Someone's going to get screwed...

I sent an email to the lister of this auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2568628436&category=1573

He confirmed that he was not, despite the listing, selling a DCC gold CD of Aqualung, but only that ebay's new listing service had indicated it was as such. Noticably, he has made no efforts to change his listing since responding to my query, and the CD is now going for $6 up from the opening offer of $3. DO NOT bid on this CD if you think you're going to get a steal, unless you just want that crappy silver version this seller is offering.

 

Isn't the current high bidder a forum member?

Aaron

 

I'm not sure, but if he is, he should attempt to retract his bid ASAP. And I should add that there are at least 2 other Aqualung CDs being offered on ebay at the moment that also allege to be DCC gold CDs but are highly suspect, as the only mention is in the portion of the listing provided by ebay...

 

Yeah Aaron, it's Ian Lascell. Can someone PM him for me please and let him know? Thanks.

 

I created this thread as a public service to our members here, but ebay deserves a significant part of the blame for this and other erroneous listings out there at this time, as their system (apparently designed to give buyers additional info regarding CDs being sold) has some significant flaws that lists certain CDs as DCC golds when they are not. I first learned of the system's flaws when I put a bid on a Bob Seger DCC gold that, not only wasn't a gold, but DCC had never issued it as a gold CD, even though ebay's system claimed it as such. Unless and until ebay fixes this problem, we're going to have to be extra-cautious with our bids, and there's going to be a lot of pissed off buyers who pay too much to get something they didn't plan to buy.

 

Yup.

 

Just read this post. Crap! Be right back...

 

Thanks everyone for catching that. Thought I might get a deal, but now I might get a frisbee. Oh well.

 

ebay is odd about its grounds for allowing withdrawal of bids, and apparently learning that the item is not as listed is not one of the approved grounds for withdrawing a bid. I would withdraw the bid if you can, and otherwise, send an email to the seller verifying the CD isn't a DCC gold and asking to be relieved of the purchase obligation, assuming some other sucker doesn't outbid you before the auction closes. It may have been an honest mistake several days ago when this guy listed the auction, but his failure to correct the listing after it was pointed out to him makes the auction downright fraudulent. Unless he can deliver what he claims to be selling, I don't see that you have any obligation to buy it.

 

I did just try to retract my bid, and eBay wouldn't allow me because there is less than 12 hours left in the auction. So I emailed the seller and explained that if the description was wrong and this is not a DCC Gold CD as advertised then could he please remove my bid, as I have no intention of purchasing it. Hope he reads his email regularly.

 

Well, like I said, someone's gonna get screwed. Depending upon how much you offered as a maximum bid, there's a good chance it won't be you, as someone else will try to snipe this "deal" before the auction closes. I would not be surprised to see it sell in the $30 range. I'll be watching it with interest this evening. I can't believe this seller made no efforts to correct his listing. Unbelievable...

 

Looks like all bids are withdrawn. Zero bids but still listed as a gold DCC.

mud-

 

Actually, he closed the auction, as it now says:

"The seller ended this listing early because of an error in the listing. "

All's well that ends well, but ebay needs to get its head out of its ass.

 

The seller here has some pretty shabby feedback but not nearly as bad as one of the guys who left him feedback who has the worst f/b I have ever seen. Must be a shill for a guy out to bust video pirates.

In the immortal words of Monty Python: Run Away!

Peace-
Norm

 

It looks like eBay is beginning to incorporate Half.com. They often have this kind of product listing error (sometimes on purpose by the seller) with their sytem of item listing. Since the two sites are eventually going to be 100% merged I guess we all can look forward to this kind of situation.

 

With an ebay username of "videopiracybuster" I think there's little doubt about that!

 

Yeah-
These used to be an eBayer called "buyerofresealedcd's" too and he was a real pain in the ass. Takes all kinds I guess.

Peace-
Norm

 

The seller never replied to my emails, but at least he ended the auction, so I am off the hook and happy. I guess I'd be happier if I had just won an Aqualung DCC, but this is a distant second. Thanks again for the heads up regarding this auction.

Now I have a bid in on one of the others listed in a similar way, so I sent that seller an email as well asking about the accuracy of the description. Haven't heard anything back yet. I think I may change my bidding habits to be sure that DCC is mentioned in the title or other parts of the description for now on. I guess that summary box is not to be trusted.

 

Just a heads up to other ebay buyers:

I also had a bid in on another DCC Aqualung that the seller sent me photos of and it turns out to be the standard Chrysalis release. And about a week ago I won an auction for a Doobie Brothers DCC (it said Gold disc right in the title too!). It arrived yesterday and is a BMG club disc, standard aluminum. So now I am going through the hassle of returning the CD to the seller to get my money back. He told me he typed in the SKU # and ebay did all the rest. I'm not even sure what is a DCC gold CD anymore!

 

I had glanced through your other auctions when I first posted that, and was afraid that that was going to be the result of that Doobie Brothers auction, but am sorry to see it was true. I think you paid like almost $20 for that CD, didn't you? The seller must have been so proud of himself, getting that kind of scratch for a record club CD that you could buy new for about $12. Good luck in getting your refund! ebay ought to refund all the transaction fees on this as they're the cause of all this confusion.

 

I am looking at my TurboLister program, and I see that I have the option to add multiple items to my auction by using the SKU number IF I want. But, I can also just list things as a standard auction.

Ebay has its head you-know-where on listing CDs...

 

I appreciate the heads-up here. While I don't buy too many DCC gold CDs on eBay, I will be looking for pictures of the actual disc up for sale. In addition, I will e-mail him or her for confirmation that the disc is the DCC gold CD. If the seller doesn't reply, I won't bid. Simple as that.

 

When listing by the UPC, the funny thing is, it doesn't include "DCC" in the title, but instead just says "Gold Disc." Guess I can understand that, but what's really funny though is that it often doesn't put "CD" in the title unless seller does it manually. It will put in elipses - those "..." but doesn't put "CD" in the title. Too funny! An easy way to find some bargains from less knowledgeable sellers.

Wouldn't the term "CD" be common in any eBay search of compact discs - a MAJOR category of theirs?

As always with eBay, I finish with "Always wonder."

 

The demise of half.com will be a real blow -- I have bought a good chunk of my CD collection off that site. The wish list feature is an incredible service.

I can't imagine all those half.com sellers are going to move their inventory to eBay, with all the monitoring and fees associated with an auction site. Can you imagine running a large used CD shop, and re-listing all your unsold inventory over and over? They'll move to amazon.com, or one of the other fixed-price, media-specific sites.

 

Good point, Ron. ebay can kill its half.com if it wants, but will only cause its users to find an alternative. One big downside to ebay is the limited time frame of items listed, and someplace like amazon.com will easily fit that bill.