SCAM alert - Sellers posting Kmart items at inflated prices

[fcosenti]

People,

I got scammed - I purchased a hallway table with free delivery for $65. Yesterday I received a parcel FROM  KMART directly, it was this table. I go and check the Kmart website - the item is for sale online for $30.

This is it: http://www.kmart.com.au/product/black-hallway-table/124214

The seller didn't even bother to have the goods delivered to himself and then to me - shameless scammer.

Since the overall damage is just $25 (Kmart delivery fee is $10), I reported the seller to eBay and I left negative feedback.

While for electronics it is easier to check pricing online, for furniture it is much more complex.

Note that a lot of people are selling the exact same item for hugely inflated prices ($65 was the cheapest on eBay when I bought it). I am sure they are playing the same game with a lot of other stuff.

[chameleon54]

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@letscleanupmycupboards wrote:
So what word or phrase describes an Aussie based seller listing the exact same item for $20 plus postage that you can buy from Hong Kong for $5 including postage? Sure as heck isn't a scam. It's supplying goods for an amount of money agreed to by both buyer and seller at the time of the transaction. Can be quite obvious the item is identical (sometimes many aspects of the listing is too) but you make a choice based on delivery time vs cost etc and buy the one that suits.

Is this not exactly what the OP did? It's not really relevant where it came from or how much it cost the seller? I've bought plenty for a low price (sometimes 1/10 of the resale value) that's subsequently sold for more (sometimes I value add by fixing or cleaning stuff but sometimes it comes out of the packaging and gets photographed and advertised and sold). Does that mean I've scammed the buyer simply because I have a win and picked up something cheap on eBay?

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Isnt that what all ( sensible ) store sellers do. We find items that are undervalued or not easily available to everyone and find a buyer who is willing to pay much more for the same product  ???   I know thats how my business works.

I find specialised items that dont have a buyer where they are offered for sale and so sell very cheaply. Often the original seller has a bulk quantity of the surplus stock and cant be bothered finding buyers for each individual item.  I then pay ebay a fee to offer the item to a much larger audience on the internet and sell it to some-one who needs that particular item at a much higher price. 

This is how trade has been practiced for thousands of years. Think the ancient mariners involved in the spice trade or even our Australian Aborigines who traded flint stone with neighbouring tribes who did not have the stone on their lands.

OF COURSE THEY WHERE ALL SCAMMERS.........

[lyndal1838]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

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@*tippy*toes* wrote:

Scam is one of those over abused buzz words, like racism, autism and all the other ism words that are rampant at the moment. People latch onto a word and use it for everything, even if that word isn't appropriate for the situation. The OP was not scammed, he was not ripped off, he was just stupid for jumping in and buying without doing any homework. Plain and simple as that.

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Is autism seen as a buzz word and has it gained traction as an everyday cover all ???? Genuinely interested to hear what people think of this ( at the risk of hijacking a thread )

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I don't know about autism being a buzz word but I do think that an awful lot of behavioural issues are put down to autism when really the "sufferer" just needs a bit of discipline.   It is even more unfortunate when genuine autism cases are fobbed off while the others get all the sympathy....the squeaky wheel syndrome if you like.

[digital*ghost]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

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Is autism seen as a buzz word and has it gained traction as an everyday cover all ???? Genuinely interested to hear what people think of this ( at the risk of hijacking a thread )

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Not so much a buzz word, at least nowhere near how common references to other serious conditions have become (eg, OCD - many people will refer to this condition just because they get some semblance of satisfaction out of neatness, or order, while genuine cases of OCD are obviously quite debilitating, if I suffered from OCD, I'd probably be very frustrated at the colloquial usage of the name).

Autism is a little different, possibly because there are a range of neurological conditions that are commonly relegated to autism (eg Aspergers is a well known one) and nowadays people can also be placed on the spectrum but not have any strong or overt signs, or have it affect how they generally go about their lives, however can technically say "I'm mildly autistic" - I know people who simply find comfort in being able to name aspects of themselves like this, and others still who find it advantageous in some ways (the "don't blame, I'm [insert diagnosed - self or otherwise - condition here]" , the latter are sometimes the same kind of people who suddenly developed Coeliac disease when gluten-free diets came into fashion). 

Then, there are just some people who use it the same way as OCD, you know they'll do or say something (or see someone else behaving a certain way) and refer to that behaviour as 'autistic' (often it's used to refer to social behaviours and reactions that spring from being offended over something they are loyal to or obsessive about), much like people say things like "I'm such a retard", when they do or say something they feel is stupid. 

[*tippy*toes*]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

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@*tippy*toes* wrote:

Scam is one of those over abused buzz words, like racism, autism and all the other ism words that are rampant at the moment. People latch onto a word and use it for everything, even if that word isn't appropriate for the situation. The OP was not scammed, he was not ripped off, he was just stupid for jumping in and buying without doing any homework. Plain and simple as that.

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Is autism seen as a buzz word and has it gained traction as an everyday cover all ???? Genuinely interested to hear what people think of this ( at the risk of hijacking a thread )

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It's not a buzz word per se, but a reasonable percentage of the population have given it that status. So many people have self diagnosed kids "on the spectrum" and working in my industry, you see it a lot. 20 years ago every kid had ADHD. These days, every kid has autism or Aspeger's. Like the ADHD epidemic of the 80's and 90's, there were genuine cases. A lot however, were just undisciplined, spoilt little brats who were ruler of the household and would self destruct when someone challenged them.

People saw through their fake diagnosis, so they have now latched onto autism and Asperger's. It also helps that you may qualify for government money. The undisciplined spoilt brats of today are now being diagnosed (usually by the parents) as being "on the spectrum". It is very hard to find a child that isn't "on the spectrum" somewhere.

I get very annoyed at people when someone complains about a child carrying on like a pork chop and someone else pipes up and says "you have to make allowances because he may be autistic or may be "on the spectrum", imagine how it is for the poor parents". No, the kid is just an undisciplined brat, who is the result of the parents giving him everything he wants and never saying no. Kid knows with a meltdown he can get whatever he wants. I have several friends whose kids genuinely have autism, yet they wouldn't behave like that in public. They learnt from a young age, long before they could speak, smile or make eye contact, if they had a meltdown, they got taken home.

[davewil1964]

Not to mention the frying of their poor psyches and wallets when they finish school and find bosses do not respond to meltdowns very well, if at all.

[*tippy*toes*]

We've had a few of them start at work over the years and it's my self appointed job to constantly tell them no. I take great pleasure in it. Seeing them want to explode at me is gold. I'll hear something like "I'm going to do this job". I'll reply with "no you're not, I'm doing it"....even if I really don't want to do it. Some have said that they out rank me. That doesn't go down well.

I remind them that their parents were going through puberty when I started this job so don't tell me they out rank me. Most of them pull their heads in after awhile and turn out to be great colleagues, but there are still a few that can't deal with being told no. They are the ones in their mid 20's who race off and ring mummy in tears because their nasty colleague told them no. Some even call it bullying. I call it educating them. Something their parents should have done.

[chameleon54]

Thankyou all for your comments. Very interesting to hear what people think. I suspect many people with genuine autism dont actually do tanties all of the time.

[lyndal1838]

The few genuine autism sufferers that I know all tend to be withdrawn and do not interact with strangers, rather than given to public tanties.

The autism sufferers as digagnosed by Mummy and Daddy just need a good dose of discipline as far as I can see.

[springyzone]

I've taught a few children with autism and also aspergers. On the whole. they were quiet, well behaved kids who were in their element with routine, which is probably why they were given to me. In fact, I found they didn't spend much time talking, they just got on with their work once they understood how to do it, although they worked better on computers than handwriting so I just let them type their answers in Word.

On the other hand, there are some strange conditions being diagnosed-oppositional defiance etc and they were virtually allowed to explode, do what they liked, which made me seethe.

I had one boy in the classroom (I was taking a lesson but not the class teacher) chase another boy and whack him & when I told him off, he told me he could not help it, his parents told him he never started it, he just reacted.

You can control how you react, I replied. Why was he chasing  the other boy? The other boy looked at him in a way he didn't like.

In my opinion (not that I am medically trained) some of these children are perfectly capable of modifying their behaviour but it is the elephant in the room in education at the moment. If any child plays up, teachers are often blamed for not being entertaining enough or excuses are made by citing some condition or other & the child suffers no consequences.

Real conditions, fine. Of course you try to work to help that child.But I think there's pressure on doctors to explain every sort of naughty behaviour as a condition.

[*tippy*toes*]

Don't get me started on ODD, that would have to be one of the more outrageous "syndromes" of the last 30 years. Kids that don't like being told what to do so chuck a mega wobbly. They have to be allowed to have these meltdowns because "they can't help it, they just don't like it when we tell them what to do". Here's an idea, be a parent, stop trying to be their best friend.

We had our grandkids here last weekend, aged 3 and 7 months. When the eldest one was born we were completely expecting her to be a spoilt little self entitled brat, because that's what her mother is. She is the most placid, delightful child I think I've ever met. I've got all sorts of colourful little trinkets and ornaments all around the house, most at kid level. Not once did she even consider going near any of them. She didn't contemplate touching anything that wasn't hers. She would get her toys out of her bag and as soon as she was finished, she put them back. The only time I saw her less than happy was when she discovered they were going home the next day.

For parents that I thought would give them whatever they want and have the my child can do no wrong attitude, I was wrong. Clearly they are doing something right, why do so many other parents get it so wrong, then have to label their kids with a "syndrome" of some kind?