Whats wrong with this auction?

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Why in the hell would you let someone bid on a Visa gift card? I don't get it. Has to be a scam of some sort.
 
Wow a $100 for only $105! I am all over that.
 
Sometimes people steal them. Then they sell them in order to put distance between themselves and the stolen goods.
 
Same buyer bought another one a few weeks ago for $115 plus $5 shipping. Every other auction they have won was a $.10 feedback special (selling a token item for little or nothing in order to get around the "feedback selling" rule or was listed as "private".
 
I dunno what is worse. $100 gift card for $105 or the fact that you can BUY whatever you want with the CASH that you blew on the gift card....

Same logic as the Arch Card at McD or other cards at other fast food places. If I buy the card, I limit myself to eating at your establishment. With the cash, I can eat ant any establishment I want. So, what's the benifit of buying the card?
 
McKBrew said:
Why in the hell would you let someone bid on a Visa gift card? I don't get it. Has to be a scam of some sort.

Usually you can pick up cards for less then the value..
ie but a 100.00 card for 80, then turn around and buy something, saving 20.00

I bought a few Best Buy cards for about .75 on the dollar. I'll be using that on my 4912 :rockin:
 
Isn't the most likely scenario that those cards were stolen and/or have not been activated? Buy a gift card on eBay, bring it to a store, have it come back as stolen....

"But, but.... but I bought it on eBay!"
"Hands behind your back, son!"
 
the_bird said:
Isn't the most likely scenario that those cards were stolen and/or have not been activated?

That's a very easy scam, yeah. The problem is there are some people who are legitimate but with all the scammers it's not a safe thing to wager on. For instance, I almost never shop at Best Buy despite the fact that I'm a geek. So when I got a $100 gift card to Best Buy it was next-to-worthless to me. It would have been awesome to turn that into $75 cash that I could use elsewhere.

The good news is that there's a much safer way to do gift card swaps that's store branded... Find someone in the store buying something and see if they're going to pay cash or use a debit card (can get cash back) and then offer to make the swap there. They give you cash AFTER confirming the card is valid and save some money themselves - win-win.

howlingowl said:
I dunno what is worse. $100 gift card for $105 or the fact that you can BUY whatever you want with the CASH that you blew on the gift card.

Nobody is stupid enough to pay $105 for a $100 gift card. Usually when I see auctions like this I read the fine print. For instance, sometimes you can find people auctioning off a used straw for $600 and they'll throw in a free PS3 - it's an interesting way to get around eBay item restrictions. In this case, however, there is nothing in the fine print, so I'm willing to bet the reasoning is a bit more nefarious. Either someone is paying to boost up their feedback rating (and selling to themselves) or money is being laundered or some such. Selling a $105 gift card is a great way to ensure nobody in their right mind bids.

Re: Spending cash - they've still not perfected online ordering with cash yet. No real good way to make it secure. It is for that reason I never, ever, handle cash and only use my debit card. I can't fathom the $105 thing if it's a legit sale, but I can understand paying cash for a pre-paid Visa... If it wasn't sold online.
 
Kevin Dean said:
Nobody is stupid enough to pay $105 for a $100 gift card. Usually when I see auctions like this I read the fine print. For instance, sometimes you can find people auctioning off a used straw for $600 and they'll throw in a free PS3 - it's an interesting way to get around eBay item restrictions. In this case, however, there is nothing in the fine print, so I'm willing to bet the reasoning is a bit more nefarious. Either someone is paying to boost up their feedback rating (and selling to themselves) or money is being laundered or some such. Selling a $105 gift card is a great way to ensure nobody in their right mind bids.

I did that with an extra pair of MLB All Star tickets a few years ago.
I sold a Tigers jersey that came with a free pair of tickets.
750.00!
 
the_bird said:
Isn't the most likely scenario that those cards were stolen and/or have not been activated? Buy a gift card on eBay, bring it to a store, have it come back as stolen....

"But, but.... but I bought it on eBay!"
"Hands behind your back, son!"

That always makes me nervous.
I've sold a gift card on eBay before, never bought though.
No one ever asked if the card was new. Though the auction said it was.
I thought that was weird.

However, usually gift cards have that section you scratch off to get the pin #.
The pin # has to be used at time of purchases.
 
BIN of $250 for a $200 card!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270205098895&ssPageName=MERCOSI_VI_ROSI_PR4_PCN_BIX&refitem=160199317617&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&refwidgettype=osi_widget!
 
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