Is this scam guys?

[drunktiger2010]

I am looking to buy an air fryer and this one (eBay item number: 313594498569) is sold by other sellers from $80-$260 here on ebay, but this new seller lists it for just $23.98 for "Buy it Now", more than a dozen has been sold. Is it legit or a scam, can any1 tell? I don't wanna buy it and the item never arrives. Thanks. Cheers. 

[drunktiger2010]

Just talked to ebay auto chat and this is what I have got...

[gutterpunkz05]

They could simply be harvesting details of easy (gullible) targets,  the real scam may be yet to come

[drunktiger2010]

Already received the refund. Cheers.

[gutterpunkz05]

Be aware, if it is part of a multi part scam, the actual scam will have nothing to do with ebay or paypal.

Check out the ACCC,  Little Black Book Of Scams, and learn how to protect yourself.

I was going to put up a link for you, but instead, lesson one, do not click unverified links.

Just to add, the follow up may not even be  via the net

[countessalmirena]

I can only endorse what the responders here have said.

It is NOT WORTH buying an item that is probably a scam item. The risk is not so much that you won't get an item... It's more than you would probably receive something that looks like an air fryer but is not to Australian electrical standards, is a fake, is dangerous to use, and might result in damage, injury or death.

You will never receive a genuine brand item that is exactly what is listed, new, to standard, for such a ridiculously low price. The actual Devanti black 7L air fryer has a recommended retail price of $291.95. Getting it for $260-odd cheaper than the RRP is not possible, not in any universe. That does not happen, and by buying items of that sort, you only commit behaviour that encourages scammers. (I'm not trying to upset you, but rather to make you aware of a real problem, in the hope that you will avoid this sort of problem in future.)

If there are other eBay sellers offering it for $80, that's still well well well well below RRP, and these too would be fakes.

If that model is the one you want, find an authorised Australian seller offering it for a reasonable price, but you are unrealistic in expecting to get a genuine one for much less than RRP. Truly. Completely unrealistic. I can't stress this enough. You are putting your life, and the lives of your loved ones, at risk by buying electric/electronic items that purport to be genuine but are clearly fake.

The main reason - perhaps the only reason - why you received a refund is that someone had already reported the seller to eBay. On that basis, when you chatted with an eBay CS rep, the rep followed protocol in issuing you with a refund. You are fortunate in getting back your payment.

[springyzone]

I am glad you got it sorted but after reading countess's reply, where she said the RRP is normally around the $291 mark, I have to say that there is no way you'd get a new one from a seller at $24, let alone free postage.

And you said the seller had multiples.

You asked what the seller had to gain. Sellers who are new or selling again after a long absence generally have a 21 day hold on the money before they can get their hands on it. Or that used to be the case. But if your seller had sold a few small things recently and had some positive feedback, then they may have been past that initial holding period and if they then sold a lot of things in a very short span of time, could possibly take off with the money. That's one scenario I can think of, don't know if that is what happened or not though.

You are lucky. Whether the seller was really in SA or overseas, you can bet that for $24, you would not have been getting a genuine brand Devanti and it may not have been electrically safe. You dodged a bullet.

You would actually be better off buying a good second hand Devanti at a realistic price rather than one advertised as new but at a scam sort of price. If you keep a look out, you can sometimes see excellent second hand products that have had very light use. They may be last season's model but they are at least more likely to be geuine.

Be careful buying electricals online, the warranty often isn't worth the paper it is written on and lots of people get caught.