eBay, what’s going on here then?

[numtumfutunch]

I sold some cycling stuff in the autumn basically as junk for spares or repair. It’s fairly niche stuff and as I wanted a like for like replacement have a search running..

And guess what? The £50 resto project appeared a week or so later from a seller in the same town as my buyer listed at £500, absolutely no doubt this was my stuff (I’m a nerd) and being sold as excellent condition! New price isn’t much more than £500 so I watched with interest and amazingly it sold in a week or so

Now there’s weirdness going on with cycling gear at the moment but this staggered me, several weeks later he still hasn’t received or given feedback and it was listed buy it now so my stalking skills can’t see who bought it

Another guess what? If you look at my buyers feedback he’s mainly buying junk which the other account sells for new money if not more. Again all buy it now so you can’t see who’s buying. It’s not just bike stuff the sellers moving either, he has a steady line in things like power banks selling for more than list price.

Seller notably also advertises just over half of his stuff for what I’d assume is the going rate presumably to look legit? I say that as getting lucky with a 10x mark up on my junk is one thing but he’s sold several thousand quids worth of other overinflated tat

And in no uncertain terms whoever paid £500 for my stuff is either certifiably bonkers or a complete tool, there can’t be another punter so stupid

So what’s going on?
All I can think of is laundering but can’t see how that works for him

Anyone seen this before?

[snotrag]

numtumfutunch said:

I sold some cycling stuff

numtumfutunch said:

Anyone seen this before?

Important bit for me.

Bikes, bike parts, cycling related stuff has gone absolutely mental this year. I've been clearing stuff out of my garage and getting silly sums on ebay for it - a set of 2 generation old XT Cranks, non BB, no rings, fetched on ebay almost the same as what I paid for them brand new.


I think you just sold your bike too cheaply!

[numtumfutunch]

Know what you're saying having punted an XT crank last September for top Dollar but this is something else

Basically buying up garbage and selling for new prices, none of which attracts feedback, but with a run of stuff going through at the market value, which I agree is currently generous

I sold him trashed wheels, not a bike

[Einion Yrth]

I'd guess he's cleaning dirty money.

[Spare tyre]

Possibly got a mate to bid high to avoid it selling for a lower amount. You then agree over eBay with the mate not to sell.

Or could be some scam to avoid fees. Ask bidder to bid high

Arrive and sell for x, then cancel transaction though eBay

[mikey_b]

Surely it's just straight laundering of cash obtained from an illegitimate source. Buys junk for pennies with one eBay account, then sells it to various other accounts (that he controls) as Buy it Now, with payment as cash on collection. The thousands of pounds in cash he has lying around the house is now explained by a paper trail on eBay, showing that he 'upcycles' cheap stuff he buys. The tat he buys on ebay goes in the bin as soon as it 'sells', with the initial purchase cost and eBay sales fees written off as a cost of doing the laundry.

If he can launder a few grand and keep 80% of it, that would be pretty good going. Especially if he has a number of these accounts, and uses separate devices to run the various eBay IDs to make forensics more difficult should anyone come sniffing.

Edited by mikey_b on Tuesday 12th January 14:18

[numtumfutunch]

Pretty much what I thought and I reckon he's moved 20-30k over the last year or so

Quite clever really, I'm assuming these sort of amounts aren't worth getting out of bed for HMRC and police?

[markcoznottz]

mikey_b said:

Surely it's just straight laundering of cash obtained from an illegitimate source. Buys junk for pennies with one eBay account, then sells it to various other accounts (that he controls) as Buy it Now, with payment as cash on collection. The thousands of pounds in cash he has lying around the house is now explained by a paper trail on eBay, showing that he 'upcycles' cheap stuff he buys. The tat he buys on ebay goes in the bin as soon as it 'sells', with the initial purchase cost and eBay sales fees written off as a cost of doing the laundry.

If he can launder a few grand and keep 80% of it, that would be pretty good going. Especially if he has a number of these accounts, and uses separate devices to run the various eBay IDs to make forensics more difficult should anyone come sniffing.

Edited by mikey_b on Tuesday 12th January 14:18

Burner smart phone bought off gumtree for cash. Topped up using payg cash sale from corner shop. To do it properly never turn the phone on at any property registered to him.

[jonamv8]

numtumfutunch said:

Pretty much what I thought and I reckon he's moved 20-30k over the last year or so

Quite clever really, I'm assuming these sort of amounts aren't worth getting out of bed for HMRC and police?

Without solid proof thats a hefty accusation to make. I’d forget about it and move on

[red_slr]

numtumfutunch said:

Pretty much what I thought and I reckon he's moved 20-30k over the last year or so

Quite clever really, I'm assuming these sort of amounts aren't worth getting out of bed for HMRC and police?

Just so you know, when you go over a set limit selling you have to provide a lot of info to ebay. Passport, driving licence, utility bill etc.
I think its £10k. I think they exclude motors etc, but I recall being asked for info about 10 years ago when I was selling quite a lot of stuff.

And its different to paypal who also have their own AML rules.

I would have thought ebay will be watching for strange things like you are describing as they have a legal duty to do so.

[numtumfutunch]

Since I posted he’s become even more blatant selling wheels for crazy money and bizarre bundles of parts which even as a psycho cyclist I’d never buy together for four figure sums

And once again this isn’t my problem, he may be hours away but is likely a wrong ‘un so I’ll leave it to eBay to flag as outlined above

Funny how greed may be his downfall, the last week has seen a large escalation of his ambition. If he’d carried on with more subtlety most would have just assumed he was doing well in a crazy market like my first reply

Cheers