SCAM WARNING wtc999good-sellers selling Uni-T meters cheap on eaby

[retiredcaps]

Was doing some research for another thread and noticed seller wtc999good-sellers selling UT-139C for $10 USD + free ship.  Other listings include UT801 bench meter for $10 USD + free ship.

Obviously, ebay will shut down this seller at some point and you are protected by paypal, but I just wanted to let people know because the UT139C is popular with some members here.

[Jwalling]

How do you know it's a scam?

[edavid]

How do you know it's a scam?

They are also selling Fluke 15B+ for the same price 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FLUKE-15B-Digital-multimeter-Tester-DMM-with-TL75-test-leads-NEW-F15B-/262976181845

[bitseeker]

It's highly unusual pricing. Not everything is being sold that cheaply, but it looks either scammy or the seller doesn't know how much the stuff costs. Once they go to the market to fulfill the orders, they'll get an unpleasant surprise and cancel orders.

[retiredcaps]

How do you know it's a scam?

Because this isn't the first time this type of unusual pricing below market has happened.  Several other examples, but just two

From 2012

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/fluke-87v-going-~-100-free-post-scam/

From 2014

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fluke-17b-on-ebay-for-12-99usd/

This also happens on other products like Ipads, tablets, computers, etc.

[mtdoc]

How do you know it's a scam?

They are also selling Fluke 15B+ for the same price 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FLUKE-15B-Digital-multimeter-Tester-DMM-with-TL75-test-leads-NEW-F15B-/262976181845

And look at this one . 33 Fluke 15B sold for $8.99 in the last 3days!. The seller has zero feedback.

[Nusa]

How do you know it's a scam?

They are also selling Fluke 15B+ for the same price 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FLUKE-15B-Digital-multimeter-Tester-DMM-with-TL75-test-leads-NEW-F15B-/262976181845

The images he is using are watermarked and swiped from "instrument_queen". That user has a good selling history and sells the same meter at the correct price. Which is a pretty good indicator that this pricing is intentional. Smells like a scam to me too, with the victim being Ebay in the end.

[TheAmmoniacal]

How do you know it's a scam?

They are also selling Fluke 15B+ for the same price 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FLUKE-15B-Digital-multimeter-Tester-DMM-with-TL75-test-leads-NEW-F15B-/262976181845

Ordered it

[bitseeker]

I flagged a bunch of them that are "too good to be true", most of which have images swiped from others.

[amspire]

The site is offering 30V 10A variable power supplies for $9.99 with free international shipping!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-30V-10A-Precision-Variable-Adjustable-Digital-Regulated-DC-Power-Supply-47EO-/262977946057

 

[Nusa]

The site is offering 30V 10A variable power supplies for $9.99 with free international shipping!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-30V-10A-Precision-Variable-Adjustable-Digital-Regulated-DC-Power-Supply-47EO-/262977946057

 

It's the same guy. He might as well offer free shipping since he's never going to actually ship it.

[P90]

I noticed those UT-139c meters for $10 too, and the seller had zero feedback... obviously a scam. If the pe price is a third of going rate, you know it's gotta be a scam...

[coromonadalix]

an UNI-T UT801 Bench Type Digital Multimeter   at 9.99$   still free shipping    smell funky

[TheAmmoniacal]

Ordered it

I think you're being mischievous but do let us know if you ever receive it. I also think it is a scam.

I got a shipping confirmation and tracking number now, will be fun to see what happens.

[coromonadalix]

yeah  i'm tempted too to see what will happen, but in Canada, BUT it take almost45- 60 days each time, i would have bought something to try too,  on Aliexpress i had 90 days shipping recently .... outch 

2x an 4-20mA/0-10V Current Signal Generator Source Transmitter PLC Valve Calibration, an 30V 10A Precision Variable Adjustable Digital Regulated DC Power Supply 47EO, and finally an Auto-range Digital LCD Multimeter Backlight AC/DC Ammeter Voltmeter Ohm Tester

[coromonadalix]

The seller use identical Ebays images items from others sellers,  even stamped images ??   hijacked account i may say ??

[CJay]

I got a shipping confirmation and tracking number now, will be fun to see what happens.

Is the tracking number valid though?

[Seekonk]

A word of warning. Ebay no longer warns you when your time runs out after you file a claim like they used to. 

[Bicurico]

Something like this happend to me with a cheap IP WLAN camera. It was REALLY cheap (under 10€).

So the seller never shipped anything, plus he got expelled from eBay before the end of the period I had to wait for the shipping.

This made the claim a bit more troublesome, because obviously I couldn't send the usual claims to the seller. But at the end I got my money back from Paypal.

All in all it took around 3 months or so to get the money back.

Even if I didn't get the money back, no serious harm would have been done to me financially, due to the low investment.

But is it worth all the annoyment? I don't think so.

I think many eBay users don't get too active to get US$ 5-10 US$ back on fishy purchases. This might be the target of those chinese sellers. Selling 100x something at US$10 will earn them US$1000 with little work. I don't know how easy it is for eBay/Paypal to get their money back.

Regards,
Vitor

[whitevamp]

I took a chance and ordered a couple things from this seller, and i got tracking number's, and i then went to china post to track the numbers, and they are legit tracking numbers and one has all ready cleared customs.
at first one of them was saying no tracking information, like it was a bogus #  but this morning it shows good.
so we shall see what happens.

[P90]

It's really sad that this is the world we live in...seems everyday there is a new scam...

[amspire]

The site is offering 30V 10A variable power supplies for $9.99 with free international shipping!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-30V-10A-Precision-Variable-Adjustable-Digital-Regulated-DC-Power-Supply-47EO-/262977946057

 

Since I posted this just over 2 days ago, the seller has sold an extra 52 power supplies. So the seller does have to potential to sell a huge quantity of items before non delivery would become an issue.

The tracking numbers could easily be genuine if the seller sends something like an empty packet deliberately to non-existent address in the same suburb. There would be all this tracking information and nothing ever arrives.

What puzzles me is how a new seller can be selling so many items. Usually they limit new sellers to a low number of items - such as 10, and I gather is you have a good record for 3 months, you can request an increase. This seller started March 2, sold a few items to get a record, and now suddenly has about 400 items for sale - mostly $9.99 or less. This includes things like $177 Mitutoyo callipers for under $11.

I cannot understand how this seller can be allowed to sell so much after just 2 months, but I think eBay will be having a lot of fun soon. Looking at the sales, and probably something like 1000 items have been sold already in probably a  week or something like that. If the rate accelerates, it could be a massive number of sales before the deliveries are due. Over $50k or $100K of sales wouldn't be surprising.

But of those $9.99 Fluke multimeters and Fluke digital IR thermometers look nice. Maybe I should ....

Edit: Just noticed the seller excludes China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. In other words sells anywhere but locally where delivery would have to be just a few days.

[Bicurico]

I just looked at the offered products myself:

1) Most are sold at US$9.99, despite being totally different products.
2) Most products sold at this price cost MUCH more from any other Chinese seller. Example: UNI-T UT801 Digital Bench Multimeter sold for US$9.99 costs at least US$130 at any other seller.
3) All pictures are STOLEN from other sellers and still have their original watermark. Not very trustfull!
4) One buyer gave negative feedback claiming he never received any product.

These are all warning signs that indicate that this is a scam and even if you have US$10 to play with, you certainly will not receive anything except frustration.

If a deal seems MUCH TOO GOOD, it is a scam or you are purchasing defective or stolen products.

In this case, it cannot be defective or stolen products, because at least the power source's shipping costs would be higher than US$9.99 due to its weight.

Regards,
Vitor

[P90]

unfortunately ebay has turned into a cesspool. I have lots of things I'd like to sell, but hearing all the stories of how buyers make false  claims and how the paypal takes your money, I'm not sure I can risk it...
always a few ruin it for everyone...

[Bicurico]

Over the years I have purchased a lot of great stuff from eBay.

Only few bad cases, which were more than compensated by all the good deals. In fact I couldn't recall any bad deal on spot.

However, things have shifted: I almost exclusively purchase cheap chinese stuff, which costs 4-5 times the eBay price when purchased locally.

Sometimes I purchased second hand stuff from sellers within the EU, but in these cases I know what I am buying and even if the device is broken, it will be useful to me or even repairable.

But I have NEVER EVER SOLD anything on eBay. I don't know how high the risk is, but I think there is a risk indeed. I would prefer to sell to "known" people in a forum like this one over to selling to "strangers" on eBay.

On eBay, the protection is limited to (in this order):

- eBay/Paypal
- buyer

The seller is NOT proteced in any way, as far as I know.

Regards,
Vitor