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Miller 211 Welder

Strouty

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Mar 21, 2010
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That's what I was thinking, but if they hacked multiple accounts, you would think at least one would get reported, which would then lead Ebay on to all of the other users that were hacked by looking at purchase/feedback history.

We can't see the buyers account info, ebay scrambles it. Some of them could have sat unused for 10 years. Way back when you could click on the bidder or buyers ebay ID, you would be able to see this clear as day. I am sure there is a bunch of people working on this one. I wonder if there is more of a fraud case since they are taking money internationally?
 
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Strouty

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Mar 21, 2010
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The one thing that got me was the pictures. They are not lifted from another ad. The only source I could find was that particular seller and all links went back to ebay in one form or another. Again, these guys are smart.
 

AnthonyJ124

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Nov 28, 2010
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674
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Southeast
Just did my research on the seller and it smelled really funny. 100 sales in 48 hours, I be that is a world record. I guess if you guys want to buy the Brooklyn Bridge then have at it.


For a small seller with <1000 sales that would be a record breaker, but there are plenty of bigger companies on eBay that easily do 100s of sales in a day. A friend of mine runs a wholesale bike parts company and has a dozen people on staff processing and shipping, and a handful more people working off-site just listing items. Easily handling 100+ orders a day.

That said, for this seller with only 150+ feedback, 100 sales in a day undermines some of my confidence.

Time will tell! I'm not hurt if it ends up a scam, the miller rebate deal runs until July and there's always the chance of another zoro deal.
 

thachman

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May 11, 2014
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137
I sell a good bit of stuff on EBay. Once you've sold a certain amount of stuff, they don't hold the money for transactions anymore. You established trust. It's available to withdraw to your bank account immediately. It would be perfectly feasible for a scammer to open multiple eBay accounts, and do something like this. All those previous welder sales could simply have been a posting with one account, and a purchase with another account. As long as they paid the eBay fees, eBay has no idea whether or not an actual product changed hands or was ever really shipped. So, in theory you could falsify the sales of 50 welders, pay the eBay listing fees, and get your seller rating to the point where they no longer hold money. Then make off with a ton of cash such as this. Despite their best efforts, eBay has terrible flaws because criminals will always find the loopholes and ways to game the system. Cyber crime is better and more sophisticated than it ever has been.
 

Strouty

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For a small seller with <1000 sales that would be a record breaker, but there are plenty of bigger companies on eBay that easily do 100s of sales in a day. A friend of mine runs a wholesale bike parts company and has a dozen people on staff processing and shipping, and a handful more people working off-site just listing items. Easily handling 100+ orders a day.

I was not commenting on a 100 sales in general, I was saying 100 sales of the same welder was crazy. If it was welding gloves, I would not have the same position.
 

ishiboo

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Mine just arrived... I thought I was ordering a single Powermax for $1100 but he sent the whole pallet as pictured!

A+++++ transaction.
 

ishiboo

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The one thing that got me was the pictures. They are not lifted from another ad. The only source I could find was that particular seller and all links went back to ebay in one form or another. Again, these guys are smart.

I completely agree.

Not only that, the barely readable picture of the 211 has the correct part number.

That's why I haven't called 100% scam on this yet.
 

rice rocket

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Mar 24, 2011
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3,175
Not trying to be stupid or argue, but how would me buying something and utilizing American Express' existing and advertised resources to refund my purchase make everyone's card fees go up? I've been a cardholder for years, never used their service for a refund and pay off my card monthly. I'd guess that I keep the card fees down, but maybe I am that ignorant.

Because there's no free lunch, it's a basic principle in money. You can't materialize money out of nothing, someone pays for these millions in fraud cases a year, and it's the cardholders. Don't ask the executives to take a pay cut... :shocking:


Not only that, the barely readable picture of the 211 has the correct part number.

I'm guessing the seller actually sold welders before the account was hijacked. And then the scammers just reused the the listing details?
 

Spudland_Dave

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I think these guys did it right, they hacked multiple accounts to use as buyers for the feedback, they did this over a long period of time so everything looks legit. Then they go in for the kill. If they just out of the blue started selling hundreds of high end items, ebay would have shut them down, they started slowly and then ramped it up.

Ebay makes it really difficult to see what is going on, you used to be able to see purchases and user IDs so you could tell what the person was buying.

I think the biggest hint to me was the feedback that this so called seller left.

Where I was going with my original statement is under normal "non internet forum stoked buying frenzies"....I bet the scammers would have sold what, 5-6 units for the duration of the listing....enter the "Hey look at this deal" panic like we see EVERYTIME something like this gets posted. If Anything they should send the members of GJ a Thank you card for the free advertisement and cause for the frenzied panic and resulted in what...100 welders being sold in 12 hours.. :bounce:
 

carczar_84

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Feb 20, 2013
Messages
8
Location
Sacramento, CA
Just got this email from the seller, we shall see. . .

Dear xxxxxxxxx,

the volume of welders we sold creates a lot of speculation, the detail people forget is that we been selling these since February, all customers have been satisfied, We are currently not making profit of those, we are just recuperating cash flow for other investments, we acquired 162 welders from a major Canada distributor that I can't disclose. Let's say they definitely don't sell Miller anymore.

Expect tracking info today, and reception of box Wednesday max,

I am really not into the online discussion stuff as welding is not my field at all.

Let people talk... and the non believers will just be out of a great opportunity.

Cheers

Nicholas

- gillaca
 

AnthonyJ124

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Location
Southeast
Very interesting email. ISNT THAT EXACTLY WHAT A SCAMMER WOULD SAY?? Lol.

Thanks for posting your response from the seller. I still have some faith.
 

Strouty

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I would absolutely love to have a happy ending as well, but this also has the makings of a great James Bond story…….. The evil welderman smothered the village with welders and plasma as far as the eye could see!
 

carczar_84

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Feb 20, 2013
Messages
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Location
Sacramento, CA
Very interesting email. ISNT THAT EXACTLY WHAT A SCAMMER WOULD SAY?? Lol.

Thanks for posting your response from the seller. I still have some faith.

Yeah, I'm not exactly holding my breath on this one. If it works out great, I scored a welder, if not, no worries, the transaction is protected.

Not worth getting too worked up over yet!
 

ishiboo

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It's not a bad response... we shall see! Hope my Hypertherm comes, and if it does I wish I would have gotten a 211 despite the fact I already have a 252.
 
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thachman

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May 11, 2014
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137
My wife says I'm cynical and jaded as hell, but that email response has scam written all over it. Just seems like a stall tactic to me. Again, has anyone gotten an actual tracking number or has he just marked these as shipped?
 

Strouty

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People mentioned getting tracking numbers, but they were not working. The "seller" can use this to their advantage because ebay allows leeway for shipping and delivery. Every transaction before these seems legit, so it is hard not to give them the benefit of the doubt, but it is also very easy to make the leap to scam as well.

Still sending good thoughts……………………..
 

s.hembree

Active member
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Nov 24, 2011
Messages
40
I ordered a plasma and welder at separate times. Both tracking numbers I was issued are the same, and go nowhere at FedEx.
 

Fordman7795

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Mar 31, 2011
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Bay City, MI
Wow I am totally late to this party. I just ate 4 bags of popcorn reading it all. I am very intrigued to see the final result. I do need a spool gun but I dont need a whole new welder. Anyone want to sell their spool gun if/when they get it?
 

Fordman7795

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Im learning toward scam but if it is, he really knows what hes doing. Most scammers do a hit and run. He is fielding questions and what not.
 

Fordman7795

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He did tend to accept lower offers from people closer to montreal (or his shipping point in the US) and higher offers from the west coast. A scammer wouldnt care where his $600 came from
 

kpv

Active member
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
32
Howdy, first post here and wanted to share my experience with this so far. Found GJ looking for tool boxes and I have been waiting for 2 months for the 72" box to go back on sale...
Anyhow, I also found this ebay sale here and ended up getting one of the 625 extreme plasma cutters. Ended up paying for it and then all the speculation began. Ended up messaging "Nicholas" several times and have heard many of the same things that have been posted already. However, he also accepted a MM211 offer i made yesterday but I haven't paid him yet. Told him I was holding off on making that payment until I was comfortable this was a legit deal.

Here's my original question:

Dear gillaca,

Hello Nicholas,

I see you've created a shipping label for this plasma cutter but I'd like to know when you anticipate FedEx picking it up.

These listing are getting a lot of attention about their legitimacy, and since I also owe for a 211 I'm planning to hold off on payment till I know more about what's going on.

Please advise asap.

Here's his response:

Dear 817******,

Tonight you should see movement on it.. Latest tomorrow.

No sweat for other one. It's reserved for you until you feel ready to pay.


I have almost no 211s left. There will not be anything to speculate about anymore.

On 2015-06-18, 10:54 AM,

I still don't have any idea whether or not I'll be cutting metal soon, but if not maybe Zoro will have another deal soon...also learned about Zoro here on GJ!
 

bcradio

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Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Messages
6,017
Location
New Mexico
Just got this email from the seller, we shall see. . .

Dear xxxxxxxxx,

the volume of welders we sold creates a lot of speculation, the detail people forget is that we been selling these since February, all customers have been satisfied, We are currently not making profit of those, we are just recuperating cash flow for other investments, we acquired 162 welders from a major Canada distributor that I can't disclose. Let's say they definitely don't sell Miller anymore.

Expect tracking info today, and reception of box Wednesday max,

I am really not into the online discussion stuff as welding is not my field at all.

Let people talk... and the non believers will just be out of a great opportunity.

Cheers

Nicholas

- gillaca

Your eBay user name is 'xxxxxxxxx'? sweet... I wonder if xxxxxxxxxx is available. :rocker:
 
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