Caveat Emptor

Brought to you by eBay Seller 3801 and his flair for drama.

A few days ago, I placed an eBay bid on a video. Then someone e-mailed me to warn me that the seller had bought this video from her and was selling a copy, not an original. Oh? This gave me pause. I reported the warning on a bulletin board frequented by other interested parties. Lo and behold, a couple other members, also bidders, had gotten the same message. We all dropped out of the bidding, and I think the auction went away for a day or two.

Soon, however, the video was back up for sale, but with the bidders' identities hidden this time. I read eBay feedback comments for both Seller and Warner, and while there appeared to be some friction between the two of them, who knows the whole story? I e-mailed each of them separately to ask what the deal was.

I never got the explanation I was looking for. However, Seller e-mailed several people offering sweetheart deals on the video to anyone who would forward Warner's contact information to him, since Warner had allegedly refused his attempts to get in touch by other means. This made me uncomfortable. I declined the offer, and so did several bulletin board compatriots who received it.

Then the question arose on the boards: Are you sure he's really doing anything wrong?

Good question. Seller had gotten plenty of positive feedback on previous eBay transactions. Also, for all I know, that video was original, authentic, and blessed by the star himself. Seller could have been completely aboveboard; I have no way to prove otherwise. I was almost willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on this point.

But! When a problem arose, he handled it badly. He asked for contact info — tried to extort it, really — so he could continue an argument the other party had already bowed out of. That put me in a bad position. And I'm paranoid enough to think that if he's a weasel in his communication practices, he might just be a weasel in his business dealings, too.

Also, not all of his eBay feedback was positive — and the majority of the negative remarks questioned the authenticity of other videos he had sold. Red flag, anyone?

Result: No sale. Not to me, anyway, although there were three anonymous bids on the video last I saw. I think the auction ended last night, but I don't know who won. Several people reported Seller's nefarious conduct to eBay; no word on what results that got, either. So I don't know how this story ends. I'm glad I learned this lesson early, though: Caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware.

Today around the world: June 6 is D-Day.