high-value OTA is unusual.  To list it at the same time as a set of high-value speakers and have no obvious history of selling or buying anything similar in recent feedback is not confidence-inspiring either.  And they're on a short auction.

I wouldn't touch it with yours.

James

[Cornelius Varley]

The scammers have actually been very quiet recently. The two usual telescope they have "for sale" are an Astrophysics 6" Planetary refractor and a Meade SCT. Amongst their other items there will be a number of mountain bikes, pro DLSRs, musical instruments and keyboards, all being sold at the same price.

[JamesF]

The scammers have actually been very quiet recently. 

I wonder if that might be down to ebay requiring everyone to change their passwords because of the Heartbleed vulnerability?

James

[Cornelius Varley]

I wonder if that might be down to ebay requiring everyone to change their passwords because of the Heartbleed vulnerability?

James

Possibly

[ronin]

Has to be a scam or a very stupid seller.

A 130EDF will go for about £4000, they have a buy it now price of £1800.

Wonder if anyone has emailed and asked for the address a so they can hand over £1800 and take the scope away?

[m.tweedy]

now removed

[Adrian Condon]

Hi James,

I like the way eBay have reacted. The message appearing............. Item 261520813791 is no longer available.

24 items found similar to 'Astro Physics AP130EDFGT Gran Turismo Apochromatic Telescope Refractor.......

Not one of the items comes anywhere near it, they are light years away.

Well spotted.

Cheers

Adrian

[Moonshane]

I had a spurious item added for sale on my account recently despite having already changed my password. It was a camper van based in Dundee. Ebay reacted quickly to my request to sort it out. I reassuringly had to go through several circuitous routes to get my account reactivated.