# Am I getting scammed?



## finboy (Jun 13, 2006)

I have been on the hunt for an acoustic lately, and have had nothing but luck with online shopping for guitars for years, that streak may have come to an end. I saw an ad for a J45 LE, and decided to reply as the seller looked like they had quality photos and a decent price. At first things went well, they sent me the Serial Number (13132024) which checked out, the area code did belong to the right city, and they were very responsive to all of my questions. Normally I wouldn't take a kijiji ad (canada's craigslist for you yanks) as something much to put trust in, but the seller also had this instrument along with others listed on their etsy site, with many sold instruments along with others for sale. The story is they were doing consignment work for a guy who was selling off guitars for health reasons.


I sent an email to gibson to get more info on the serial number, but this is what I sent to paypal to see if this transaction is worth cancelling, or if I am covered to wait it out...




> Hello,
> 
> 
> I have been dealing with a shop selling a guitar through Etsy.com, below is the instrument...
> ...



i am a bit torn at waiting this out...


the bad:
-its online from another city
-stock photos weren't mentioned until i caught it
-this waiting game thing isn't great, i am somewhat worried that they will try to wait out any early disputes with paypal
-the paypal name doesn't match up to the names on the etsy site, though the etsy site does mention health issues


the good:
-very responsive seller
-seller changed the ad to "On Hold" so at minimum, they do have control of that etsy account to make changes to the ad
-seller has offered a refund due to the issue with pictures
-it is a paypal transaction, with a very good description, so I do believe I am covered if they don't come through in 9 business days


Part of me thinks this doesn't pass the smell test, another part wants it to work out, and I have dealt with some pretty inept sellers to land some good deals. my judgement is a bit skewed on this, what do you guys think, wait it out until the business days are up, or just go for the refund, save up a few hundred more and just try to find a j45 standard locally?


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2014)

All of this is bad:



> -its online from another city
> -stock photos weren't mentioned until i caught it
> -this waiting game thing isn't great, i am somewhat worried that they will try to wait out any early disputes with paypal
> -the paypal name doesn't match up to the names on the etsy site, though the etsy site does mention health issues


None of this is good:



> -very responsive seller
> -seller changed the ad to "On Hold" so at minimum, they do have control of that etsy account to make changes to the ad


It's actually bad.

This is your out:



> -seller has offered a refund due to the issue with pictures
> -it is a paypal transaction, with a very good description, so I do believe I am covered if they don't come through in 9 business days


IMO you should take it.

There'll be other J-45s. In fact, I firmly believe ya gotta play J-45s to buy a J-45 -- they're all different.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Or you could have my brother kevin from steamcomusic.com inspect it and ship it for you. Have the seller touch base with Kevin, and have him send you photos and description. He's a professional musician, he can assess the guitar.


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## GUInessTARS (Dec 28, 2007)

I can't offer any advice on the transaction issues, other than if it feels wrong......
I do agree with iaresee about J-45's and the 'try before you buy' advice. 
I played one and really liked it, the action was just right
and it sounded full and loud. When I decided to buy, it was gone. 
The replacement in the store was totally 'meh'. I tried one at another store
and it wasn't very good either. Neither was bad, just nowhere near as good as the first.
I am still looking.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

*Caution: *Clicking"thecheapestguitar" link in the OP gave me an notice that Malwarebytes had blocked a potential threat.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

If you have ANY way out of this deal I would take it without hesitation.


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## Mr Yerp (Feb 24, 2006)

I fully agree with the above that J45s are very inconsistent. When I shopped for one, a store had 4, and 3 were duds, in my book anyways.
Not to mention that if the transaction feels off, I would bail. Good luck.


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## finboy (Jun 13, 2006)

An update:


Called visa and Paypal, both are now aware of the situation, Paypal has put a hold on the funds for 10 days until the seller provides them with a tracking number, after that point, full refund. Visa is willing to no pay after the payment switches from pending. It sounds like I am covered on this one, so I will am waiting to see what the seller says after the funds are frozen in Paypal.


I talked to the buyer and they now know they have a deadline to follow up with pictures and a tracking number, and the funds are not accessible until they do


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

finboy said:


> An update:
> 
> 
> Called visa and Paypal, both are now aware of the situation, Paypal has put a hold on the funds for 10 days until the seller provides them with a tracking number, after that point, full refund. Visa is willing to no pay after the payment switches from pending. It sounds like I am covered on this one, so I will am waiting to see what the seller says after the funds are frozen in Paypal.
> ...


Excellent!


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## finboy (Jun 13, 2006)

Update: the seller responded quickly wondering why there was a negative amount in their Paypal, I explained the recommendations Paypal put forward, and directed them to their contact line to understand the reasoning. Basically they were surprised that Paypal would expect them to float the balance until a tracking number was obtained, but are now working with Paypal.

so the story continues


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## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

What ended up happening with this? Is the etsy company still running? Can you shoot me the site name so we can be warned?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk -& All Round Nice Guy.


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## finboy (Jun 13, 2006)

Sorry for the lack of update, it got fishy so I told paypal to cancel the transaction. Shortly after the etsy site went down. With the funds I got back, I bought this beauty, a j100 xtra from 1994


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

Nice looking alternative, smart move.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

Nice pic. Is this your way of saying you "baled" on the original transaction?


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## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

Nice bud! Very country! That is a big body guitar! 
Glad it all worked out & the site was squashed. If they'd done it right, there is no reason it couldn't have worked.(legitimately)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk -& All Round Nice Guy.


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## finboy (Jun 13, 2006)

Puns abound, lol

this j100 has a mahogany side and back, so it actually covers an interesting space between a j45 and j200, I had to pay more for sunburst, but it is amazing.


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