OK, here it is - my E-bay experience in full detail. Sorry, this is long so get a cup of coffee and sit back.

It was almost exactly one year ago that I became convinced I needed to get a Tyros. It had all the things I came to wish that the PSR 2000 had. But I just couldn't justify spending $2800 for a new one (or convince my wife). But wait, why not check out E-bay? Sure enough, a couple were listed. But they were not much less than a new one and I wasn't sure I should spend that much. Understand that I had NEVER bought anything on E-bay. I didn't even have an account yet.

Suddenly one day there appeared a Tyros "in the box" for $1250! I looked at that offer for a number of days, not really believing it could be. You couldn't bid on it so I had no way of knowing if offers had been made. The offer said you had to send an e-mail to them to get on the "pre-approved buyer/seller list". Little did I know that this is how they get you to deal with them outside of E-bay and probably get paid multiple times for the same item (which they might not even have!). Well, I was an idiot so sent an e-mail and got this response:

"Hi,
Before any bidding takes place you must know that I am currently in Madrid, Spain where me and my partner supplied capital for the purchase of a bankrupt store stock. Now we are trying to sell the remaining stock. The buy now price would be $1250. This is preaproved auction,that means that you are not allowed to bid or buy the item until payment is confirmed. I have preffered this special type of auction because of the multiple problems I've had in the past with non-paying bidders. The units are brand new still in their original package factory sealed. They ship with all the accessories provided by the manufacturer and have international warranty . All the manuals and the original documentation are in English language. As soon as we agree upon the trasaction terms I will make the S&H arrangements and schedule a pickup with DHL. You will receive your package in 4 working days at most. We ship all packages having written
on them "display unit, no comercial value" or as a gift so you don't have to pay any additional taxes like customs or dutys. As a payment method we have chosen Money Gram`s services because they always served our interests in a professional manner and helped us gain buyers. We consider promptitude a vital condition on the modern eCommerce markets and a guarantee of quality. Here are the main advantages Money Gram provides over other payment solutions: years of experience in the Money Transfer business, locations worldwide in more than 186 countries, transfer fee may be charged to the receiver, always local currency (usually cash), easy - no bank accounts or lengthy procedures reliable - proven track record, convenient, open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 364 days of the year, high level of security, authorized users only. We cover the shiping fees + insurance if you cover the Money Gram fees.
Let me know asap about your decision.
Thanks."

OK, so now I'm thinking Spain, huh? Do I really want to send $1250 to someone in Spain and then hope they send the item? Notice the part about avoiding duty charges, too. I decided against it, but the price and my desire to get a Tyros just kept entering my mind. The sucker in me was winning.

At one point, the item disappeared from E-bay. I e-mailed the guy (Edwarde Rioss) about this and he replied:

"Hello Sir,
Somebody change my ebay pass and try to put up a plasma tv to sell i sent a e-mail to ebay about this and now i wait to have my password back and fee for auction back to my credit card. ALso about my item yes is still aviable for sale but i cant make this
trought ebay for the moment. The only thing that can make is you to send money i will send the item and after i will have back my account to leave me a good feedback for this transaction.
Let me know asap about this.
Thanks."

So now he wants me to do the deal outside of E-bay. Do you think alarms would go off in my head? Yes, but they were too faint to overtake my Tyros dream. To top it off, I was to send the MoneyGram to a different person in Madrid!

So what did I do? I decided to go for it! What the heck, it's only $1250. I located a MoneyGram service. It was at a local grocery store but they were too new at it to help with an overseas transaction, so they sent me to their larger store a few miles away. There it took about an hour to get it done. I now had my confirmation number so sent it to "Edwarde Rioss". He replied that he would ship as soon as he got the money.

At about 5:15 the next morning while I was getting ready for work, the phone rang. It was MoneyGram calling to tell me that this guy's name had triggered a flag. He had previously ripped people off and was not to be trusted. I was told to go to MoneyGram and get a refund. Wow! Not only had my worst fears occurred, but I was saved by MoneyGram. As fast as possible I got my money back (and that took an hour!).

The next day I got an e-mail from "Edwarde Rioss:

"Hi,
I cant pick up the money because you wrote on the transfer "for ebay
transactions" or something like this, and if in the check is writed for
busniess on internet i have to pay 30 %. And i dont want to pay 30 %
for nothing. Give me a mail as soon as you can. Thanks."

I e-mailed "Edwarde Rioss" and said:

"I wrote "payment for Tyros keyboard" on the transfer. I did not
mention E-bay and you did not warn me about such wording on the
transfer.

But it does not matter. MoneyGram refunded my money because they told
me you could not be trusted. You had not delivered as promised for
others.

This is too bad because I really wanted the keyboard. But how can I
trust you? Too many bad things have happened in this transaction:

- your E-bay account failed and the auction item disappeared
- it was not really an auction, just a direct transaction outside
E-bay. You could be taking money from many people for one keyboard that
you might not even have
- I had trouble e-mailing directly to your hotmail e-mail account and
had to contact you through E-bay
- MoneyGram says you are not to be trusted

How can all this happen with all the good comments on E-bay about you?
Are they not real?"

He replied:

"Hi ,
Yes i understand you ,i dont understand why the money gram dont have trust. Here is some offer good for you and for me send me back a half part of money to my friend name and i will send the item imidiatly.
If agree you will see that i`m a trust person and can make bussines with me and maybe in future will make another good deal.
Let me knpw asap about this. I think that the money gram thold that i`m not a trust person because i`m not a spanish person for this i told you to send me the money to my friend name that is a spanish person.
Thanks."

Inexplicably, I STILL wanted to do business with this guy! I wrote back:

"I'm confused by this. Do you live in the US and your friend lives in
Spain?

I think you need to rebuild trust and get a good review from me. You
know I can be trusted since I already tried to send you the money. You should trust me and send me the keyboard and I will send you the payment. Believe me, the price of this keyboard is good enough that I would be VERY happy to pay this amount as long as it does not include the 30% Internet fee. I would even be willing to pay the shipping if it is reasonable and does not include the 30% charge you mentioned.

My wife says don't even do this, but I somehow believe you are telling
the truth. I want the keyboard, but need you to trust me this time. I
would never cheat you. Please let me know what you want to do ASAP."

He replied:

"Please tell me first if agree to send the money to my friend name. Also if agree i will send the item tomororow in the morning and i will wait to send me the payment info and after this i will e-mail you the traking number.
Please e-mail me asap if agree to give my friend name info to can make the payment today if is possible.
Also if want i can give my phone number from here Spain.
Let me know asap.
Thanks."

So now he wanted me to send the cash to his "partner" in the US. Notice he didn't want to give out that name and address just yet. At this point I had finally seen the light and had my money back. I didn't reply and I never heard from him again.

Sometime around the end of this nightmare I saw a post on this forum that "that guy from Spain is trying to sell a cheap Tyros again – hope no one is stupid enough to fall for that!" I was too embarrassed to even become a member of the forum at that point.

Lesson learned, I then bought a used Tyros with a 10Gb HD from someone in Pennsylvania for $2099 on E-bay. I know, it is still risky to do this, but I lucked out this time. I was able to actually talk to the seller on the phone. It arrived in perfect shape. I have not had one problem with it – even the USB port works great.

Well, I guess I just wrote a book. Sorry for the length. If my experience prevents even one other person from attempting the stupid thing I did, then it was worth writing.

He sure is a polite thief!

juneau,ebay has become so popular for bargains,and it is so easy for people to get sucked in,there are a lot of good people out there ,but alas also a lot of bad,none of us like to admit we have made mistakes,by you explaining your experience a lot of people will think twice before parting with cash,and with thanks to people like you for telling your story,you have helped to not only save people cash but also the heartache that goes with it,don,t feel embarrased,very few of us will laugh,this site is full of good people all with different levels of experience who will give you the info you need,all you have to do is ask,and all views are welcome,mike

If you buy or sell on eBay you can never be too careful. If you buy, you have to be very diligent you don't get ripped off or scammed. If you sell, you have to watch out for, once again, scam artists who try and get your merchandise au gratis by deviously manipulating how the merchandise is payed for, i.e. 'agreed methods' of payments. If you're not careful they will get your merchandise and you may end up with nothing, i.e., 'no greenbacks'.

There are people out there who I believe their major source of income is from ripping eBay customers off. Don't be one of them.

Best regards,
Mike

Thanks for sharing your story. I've bought and sold some on Ebay and never had a problem, but for me, the first red flag is also the final one. If it smells fishy, it's probably a fish.

I'm just glad you came out with your $1250 intact.

Michael