I saw a Kubota tractor on Craigslist, so I sent an email inquiry. Here the response:
I’ll note that the $5200 price is definitely too low for a tractor in good condition, as is $150 for shipping.
The Craigslist posting gives a location about an hour from me, so I’m inclined to see if I can drive to look at the thing - perhaps it is actually being held by a shipping company. But the awkward wording and too-good-to-be-true pricing seems to say “scam”.
Is there any known eBay payment scheme that matches what’s being described here?
Don’t be so cynical, Absolute! If you can’t trust people from the Canada then who can you trust?
Seriously, any money you send will disappear along with the tractor and the seller. Tell him you want to drive out to see the thing and you’ll get the run around.
I looked for Kubota tractor in ebay, and came up with this. I can’t see anything that seems to match your one.
You can make a deposit in ebay, but only up to $2000 according to this. But if it is not actually an ebay listing, then presumably the seller means using just Paypal. What happens in that case, I have no idea.
I think that is one of the biggest giveaways: trying to make you feel secure by using the ebay name. But how he hopes to continue it when the purchaser actually tries to make an ebay deposit puzzles me.
This is probably it. I think you’re over analyzing it. There probably isn’t a tractor to begin with. If you want to string him along, ask to go see it. I’ll bet the communications stop or he asks for money before he’ll tell you where it’s located.
I will definitely not be sending money. If any changes hands, it will be on a basis of “I hand you cash, you hand me the keys to the tractor we are standing next to.”
In an amazing coincidence (a/k/a quick search on google), there appears to be a camper for sale and a nearly identical offer!
*Hello and thank you for your email. This is the first time that I sell something on the internet but I have decided to try it since all my friends here in the United States have been successfully using this system for quite some time.
I have analyzed all my options and I came to the conclusion that the safest way to do this deal is using the service of eBay, that can give us both the safety and the guarantee necessary to end the transaction in a secure way.
I have applied for this service and I’m willing to pay for their fee if you agree using their service.
People have asked me the reason for which the small price. The answer is simple: I do not wish to waste much time on this transaction. The camper is in great shape, never been involved in any accidents and looks exactly like the images and the description and the engine functions great. I wish to inform you, that I lived in United Kingdom for 3 years and have bought the camper there. That is why I am selling it there, because it is registered in United Kingdom. The camper is currently in the possession of the shipping company in United Kingdom waiting to be shipped to any location. As far as the price of the camper, that is £6,900 like you already know, this also includes the transport fees.
The first payment that is £2,900 would have to be transmitted to eBay.
The shipping is started, and in 2-3 days after this you will receive the camper.
Then you have 7 days in order to examine and control it.
After these 7 days you must inform eBay about your decision.
In the case you don’t wish to keep the camper, you must send it back and £150 it will be deducted from the payment you already made for shipping purpose.
I understand that we are both protected through the rules and regulations eBay with regard to the safe trade on the Internet. If you are interested in the purchase and if you agree to use the services of eBay, for both our safety, write back for the more information. *
P.S. If you google one sentence from this ad, you will come up with hundreds of posts from people in forums asking if this sale of a motorboat, car, tractor, camper, motor home, motorcycle, car etc is legit. It’s not.
I’m impressed that he apparently went to intensive English classes and upped his level to native speaker in between the sales post and that email. You should buy the tractor just for that. If not, I have a brand new combine harvester, an’ I’ll give you the key…
Be aware that in many of these scams involving a shipper, the whole point of the scam is to get you to send money to the shipper, who is actually the scammer.
The shipper may be viewed by some as a neutral third party. When you are talking about a tractor and several thousand dollars sending a couple hundred dollars to the shipper to get things moving might not appear to be a major concern.
But there is no tractor and all the scammer is interested in is the money sent to the shipper.
Ebay has millions of customers, but he has a special deal with them. He must be have some awesome connections.
Just for kicks, I’d send one more email. “I noticed the tractor is located about an hour away from me and I’m going to be in that neighborhood tomorrow afternoon. Could you give me the address so I could take a look at it before I put any money down on it?”
I’ll bet you don’t even get a response. If you do it’ll either be a flat out no or some excuse that’ll require money before you can see it.