Ebay sellers that do "pre-orders" but dont list it that way

[shootist16]

I found this auction for a Benchmade 635:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6513311898&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

I couldn't find anywhere that stated it was a pre-order. If I didn't know any better I would assume it was in stock.

I emailed the seller and asked if it was in stock. Here is the response:

"Unfortunately the 635 is on back order from the manufacturer, so at this time it is pre-order. The expected arrival is sometime between the end of this month and the beginning of April. If you pre-order you will be guarenteed to receive one once they come in. I hope this helps you. if you have any more questions feel free to contact me. Thank you for shopping at Sharpened Edge Knives, Bob Egolf"

I really think it would be nice if sellers would state in the description if the item is a pre-order.

What do you guys think?

 

[Ascoe]

It says "Please E-mail for availability before purchase, Thank You." You emailed and found out they were preorder.

How is that a problem?

 

[shootist16]

It says "Please E-mail for availability before purchase, Thank You." You emailed and found out they were preorder.

How is that a problem?

You are right. This is probably a bad example to use.

I have seen others that were pre-order and give no indication.

 

[Ascoe]

Yeah, I do remember back when the BM pictures were first up. There were knives on ebay that weren't into production yet.

 

[raghorn]

That one was pretty clearly stated, but I've seen examples of other folks who were not informed by the seller until after they paid their money. I'd be pretty steamed in that situation.

 

[howiesatwork]

There's a lot on that sellers list of knives that are pre-orders, the prices aren't that much better than anywhere else,, and yes, you too can be the proud purchaser of a preorder for an AFAIK never available Dork Ops knife.
I'd not buy from him.
There are those that do preorders a lot of places besides eBay.
If this is stated in the advertising, it is acceptable.
If it isn't, you're not buying from a reputable seller.

 

[silenthunterstudios]

eBay is usually good about monitoring auctions that list knives that haven't hit the market yet. Other than that, I've seen lots of businesses that have a specific knife up for auction, with, let's say 30 available, but in small print, they list it as on backorder. I went nuts looking for a CS Scottish Dirk, it was available on eBay for about 80 bucks, but they didn't have it in stock, so I just bought one on backorder from CS.

 

[allyourblood]

well, he's swiping one of his pics from knifecenter.com which is kinda uncool...

beyond that, i still think it's deceptive to post it up for sale and not state that the item is backordered. shootist16 proved the effectiveness of a typical eBay tactic; the seller inserts just one line about the item's "availability", and never mentions that the item is actually not in stock, even though he knows full well that it isn't. i seem to recall reading in eBay's SafeHarbor rules that this is not allowed. they even have this listed in their pull-down menu, when filing a complaint.

i read the auction description, and even though i read it slowly and (what i thought was) line by line, i also missed the "e-mail for availability" line, until i saw Ascoe's post, and reread it.


abe