Miller 211 Welder

[dkroth]

So....how about some cliff notes for those of use that dont want to read 30 pages. Ive ignored this thread until I realized it was at 30 pages and thought there must be a smoking 'hot' deal in there....now it sounds like another scam.

Last Monday OP posted a link to an eBay auction selling Miller 211's for $795 or make offer. Some offers as low as $600 were accepted. There were about 13 welders available in the auction.

When that auction ended, there was another. And another. And another. And another. By the time it was all over the eBay seller had sold about 200 welders for between $600 and $700. He also had a handful of Hypertherm 45's and Miller 625 plasma cutters that were going for $1000.

eBay seller is in Canada and offered free shipping to the USA. Many people got FedEx tracking numbers, some tracking numbers showed progress, others didn't. The shipping weights reported in the tracking were inconsistent with the Miller published shipping weight.

Seller responded to eBay messages quickly, but his answers didn't alleviate people's concerns about where the welders came from, why they were so cheap and details regarding shipping.

A couple days ago the seller caught 4 negative feedbacks dating to just before this tread appeared. Then the auctions ended and he made his feedback private.

All along the way GJ's were speculating on the sellers intentions. There were calls and emails to eBay, Paypal, FedEx and even Miller.

No welders have landed in anyone's hands yet so the speculation continues.

 

[kunkernator]

Can't wait for tomorrow. Crossing my fingers for you guys that are expecting delivery.

 

[ER70S-2]

A couple days ago the seller caught 4 negative feedbacks dating to just before this tread appeared. Then the auctions ended and he made his feedback private.
.

The negatives came after this thread started. Look at post #441. They actually came right after everyone was all warm and fuzzy since they saw movement on their packages via tracking numbers. The timing sure added to the roller coaster effect.

I'm leaving work early and picking mine up as soon as it arrives at the terminal tomorrow.

 

[Strouty]

The negatives came after this thread started. Look at post #441. They actually came right after everyone was all warm and fuzzy since they saw movement on their packages via tracking numbers. The timing sure added to the roller coaster effect.

I'm leaving work early and picking mine up as soon as it arrives at the terminal tomorrow.

I think he meant that the negatives were from auctions that ended on a date prior to the thread starting.

 

[MikeF2316]

So....how about some cliff notes for those of use that dont want to read 30 pages. Ive ignored this thread until I realized it was at 30 pages and thought there must be a smoking 'hot' deal in there....now it sounds like another scam.

Like you, I ignored this thread until I saw how long it was. That was last night. Unlike you, I read the whole thing. I read 300 posts last night, the rest this morning.

The synopsis above by dkroth only skips over some warnings from a Mod that some posts were getting off topic and were deleted. (I guess I didn't see them.)

I hope all those folks either get their welders or money back.

 

[ER70S-2]

I think he meant that the negatives were from auctions that ended on a date prior to the thread starting.

Yes, I just realized what he meant. That is indeed what happened.

 

[cagullett1]

Probably doesn't mean anything, but I noticed the 211's pictured have yellow labels and my the 211 I got from zoro on Friday has all white labels.

My 211 I got from Zoro's last flash sale had a yellow sticker with the Serial # and model # on it.

 

[Strouty]

Cagulett1, that is what makes this so crazy, there is just enough truth to the story that it could be real and everyone that bought one could end up with a "you ****". Heck, I have convinced myself both ways on more than one occasion in this thread. After seeing the purchases the seller made and the 4 negative feedbacks, I am back in the scam camp 100%. I think that is why people think this thread is like a roller coaster.

 

[Cynical]

Strouty, if these guys get their welders you should pay a fine of $1 per post in this thread.

 

[Strouty]

Strouty, if these guys get their welders you should pay a fine of $1 per post in this thread.

So if I am right, who pays me?

OK, so if the guy delivers to all of the members that bought welders and plasma cutters, I will buy a GJ Alliance membership. If not, I may still buy one just because this is a great forum.

 

[Cynical]

So if I am right, who pays me?

OK, so if the guy delivers to all of the members that bought welders and plasma cutters, I will buy a GJ Alliance membership. If not, I may still buy one just because this is a great forum.

Each of them would be out $600+, so they could each toss another buck your way.

But your offer to buy the membership is pretty solid. Good on you.

 

[Strouty]

Each of them would be out $600+, so they could each toss another buck your way.

But your offer to buy the membership is pretty solid. Good on you.

If this goes south, I hope to hell that they get every penny back. We should know in the next 24 hours what is going on, I think a few are scheduled for Monday delivery.

 

[Toolfool]

I think Strouty already took the week off and is coordinating the effort of triangulation to find and terminate this seller with extreme prejudice. Hes racked up nearly 90 posts/4.5 pages worth here alone.

He still won't catch Kevin.

 

[Strouty]

He still won't catch Kevin.

That is the truth!

I really do think his avatar types his posts while he does other things!

 

[Certified Drunk]

He's probably long gone...Took the cash and closed his bank account.

 

[ChevyEFI]

Making certain assumptions here . . .

I wish I could hit deals like that with a distributor closing out as a vendor for a particular manufacturer.

I hope there are lots of happy welders on the forum in the next few days.

 

[arnwoodwheels]

He's probably long gone...Took the cash and closed his bank account.

I have been selling on ebay for years. Even before paypal. With a seller with a low volume selling history like the one selling the welders paypal has a hold on the money until they start seeing delivery and positive feedback. In this case they will likely hold the funds for 30 days after most are delivered.

Paypal can not afford buyers being ripped off.

I am in on one. if this is a ripoff and i hope it is not it will take a couple of weeks to get a refund from paypal but we will get one.

 

[Strouty]

The problem is that is not how paypal handles things. That seller has been around long enough and "sold" other welders. Paypal may have locked things down due to volume at a certain point, but they definitely got a ton of money before that happened. Paypal says they can hold it for 21 days if they think it is needed and volume of sales is the only reason this seller would fit.

From Paypal's website:


Payment delays typically affect new sellers or sellers in categories that have a higher than average rate of refunds, disputes, or chargebacks.

In deciding whether to hold payments in a pending balance, we review many factors. These factors include transaction activity, the rate of customer disputes, the type of business, average delivery time, customer satisfaction, and history. We understand that some experienced sellers may be affected. While history with PayPal is important, it's only one of many factors we consider.

Here are some common reasons we may hold payments in a pending balance:

You have limited history or selling activity.

You have low Detailed Seller Ratings, negative Feedback, or other indication of below-
standard performance on eBay.

You have a high rate of customer refunds, disputes, claims, or chargebacks.

You're selling in a high risk category or industry such as tickets, travel, gift certificates, computers, consumer electronics, or mobile phones.

Your business or selling activity is inconsistent. For example, you have a spike in selling activity, your average selling price changes, or you started selling in a new category.

The account information you have provided is incomplete or inaccurate, or we're uncertain about the information you've provided.

Your withdrawal activity has changed.

 

[Fordman7795]

I have been selling on ebay for years. Even before paypal. With a seller with a low volume selling history like the one selling the welders paypal has a hold on the money until they start seeing delivery and positive feedback. In this case they will likely hold the funds for 30 days after most are delivered.

Paypal can not afford buyers being ripped off.

I am in on one. if this is a ripoff and i hope it is not it will take a couple of weeks to get a refund from paypal but we will get one.

scroll back a few pages and strouty posted the sellers recent buying history. It looks like he unloaded 10s of thousands of the cash on random high end stuff. His paypal account likely had a hi limit. His purchase history is very suspicious.

 

[kctyphoon]

its MONDAY - June 22nd

JUDGEMENT DAY.. lol.. cant wait

we should have started a pool betting on what shows up.. im saying its a framed picture of welder..

 

[dirttracker18]

Not to ruin people's hopes but I have had an issue where I had to put in a dispute with PayPal. They started an investigation and about a month later told me that they could not contact the seller in question, who has since closed his account, and thus could not collect my disputed funds.

Essentially if they could not collect they would not pay me ��

FWIW the seller had very good and high feedback prior to my issue but it fell apart in the days after I got screwed. Looks like he built up and then ran a scam and ran with the money.
I never did get my money back and have limited my use of both EBay and PayPal ever since.

I hope you guys get your equipment as it doesn't look good right now.

Good luck!

 

[squashman702]

Last Monday OP posted a link to an eBay auction selling Miller 211's for $795 or make offer. Some offers as low as $600 were accepted. There were about 13 welders available in the auction.

When that auction ended, there was another. And another. And another. And another. By the time it was all over the eBay seller had sold about 200 welders for between $600 and $700. He also had a handful of Hypertherm 45's and Miller 625 plasma cutters that were going for $1000.

eBay seller is in Canada and offered free shipping to the USA. Many people got FedEx tracking numbers, some tracking numbers showed progress, others didn't. The shipping weights reported in the tracking were inconsistent with the Miller published shipping weight.

Seller responded to eBay messages quickly, but his answers didn't alleviate people's concerns about where the welders came from, why they were so cheap and details regarding shipping.

A couple days ago the seller caught 4 negative feedbacks dating to just before this tread appeared. Then the auctions ended and he made his feedback private.

All along the way GJ's were speculating on the sellers intentions. There were calls and emails to eBay, Paypal, FedEx and even Miller.

No welders have landed in anyone's hands yet so the speculation continues.

Where are you getting the sales numbers?

 

[G_P]

Today many people will be either very, very happy, or extremely disappointed.

 

[dmw16]

At least one guy had his scheduled for delivery today. I certainly hope he took the day off to wait for fedex...

 

[jrugburn]

I got into this deal from the PBB.

As of this am, it appears as though 13 Miller 211 welders were sold via gallica's auction.

I sent him a vanilla email nicely requesting an update on shipping.

tick tock......it's Monday.

 

[s.hembree]

The welder and plasma I ordered are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. FedEx lists two 70lb packages. As unlikely as it seems my tracking info looks normal.

 

[Fordman7795]

Where are you getting the sales numbers?

Read the thread

 

[Fordman7795]

I got into this deal from the PBB.

As of this am, it appears as though 13 Miller 211 welders were sold via gallica's auction.

I sent him a vanilla email nicely requesting an update on shipping.

tick tock......it's Monday.

There were a lot more than 13 sold. Read back a few pages and you will see. Or just do a completed listing search on ebay

 

[Fordman7795]

Not to ruin people's hopes but I have had an issue where I had to put in a dispute with PayPal. They started an investigation and about a month later told me that they could not contact the seller in question, who has since closed his account, and thus could not collect my disputed funds.

Was that for an ebay item or an off ebay purchase?

 

[nerraw117]

the anticipation is killing me!

 

[mmack66]

That guy probably "sold" more welders in 3 months than Miller does all year.

 

[03protege]

I got into this deal from the PBB.

PBB?

Peanut Butter Banana?

Polybrominated biphenyl?

******* Bunny?

 

[jrugburn]

That guy probably "sold" more welders in 3 months than Miller does all year.

I think if the seller scammed a bunch of people in the last three months, there would be more than 4 bad reviews and the eBay police as well as PayPal would have shut his game down HARD.

Holding out for a delivery photo today....

 

[Stevedore]

It looks to me that he sold 224 of the Miller 211's, under 25 different Ebay listing #'s, many for the full $795 listing price. That's a lot of $$. I have no idea how Paypal currently works, but I'm guessing that he was able to pull some amount of $ out of his account & quickly disappeared.

I've had one Paypal dispute, and Paypal only refunded me whatever amount they were able to recover from the seller's account. I assume that they still work that way. In my case, it was a defective not-as-described item. Fortunately, I was able to resell the item, with the item's defects clearly described, for enough $ to make me more than whole.

Good luck to all the welder buyers; I hope you get them, or get full refunds.

 

[jrugburn]

PBB?

Peanut Butter Banana?

Polybrominated biphenyl?

******* Bunny?

Pirate Bulletin Board.
www.pirate4x4.com

 

[ishiboo]

As jrugburn said, if this is really a scam, he wouldn't have scammed all the people that bought in previous months and had no bad feedback from it. If it is a scam, those are also accounts that are compromised or used only for scams, and the sales never actually occurred.

He didn't leave feedback for any of those buyers - they just left him feedback. I find this to be one of the few mistakes on his part so far.

 

[ishiboo]

I'm really surprised GJ sold so many of these for them. The Zoro + Miller rebates deal seems like a much better option. Pay $904 during a Zoro 30% off, get a $275 spool gun for free. You're effectively at $625. You could send in the $200 rebate and then you're at $425. Or buy $400 of accessories and when the rebate comes you've got $400 of stuff for free?

The Hypertherm on the other hand is a steal if it's real.

 

[crewchief437]

I'm really surprised GJ sold so many of these for them. The Zoro + Miller rebates deal seems like a much better option. Pay $904 during a Zoro 30% off, get a $275 spool gun for free. You're effectively at $625. You could send in the $200 rebate and then you're at $425. Or buy $400 of accessories and when the rebate comes you've got $400 of stuff for free?

The Hypertherm on the other hand is a steal if it's real.

yeah after pulling the trigger on it i looked at that math and kind of regretted pulling the trigger. but if its legit i dont have to wait for the zoro sale and then another one if i miss the days sale.

 

[csmitty]

Yea the Zoro 30% is a little harder to come by. Then hopefully the rebate period wont' be over.

Mine was an impulse buy anyways. I've been on the lookout for a cheap used MM210 or 252 or the like but this would work just fine. That way I don't have to go out to dads office to use his MM210.

However. I'm still a bit concerned my weight is listed at 0.2lbs. I was in the 2nd round of listings. So maybe he sold his original lot of real welders so quick he got greedy and just relisted for a few days since it was so hot. Not having the inventory. Who knows.

 

[low_crew_cab]

I'm really surprised GJ sold so many of these for them. The Zoro + Miller rebates deal seems like a much better option. Pay $904 during a Zoro 30% off, get a $275 spool gun for free. You're effectively at $625. You could send in the $200 rebate and then you're at $425. Or buy $400 of accessories and when the rebate comes you've got $400 of stuff for free?

The Hypertherm on the other hand is a steal if it's real.

My reasoning was i didn't particularly need the spoolgun as i already have a spoolmate 1 for my other machine. Sure you could still buy it and then sell off the spoolgun for around $150. Markets going to be flooded with them pretty soon so that's all i think you'll be able to get out of them. I'd also have to pay sales tax since i'm in Texas. That's another $75 or so to add on top of the overall price. To me this was a better deal, at least i thought it was.