The seller, a guy named Fed, states that he will not accept any escrow. The delivery time of the bikes is approximately 5 or more weeks and the funds would not be released until then. Apparently the seller is in a big hurry to receive payment, which is why he will only accept payment by wire transfer. So, who feels like gambling?
Jay Van De Velde
Seal Beach, CA
--
DATE: Wed, 4 Jun 2003 20:28:55
From: "J.Dunn" <bikehunter@msn.com>
To: "Mara & Steven Maasland" <TheMaaslands@comcast.net>
Cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>As much as I'd hate to give ebay even one more dime, they have an escrow
>that is not very expensive, as I recall.
>
>John Dunn in Boise
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Mara & Steven Maasland" <TheMaaslands@comcast.net>
>Cc: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 6:13 PM
>Subject: Re: [CR]Please be careful
>
>
>> Ray wrote:
>>
>> > Some of you may have already seen these bikes. Some of you may
>> > have bid
>> > but just a word of caution. I don't know this person so I hate to
>> > judgethe book by its cover but here goes. This seller has zero
>> > feedback, they
>> > are selling a lot of bikes at one time. Some very enticing bikes
>> > that look
>> > like a deal. I see the one antique is up to almost $1300 with
>> > three plus
>> > hours to go. The rest are not yet that high. The seller is in
>> > Moskow "The
>> > Russian Federation" so you cannot visit easily should something go
>> > wrong.The last thing that raised the red flag for me (no pun
>> > intended) was this
>> > note recently added to all the auctions.
>> > "I should warn everyone who wants to participate in auction. I
>> > also want
>> > to warn everyone who already participates in auction. I do not use
>> > escrow.I ask you to understand me correctly. Time of delivery of a
>> > cargo will be
>> > 4-5 weeks. It does not depend on distance. It depends on
>> > efficiency of
>> > work of a delivery service. Thus I should wait for money of 4-5
>> > weeks. In
>> > my present position I can not so long wait. I want to apologize
>> > before all
>> > for this inconvenience."
>> > I have been around the block a few times and this just does not
>> > look good.
>> > I could be all wet but if any one of these issues was different my
>> > reaction would also be different. If it were me starting out I
>> > think I
>> > would explaine myself better and not sell this much at one time. I
>> > wouldbuild a reputation first. Hopefully this is just me being
>> > anal but wanted
>> > you to at least see what I see. Check any one auction and then
>> > look at all
>> > his auctions by hitting the "Visit Sellers Other Items" link on
>> > the page.
>> >
>> > http://ebay.com/
>> ViewItem&item=2177007343&category=420
>>
>> Should any list-member be the winning bidder on one of these bikes, I
>> am certain that we can collectively find somebody in Moscow who can act
>> as escrow party. I have a number of former business contacts there that
>> would probably be willing to act as Escrow for a fee. Do any other
>> listmembers have any ties?
>>
>> Steven Maasland
>> Moorestown, NJ