$0.99 is for the bag only. The cable is $4.43 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 12:08:08 am
content: Ok something that pissed me off today. I have several old car phone chargers that go to retired phones. I had the idea of cutting the ends off and splicing micro USB cables with them so they can be useful again.I checked ebay and saw this listing for $.99 so I thought, cool I'll buy about 5.But if you select the $0.99 option, you get this:They intentionally put the empty bag in there to lower the price so it floats to the top of the list. The cable is actually $4.43http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Original-OEM-HTC-Micro-USB-Data-Charger-Cable-For-ALL-HTC-Phones-Lot-WHITE-/111073596599?pt=US_Cell_Phone_PDA_Cables_Adapters&var=&hash=item19dc8094b7Here's another!http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-in-1-Micro-USB-2-0-8-pin-30-pin-Cable-Charger-Lot-Apple-Iphone-5-4S-4-3G-3Gs-/390638829438?pt=US_Cell_Phone_PDA_Cables_Adapters&var=&hash=item5af3e37f7eHooray! $0.99 for a zip lock bag!FSCKING Ba$tards.

author: digsys
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 12:20:57 am
content: HAHAHAHAHA .. INGENIOUS !!! Got to hand it to them ... when you think you've seen all the scams ...(not laughing at you - just thinking of the look on your face when you opened the parcel :-) )

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 12:26:55 am
content: Wow.... bastards indeed...

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 12:27:31 am
content: Clever, very clever. It surprises me that this trick wasn't discovered sooner, did eBay change something to make this possible/profitable?The first seller actually sold one of them as 'clear bag only' on July, 2. So someone paid $1 to have a plastic bag shipped across the country. Of course they will only ship to the US, shipping those heavy and large items internationally is a real pain. Imagine explaining this to customs.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 12:49:24 am
content: Well it's a drop down list, the ebay listing shows ".99 to 49.00" or something like that.1 bag is .991 cable is $4.432 cables are $8.005 cables are $19and so on.I should buy a $.99 bag then when get it say it is defective and give them a low rating.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 12:50:01 am
content: And some of the others sell a "parts cable" for $.99 that is "broken, for parts only" etc.

author: TerminalJack505
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 01:05:03 am
content: Geez. That's pretty dodgy. I wonder if it would do any good to click the "Report Item" link. They're obviously jacking the system but ebay could probably care less so long as they get their share.

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 01:22:25 am
content: Drop down listings are often abused in one form or another. Personally I always skip them they are just an artificial wait of changing a listings placement, much the same way shipping and handling is abused (lower the cost raise the shipping and make more profit).

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 01:36:33 am
content: Quote from: TerminalJack505 on August 11, 2013, 01:05:03 amYeah I did on those two but there were numerous others.I also reported some people who were repeating their listings over and over. You're not supposed to do that.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 09:30:50 am
content: Interesting, they have fewer bags than cables available on the second link (4 available and 3 sold) whereas the cables they have more than ten but the cables come first in the drop down menu, and the bag is labeled as retail packaging so is that for shops to buy for reselling the cables in rather than shipping the cables to customers from the ebay store.

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 10:59:52 am
content: Someone should buy the bag, and provide us with an unboxing, review and teardown

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 11:30:26 am
content: At least it's very clear what's going on.The option is "Clear bag only without cable" which brings up a picture of an empty bag. It isn't even the first item in the list.There are way shadier listings on ebay.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 01:49:22 pm
content: Quote from: Stonent on August 11, 2013, 12:49:24 am"Because it has a hole in it"?

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 02:58:30 pm
content: This is very common.Personally, I think eBay should work out price on the item most frequently purchased. But then sellers could probably get around that by frequently re-listing their auctions.

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 03:06:41 pm
content: simple way is for ebay to prevent sellers to make options in a more than 1:10 ratio between the prices...

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 07:41:31 pm
content: I might be imagining it, but I'm sure that when I see these kinds of items in search results, the price shows up as a range, and not just one price.

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 07:46:40 pm
content: Quote from: steve30 on August 11, 2013, 07:41:31 pmyes but as the first price is low, they are sorted low price first so they are in the first page of the result.that's cheating.

author: bookaboo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2013, 08:38:39 pm
content: Stiff them right back via paypal, just say it never arrived. Unless it's registered post paypal take the buyers side 99.99%.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2013, 01:29:10 am
content: Quote from: kripton2035 on August 11, 2013, 07:46:40 pmSome do, some don't.