A fool and his money are soon parted...or another eBay hoax??

[mitchelr]

Another example of how a fool and his money are soon parted.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280010450935#description


Mitch

[Joe Hohmann]

Who parted with their money? I don't see any bids. The only "fool" is the seller, who will have to pay a "listing fee". Joe

 

[Bob Keller]

I think it is probably just comedy relief from the high-stress auction environment. Insert improvised smiley face here.

[jd-train]

Actually I've previously been told that sometimes sellers will use an outrageous price as part of a fishing trip to find out how much someone might offer for an item.

Ebay fees for any insertion above $500 is only $4.80, so look at all the publicity this guy is getting for less than five bucks!

Jim

p.s. some of the Q&A associated with the listing are hilarious!

[fwright]

I agree.  It can't be serious with just the one picture!  Obviously, the guys asking questions aren't too serious either.

Fred W

[Anonymous]

That's absolutely hilarious!  I really got a kick out of reading the questions about the item!

[1688torpedo]

Yikes!   That's a lot of $$$$$$ for a common train like that. Imagine how much money this guy would try to get for a Corvair!   BTW- Bob(Overlord)  I like your smiley face.We need a Three Stooges version for topics like this or at least a Red Skelton variation. Take Care all.

[3railguy]

Holy cow!!!! I sold an orange 248 five years ago for $150!!!!

[4kitties]

The best part is that shipping is only twenty-three thousandths of one percent of the purchase price.  What a bargain!

Joel

[Joe Hohmann]

I think the seller IS doing this in jest, for whatever reason. I emailed asking if he would take 75,000 Beanie Babies in trade. He responded, "Tempting, but no". Joe

[Anonymous]

Does show what an absolute fallacy the feedback system can be.  Here's a dude with 99.4% positive feedback on some 450+ reports or whatever, and he's quite obviously not being an honest seller in this instance (regardless of whether it is a put-on or not).  So, would the truly astute person place trust in this individual's auctions in the future?

But it's fun reading the questions posted, because some folks--possibly from this very forum--are obviously having a good time jerking the guy's chain.

[dave_hartmann]

I agree that it is a fishing trip.  This guy only paid $0.20 for insertion fees to list this item.  eBay ran a special on July 20 and 21 - any item listed for $0.20 no matter what the starting price.  All the "Fishing expeditions" seem to pop up when eBay runs specials on insertion fees.  Remember this one?

Dave
www.ogaugewatch.com

[FJ and G]

Great observations, Allan.

I think the train would be a good buy for someone wealthy enough, if the seller were to agree that all of the money would go to, say, the Combined Federal Campaign or a credible charity, with the money sent directly to the charity (not going through the seller, obviously).

That way, the buyer, the seller, and those benefited by the charity would all be winners, IMO.