Caveat Emptor For Ebay Buyers......

guitarweasel

guitarweasel

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So I use to do a lot of buying and selling on Ebay and I've had my account hacked a few times. The latest was last year when I got a call from Ebay asking what I usually sold or bought there, I told them mostly musical instruments, or music related items. They asked if I sold Hunting Jackets, I was like......no, so apparently someone hacked my account and they were selling very expensive hunting jackets and Ebay was getting a lot of complaints that they never received their items. Long story short, I was not held responsible and everything is now OK.

That all being said, you all know I recently purchased a Gretsch Black Penguin that I found on Ebay, well, so did a few other people and once again I received a call from Ebay. Now, I should have noticed the red flag when I went to PayPal and saw the conversion box asking if I was paying in U.S. Dollars, Euro's etc. So myself and a few other people bought the same Black Penguin, I went back to the sellers auction and it was gone. I got scammed! I am getting my money back, no Black Penguin and someone gets to go to jail if they ever find them. I understand this is happening on Reverb.com too, so thoroughly check things out BEFORE you send money, I got lucky, I'm sure some other people didn't.

Back to the hunt for a Penguin........
 
That sucks that so much stuff is a scam lately. I'm happy to hear that you did not get burned.

Except for little things, I rarely use ebay. When I buy music online, it is usually from Discogs. And the stuff I buy from reverb, I try to make sure is an actual shop, or has the option for local pickup. Honestly, I still prefer "brick and mortar" buying. If I buy local, I'm supporting my neighbors. Hopefully they'll stay in business long enough for me to continue buy from them. Whether it's a few cents, or a few dollars more, I'd rather buy from someone a short walk or ride away. I really don't give a rat's butt about saving a dollar by purchasing online.

See if Bill's Music in Peabody, MA can find you a Penguin. They are a Gretsch dealer, and very reputable business.
 
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I use Amazon for little stuff. Except for my Harley Benton, I would only buy a guitar in a brick and mortar for a bunch reasons. It limits me greatly, but that's life. There are still a bunch of great stores in the Philly area. I hope it stays that way.
 
67plexi said:
It's not black but the only ones I could find for sale in the US

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Thanks! I did find a couple on Reverb.

reverb.com

Gretsch G6134B Black Penguin 2003 - 2014 | Reverb

Reverb is a marketplace bringing together a wide-spanning community to buy, sell, and discuss all things music gear.
reverb.com reverb.com

reverb.com

Gretsch G6134B Black Penguin 2003 - 2014 | Reverb

Reverb is a marketplace bringing together a wide-spanning community to buy, sell, and discuss all things music gear.
reverb.com reverb.com
 
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RVA said:
So disturbing. Did you ever get any notices about the hunting jacket sales?
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Oh God yes! I had to start a file on that train wreck, it went on for a few months, before it finally stopped. Not sure how that account got hacked, I had to write the password down because it was so long and detailed. You're not safe anywhere, I use a VPN now when I go looking on line for stuff.
 
Now this would be the one to find!!

www.vintageguitar.com

Gretsch 6134 White Penguin

There’s no doubt the White Penguin is one of the rarest Gretsch instruments. It is estimated that no more than a few dozen were made from the introduction of the model in 1955 through 1964, when it…
www.vintageguitar.com www.vintageguitar.com
 
guitarweasel said:
So I use to do a lot of buying and selling on Ebay and I've had my account hacked a few times. The latest was last year when I got a call from Ebay asking what I usually sold or bought there, I told them mostly musical instruments, or music related items. They asked if I sold Hunting Jackets, I was like......no, so apparently someone hacked my account and they were selling very expensive hunting jackets and Ebay was getting a lot of complaints that they never received their items. Long story short, I was not held responsible and everything is now OK.

That all being said, you all know I recently purchased a Gretsch Black Penguin that I found on Ebay, well, so did a few other people and once again I received a call from Ebay. Now, I should have noticed the red flag when I went to PayPal and saw the conversion box asking if I was paying in U.S. Dollars, Euro's etc. So myself and a few other people bought the same Black Penguin, I went back to the sellers auction and it was gone. I got scammed! I am getting my money back, no Black Penguin and someone gets to go to jail if they ever find them. I understand this is happening on Reverb.com too, so thoroughly check things out BEFORE you send money, I got lucky, I'm sure some other people didn't.

Back to the hunt for a Penguin........
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gw, thanks for alerting us, and sorry for your troubles. I encountered troubles with ebay sellers as far back as 2000. It was also lucky for some unsuspecting bidders back in the early to mid 2000's when I happened to be home, and browsing ebay for drum kits. I saw a crooked seller who stole my exact ad right down to my pictures and description as he was trying to sell one of my former Pearl drum kits, cymbals, stands etc for a NO minimum opening bid. There were a number of bids as several folks were attempting to take home a new kit. This was back when we could actually see bidder's id's. Before ebay made bidder's anonymous, so I could literally contact as many as possible to warn them it was a bogus ad and not to send any money unless they wanted to lose it. I also warned ebay and they stopped the auction before anyone lost money on drums they'd never receive.
 
Chubbles said:
I use Amazon for little stuff. Except for my Harley Benton, I would only buy a guitar in a brick and mortar for a bunch reasons. It limits me greatly, but that's life. There are still a bunch of great stores in the Philly area. I hope it stays that way.
Click to expand...

Back in 1980 through 1989 when I was in the office furniture industry, I had a little store in DeKalb IL, (Home of N.I.U.) and a few doors down was a small music store run by this old guy and he was trying to sell the shop and retire. I remember going in there a few times, he would sometimes be asleep at the counter. One day I asked him if he had any other gear besides what was on display, he said he had stuff in the basement but just never got it upstairs.

He took me down there to have a look and for the love of Jesus, he had a crap ton of stuff! NOS Gibsons and Fender guitars and amps and a few things from Marshall, all still in the box! That's where I picked up my 1972 Marshall 1959 and 1960 cab, price? $450.00 for both, he just wanted to get rid of stuff and I was happy to take stuff off his hands, he had a used 1967 SG Special I snagged for $200.00. Man, it was like Aladin's Cave, I purchased quite a few things from him, hell, I should have just bought him out, I wish I would have. Still play the SG.

SG.jpg
 
guitarweasel said:
Back in 1980 through 1989 when I was in the office furniture industry, I had a little store in DeKalb IL, (Home of N.I.U.) and a few doors down was a small music store run by this old guy and he was trying to sell the shop and retire. I remember going in there a few times, he would sometimes be asleep at the counter. One day I asked him if he had any other gear besides what was on display, he said he had stuff in the basement but just never got it upstairs.

He took me down there to have a look and for the love of Jesus, he had a crap ton of stuff! NOS Gibsons and Fender guitars and amps and a few things from Marshall, all still in the box! That's where I picked up my 1972 Marshall 1959 and 1960 cab, price? $450.00 for both, he just wanted to get rid of stuff and I was happy to take stuff off his hands, he had a used 1967 SG Special I snagged for $200.00. Man, it was like Aladin's Cave, I purchased quite a few things from him, hell, I should have just bought him out, I wish I would have. Still play the SG.

View attachment 29852
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That's my recurring dream/daydream. Awesome!
 
wow sorry about that Weas........

so the real question------------

did you order the Lester? ;)
 
guitarweasel said:
Back in 1980 through 1989 when I was in the office furniture industry, I had a little store in DeKalb IL, (Home of N.I.U.) and a few doors down was a small music store run by this old guy and he was trying to sell the shop and retire. I remember going in there a few times, he would sometimes be asleep at the counter. One day I asked him if he had any other gear besides what was on display, he said he had stuff in the basement but just never got it upstairs.

He took me down there to have a look and for the love of Jesus, he had a crap ton of stuff! NOS Gibsons and Fender guitars and amps and a few things from Marshall, all still in the box! That's where I picked up my 1972 Marshall 1959 and 1960 cab, price? $450.00 for both, he just wanted to get rid of stuff and I was happy to take stuff off his hands, he had a used 1967 SG Special I snagged for $200.00. Man, it was like Aladin's Cave, I purchased quite a few things from him, hell, I should have just bought him out, I wish I would have. Still play the SG.

View attachment 29852
Click to expand...
Goldmine!

I knew a guy who spent his vacations back in the 70s riding Greyhound buses across the deep South, to explore mom & pop music stores and especially the pawnshops in small towns. Same sort of thing, "Hey, you got any dusty guitars in the back or down the basement?" Got some amazing deals on vintage guitars and a couple of tweed amps. He once scored a '59 dot-neck ES-335 for $50, with case. Even back then, that was less than a twentieth of what it was worth. I wish I'd gone with him just once.
 
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guitarweasel said:
So I use to do a lot of buying and selling on Ebay and I've had my account hacked a few times. The latest was last year when I got a call from Ebay asking what I usually sold or bought there, I told them mostly musical instruments, or music related items. They asked if I sold Hunting Jackets, I was like......no, so apparently someone hacked my account and they were selling very expensive hunting jackets and Ebay was getting a lot of complaints that they never received their items. Long story short, I was not held responsible and everything is now OK.

That all being said, you all know I recently purchased a Gretsch Black Penguin that I found on Ebay, well, so did a few other people and once again I received a call from Ebay. Now, I should have noticed the red flag when I went to PayPal and saw the conversion box asking if I was paying in U.S. Dollars, Euro's etc. So myself and a few other people bought the same Black Penguin, I went back to the sellers auction and it was gone. I got scammed! I am getting my money back, no Black Penguin and someone gets to go to jail if they ever find them. I understand this is happening on Reverb.com too, so thoroughly check things out BEFORE you send money, I got lucky, I'm sure some other people didn't.

Back to the hunt for a Penguin........
Click to expand...

WTF, i have bought a number of guitars from Ebay, newer any problem.

I really feel your pain, great that you are going to get your money back...........
 
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