Sphock Question

[Bungle73]

Just made a purchase on Sphock. Never used it before. For some reason the seller wanted me to text them directly instead of talking through the site, and now they want to pay them directly when they deliver the item and cancel the deal on Sphock. I don't like the sound of this. On eBay this would be a big no no. Thoughts?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Not used their service, but can't imagine there would be much by way of buyer protection if you don't make payment via Sphock. On the plus side you won't have to pay them any Buyer Protection fee. On the down side you might well shell out for the goods and then have little recourse if you don't receive anything or the items are unsatisfactory.

Some more info here, obviously this is from a Sphock business model point of view...

Avoiding fraud attempts - Shpock

Here’s some of our top tips for staying safe when buying and selling with Shpock: Only talk to o

www.shpock.com

 

[Bungle73]

It's a rather expensive purchase so I'd rather not. I'm an experienced eBayer and I'd never complete a transaction outside of their ecosystem. I've already reported the matter to their support.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

It's a rather expensive purchase so I'd rather not. I'm an experienced eBayer and I'd never complete a transaction outside of their ecosystem. I've already reported the matter to their support.

Probably a wise decision. 'Caveat emptor' and all that!

 

[Bungle73]

The item is actually a mountain bike. My first port of call was actually eBay, but almost everyone on there wants a collection, and I don't have a car, and they're all miles away. I did have my eye on one offering shipping, which I was going to go for, until I checked out Sphock. I found one on there for around the same price, only a 2020 model, where as the one on eBay was from 2017, and offering delivery. That's why I went for it.

 

[pdeaves]

I've never heard of Sphock before, but... it sounds like a way of circumventing listing fees or some such. If someone pressures you into not doing things properly, it's probably cause for concern.

 

[JohnMcL7]

I've never heard of Sphock before, but... it sounds like a way of circumventing listing fees or some such. If someone pressures you into not doing things properly, it's probably cause for concern.

The only time I've heard of the site is people asking if the sale/purchase they're involved in is a scam and those encounters definitely do sound like scams. I'm sure the entire site isn't like that but I'd be extremely careful and if concerned about the purchase, I wouldn't proceed. I was scammed many, many years ago in the early days of the internet and once I eventually realised I'd been scammed I just felt sick about it for some time after however it was an expensive lesson and if I'm not entirely happy about something I just leave it as I'd rather miss out on a good deal than get scammed again.

 

[Bungle73]

I've heard/seen lots of advertising about it.

Basically the bloke wants me to hand over ~£1000 in cash to some bloke (him) who I don't know from adam who turns up with the bike in the back of a van. I don't think so........

I've requested a cancellation.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Feb 2022 ==

Just got a reply from support.

Thanks for taking the time to flag this user to us.

We've forwarded this user’s account to our security team and they've confirmed it to be fraudulent and removed them from Shpock.

This deal has been cancelled and refunded. The money will go back to the original payment method in the next 5 days.

I'm sorry this hasn't been a smooth transaction for you.

We at Shpock value data security, so we always advise avoiding communication outside of Shpock as it would most likely be a potential fraud attempt.

Thanks again!

Now I've got a choice: buy the older version that's on eBay that I was originally looking at, wait for someone to put up the newer model in the size I need on eBay who is offering shipping, or buy the latest model brand new, which of course would get me a pristine bike and a warranty. It's out of stock, and from what I've been reading about the bike shortage could be for some time, though.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@Bungle73. Good to hear that you've not lost out financially. Seems also, from what you report, that the Shpock support team were quick to respond / take the appropriate action.