Are computers for sale from China on eBay a scam?

I was on Ebay searching for a macbook pro when I saw all these items really cheap from China. The problem is, I'm not sure if they are real of just a con. Can you have a look and help me? To find one, just go on ebay.co.uk and search for macbook. Usually they are in a big group together and they have around $50 shipping.

Dave's Answer:

Actually, I don't need to look on eBay to tell you the answer, and I bet you already know that answer yourself too. It's summarized by a favorite acronym in the instant messenger and text message space: TANSTAAFL (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch).

In this context, you have to ask yourself how someone in China, of all places, would get ahold of brand new Apple hardware and then decide that their best avenue for selling it is the free and loose world of eBay?

"Ah, but Dave, they have a great feedback rating of 136, all positive, including comments from people who have bought MacBooks from them and been very pleased with the transaction. How do you explain that?"

So let's talk about something called shilling circles. This isn't new to eBay, but the basic idea is pretty interesting and quite manipulative of the trust inherent in auctions and community feedback systems. Remember those early 1900's shows from great "mentalists" who could accurately predict everything in someone's wallet? Well, that wasn't too hard because the person with the wallet was part of their team, part of the show, or, often, part of the con.

Take that idea to an auction and you get a room full of people, a few of whom are actually part of the hustle: they eager bid against each other for a given item, bidding the auction item far above its logical value, and hope to sucker some innocent third party into the bidding who then wins, paying far more for an item than it's worth.

On eBay that's called a "shilling circle", among other things, and it's when a group of people sign up for eBay accounts and give each other very good ratings. That might be from $0.01 buy-it-now transactions for a few months between them all, or they might even legitimately sell products on eBay to get to the point where their account is ready for The Big Hustle. Remember also that I can buy a ballpoint pen from you for $1 then leave in my feedback "Love the computer, great transaction. Recommended A++" hoodwinking the next person into believing I bought a computer from you with good results.

Then, with a good feedback rating, they list a few dozen multi-thousand dollar items, insist on Paypal or some other untraceable payment system, and if they can close on 75% of them, they can clean up with $20,000-$50,000 in a week. Then the account is shut down, the user vanishes, and no-one ever gets a product.

So, you still sure you want to save 20% and buy what you hope will be a brand new Apple MacBook computer from someone you don't know in China?

As always, be careful out there.

More Useful Auctions and Online Shopping Articles:

✔ How can I sell a used gadget on Amazon.com?

I have a bunch of electronic gadgets in my office that are just sitting around and I notice that they're worth a decent...

✔ How do I return something to Amazon.com?

Hey Dave, I bought a new backpack through Amazon.com and when it arrived, I realized I didn't like it and really want to...

✔ What annual subscriptions do I have set up in PayPal?

As it's the last day of the year, I'm thinking about recurring billing that's going to kick in starting again in 2013 through...

✔ What's a used computer really worth?

Hi Dave. I bumped into this note on Facebook, a post from a friend: "Thinking about selling my 17" MacBook Pro. It's 3...

✔ How long have I been a member of eBay?

I was arguing with a friend the other day and he said that he'd been on eBay since it first came online. I...

Let's stay in touch!

Sign up for my weekly AskDaveTaylor Newsletter and you'll receive even more tech and gadget help right to your inbox, along with exclusive news and industry updates. It's good stuff. I promise!

Categorized: Auctions and Online Shopping (Article 6593, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: auction scams, ebay, online auctions, shilling
Previous: How do I map my own domain to a Typepad Blog?
Next: How do I change the background color of my MySpace profile page?

Reader Comments To Date: 34

Paul Masters said, on June 6, 2006 12:28 AM:

Suspected shill bidding on eBay should be reported to eBay Customer Support before bidding ends.

matthew horton said, on August 7, 2006 2:08 AM:

With regards the ebay Macbook scam, you might also notice that most of the positive feedback in the suspect seller's history comes from accounts that are closed down - "no longer a registered user." As you say, TANSTAAFL . I would also add - Caveat emptor!

Richie said, on August 15, 2006 5:34 AM:

I just searched on google and found this article,thanks,dude..this article really helps me!

El Duderino said, on October 12, 2006 3:39 PM:

The latest variant on this scam seems to be where the scammer has several similar items (I've seen them use Macbook Pro notebook computers) for sale at really cheap prices. The adverts are all from different ebay user ids but the advert text is 100% identical and says "you must contact me before placing a bid and the ebay 'contact seller' button does not work. Email me at AAscammerAA@yahoo.com for terms of the auction and the Buy It Now price".

I smelled a rat and sent an email from an anonymous account - got a response within a couple of minutes (from a Romanian IP address) which said

"The B.I.N price is £600 and I want a smooth transaction so if you mail me your name and address, I can get shipping underway and you will be contacted by ebay with payment instructions"

I'll bet the notebook computer doesn't even exist and the real-looking ebay payment instructions I would have received are in fact a fake designed to extract your bank details. Ebay would never 'contact me with payment instructions' unless I actually placed a bid.

I informed ebay support and got a "thanks for letting us know but don't expect further contact from us" email. Really helpful.

Remember, whenever you are buying off ebay (especially if it is a high value item), make sure you do your background checks on the seller and never EVER do the sale outside of the ebay website, otherwise they will not help you if you fall victim to a scam.

I think ebay should have a 'report this auction as suspicious' button. I get the impression they are not really interested in protecting people from fraud (unless they really, really have to)

China Articles said, on May 1, 2007 2:06 PM:

In general it is extremely unlikely you can buy any genuine Apple products from China. Although iPods are made in China, and some people own the genuine article here in China, Apple Mac computers are virtually unknown.
Despite being from China, I would have to say: be cautious buying anything on ebay from China... for a start it is quite difficult and expensive for any seller to ship from Mainland China.
...better to go for established high rated Hong Kong shops which will also have cheaper shipping.

B said, on May 24, 2007 12:35 AM:

I recently wanted to buy a guitar, and thought Ebay would be a good source for a used one. NOT!!!!
About 85% listed are cheap knock-offs from China. Most of the listings say they are Fenders,or Gibson, Les Pauls etc. blatant fraud and copy right infringement. There are even warning disclaimers from legitimate sellers displayed on the same page of fake items for sale. Saying the same things I'm saying, and they even state in their warnings , on Ebays own site, that they can't believe Ebay, (who warns sellers not to defraud buyers,),doesn't do anything about it, and nor do the other sellers. I even checked on the discussion boards, and asked other sellers about it, and I got personal attacks about my grammar,and my buyers ID name, and nothing was said about the practice of these sellers being fraud.....that's only the tip of the ice burg. I started looking at the people with no bid history, 2 or more people at a time, running up the selling price during the auction, and if they won...the item either got re-listed by the same seller again, or the # of items won by the winner, still showed 0 at their buyer info page. And even better....they all now bid anonymously by calling themselves bidder 1,2,3,4,etc. , so you cant' find out who they really are.

John said, on March 15, 2008 5:18 PM:

This group of conmen is currently sending spam through ebay. I have talked to and emailed ebay more than 20 times but they are reluctant to take action. I have also emailed hotmail more than 20 times to block these conmen from using hotmail and MSN as communication tools but to no avail. You are on your own.

They are constantly changing their company names, websites, email addresses and phone numbers. Past and current fronts include:

+8675581811905
+8675581811906
+8675581192206
+8675581966708
+8675581966156
+8675521066717
+8675521066577
+8675521378867
+8675521379876

86-755-81811905
86-755-81811906
86-755-81192206
86-755-81966708
86-755-81966156
86-755-21066717
86-755-21066577
86-755-21378867
86-755-21379876

www.elec-country.com
Email: elec-country88@hotmail.com
MSN: elec-country8@hotmail.com

www.elecshoppingmall.com/
Email: elecshoppingmall88@hotmail.com
MSN: elecshoppingmall8@hotmail.com

www.happy-purchasing.cn
Email: happy-purchasing88@hotmail.com
MSN: happy-purchasing8@hotmail.com

www.sinke-digital.com
sinke-digital6@hotmail.com

www.digitalshoping.cn
digitalshoping8@hotmail.com

www.hightech-supplier.com
hightech-supplier8@hotmail.com

www.fully-supplier.cn
Email: fully-supplier88@hotmail.com
MSN: fully-supplier8@hotmail.com

Chris Kemp said, on March 20, 2008 8:54 AM:

Hi I have just sent money to elecshoppingmall.com at the bank yesterday and today I then found this site and went to my bank to try and stop the payment, only to be told they could not stop it although I was told the money would take 8 days to get there and only 1 day has passed surely if this site is a scam the payment should be stopped? Thanks Chris.

Phil Mangan said, on March 20, 2008 9:45 AM:

Hi, I have sent money to www.digitalshoping.cn
I have now reaslised that they are fradulent and have tried to stop my payment only to be told "don't hold your breath"
My initial payment was for 1320 Euros. when I asked if they were going to send my package they asked my for an additional 496 euros insurance. I thought it sounded wrong so I did some research on the net (too late though) and found the bad news on sites such as this :-(

John said, on March 21, 2008 12:30 AM:

Phil,

1320 Euros is their one year's salary!

Even if you are unlikely to get your money back, please do whatever you can to stop more victims.

For a start, email ebay, hotmail and MSN to stop these conmen from using these services as marketing and communication tools.

Inform your local police and police dealing with international crime.

Email the authorities in China, Beijing informing them that you will boycott their Olympics because of their inaction to stop these scammers. Do whatever you can do pressure them.

John said, on April 6, 2008 10:18 PM:

Latest front for this scam company!

http://www.china-hightech.com
MSN:china-hightech6@hotmail.com
Email:china-hightech66@hotmail.com
24hour phone: 86-755-21066587
GaoKe International E-Commerce Company Co.Ltd

Another scam but probably belongs to another scam group.

http:www.ourseller.com
Tel:86-010-81157131
86-010-81160236

MSN: ourseller@live.cn
E-mail:ourseller@live.cn

WannaB said, on April 9, 2008 12:24 AM:

How do I get my money back? Was cheated of $900 by www.icnelec.com and www.ourseller.com.

Cut off communication with me after I sent the money! Didn't receive the goods. Bank was of no help.

www.icnelec.com
icnelec@hotmail.com
hongqi9897@yahoo.com.cn

www.ourseller.com
Tel:
86-010-81157131
86-010-81160236

MSN: ourseller@live.cn
E-mail: ourseller@live.cn

John said, on April 10, 2008 10:25 AM:

www.jd-digital.cn Latest scam website!

http://www.jd-digital.cn
MSN: jd-digital@msn.com
Email: jd-digital@msn.com

TEL: 86-755-21379944
Mobile phone: 86-13480928277

Jing dong Digital E-business Co.,Ltd.
Room 5D13 SEB Digital Plaza NO.1076 Huaqiang North Road,Futian Disctrict,Shenzhen,Guangdong,China 518031

John said, on April 10, 2008 12:42 PM:

Another scam website from same scam group:

Scam
www.elec-wholesaler.cn/
MSN: elec-wholesaler99@hotmail.com
Mail: elec-wholesaler9999@hotmail.com

John said, on April 17, 2008 7:44 AM:

www.china-hightech.com Scam
www.huaketrading.com Scam
www.olymdigital.cn Scam
www.shopgroup123.com Scam

More scam sites churned by the same scam group!

Tony said, on April 23, 2008 3:06 PM:

I was scammed by this website

www.huaketrading.com

I haven't received my goods yet

Alex said, on April 25, 2008 9:20 AM:

I can confirm that www.jd-shopping.cn is a scam because they took my money and didn't send me my goods. It is an uphill battle to recover your money because these people are experience crooks.

So DO NOT SEND THEM YOUR MONEY!

Please learn from my expensive mistake.

Alicia said, on April 25, 2008 10:24 AM:

I lost 450 quid to www.huakai-commerce.cn Blame my greed and stupidity. Can anyone help?

Danny said, on April 28, 2008 4:55 AM:

www.shopcyht.com and www.digital-sales.cn are scams. BEWARE!

www.shopcyht.com
Phone 86+07316620156
Fax 86+07316620156
Email shopcyht188@hotmail.com
MSN shopcyht188@hotmail.com

SHENZHEN LONGHAI Digital E-business Co.,Ltd.
http://www.digital-sales.cn

MSN: digital-sales8@hotmail.com
Email: digital-sales8@hotmail.com

TEL:86-755-21066727

Keen said, on April 30, 2008 6:03 AM:

Scams www.zhongqiaobusiness.com
Company name: Zhong Qiao Development Co.Ltd
Company Address: No.8 20th Floor Modern Building window, HuaQiang North Road, ShenZhen City, China.
Zipcode: 518000
Phone: 86-755-21379848
MSN: zhongqiaobusinesses@hotmail.com
Mail: zhongqiaobusiness8@hotmail.com

Scams www.buyhome99.com
Email/MSN: buyhome99@hotmail.com

Ingmar said, on May 12, 2008 2:09 PM:

Hi,

I've bought here a XBOX 360 PREMIUM, today they say I would get it but I don't have received anything. Does anybody know how I could my money back or the XBOX which was believed?

Many Thanks,

Mennez.

steve said, on July 16, 2008 7:31 PM:

Do not,
I repeat DO NOT , send ANY money to ANY company in China UNLESS YOU CAN VERIFY their business licence.
And even then all you can do is complain to the local trading standards people.

I'm experienced, and buy goods from China companies, but i live here, and I ensure i route the money thrugh a china bank.
So it it easy and becomes a 'local' criminal act if they try to con money.

macs ARE available in China , but one trick is selling seconds as new , this includes hard disks. there are massive public markets where you can go to buy this sort of crap very cheaply.

Phill Easley said, on August 17, 2008 7:09 AM:

Eleaaa.com is a other fraudulent website I have came across.

lliboutry said, on September 16, 2008 3:20 AM:

hello,
I sent the money through a website in China and I have not received goods more answers by email
Site: www.shopcyht.com/, shopcyht188@hotmail.com
thank you tell me what I do
Can you help me?
best regards

shane said, on October 18, 2008 4:10 PM:

this is their lates attempts

http://www.shengang-trade.com/ from the same group

and their newest site www.elekiss.com

Matt said, on January 29, 2009 3:20 AM:

While I think it's rather foolish to attempt to buy anything high dollar from China through ebay, I bid on a few things from there. I bid on some jewelry for the melt value and low and behold, the items were actually sent. I figured it was only a few bucks and if I got burned, lesson learned. Granted it took like 20 days, but the items came and they were legit..

Rich said, on January 29, 2009 10:12 AM:

Does this mean there is almost no genuine website where one can buy an apple macbook laptop from china?

eBuster said, on November 21, 2009 5:51 PM:

Hi

i don't know about computers from China being sold on eBay but i do know fake gold from China that eBay is doing all it can to cover up and documented on ebuster,co,uk.

Many members have reported these people and eBay has even been known to delete neg feedback left to warn others about the fakes.

We have reported 100's of people that are selling feedback on eBay and yet eBay does nothing so we published the adverts along with feedback but still eBay thinks they can keep quiet and it will all go away as if we don't have two brain cells btween us all.

eBay is the problom and eBuster is the solution

Heidi said, on December 22, 2009 12:15 PM:

I just bought 2 7in Mini laptops on eBay (from member onfine2008) I wasn't expecting much, just something for my daughters to FB and email.
***SLAPPING MY OWN HANDS***
I opened the first one and it worked for all of 12 hours. I opened the second one and it didn't even turn on (missing a battery). I could've received a full refund if I were to return it Hong Kong in less than 7 days after receiving it (impossible) for the bargain price of $99.00 in shipping costs!!!
Lesson learned.
After doing some research, I found that this seller has several screen names, all selling the same crap. So, my advice would be:

If you are thinking about buying a computer from eBay...

DON'T. Go to you local used computer store instead. There are plenty of refurbished systems out there that need a good home and in most cases, come with a warranty.

Just the 2 cents from a scorned eBay buyer.

matt said, on January 26, 2010 10:57 AM:

I've just been scammed by a company called Rifeng Company or Rifeng Trading Ltd. The man goes by the name of "Mr Qin" and you can see him on many trading websites, such as tradekey.com.

I ordered two MacBooks (one shipped by EMS and one shipped by DHL). It's been over a week, I've not received the items and the tracking numbers are unrecognizable on EMS and DHL's systems.

I paid by credit card but I still can't see me getting my money back.

Oh well, live and learn.

Dave Taylor said, on January 26, 2010 12:29 PM:

Matt, call your credit card company and file a complaint. They can pull the transaction and initiate an investigation. Don't walk away from the transactions, take action!

maksim said, on March 28, 2010 5:01 AM:

Yunlong Zheng - IS SCAMER

He is a huge fraud. Do NOT buy from them USB Flash Drives. He will not send the product.

------------------------------------------
First Name: Yunlong
Last Name: Zheng
City: Shenzhen
State: Guangdong
Country: China
Zip: 518000
------------------------------------------
Beneficiary Name:Yunlong Zheng
Beneficiary Account:4552304-0188-048849-4
Bank Name: BANK OF CHINA PUTIAN BRANCH
Swift Code: BKCHCNBJ73C
-----------------------------------------
MSN: sugar.umw@hotmail.com
Website: usbmemoryworld.com
Website: www.swusbfd.com

HE IS SCAMER

maksim said, on April 4, 2010 5:47 AM:

Yunlong Zheng - IS SCAMER
Yunlong Zheng - IS SCAMER
Yunlong Zheng - IS SCAMER

He is a huge fraud. Do NOT buy from them USB Flash Drives. He will not send the product.

I have received the parcel. I have been afflicted, when instead of my order
he sent 10 pieces of the Kingston DataTraveler 200 -128 Gb with real capacity 8 GB
Flash drives are not workers and after formatting become less in capacity, besides at them very low speed of writing/reading ~ 1-1,3 Mb/s

------------------------------------------
First Name: Yunlong
Last Name: Zheng
City: Shenzhen
State: Guangdong
Country: China
Zip: 518000
------------------------------------------
Beneficiary Name:Yunlong Zheng
Beneficiary Account:4552304-0188-048849-4
Bank Name: BANK OF CHINA PUTIAN BRANCH
Swift Code: BKCHCNBJ73C
-----------------------------------------
MSN: sugar.umw@hotmail.com
Website: usbmemoryworld.com
Website: www.swusbfd.com

Yunlong Zheng - IS SCAMER
Yunlong Zheng - IS SCAMER
Yunlong Zheng - IS SCAMER

mazam said, on July 7, 2010 10:43 AM:

BE AWARE OF CHINESE SCAMMERS

We had ordered two digital and video cameras from EKEN GROUP CO. LTD also known as EKEN (HK) ELECTRONIC CO. LTD also known as SHEN ZHEN PUGE ELECTTRONIC CO. LTD also known as EKEN SHENZHEN ELECTRONICS CO. LTD as their official address :-
2F/2A, HuaFeng Technolgy Park,YinTian Industrial Zone,Xixiang,Baoan district , Shenzhen,P.R.China. Their Telephone Nos. Tel:0086-75527938115 Fax:0086-75529978959 Mobile:15989864548 Email:lisa@ekengroup.com or Sales018@ekengroup.com AND Yicheng Zhong@ekengroup.com

We received two digital cameras that can be bought at any Dollar store for $1.00 and at a Toy Store the other Camera for $5.00. Both,when plugged in, did not even work.

After talking to their Sales Engineer, Angela, in Shen Zhen, she asked us to ship them back and they will replace it. After shipping it to them, they refused to take delivery and Chinese Customs kept them. After that in spite of several emails and telephone calls, they never reply or answer.

We regard this company as scammers. They claim to manufacture Video cameras, Camcorders and Lap Tops.

We are warning every one not to deal with them. They will first insist to pay through Western Union but also can provide Company accounts to pay through Banks and what they will ship you is DOLLAR STORE merchandise

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

Are computers for sale from China on eBay a scam?

Reader Comments To Date: 34

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

Check This Out Too...