| General > General Technical Chat |
| Who'd have thought there would be fradulent eBay auctions of IPA? |
| (1/3) > >> |
| MattP79:
Hi all, I wanted a new 1 litre bottle of IPA as I've nearly run out so went to eBay UK and my saved listing. Ooops - they've sold out. I should have bought some two weeks ago when I thought about it... With the supermarkets and chemists sold out of hand sanitiser, IPA must be the latest item to panic buy / profiteer on whilst people make their own. A 1 litre bottle of 99% IPA would normally cost around £7. Thanks to profiteering the cheapest bottle I can find is £26 with most listings wanting between £40 and £49. I do wonder what could go wrong with masses of people playing with 99% IPA and spraying it everywhere. Anyway. Amongst the eBay listings I spotted a few listings for 5L bottles at only £9.95 or thereabouts. That's too cheap - even when people weren't panic buying. This already twigs my "It's-a-scam-o-meter". Fortnite is updating so I did some digging. The seller is China based with zero feedback and their account was created in 2018. They have 5 active listings - all for 5L bottles of IPA priced between £9.95 and £9.98. I'm now pretty convinced now this is a straight up scam with a stolen account. Sadly it's been astonishingly effective and profitable. As of about 11:25 GMT on 17/03/20 they have sold 709 of item 353007018944 @ £9.97 448 of item 353007031572 @ £9.96 174 of item 353007049794 @ £9.96 101 of item 353007035728 @ £9.98 46 of item 353007033463 @ £9.95 A grand total £14,729.53. As I click refresh - they've sold even more. The item history shows they've made multiple revisions to the quantity available. I've reported the auctions hoping they are checked but I suspect it will take a while for eBay to respond and more people will get fleeced. Attached is a zip file with PDF web page printouts of the pertinent info for the curious. Personally I'm going to wait until Trade Chemicals have stock again. |
| jogri:
I'd suggest that you check your local hardware store if you are in desperate need of a disinfectant, at least in my area people haven't noticed that Acetone and denatured alcohol are still available as paint supplies for cleaning brushes... |
| jfiresto:
That would be my suggestion as well. I picked a random hardware/DIY chain in a random city, B & Q in Leeds, and found plenty, there and nearby, that show stock of methylated spirit. |
| wraper:
Price as such is about right if not considering that with free shipping 5L of dangerous goods won't be this cheap. |
| jfiresto:
FYI, per EU regulation 162/2013 (I expect it is still followed) methylated spirit in the U.K may be made from either a base of 90 % by volume ethanol, 9,5 % by volume wood naphtha and 0,5 % by volume crude pyridine, plus for each 10 hectolitres, 3,75 litres mineral naphtha (petroleum oil) and 1,5 grams methyl violet (C.I. No 42555) or a 100 hectolitre ethanol base plus 3 litres isopropyl alcohol (IPA), 3 litres methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), 1 gram denatonium benzoate, and (if not exported) an optional dye. |
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