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General discussion

Ebay doesn't care if you get ripped off!

Jul 4, 2010 4:59AM PDT

If any of you get the chance please check out this Ebay auction.

:RTQ:US:1123">http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180526662855&ssPageName=ADMELove:RTQ:US:1123

It is for a Kingston 512GB flash drive. What some of you may not know is Kingston does not make a 512GB flash drive and the picture of the item I believe is an old 4GB flash drive. I contacted the seller with my thoughts about the drive being fake and he informed me he had used the drive and to stop wasting his time. I then with over three days left in the auction reported the item to Ebay. You can see the auction was not stopped and an item worth about $10 sold for $222.50. There has been a rash of fake large capacity flash drive being sold on Ebay and they seem to be completely blind to the practice.

Discussion is locked

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This isn't news for the most part
Jul 5, 2010 3:34AM PDT

Using Ebay has always been a "buyer beware" thing. People need to do research before buying things from them.

Also, as long as they get their fees, they won't really care. I tried to sell my PSP with custom firmware on Ebay. It didn't have any games on it or anything and Ebay has unlocked/jailbroken iphones/ipods and modded Xbox 360s. They took down the listing then gave me some generic response when I pointed out the double standard they have going on.

Not to mention the trouble that most people have to go through to get a legitimate SELLER on Ebay. Back in 07 I had to put up the same auction a few times because scammers would buy the item. To their credit, Ebay would send a letter warning me not to ship the item and refund the fees, but it's a major hassle.

I avoid Ebay like the plague nowadays unless there is an awesome deal and I've done enough research. Even then, I take precautions as to not get ripped off.

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What you could have done

All you would have had to do is ask the question in the auction, instead of emailing the seller. You'd just ask, "Are you sure this is a 512GB memory stick, because Kingston's own website shows that they only go up to 32GB." I don't know if the seller can delete the questions.