@countessalmirena wrote:
Very true...!
These Certificates of Authenticity are a form of โ
Yes, I sell genuine items.
The problem with cons - at least with cons of this sort - is that the "buyer" AKA "mark" is to an extent complicit in its working. Buyers buy the product that they know is usually $xxx, at a significantly lower price. Does not a tiny part of their mind say, "Hold your horses... If it's this much cheaper to buy from this seller, perhaps I'm buying an unbranded imitation, and perhaps it doesn't work as well as the original, and isn't there some sort of law against the whole counterfeit item thing? ... and maybe there isn't a real warranty, and maybe I'm being penny wise and pound foolish" ...?
Cons use all sorts of reassurances (such as the COAs you mention) that are designed to soothe doubts, but the issues that cause a little alarm bell to ring in the minds of buyers should not be papered over with these false reassurances. It's amazing just how powerful the lure of saving a few dollars by being slightly dodgy can be, even in people that one considers honest.
No, alarm bells don't ring for a lot of people, because despite not being that way for more than a decade, people still think eBay is the place of bargains. The place where you can get genuine items at a fraction of wholesale price. Even a fraction of what it would cost to manufacture the item.
I have no idea what the latest model iPhone is worth, but I'm going to assume it would be close to 2 grand. These numpties think they can get that phone at "the place of bargains" for $200. Then they cry when it stops working after 2 months, and are then horrified to discover that 1. there is no promised warranty, and 2. it's a cheap Chinese knockoff.
