# eBay helicopter: Is this a scam? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 27, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-helicopter-is-this-a-scam/358452 "2006-05-27T14:55:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-helicopter-is-this-a-scam/358452/1 "2006-05-27T14:55:10Z")
[1967 Hugues 269A on eBay](http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EXCELENT-Hughes-269-A-Helicopter_W0QQitemZ4644269251QQcategoryZ63680QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem). I almost bought a 1961 Hughes 269A about four years ago from a dealer for $45,000. Only I found out that if I wanted to use it as a rental (which I would have had to have done to help defray the cost) insurance would cost about $13,000/year. There are a couple of 269s on eBay now. One is $79,000 and the other has a buy-it-now price of $110,000. A couple of things make me suspicious. First, the seller says he’ll sell it outright for $25,000. The ad says that there are 3300 hours remaining on the main rotor blades (which IIRC have a replacement schedule of 4000 hours – and last I checked they went for something like $15,000 each). Second, the seller is in Spain; but the aircraft is registered in the U.S. and has a current Michigan state permit. Third, the seller has his email address in the area where he states the $25,000 selling price. This seems to be a common thing with scamsters. What’s lacking is the traditional ‘This item is being relisted because the the last winner was a deadbet’ statement. And of course, if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is. ---
**Author:** ![thursday\_next](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@thursday\_next](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thursday_next)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-helicopter-is-this-a-scam/358452/2 "2006-05-27T15:49:16Z")
According to the linkie, it is now an invalid item. Looks like you dodged a bullit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-helicopter-is-this-a-scam/358452/3 "2006-05-27T16:00:44Z")
Didn’t really dodge a bullet, since I’m not in the market (yet). But it was good practice for my scam-spotting skills. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-helicopter-is-this-a-scam/358452/4 "2006-05-28T07:30:06Z")
I know nothing about helicopters, nor e-Bay for that matter. However, my brother has been selling classic Mustangs on e-Bay for a friend of his and has given me some info - at least for cars. You can pay to have the item checked out by a professional…so I would assume you could Google and find someone in Spain to do an independent check and see if such a helicopter even exists, and if it is in working condition, and if it is worth the money. For the Mustangs, this check costs $99.00…probably more for a helicopter, I would assume. Still, even if it cost you $300.00, it would be worth it at that price to have the helicopter checked out to see if it is worth it. If not, you blew $300…if yes, you found one hell of a deal. Too late now, but might help you next time you see something like this for sale.