cubelindo Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 I suppose this post goes here as it is auction-related. Please move it if not. I bought 4 Commodore 64 games (disk only) last july. The seller did not ship out of the US, so I had them shipped to a friend's house in Florida. He just came back to Spain for Xmas and gave me the games. To my surprise, when I inspected them I could clearly see they were not originals. The stickers are made of paper and seems to be printed with one of those first generation inkjet printers, with dull colors. He didn't even cut them properly (some white paper can be seen where he didn't followed the line). None of the disk sleeves were original of course - but that is something that gets easily lost. The seller (I don't know if I can post the name) has 8700 feedbacks, with 99.5% positives. I immediately sent him an email stating the obvious, he replied that he says in the auction "I do not know if these are originals or copies. They are sold as is" - it's true he has that disclaimer What pisses me off the most, is that he still has 293 commodore disk for sale INCLUDING the four I bought. One of them was "Dungeons of Dr. Creep" The photo showed a purple disk, I got a black one, and this guy has the same BIN (or better offer) item with the same photo (besides this is a very rare title). Another one I had never heard of it before "Way of the exploding fist III" - he has two also ... Of course I cannot file a Paypal claim, the games were bought in July, but maybe I can do something to prevent others from being cheated. Advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriswhit Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 I would open a complaint. If this was bought on ebay it is easy. did the auction state the photo was not of the actual item. if not then it seems this guy used a photo to trick buyers. If you used paypal you are protected. open your complaint and give good detail. even though it was sold as is the photo and discription are off which should help with your issue. I hate it when sellers do that. don't leave feedback till your issue is resolved. I'd like to know who the seller is so that I can stay away. did the auction state the photo was not of the actual item Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubelindo Posted January 4, 2010 Author Share Posted January 4, 2010 I would open a complaint. If this was bought on ebay it is easy. did the auction state the photo was not of the actual item. if not then it seems this guy used a photo to trick buyers. If you used paypal you are protected. open your complaint and give good detail. even though it was sold as is the photo and discription are off which should help with your issue. I hate it when sellers do that. don't leave feedback till your issue is resolved. I'd like to know who the seller is so that I can stay away. did the auction state the photo was not of the actual item The auctions are more than 90 days old, they are no more, no feedback to be left, no nothing. Well, at least the original auctions I bought. You can buy AGAIN the "Dungeons of Dr. Creep" in the auction number 370240346618 - that's the purple disk I wanted, the label is the same though. Seller is poppop2000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 If he was showing a disk and didn't say it was not a photo of the actual item, then that's very shady and misleading. I don't know what, if anything, you can do about it now, but unless he makes good on it, I'd sure let everyone on the C= sites know about this particular seller and his practices. He must be making them now, as opposed to having a stock of these "copies", because how could one possibly have a stack of many old copies of the same title? That seems unlikely. His disclaimer is not valid in any way if you don't actually receive the item he pictured. Good luck. Sounds like you got taken, unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriswhit Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 wow this guy has over 3000 auctions going on. Looks like more people will get screwed. Glad you posted this as I'm looking for a bunch of things he has and some of his junk was on my watched list. He wont get any of my money now lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 I haven't looked into it more, but if for sure he's selling pirated software (I know it's ancient, but still), he should probably be reported to ebay so they can pull his auctions. And I don't say that lightly... I mean IF you're sure that's what he's doing, or similarly intentionally screwing people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.Cade Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 That guy has been at it awhile. Many of us have reported him, and eBay does not care. It's very obvious from the pictures and the amateurish copies and labels that they are fake, but he continues to sell them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 I see, well, that's too bad, but it doesn't surprise me. eBay is so big now, that not only can they not follow up on everything but I also believe they do not want to. Like you said, they just don't care. I guess the only thing that can be done then is to spread the word so shady dealers like this lose business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djpubba Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 The only way to stop him is to get the copyright owners to complain to eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmel_andrews Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Not wanting to nitpick here, but doesn't eBay have built in policies against reproductions or copies (pirated or otherwise) of computer or games software If so, you may still have recourse to eBay themselves for allowing the seller to KNOWINGLY sell pirated or copied computer software Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monzamess Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Not wanting to nitpick here, but doesn't eBay have built in policies against reproductions or copies (pirated or otherwise) of computer or games software If so, you may still have recourse to eBay themselves for allowing the seller to KNOWINGLY sell pirated or copied computer software I totally missed your point. As far as I can tell, eBay has policies against counterfeit software (which is what this is) and even against modified systems (try selling a console with custom firmware for example). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubelindo Posted January 4, 2010 Author Share Posted January 4, 2010 I just reported 5 of his auctions (Lode Runner is listed twice) that match the same items I bought, giving my item's numbers and saying that I bought them and they are backup copies. Will tell you what happens. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.Cade Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 I've done that on several occasions, but there are just sooo many of his auctions for the stuff- it must be an automated system. Is there an automated system to report auctions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almost Rice Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 (edited) They were automated when I reported back in 2007. A guy from Pennsylvania was selling Ultima 4 saying the labels were falling off. He would be sending the disks label-less. I reported to ebay for a few weeks but nothing happened. Then I reported to the current copyright holder. That seemed to get something done. I did not see that listing again, but I do not actively search for Ultima 4 for the 8bit ataris. I now see that his 370240346618 listing states Note: I do not know if these are originals or copies. They are sold as is. I guess he will get away with it if he states he does not know they are copies. Edited January 4, 2010 by Almost Rice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djpubba Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 (edited) As the copyright owner of several things that people like to sell bootlegs of on eBay, I can say that it has been my experience that eBay doesn't usually do anything about the vast majority of pirated items, even when they are reported, unless the copyright owner signs up for their VERO program and faxes in a complaint for each listing in violation. Edited January 5, 2010 by djpubba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirage Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 That's really unfortunate. Basically that sucks even for the copyright owners if that's strictly true, as just keeping up with listings of some popular pirated item could end up being a full-time occupation for someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted January 5, 2010 Share Posted January 5, 2010 This happened with some British DVD's I bought (an old series called Tripods, based on HG Wells War of the Worlds). Thought I was buying legit Region 2 DVD's, but naturally what was sent were cracked copies. Nicely done mind you and had a nice label, but I confronted the guy. And <sigh> of course he was rude. Said I could just return them for a full refund sans shipping if I wasn't happy. I ended up keeping them, but it really just goes to show the general demeanor of Pirates. Not unlike the mariner pirates of yore - they truly are a disheveled and entitled bunch, aren't they? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djpubba Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Dont give up reporting them anyway. If enough people report them it might make a difference. Also you can sometimes get them removed if they make other violations like keyword spamming, which unscrupulous people often do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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