Beaufort, NC
ebay.com link: Theatre of Magic Pinball Machine
The seller is selling for a relative and has in the description to buy it now not through eBay.
Scam?
(Topic ID: 213993)
Linked Games
Theatre of Magic
Bally, 1995
Topic Gallery
Red flags:
"I am overseas in the military"
"Item is in a different location"
The item is referred to as "the item"
Scammer signs off with "God Bless"
Just some of the more common ones I've seen.
Quoted from CollinT:I wonder if they will let someone do local pickup and pay cash? I'm tempted to email them to see what the response would be.
You could simply ask if you could see the machine in person. This will weed out scam vs. legit pretty quickly (not that any of the rest of it doesn't)
Quoted from CollinT:I wonder if they will let someone do local pickup and pay cash?
I thought of that. Freehold is only about an hour from where I am. I'm tempted to say I'm local and can come see it in person. I can pretty much guarantee that won't work for them though... Everything screams scam on this one. Story about how he's moving and selling the collection, then later goes "I'm actually selling this for a relative" in a poorly made photo of text...
Quoted from CollinT:I wonder if they will let someone do local pickup and pay cash?
I'd rather take advantage of that "free shipping".
Quoted from mbaumle:I thought of that. Freehold is only about an hour from where I am. I'm tempted to say I'm local and can come see it in person. I can pretty much guarantee that won't work for them though... Everything screams scam on this one. Story about how he's moving and selling the collection, then later goes "I'm actually selling this for a relative" in a poorly made photo of text...
He would just give you the run around about how he’s too busy to meet.
I’ve been through this exercise with one of the Mr Pinball scammers.
Quoted from mbaumle:I thought of that. Freehold is only about an hour from where I am. I'm tempted to say I'm local and can come see it in person. I can pretty much guarantee that won't work for them though... Everything screams scam on this one. Story about how he's moving and selling the collection, then later goes "I'm actually selling this for a relative" in a poorly made photo of text...
They'll say no because it is a scam.
Quoted from CollinT:I wonder if they will let someone do local pickup and pay cash? I'm tempted to email them to see what the response would be.
Use caution.
I actually tried that one time on a "best offer" listing I replied to.
I knew the listing was fake because I had seen the pictures in the description before. Of course the seller wanted me to wire the money -- told him Id only do a cash in person offer even though he was several states away (this was for a vehicle). At one point I actually talked to the guy on the phone (before E-bay banned phone numbers) and could clearly tell he had no clue as to what he was selling/listing. Eventually he gave me an address to meet up -- looked it up on Google Earth and it was in a neighborhood I would not want to get lost in. Only when I asked the seller to write my name on a piece of paper and take/send me a picture of that on the vehicle of interest did he start to get short/told me I was questioning his integrity and backed out of the deal.
The temptation of a really good deal will often make us blind to common sense red flags in a scam situation.
Quoted from cosmokramer:Looks like its mine for 3050.00$
With free shipping....
Unless someone else bids...
I'll be waiting to see a new thread on "Got Scammed on Ebay"
Quoted from cosmokramer:Looks like its mine for 3050.00$
With free shipping....
Unless someone else bids...
Hope I didn't blow up your deal, just reported the scam to eBay. They probably don't care that it's a scam, but the fact that they're soliciting a sale outside of eBay will get them banned ASAP.
Quoted from fosaisu:Hope I didn't blow up your deal, just reported the scam to eBay. They probably don't care that it's a scam, but the fact that they're trying to complete a sale outside of eBay will get them banned ASAP.
Sent an email:
Hello,
I saw your ad on eBay for the Theater of Magic pinball, great game!
Are you in NJ? Would it be possible to come look at the machine and possibly pay the $3,000 in cash?
Thank you,
She responded within 1 minute!:
Thank you for your email. It is still available for sale, price as stated in the ad $3000 with free shipping. It is in perfect working condition, no problems at all. I will offer a 14 days inspection period for the item, so if by any reason you are not satisfied with it, you can return it and receive a full refund.
If you have the funds available and ready to buy it, please reply with your full name, shipping address and eBay username so i can register the transaction through eBay so we can both be protected and be able to exchange feedback once the transaction is complete.
Thank you
That style of listing has been showing up on ebay for several weeks now. One or two appear, last a day or so, then eBay shuts 'em down.
Of note are MSFrankenstein,
and a Blackhole.
Buyer beware as they say.
Quoted from CollinT:Sent an email:
Hello,
I saw your ad on eBay for the Theater of Magic pinball, great game!
Are you in NJ? Would it be possible to come look at the machine and possibly pay the $3,000 in cash?
Thank you,
She responded within 1 minute!:
Thank you for your email. It is still available for sale, price as stated in the ad $3000 with free shipping. It is in perfect working condition, no problems at all. I will offer a 14 days inspection period for the item, so if by any reason you are not satisfied with it, you can return it and receive a full refund.
If you have the funds available and ready to buy it, please reply with your full name, shipping address and eBay username so i can register the transaction through eBay so we can both be protected and be able to exchange feedback once the transaction is complete.
Thank you
Sounds legit. eBay is always happy to register and insure sales made outside of eBay.
Prague
Quoted from CollinT:Sent an email:
Hello,
I saw your ad on eBay for the Theater of Magic pinball, great game!
Are you in NJ? Would it be possible to come look at the machine and possibly pay the $3,000 in cash?
Thank you,
She responded within 1 minute!:
Thank you for your email. It is still available for sale, price as stated in the ad $3000 with free shipping. It is in perfect working condition, no problems at all. I will offer a 14 days inspection period for the item, so if by any reason you are not satisfied with it, you can return it and receive a full refund.
If you have the funds available and ready to buy it, please reply with your full name, shipping address and eBay username so i can register the transaction through eBay so we can both be protected and be able to exchange feedback once the transaction is complete.
Thank you
Quoted from Strummy:I had to see...
Write back and ask if room and board is included with the 14 day inspection period.
Quoted from CollinT:Sent an email:
Hello,
I saw your ad on eBay for the Theater of Magic pinball, great game!
Are you in NJ? Would it be possible to come look at the machine and possibly pay the $3,000 in cash?
Thank you,
She responded within 1 minute!:
Thank you for your email. It is still available for sale, price as stated in the ad $3000 with free shipping. It is in perfect working condition, no problems at all. I will offer a 14 days inspection period for the item, so if by any reason you are not satisfied with it, you can return it and receive a full refund.
If you have the funds available and ready to buy it, please reply with your full name, shipping address and eBay username so i can register the transaction through eBay so we can both be protected and be able to exchange feedback once the transaction is complete.
Thank you
These deadbeats never give up,That's a very clever response "so we can both be protected".That's the reason most old folks fall for,these scammers gain a person trust.I hope they rot in hell!!!
Quoted from Bohdi:Can't use the "buy it now" option anyways. See these types of ads all the time. Don't waste your time people..........
I'm sick in bed. I might as well fuck with a douche bag.
Quoted from pinmike:These deadbeats never give up,That's a very clever response "so we can both be protected".That's the reason most old folks fall for,these scammers gain a person trust.I hope they rot in hell!!!
“So we can both be protected”
That’s what I tell the ladies when it’s business time and I pull out a condom!
I reported the auction to ebay for listing policy violation. "offers to contact outside of ebay." We'll see if/what they do. Reverse email search comes back with nothing. Reverse image search comes back with nothing.
Quoted from Underspin:Auction ends Sunday but Monday is OK with her. Got it
"Monday its ok?"
Quoted from kechlesurf:Here is the "invoice" she sent me this morning when I reached out to her.
Payment: Ebay Gift Cards? No other type of payment options? Hilarious
Quoted from TractorDoc:Scam.
Never reply to a gmail e-mail embedded in the E-bay listing.
Anytime you see an image of some text it's being done to avoid being flagged by the system. Ebay and Craigslist both run some rudimentary checks on their ads, I'm sure other systems do too.
Is that a pic of the guy who’s going into the hydrofoil business?
He did so well with manufacturing pinball machines.
Where do I send my money?!!
To be honest, it does say Theater of Magic Pinball and Machine. So maybe it is just an old pinball out of a Theater of Magic pin and some mystery machine that could be anything. By that title they could say it was never a scam, they listed it honestly! 
Luckily we know better.
Sadly these ads must work from time to time -- otherwise they would not keep popping up.
I wish these people would put as much effort into being productive in a positive way vs. trying to steal from others -- but then again where is the reward in that? 
I imagine the feeling they get from successfully scamming someone is similar to what we feel when we bring a new pinball machine home.
I did a property lookup of 866 Colts Neck (not Reck) Road through the Monmouth county tax info site. I will not name the actual names here suffice to say that a quick internet search revealed the 62 year old husband to be deceased as of 2016 and the wife alive and on Facebook. My guess is the house is now a scammer infested rental.
Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
Reply
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
