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ABMachinery dealer cautionary tale

Nice Guy

Aluminum
Joined
Mar 14, 2020
Location
Mom's basement
I tried to buy the Schaublin 135 that this company is selling off of ebay this morning. I had first emailed them directly to ask questions and get some more pics. When I hit buy it now on ebay it told me I had to get a shipping quote from them first. I already had that from them and I emailed back that I needed them to enter it in ebay to complete the ebay purchase. The seller emailed back that I should call him. So I did and he refused to sell the lathe through ebay and told me to cancel the sale. I looked and couldn't. So I told him he would have to and he did and I OK'd it via Ebay. It's now relisted on Ebay for 2000$ more than it was this morning.
I was reassured that they had 100% positive for sales on Ebay but that obviously doesn't mean anything if they are moving the sales off Ebay.
 
That sucks!

I think it is commonplace for dealers to try to sell off of ebay, and I don’t blame them much for that because ebay is so crappy in so many ways: high and obfuscated fees, bad user interface, bad customer service, ...

However, any seller that pulls a stunt like that won’t get my business.
 
There have been several threads on this forum (and others) about a machinery dealer named Al Babbin that are less than positive. Wonder if the "AB" in ABMachinery is the same person.
Ted
 
The name on the email account is Alex Benedek. If he has a bad reputation he may cycle through different names.
I am a hobbyist so don't "need" a lathe and others would be more than adequate for what I want to do.
 
Yes I'm sure that's the reason:

Alex Benedek
Mon, Jun 22, 9:38 AM (1 day ago)
to me

We have to cancel because they already charged us 10% commission like 1095.00$
 
Report the seller to ebay and describe what happened. Ebay will suspend sellers (and buyers if they participate) engaging in high $ off ebay transactions for up to a month. Repeat offenders get permanently banned.
 
I can't really blame them. Ebay's fee structure for high-ticket items is outrageous. After you pay the seller fee, the fee for payment, and the fee on shipping, ebay has taken 15% of your sales price. You can't really count on ebay to do anything for you if there is a problem, especially if you are a seller. They will grab your money though! Read about the recent cyberstalking campaign mounted by ebay executives.
 
I do find fault in listing an item for a price on ebay and refusing to sell it at that price. If they don't want to pay the piper they don't have to use ebay. If they want 10K for an item mark it up so that's what they get after the fees.
 
Agreed, yes absolutely. The seller should have honored the price and done their homework. I think it is possible that they did not realize what the fee structure would actually be. Ebay intentionally obfuscates this information.
 
This dealer list this same item in the past for...
$11,950
SCHAUBLIN MODEL 135 HIGH PRECISION LEAD SCREW LATHE WITH TOOLING | eBay

then
$10,950
SCHAUBLIN MODEL 135 HIGH PRECISION LEAD SCREW LATHE WITH TOOLING | eBay

and now $12,950
SCHAUBLIN MODEL 135 HIGH PRECISION LEAD SCREW LATHE WITH TOOLING | eBay

I guess when no one BIN they lower the price, when someone does BIN they cancel the sale and raise the price.

They have been an Ebay member for 20 years, no excuses they didn't know how Ebay worked or the fee structure.
 
So I did and he refused to sell the lathe through ebay and told me to cancel the sale. I looked and couldn't. So I told him he would have to and he did and I OK'd it via Ebay.
If that happens again, don't agree to cancel the sale, then you can ding him for non-delivery. Agreeing to cancel the sale has no consequences for him and you can't even leave him a negative feedback. I think according to ebay's rules you can pay him and if he doesn't give you the machine he can get suspended from ebay for a while. 20 years in, there's no excuse for this game, and he obviously knows how to manipulate them to his advantage.
 
You should report the seller to Ebay. There is no excuse for their behaviour. The Ebay contract does not allow them to cancel the sale, and for something of this value, Ebay should apply some pressure.

I have bought and sold lots of stuff on Ebay. I don't like the fees either, but I take this into account in my pricing, because there is nowhere else you can reach that many potential buyers.
 
I'm worried they would mess up the lathe in some way if the sale went forward for a price they listed but don't want to sell it for. Or just keep the cash and say it was shipped. Once its clear they aren't honest I don't want to have anything to do with them.
 
I dealt with these guys years ago when I sold a machine through ebay that they bought. The machine had an issue which I disclosed in my ad. They got the machine in and immediately advertised it with no disclosure about said issue.

Additionally my ad indicated seller was responsible for loading. They bitched and moaned about this after they had made purchase.

I would never deal with them again- buying or selling.
 








 
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