Buyer beware: Possibly fraudulent Model F-122s

[ander]

Someone newly registered on eBay, with no prior sales (thus no feedback or ratings) has just posted these identical listings for IBM Model F 122-key terminals, at a BIN price of $99 shipped—considerably less than the $200–300 they've recently been going for.

If this turns out to be anyone personally known to us, that's great—buy away.

Otherwise, I'm just saying: Sometimes things are too good to be true, because they aren't.

[ekeppel]

Yes, the photo is copied from this auction as well:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Model-F-Part-Number-6110347-122-Key-Terminal-Keyboard-for-IBM-PC-3270/302760746290

[orihalcon]

Yep, I fell for it before I saw this post. The seller has actually listed something like 10 of them with the same pictures. The seller’s PayPal account is apparently not set up correctly and payments aren’t getting claimed, so you can just go to your PayPal transaction and choose the cancel option which normally you can’t do unless the payment is unclaimed.

[parkedr]

I fell for it too and was able to cancel. Thanks for posting this. Lesson learned: coffee first, then ebay.

[RobotRogue]

Jeeez. Scammers gotta scam. It's sad that eBay hasn't changed in all these years.

[floatingskull]

Wow, 7 of these were actually purchased. I wonder if they are counterfeit or if its a totally paypal scam and they are going to take the money and run.

[ander]

I fell for it too and was able to cancel. Thanks for posting this. Lesson learned: coffee first, then ebay.

If I did that, I'd buy every keeb in sight and quickly be single again.  :?)

Wow, 7 of these were actually purchased. I wonder if they are counterfeit or if its a totally paypal scam and they are going to take the money and run.

Can't say for sure, but the signs were there: Seller newly registered with no prior sales; prices low enough to attract buyers, but not low enough to seem suspicious; identical photos in multiple listings.

Anyway, I'm glad no one lost any dough.

It's tricky—the better a deal looks, the quicker you want to hop on it before anyone else does. But at least take a moment to check that prior-sales number and approval rating first.