Hey All,
I just had to share this with everyone and I promise by the end of this post I'll submit proof for what I'm claiming- It's incredible!
I've had a daily routine of adding all the new Z 6000's on ebay to my "watched items" list so that I can see how the pricing trend is going and adding them to my "watched items" list is the only way I know to be able to call up those auctions after they close to see what they actually sold at. I started doing this as I knew I would be selling at least one of my 3 Z-6000's that I own in the near future. (I ended up selling one of them to a ZUGger family that got burned by jpettins and was glad I could help them so I sold it to them at the price I had bought it for originally.) I kept up the daily Ebay checking routine even though I had sold it as my wife has lowered the boom and wants another one sold as well and I'm hoping to make somewhat of a profit on this next one. So I'm waiting for the selling price on Ebay to go back up in order to do that.
Oops I slid off topic. Anyway in the process of doing this about a week ago I clicked on what seemed like the bazillionth 6000 auction and went to add it to my list and realized that it had a "BUY IT NOW" price of $285!!! I bet I reread the price at LEAST 20 times because I couldn't believe it. My pulse went through the roof and I got light headed. I then realized it had 6 days and 12 hours left on a 7 day auction and had only been posted for less than 12 hours. I forced myself to leave the computer until I got calm enough to be logical about it.
When I came back I sat down and methodically went through all the steps to trying to insure you won't get burned. He had great feedback and had been a member for a LONG time. He had only sold and only bought one item each in the last 90 days and the thing he sold was a cradle for a 5600 so while he seemed like a casual long term Ebay user that only Ebay'd when he went looking for something etc. I wasn't really reassured by it- I'd rather have seen more info from auctions he'd been the seller in. I fired off a "ask the seller a question" to him so I could get some pre-sale communication from him. I then read and reread the entire posting for 5 minutes looking for anything out of the ordinary. He said it was used, he needed Christmas money so he was selling it quick. He gauranteed it against DOA and was shipping via USPS Priority Mail. The contents he listed were everything you get in the box except the CD was missing but since I had several 6000's already that wasn't a problem. I then went and read and reread all of his feedback as well as all of the feedback he left for others. I continued this pattern until I had fretted through every "safe" procedure I could think of to identify if he was a potential scammer or not.
By this time about 20-30 minutes had past and I was becoming concerned. At this price and with as many good points to his background as there were I felt that at $285 someone was going to buy it out from under me- I needed to pee or get off the pot! I fired off several more rapid fire emails but got nothing back in return. With the jpettins scandal still fresh in my memory my good sense was screaming to me to pass on it and I certainly didn't NEED another 6000.
Good sense was murdered by the gambler in me about 10 minutes later and I went through with it.
Then it happened.
It was terrible.
When I got to the point where you verify your bid it sent me directly to paypal and I realized- it was an "Immediate Payment Required" auction.
*sigh*
That set off alarm bells that could be heard at the south pole. So I disciplined myself to do the right thing- and I boldly closed the browser and walked away with out buying it.
uh. ok. That was a lie. What REALLY happened was that I went through with it and paid for it! (Yup I'm certifiably looney, no doubt about it.) For 24 hours after that I heard NOTHING even though I fired off email after email after email. I spent the long hours scouring the internet for info about him using his email addy etc. and found a lot of info but not enough to give me a feel if I was definitely being scammed or not. About the time I totally gave up he answered me. He promised to ship it the very next day via USPS.
We then spent the next few days corresponding back and forth and I learned that he was actually a really nice guy and everything he said checked out against what info I could pull up and it looked like he was a fine upstanding honest member of his local community. (It still didn't totally get rid of the cold feeling in the pit of my stomach though.) I wanted to post about what was transpiring here on the ZUG SOOOO badly, but I didn't want to jinxx the sale by letting the cat out of the bag until I had it in my hand.
It arrived exactly on schedule yesterday. His packing job was good and there was no damage at all. But I was horrified yet again when I saw what was inside. The flip up screen shield looked like someone had used steel wool on it, the screen was mottled and scratched, the unit was somewhat grimy, and the manual he included had a huge coffee cup spill and cup imprint on the front cover.
I almost cried. Calming myself down I grabbed a cotton cloth and some windex, I removed the shield and went to work on cleaning it up. When I was done I was amazed. There was one buff mark on the case, and when cleaned the screen itself was flawless, all those scratches I had seen were just dirt and grime! I then spent an hour or two testing every port, every function, every button, the screen, charging circuit, battery, etc. etc. and EVERYTHING works! I was so relieved I almost cried again.
Well that's the story! I've decided that I will sell the 2nd of my 3 original Zaurus's and keep this one as a backup and "play" unit instead of a new one since the brand new still in box one will sell for more.
In a final word of parting- Please do NOT be led to think that just because one person managed to get such a great deal and not get burned that any Ebay auction this cheap will have a happy ending. In my opinion I broke SEVERAL "safe buying" rules and procedures, (things like getting feedback from the seller prior to bidding etc.), and anyone who Ebay's very much will agree that I acted in haste and with downright reckless abandon. Be careful, watch your own back because nobody else will, and don't get emotionally involved with the auction, (like I did.) Also do not forget that even though any defect free SL-6000 is a HUGE deal right now at $285 it WAS a used unit and should not be compared to "brand new in box" prices, (even though used ones seem to be selling for the same price as new right now for some silly reason.)
Having said that: This auction is rock solid proof that Ebay miracles DO HAPPEN and some real deals are out there to be had from time to time so keep your eyes and ears open and check DAILY if you're looking for one!
*grin* Oh yeah, I bet you're still waiting for that proof. Follow this
Link if you're interested. If the link breaks it is auction # 5738280758.
Merry Christmas and Good Luck all!,
-NeuroShock
