VW Splitscreen camper purchase
Discussion
I have been looking at a VW Splitscreen camper for a very reasonable price on eBay, I sent a couple of emails and things had been progressing quite well.
The camper is in Scotland and I live in Cornwall, price wise I am happy to take a risk and purchase without seeing the camper in person, it is a fixer upper but runs and has 10 months MOT (checked with dvla).
The seller always answers emails fine and all looks good, he is after a quick sale and wishes to progress through eBay which I have never done before and a bit dubious (it seems to good to be true).
Here is how the process works with the eBay Buyer Protection Program:
- you give me your full name and shipping address
- I start the transaction with eBay,
- they send further payment instructions,
- you have to pay for the item to eBay to secure the funds,
- they confirm to me that they received the funds,
- I deliver the campervan,
- you receive the campervan,
- they send me the money.
Everything is covered by eBay. I will get paid only after you confirm that you received the campervan in good order.
Let me know if this is acceptable. Thank you
This is where we are at at the moment, has anyone done this before I have purchased smaller items from ebay before and its been a con and ebay refunds the money but never done anything on this bigger a scale (the price is £7000).
The camper is in Scotland and I live in Cornwall, price wise I am happy to take a risk and purchase without seeing the camper in person, it is a fixer upper but runs and has 10 months MOT (checked with dvla).
The seller always answers emails fine and all looks good, he is after a quick sale and wishes to progress through eBay which I have never done before and a bit dubious (it seems to good to be true).
Here is how the process works with the eBay Buyer Protection Program:
- you give me your full name and shipping address
- I start the transaction with eBay,
- they send further payment instructions,
- you have to pay for the item to eBay to secure the funds,
- they confirm to me that they received the funds,
- I deliver the campervan,
- you receive the campervan,
- they send me the money.
Everything is covered by eBay. I will get paid only after you confirm that you received the campervan in good order.
Let me know if this is acceptable. Thank you
This is where we are at at the moment, has anyone done this before I have purchased smaller items from ebay before and its been a con and ebay refunds the money but never done anything on this bigger a scale (the price is £7000).
ive purchased a few things recently through ebay and it seems this new thing they do, they hold the money until you confirm you are happy with the purchase, I would have said (if I read correctly) there would be more risk involved for him, as its always advised not to be paid for a car via paypal as it can be reversed and your left with no car.
£7k is too cheap to be true unless it's a rotter.
Is it in here? http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=8964...
"Yup it's a scam and they're always in Scotland and always working away blah blah can't view it. They will give you a link to the protected eBay that is a fake site. You transfer the cash, they disappear."
Is it in here? http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=8964...
"Yup it's a scam and they're always in Scotland and always working away blah blah can't view it. They will give you a link to the protected eBay that is a fake site. You transfer the cash, they disappear."
but I will just say, it has to be initialised first, ie before you put your paypal password in it says do you wanna try our new system blah blah, and you can say yes or no etc, if not its just like any other purchase, also does sound bit fishy, you pay him and he delivers? why doesn't he deliver and you pay him cash, or pay him a deposit ie of petrol money so he can drive it down and you pay him your end???
Little Toast said:
Thanks for all your responses, thanks darrenw 'spot on'.
Yes, what seems too good to be true is......
Scam in my opinion now.
It is that camper on the link and has now been removed from eBay.
Threads like that appear very regularly on there, the inflated price and desirability of Splitscreens makes potential buyers a very easy target...Yes, what seems too good to be true is......
Scam in my opinion now.
It is that camper on the link and has now been removed from eBay.
Scams like this are happening all the time; if it looks too good to be true, it probably is!
The reason they're so expensive these days is because of a huge surge in popularity, not just in ownership but in all manners of society. If you go into a gift shop or similar there's bound to be some sort of VW Camper/Bus memorabilia available.
An increase in popularity means people feel they can charge a lot more for them and people are prepared to pay a lot more these days than 10 or more years ago! However, a lot of people are asking TOO much for their examples because they think they can get gold for them. There are still people pricing their Campers/Buses sensibly but for the most part there are a far greater group trying to sell their own for silly money. I can't see the prices coming down anytime soon either.
The reason they're so expensive these days is because of a huge surge in popularity, not just in ownership but in all manners of society. If you go into a gift shop or similar there's bound to be some sort of VW Camper/Bus memorabilia available.
An increase in popularity means people feel they can charge a lot more for them and people are prepared to pay a lot more these days than 10 or more years ago! However, a lot of people are asking TOO much for their examples because they think they can get gold for them. There are still people pricing their Campers/Buses sensibly but for the most part there are a far greater group trying to sell their own for silly money. I can't see the prices coming down anytime soon either.
I know of someone who imports them for restoration.
He's actually my sons school mates Dad.
He also has a garage (barn on a farm type of thing). Does a lot of general repairs on regular cars, got a 4 poster lift and good equipment.
My best friends have just bought a splitty from him for similar money to the one the OP posted about. It does need work but it was a good buy (not MOTd etc). So they can be found for that kind of money in sound condition (it was imported from a dry State in the US).
He's actually my sons school mates Dad.
He also has a garage (barn on a farm type of thing). Does a lot of general repairs on regular cars, got a 4 poster lift and good equipment.
My best friends have just bought a splitty from him for similar money to the one the OP posted about. It does need work but it was a good buy (not MOTd etc). So they can be found for that kind of money in sound condition (it was imported from a dry State in the US).
Definitely a scam.
Why would someone want to do a private sale through eBay / PayPal? They would lose a substantial amount in fees.
I am pretty sure that a lot of the eBay protection stuff doesn't apply to classified vehicle ads.
And finally, as everyone else has said, you are not going to get a split screen camper with an MOT for £7k.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-SPLITSCREEN-SO42-WEST... Here is a 7k split screen. Scarce on details there, but it clearly needs a LOT of work.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-SPLITSCREEN-SUNDIAL-C... Here is a another 'cheap' split screen. It is has corrosion issues, no engine and no interior.
There is no such thing as a cheap split screen - they are all going to cost you £££££.
Why would someone want to do a private sale through eBay / PayPal? They would lose a substantial amount in fees.
I am pretty sure that a lot of the eBay protection stuff doesn't apply to classified vehicle ads.
And finally, as everyone else has said, you are not going to get a split screen camper with an MOT for £7k.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-SPLITSCREEN-SO42-WEST... Here is a 7k split screen. Scarce on details there, but it clearly needs a LOT of work.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-SPLITSCREEN-SUNDIAL-C... Here is a another 'cheap' split screen. It is has corrosion issues, no engine and no interior.
There is no such thing as a cheap split screen - they are all going to cost you £££££.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff