to follow up:
below are the responses from one
cmcear@hotmail.comI inquired if the bike was still available:
Hi,
Yes the bike is still for sale.
Where are you from?
I thought being asked where I was from was odd, perhaps others should note this as a warning sign.
Hi,
My son put the bike on the internet for sale and i think he made a mistake. I'm based in Rome, Italy.
I still have the bike for sale. I saw that are a lot of people from outside the country who want to buy this bike and if you are a really honest buyer i can send the bike to you, but only if you agree to use an escrow company because we must have some protection over the internet.
I want to have a perfect deal and i can let you 4-5 days for inspection and i will pay the shipping taxes, because i know that everybody wants to check the bike. I have full documentation and receipt.
So please get back to me if we can arrange something.
Thank you.
I was willing to run with this because I was familiar with Escrow from eBay, so I suggested using that with a Paypal payment and also inquired if the seller had paperwork.
I have the scanned receipt from this bike and photos. I don't have an ebay account or paypall account, i was trying to sell the bike localy but my son made a mistake.If we can arrange a deal please let me know.;
I viewed the receipt and my suspicions were further aroused, there is simply no way a bike store could sell an Ellsworth Epiphany at that price new. I also checked the bike company name, it exists, it's in Rome, but they do not sell high end bikes, so I somehow made myself believe it was a used bike sold by the store, very sad! : )
Hi,
Please check the escrow website,
http://www.global-logistics-limited.co.cc. I have used them before and i will pay the shipping taxes from my account that i already have.
You have the scanned receipt attached.
Please let me know.
Thanks
When I looked at the site the first time I was still wrapped up in thinking this was a legit sale, but the site was lacking in terms of the detail I would expect from such a service so I asked the seller about shipping insurance etc.
Hi,
Yes i pay the shipping from Italy to UK. If something happens in transit you will be fully refounded this is the reason that i want to use escrow, because they offer insurance. GSLEU will pack the bike for me, i will try to make some pictures then.
You can pay in euro, the ammount is 705 euros.
Please let me know when you get registered at GSLEU, because as soon as you do that i will deliver the bike for shipping and inspection. Today is late, but if you register today i will send the bike tomorrow morning because is open untill 1 PM.
Thanks
This last reply was the one that flicked the switch in terms of looking more carefully at the site that I was being referred to and the seller was simply too eager to close the sale. They also claimed that the escrow/shipping company would be open until 1pm, on a Sunday, which is highly unlikely, especially if you consider it is allegedly based in Italy. It was at this point that I posted here and that I noticed the original Gumtree add had been pulled.
I heard nothing more from the seller.