vjd3

Came across this on Ebay, new factory Litronic lights for a 993, $1200 buy it now price, a good deal.

Then looked a little deeper ... seller won't accept Paypal. Red flag #1.

He has perfect feedback, but all 31 transactions, most within the last two months, are for various used books, and for very low money. And the only form of payment accepted on those auctions is ... Paypal. Red flag #2.

Now, without so much as a single car related auction in his history, he suddenly has rims from various cars, these Porsche lights, seats, etc., up for auction. Red flag #3.

Just thought I'd raise my suspicions so nobody gets burned. It could be legit, but then again ...

Litronics on Ebay

Terry Adams

If I was selling OEM ballasts with the package, I would put them in the picture.
I agree, no Paypal looks fishy.

LuftKopf

Definitely worth caution, though:
He does have about $30K in recent completed buy it nows as seller for autoparts (wheel sets for BMW, Porsche, engines, etc) He also has a ton of other Auto listings, so feedback should be popping up quickly on those, particularly if negative.

He might be just be "piggybacking on his wife's book business" or something and deciding to get into the ebay game too.

See if he responds to email and will take a phone call.

chris walrod

I'd ask for a specific picture of the backsides or something that would help verify he has them physically.
Also, no location listed..

Thaddeus

I was looking at his Kinesis wheels, in fact, and was wondering about his relative lack of history. I asked him what the offset was on the wheels: his response was (direct quote) "They were on my 1990 930." That's all he wrote, not one word more.

(1) That told me nothing about the offset. Thanks, pal.
(2) I believe the 930 was no longer made after 1989. If he owned one, how could he get the year wrong?
(3) I decided I wasn't going to pursue them. Just seems fishy.

40Anny

Maybe it's worth sending ebay a red flag.

993C4Smontreal

ask where the guy lives..and ask him if local pick up is possible. Tell him u will pay a handling fee.
See his reaction. If he says no: RED FLAG.

95 C4 993

What is odd is all his past auctions are for paperback books??? Even sold a few for 1 penny????

Paperback books to multiple motorcycle engines to multiple brands of tires. All auctions ending with in short times of each other?

Sell a bunch of bocus crap to get a good rating and then start sellling the stolen items. Not saying thats the case but its happened at Ebay before.

Its one of those red flags that say "Ah, this doesnt look right"

Thaddeus

...and selling the stuff for cash or cash equivalents, no less. Unrecoverable.

Maybe he's legit but it sure doesn't look good. Not a gamble I'd take.

eichlerman

I am very interested in the lights. I actually put in a bid this morning.

I did a little investigation. Shinsales profile states he has only been an eBay member since November 18, 2006. How do you acquire such a diverse inventory of high end wheels and parts for late model high end cars? Why does he state his location as "United States"? I took a sample of his 31 feedbacks - all were books that sold for less than $5, and he required Paypal. Now he's selling big buck items with no Paypal? He wants 2 weeks to clear your check before he is going to ship the item.

geolab

I strongly advise not to take the risk for such an amount of dollars.
with a bit of patience, you'll get those for less from a reliable source.
This is what I posted on another litronics thread:

"if you want the original litronic Kit, there are several options to avoid the 2750 euros + labour at the dealer
You can get the exact same kit in Bosch boxes for +/- 1500 euros before tax. and DIY from p-car or I can send you the porsche workshop documents.
I have compared a Bosch kit to mine (original mount) and it is exactly the same.

or a hectic alternative:
There is an ebay seller in northern europe selling both litronic headlights only, in porsche boxes for $275.
He has more than one pair.(actually a lot)
You need to purchase the ballasts from ebay, or web shops (the ballasts are not cheap)
and the rest of the kit from your dealer (screws stickers harness rivets, etc)
and of course DIY "

If you want those cheap, I would start by buying the ballasts off ebay, one by one, and for the headlights source, I can give you the guy's pseudo

vjd3

He says he won't accept Paypal "because his account is currently limited due to other people paying with fraudulent funds." I think anyone who buys these is asking to lose their $1200, but that's just my opinion ...

sonny1

From the pictures it seems that those ain't the original ballasts, run, Forest, Run., cheers, Sonny.

Dudley

Here is a completed auction for the real thing.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PORSC...QQcmdZViewItem

95 C4 993

Kinda looks like a chop shop.