has anyone bought from tinydealdirect? they're a pretty big ebay seller ... reason I ask is that they have a few models I'm looking at. Maybe they've changed their ways?

With that being said, I've only see a few sellers on ebay that state the memory is not hacked. So, maybe I will go with those ... I have no problem disputing any issues with paypal/cc. :-)

Hey pandy,

I would recommend if you want to buy is to regular check the FEEDBACK on the seller you are wanting to buy from. Track the feedback for a few weeks or look back in their history of feedback and see what others are saying, espeically the negative ones.

Also, try doing a search for the seller's name on the internet as well. WE have good Google presence so if the seller's name has been mentioned here, it should come up in a Google search.

Can you post questions on an auction in eBay? Sorry, I haven't really used eBay as we don't have a local one here in New Zealand.

Re: 146 eBay traders reported as selling hacked players.
 

I bought an 8GB player with only 1GB memory from the same seller.

Interestingly enough, you will find that johnnymagasin has no current auctions. I would gather that eBay shut Lei down or he as cut and run.

When I entered a dispute in eBay, and was referred to PayPal, an interesting page came up stating "Your seller is currently unable to respond to this dispute." and offering the opportunity to escalate the claim immediately, perhaps another indication Lei has been shut down.

Could eBay be finally responding to the multitude of consumer complaints?

I'll keep the board apprised of my progress on this case.

Meanwhile, I await the arrival of the other player and a memory stick I bought from other sellers. Anyone want to place odds on me getting scr00d again?

Johnnymagasin refunded my money immediately and responded that the manufacturer had made fools of him. I don't know about the voracity of his statement, but I'll let it slide for the moment. He asked that I send back the player. In my refund request I specified he would have to pay return shipping if he wanted the item back. No further word on the shipping of the item, but at least I received a refund.

Sharks shamming victimhood "eBay traders... hacked play
 

It seems that the frontman is very interested in retrieving the 'physical evidence' of the scam and at the same time creating an impression of being himself a victim of the scam (creating the empathic 'fellow victim' illusion) by a larger predator, and appearing reasonable and offering people their money back in spite of his own loss. Is that violins I hear in the background?

I wrote to him and informed him that as I had ordered and paid for an 8GB player, and he had accepted payment on that basis, then he owed me 7GB worth of player which I expected to receive. He just sent the same autoreply addressing me as 'Dear Friend' claiming to be sorry for the inconvenience and asking me to ship the item back. I'm not 100% sure but I think, because he didn't provide that which he advertised, that the clause about the buyer being responsible for return shipment costs is null and void, and a court of law could force him to provide that which he advertised to all of his customers at his own cost. As you said in your first post gjtreat, he appears to be 'shut down' and no longer has items for sale under that name, though it is more than likely he's going to be operating under another pseudonym. I believe that as eBay have received a percentage of his ill-gotten gain, that they can't keep neglecting their responsibility and claiming neutrality. Don't we have any 'legal eagles' out there who could advise? :? :?:

Re: 146 eBay traders reported as selling hacked players.
 

I bought last week a nano clone from Hong Kong ebay seller Be2princess advertised as 8GB. It was hacked and actually is only 4GB capacity. No usb wall charger supplied and a cd-rom containing viruses. Otherwise as expected. I think if you pay for a certain amount of capacity then expect half that. The item was advertised to the USA market so I expected at least an incompatible power adapter. USB cable was supplied and of course the cheap headphones. It works well although its a cheap build. For $20 USD which is around £15 sterling then I am happy to keep it. Supplier has okay feedback with the exception of these mp3 players which is dreadful, which I was aware of. Price was competative for the UK market.

Re: 146 eBay traders reported as selling hacked players.
 

If the trader had advertised with an honest description i.e. all of the flaws that you described, would you still have bought it? "Supplier has okay feedback"?? Perhaps this "okay feedback" was left by people who don't know that they've been duped or who refuse to admit when they have. The acceptance of this kind of scam as 'expected' means that cynicism has definitely become the norm, and fishing for an easy mark has become even easier for the conmen, when the fish appear to be only too eager to jump on the hook!

If the trader had advertised it with the correct specifications then I would of still bought it for the price I did as this was the primary factor; and even taking into account the true specification is still the most competative. Given the size of this thread one cannot be surprised by potential buyers cynicism of foreign auction sellers. I take each description (in pidgen english sic) with a pinch of salt - if the description is correct then wow what a bargain - if not then I have an idea of what I can reasonably expect (from experience) with these products / markets. Auctions are a gamble and yes you only get what you pay for and yes you could say I perputrated this scam by jumping on the bargain hook. The buyer had good feedback for many transactions regarding other products (giving assurance of actual delivery), the only negative feedback was for MP4 player hacks, nevertheless this was either lazy or deceptive Quality Assurance.

Re: 146 eBay traders reported as selling hacked players.
 

New to the site, stumbled across while awaiting delivery of my shiny new nano 3g clones...

One arrived yesterday, which was exactly as stated, a full 4GB in pink for the Mrs

Mine arrived today, a black "8GB"... followed steps posted on the site to check for true size, found to be a 2GB

Seller of hacked unit was GANGLIN08.

This guy is selling hundreds of these things and the majority of buyers seem completely unaware of the situation, which is reflected in his feedback unfortunately.

Ive contacted him with my findings, asking for a full refund or delivery of an actual 8GB player... dont expect to get either but what teh hell, wanna give him some sh*t for it, will report back any further developments.

Also, just wanna say, great job your doing here guys, best resource ive been able to find to press!

Re: 146 eBay traders reported as selling hacked players.
 

yijiang_nan advertised as 16gb - turned out to be 8gb and a crap player.