$99.00 Martin C1k

Wazzup with this $99.00 C1k? Martin ukes, Fender strats, amps, all $99.00.

Martin C1K Concert Ukulele - $99.00 : www.jhonlinsiteo.com
https://www.jhonlinsiteo.com/martin-c1k-concert-ukulele-p-108.html

I thought that site came up on a previous thread as a scam.

I'll start to get more worried when more of these sites start posting prices that are realistic, since that would make them harder to spot.

Ukecaster said:

Wazzup with this $99.00 C1k? Fender strats, anps, all $99.00.

Martin C1K Concert Ukulele - $99.00 : www.jhonlinsiteo.com
https://www.jhonlinsiteo.com/martin-c1k-concert-ukulele-p-108.html

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I bet it's a Chinese site - they look different somehow - and I bet it's a scam. Here's how these Chinese scam work.

You order an item and pay for it with PayPal. After a while, you get a tracking number, and it says that UPS delivered it. Yes, UPS did deliver it - to a different person and a different address, probably in your zipcode. When you tell PP you didn't get your item, they say that UPS says they delivered it. Unless PP takes the time to check where the package was sent - which they won't do - the case is closed. That happened to several people near me, according to nextdoor.com.

snowdenn said:

I thought that site came up on a previous thread as a scam.

I'll start to get more worried when more of these sites start posting prices that are realistic, since that would make them harder to spot.

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I am limiting my buying to Amazon and sites that are known to be legitimate. A low price often indicates a scam.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is...I didn't even click on the link, they probably spam you.

Jerryc41 said:

I am limiting my buying to Amazon and sites that are known to be legitimate. A low price often indicates a scam.

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These days Amazon is not always reliable. You have to be careful of the seller and again avoid the options that are too good to be true. There is a lot of bogus stuff out there

EDW said:

These days Amazon is not always reliable. You have to be careful of the seller and again avoid the options that are too good to be true. There is a lot of bogus stuff out there

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Yes. I always prefer Prime items. At least Amazon is a valid company, unlike many in China that exist only on paper.

EDW said:

These days Amazon is not always reliable. You have to be careful of the seller and again avoid the options that are too good to be true. There is a lot of bogus stuff out there

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Yes. I always prefer Prime items. At least Amazon is a valid company, unlike many in China that exist only on paper.

A few things that can help in detecting scams:

1. Too cheap: If it is too cheap to be true, it is likely not true.
2. No listed contacts: It costs scammers more money to man contacts.
3. Not local: Can you visit the scam store locally? Is it from outside your country?
4. Poorly constructed site: Again, it costs more money to get a better site.
5. whois domain name lookup: contact info, creation and expiration dates, who is the registrar.
6. traceroute: where is your traffic going?
7. Internet user's opinions.

So, let's check out this site https://www.jhonlinsiteo.com

1. The uke is like 10-25% of the going price; red flag. But the deal seeker is still tempted. Amazon has been known to has price mistakes.
2. No way to reach a person on the site; red flag
3. There's no local stores; red flag
4. The site is not deep; red flag
5. whois shows the site was there just last month and expires next year and shows no contact info (for comparison, whois on amazon says its been around since 1994 and expires 2024, and has detailed contact info). Also, godaddy is used as the registrar (used to be a no-no, but now it is ok). red flag.
6. traceroute shows traffic routed to cloudflare. Just like godaddy of old, anything with free stuff is an invitation. red flag.
7. Internet opinion is this is a scam. red flag.

The key is scammers want to get your money in the cheapest way (before they get shutdown); therefore, they leave a lot of telltale signs.
Based on the results, I don't think this is a Chinese scam (Russian is another country that's bad). This looks very much like a US-based scam (or African as many of them based it in the US).

If you were genuinely interested in paying that little for a Martin C1K, you are going to be involved with some sort of criminality.

Either it is some sort of platform-specific scam, or if the instrument exists it is almost certainly stolen.

If you're buying a stolen instrument, shame on you. No-one is going to legitimately sell that item for that price, and you know that.

If it's a genuine mistake on the part of the seller, shame on you again. It's not victimless to rip off a small business owner.

I recently purchased something online (via Amazon marketplace) that was priced lower than anywhere on the internet and it was even significantly lower than what the seller was asking for the same model in a different color. It was listed as "new" but I was a bit suspicious so I contacted the seller asking them about the price and whether it was a return, a factory 2nd or damaged in some way resulting in the lower asking price. The seller responded stating that it was new, that the listed price was an error, it should have been higher and he thanked me for bringing it to his attention. He was cool about it and said that he would leave the listing up at the lower price for another 36 hours to allow me to purchase it at the lower price if I wanted. I had to make my purchase decision a little quicker than I planned but I didn't want to pass up on the deal.

https://runningwithmiles.boardingar...y-mistake-sold-items-worth-thousands-for-100/

The 2 times where pricing mistakes happened to me, I refused to allow it.
Once was buying a case of motor oil that rang up at $8; I told the cashier to scan each bottle (which is same price at the case, haha).
The other time was when I noticed an extra balance of $350k in my checking account; after verifying that my wife didn't put that money to buy a house, I told the bank.

I don't think I'd cared for the amazon pricing mistakes, but I do not look down on others who wants them. People view material things differently.

clear said:

I don't think I'd cared for the amazon pricing mistakes, but I do not look down on others who wants them. People view material things differently.

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It's criminality. You can't buy a Martin C1K for $99. At that price, if you receive it you will have stolen it from someone. Either a shopkeeper who accidentally missed another 9, or it was actually stolen.

If you get ripped off trying to buy stolen goods, I have no sympathy for you.

chris667 said:

It's criminality. You can't buy a Martin C1K for $99. At that price, if you receive it you will have stolen it from someone. Either a shopkeeper who accidentally missed another 9, or it was actually stolen.

If you get ripped off trying to buy stolen goods, I have no sympathy for you.

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It is not. Crime is well defined, in this case by contract laws. You don't personally approve and you want to extend that judgement to others. I don't personally approve but I don't extend my opinion onto others. That's our difference.

clear said:

It is not. Crime is well defined, in this case by contract laws. You don't personally approve and you want to extend that judgement to others. I don't personally approve but I don't extend my opinion onto others. That's our difference.

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You're saying buying a stolen instrument isn't illegal?

As Chris667 says, a Martin C1K for $99 cannot possibly be legit.

Caveat emptor.

John Colter

chris667 said:

You're saying buying a stolen instrument isn't illegal?

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I believe the argument was centered around price mistakes.

Not what I said.

If you think you can buy a Martin C1K for $99, you are either dealing with criminals, or expecting to trick someone.

You deserve to get ripped off if you try to do either, frankly.

ukantor said:

As Chris667 says, a Martin C1K for $99 cannot possibly be legit.

Caveat emptor.

John Colter

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It might even be legit and free. I once won a free MO disk drive (valued at $200) just for shopping at a store. At a company I worked for, we gave away plasma TVs back in 1997 at trade shows. Oh heck, even some recipients of free TV complain that they must pay taxes so we added some cash to the deals. Lots of interesting things happen. Jumping to conclusion is the domain of the young.

clear said:

It might even be legit and free. I once won a free MO disk drive (valued at $200) just for shopping at a store. At a company I worked for, we gave away plasma TVs back in 1997 at trade shows. Oh heck, even some recipients of free TV complain that they must pay taxes so we added some cash to the deals. Lots of interesting things happen. Jumping to conclusion is the domain of the young.

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I'm not sure if you are being deliberately obtuse. But just in case, giving away an item as part of a promotion doesn't look like this. If you sell an instrument at a fraction of the wholesale cost, you would want as many people to see it as you can.