Can anyone explain this auction to me ???

[wearetheborg]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0143538938

[The Spirit of X21]

It has to be a mistake on the part of the bidder. No one in their right mind would may anywhere near that much for a T40p, unless of course the chassis were made of platinum!

[rkawakami]

Dueling, hijacked accounts. Done for fun (not for profit). Has become somewhat more common in the last couple of years as these... idiots (?) have exercised some social engineering skills upon other... dupes (?) into revealing their eBay IDs and passwords.

A lesson to be learned here: Don't EVER click on a link which appears to come from eBay, PayPal, your bank, your credit union, etc... which says, in effect, that you need to log into your account to straighten out some "problem" or to confirm your "identity" or... you get the picture.

[Jan_Hoho]

Kind of expensive 'fun' considering that eBay takes percentages based on the closing value of the item...^^

[rkawakami]

I believe that the affected seller can claim a listing fee credit when it is determined that the "buyer" is fake. It costs the seller some time to file for this credit and to re-list the item.

[ajkula66]

Well, you eventually do get your final value fee back, but it's a pain in the neck...if they bid with a hacked account, and eBay cancels the auction themself, you're in the clear, apart from the waste of time. However, when you have to go through the tedious process of proving that you actually haven't sold the item for ten times its value, then it's rough...

That's why one has to be on top of his/hers auctions and start cancelling the bids once the rat is smelled, even from a distance...I've recently cancelled a bid (not initially knowing its full amount) on a 570E I had been selling, because it seemed to me that it went way above its value (it was somewhere around $200) and once it got cancelled it showed that the %$@*& actually put in a bid for $6,666...kid you not!

All of this being said, I always view eBay as just another form of legal gamble...not that I don't enjoy it, mind you, but...there are days that I wish I were like my in-laws and addicted to Atlantic City...seems less painful...for a split second, then I wake up and start browsing for bargains and unusuals again...

[wearetheborg]

It seems wierd that the pranksters choose such an esoteric laaptop. If it had been a new xps1710 or xps1330 or some such thing, I would have understood. But a used T40P ????

[rkawakami]

At least that system was *working*. I have seen parts/repair laptops commanding those "prices".

[Harryc]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0143538938

Look at it this way. If you buy my T41 I can save you $3500. .
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=46600