Possible eBay software scam?

quip

Here's an example: Office mac 2008 seller also selling Windows 7 Ultimate for €59.99 (nearly 6grands worth in the last month) but this is why I think its well dodgy

WE OFFER SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS AT SALE PRICES!
OPERATING FROM OUR BUSINESS PREMISES IN IRELAND IN CONJUNCTION WITH OUR SUPPLIER/MANUFACTURER WHICH IS BASED IN HONGKONG. ENABLING US TO PASS ON BULK WHOLESALE PRICES TO OUR CUSTOMERS. NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT OUR PRODUCTS TO DATE. EVERYONE HAS BEEN DELIGHTED WITH THEIR PURCHASES. WE STRIVE TO GIVE GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE PROCESS. THE DELIVERY SERVICES WHICH WE USE WITHIN OUR COMPANY ARE EMS SHIPPING, ANPOST.IE. HONGKONG AIRMAIL, ALL REGISTERED SERVICES; ALL GOODS TRACKED AND SIGNED FOR. PAYPAL IS THE PREFERRED METHOD OF PAYMENT, IF YOU REQUIRE ANOTHER METHOD DO ASK. THATS NOT A PROBLEM , CHEQUES ETC WILL REQUIRE CLEARANCE PRIOR TO DISPATCH. ALL SOFTWARE ITEMS DISPATCHED DIRECT FROM SUPPLIER IN HONGKONG, ALLOW EXTRA DELIVERY TIME AT PEAK XMAS

Now there's no hiding the item location (if you read the full listing) and buyers don't seem to be having any problem with the activation keys so apart from my gut feeling that nothing origninal comes from Hong Kong if there's a way of faking it why should I be so sceptical?

btw I didn't link to the sellers name as if their stuff is OK it seemed unfair for a google of their username to hit a page suggesting dodgy software.

Max Power1

Their feedback would indicate that the software is not genuine.

Exactly as described but surprised it came from China!

quip

Max Power1 wrote: »

Their feedback would indicate that the software is not genuine.

The feedback indicates it comes from China but the seller is now freely admitting that and still doing a good trade.

So you have to ask:

1) What would indicate to eBay that the item is not genuine and stop the listings? As far as I can see there is nothing you could report the seller for.

2) How is the buyer to know the item is not genuine? Not everyone realises that Hong Kong is not the most realiable place to buy software.

So far all I can see from the feedback are happy buyers who find it strange that software comes from China no one has said fake, scam, failed to activate or anything similar. The only real black mark against the seller is that they sold a list of suppliers for a while and got some negative and neutral feedback, that would be more than enough for me raise alarm bells.

Yes I'm quite sure its a scam but I think my point is that its not easy for a casual eBay user looking for the cheapest software they can find.

Even the way the stuff is listed is strange, buy it now, but only single items no more than a few listed each time, its softley softley catchy monkey. The items get listed and snapped up, even if there were something about the listing that could be reported the stuff is being bought very quickly so by the time eBay staff even get around to looking at the listing the items been sold and paid for.

Max Power1

I would say the fact that it comes from the far east would indicate to me that it is not genuine. The buyers are likely accepting that at the price, and, once it works, are leaving good feedback.

I use ebay a lot as part of my job, and one thing i would ALWAYS be wary of is buying branded items from the far east. 99.9% of the time they are fake. Some may work, but thats the chance you take. Remember that the asian copies of branded items can be bought in asia for fractions of the prices that the genuine items go for in the west.

quip

Some common sense in the feedback at last:

100% FAKE DVD's DO NOT BUY! I have checked with Microsoft and is VLK not retail!
Member ID rsgametech 05-Oct-10 17:53
WINDOWS7 ULTIMATE (#190448168829) EUR 59.95

but all the same if the seller walks away now they have netted at least 10,000 euros from eBay buyers and might not be easily traced.

rubadub

Max Power1 wrote: »

Their feedback would indicate that the software is not genuine.

So does the low price.