# Ruined Robinson on eBay **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruined-robinson-on-ebay/312167 "2005-07-12T13:39:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **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:** [July 12, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruined-robinson-on-ebay/312167/1 "2005-07-12T13:39:42Z")
I was browsing eBay, and came upon this crashed [Robinson R-22 Beta helicopter](http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4561415220&category=63680&sspagename=WDVW). Robinson rebuilds helicopters every 2,000 flying hours. This ain’t cheap. Last I heard (about six years ago), the factory rebuild cost $70,000. (Current price for a new one is about $180,000 IIRC.) Now, it’s _possible_ to rebuild this bird. But how much would _that_ cost? What the hell. The seller says there was a ‘photo estimate’ of the cost. (What’s a ‘photo estimate’?)So I used ‘contact seller’ to ask how much Robinson would charge to rebuild a destroyed helicopter. I got this reply: > [@](#): > > if you look at the pics included you will see their estimate that however is inclusive of a rebuild Uh-huh. :dubious: So here’s this guy with a NZ e-mail address, who doesn’t know how to format a paragraph or use punctuation, selling a U.S.-registered helicopter, and who evades the question. Not to mention that the description starts out with the ‘relisted due to deadbeat bidder’ line that scamsters like to use, and that this auction does not appear in the list of completed auctions. Gosh, sounds legit to me! Maybe I should buy it! Hah! And they say Americans are stupid! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruined-robinson-on-ebay/312167/2 "2005-07-12T14:40:10Z")
Actually, one of the photos is of a letter from the company estimating that the repair would cost $99,000, more or less. So he didn’t evade the question too much. Still, that helicopter looks pretty thrashed – they must have hit the ground mighty hard. Just looking at the pictures makes my spine hurt. ---
**Author:** ![cabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabdude)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruined-robinson-on-ebay/312167/3 "2005-07-12T14:47:31Z")
The NZ email addy, the US reg helo and the second grade writing make the whole thing rather suss. If the last buyer was a deadbeat - where is the negative feedback he left??? ---
**Author:** ![cabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabdude)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruined-robinson-on-ebay/312167/4 "2005-07-12T14:50:08Z")
No activity in the last six months and he changed his id on 31st May - could it be a hacked account? ---
**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:** [July 12, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruined-robinson-on-ebay/312167/5 "2005-07-12T14:56:22Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Actually, one of the photos is of a letter from the company estimating that the repair would cost $99,000, more or less. So he didn’t evade the question too much. :smack: Didn’t see that. > [@Finagle](#): > > Still, that helicopter looks pretty thrashed – they must have hit the ground mighty hard. Just looking at the pictures makes my spine hurt. Fortunately, the seats are designed to collapse. There’s also an occupant weight limit.