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Need some fresh eyes

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lonelypauly   06-01-2005 at 08:19:22 PM

Ok, so I found this ebay auction for a Sega Dreamcast Broadband adapter that I really want. The seller has a big ol' goose egg for feedback and his picture looked ripped from the net. So, I asked him to send me a picture of his goods next to todays newspaper. Somehow I still don't trust this guy, his photo's look PS'ed. I'm hoping some of you guys would take a look at the 2 pictures and decide for yourself if it looks legit or not. Thanks.
<A HREF="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/lonelypauly/SP1.jpg" target="_new">http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/lonelypauly/SP1.jpg</A>
<A HREF="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/lonelypauly/SP2.jpg" target="_new">http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y215/lonelypauly/SP2.jpg</A>

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BigMac   06-01-2005 at 11:07:57 PM
- 0 +

The shadows on the carpet and the paper do not match with the absence of shadows on the boxes on the right side, and the shadow cast from the broadband adapter box is not consistent with the shadow in the background. Also, the edge of the box doesn't look right, its somewhat blurred then abrubtly stops (and the paper/carpet starts).

Based on these pics alone, I would stay away from this guy.

Btw, if I wanted to fake this picture I would do a much better job on it.


BigMac

<A HREF="http://www.p3int.com/product_center_NWO_The_Story.asp" target="_new">New World Order</A>

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lonelypauly   06-02-2005 at 02:07:25 AM
- 0 +

Are you positive? Maybe I just want this to be real, so my brain is doing some trickery on me...or it could just be the beer goggles. Im hoping to get a few more opinions before this auction ends. Thanks Mac.

<b><font color=blue>Athlon64 3200+ Winchester/MSI Neo4 Platinum SLI/MSI 6800 Ultra/1 GB Kingston HyperX (Dual Channel)/74GB WD Raptor/600Watt Enermax Noisetaker/ Dual Mitsubishi 21 Inch Monitors</b></font color=blue>

Reply to lonelypauly
BigMac   06-02-2005 at 10:24:52 AM
- 0 +

I'm pretty sure but it would help if others gave their opinion.

As you are only interested in the broadband adapter, you could ask for one more picture of that box alone fully in the picture (ask for it to be placed not neatly aligned with the picture frame), with a date indication and some other specifics in the scene (usually some light and shadowing effects make it hard to fake a picture although nothing is impossible). If he can produce, there is a better chance that he actually as access to it.

Even then, the box could just be empty, but with these things you need some basic trust between business partners. If you don't trust the person, do not do business, period. That is without having an opinion on whether he is legit or not.


BigMac

<A HREF="http://www.p3int.com/product_center_NWO_The_Story.asp" target="_new">New World Order</A>

Reply to BigMac
sparky853   06-02-2005 at 09:17:32 PM
- 0 +

I would have to agree with BigMac...this picture looks a little hinky to me. Especially the lower right of the paper where it meets the box. Just doesn't look right.

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lonelypauly   06-02-2005 at 10:05:31 PM
- 0 +

I've found that he's left feedback for people on items he shipped on monday, so hopefully he will get some feedback before this auction ends. I just don't know why anyone would sell phoney Dreamcast accessories, but that lower right where the paper meets the box looks too weird. It's just that those broadband adapters are very rare.

<b><font color=blue>Athlon64 3200+ Winchester/MSI Neo4 Platinum SLI/MSI 6800 Ultra/1 GB Kingston HyperX (Dual Channel)/74GB WD Raptor/600Watt Enermax Noisetaker/ Dual Mitsubishi 21 Inch Monitors</b></font color=blue>

Reply to lonelypauly
Riser   06-03-2005 at 04:27:03 PM
- 0 +

In the second picture.. if you look under the L in foul where the keyboard box meets the lettering..
Right along the keyboard board.. everything blurs which probably means it was a photoshop trick.

It looks like that edge was slightly blurred to blend and mix.. the pictures look good except for that blurring.. plus the shadow on the boxes are more angled than on the paper..

Why would he have not used a flash on that picture, why is the picture so up close in both cases, and normally you should expect more of a 3d picture from Ebay people.

My bro does photoshop all the time and when he does imports like this, he'll put a faint blur to soften the edge of an import.

My guess is all that shading is a photoshop'd touch.

Avoid.. or get him to send you a better picture, in a better 3d perspective and up close and a full shot, further away.

Reply to Riser
mrface   06-03-2005 at 05:09:35 PM
- 0 +

i agree man, its looks shady man.

"Like a scrotum, there it is in a nutshell."
<font color=red>Roll Tide!</font color=red>
<A HREF="http://www.cameronwilliamson.com" target="_new">-={Psychotic Sociopath.}=-</A>

Reply to mrface
lonelypauly   06-03-2005 at 05:23:52 PM
- 0 +

His feedback is starting to roll in from 5 or 6 previous items he's sold and it's positive. The picture is the only thing that looks strange at this point. I no longer have any reason to suspect he's a scammer. Thanks for looking! LOL.

<b><font color=blue>Athlon64 3200+ Winchester/MSI Neo4 Platinum SLI/MSI 6800 Ultra/1 GB Kingston HyperX (Dual Channel)/74GB WD Raptor/600Watt Enermax Noisetaker/ Dual Mitsubishi 21 Inch Monitors</b></font color=blue>

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mrface   06-03-2005 at 06:17:12 PM
- 0 +

cool tell us how it works out.

"Like a scrotum, there it is in a nutshell."
<font color=red>Roll Tide!</font color=red>
<A HREF="http://www.cameronwilliamson.com" target="_new">-={Psychotic Sociopath.}=-</A>

Reply to mrface
Esso   06-05-2005 at 07:14:24 PM
- 0 +

Pay using a method that protects against things like this. Most credit card companies will reimburse (providing you have one of their better card subscriptions) if a deal goes sour like this.

Reply to Esso
lonelypauly   06-09-2005 at 05:17:41 PM
- 0 +

*****UPDATE*****

The guy is 100% Legit. I guess nobody took into account that the guy's camera was a piece of crap. LOL

<b><font color=blue>Athlon64 3200+ Winchester/MSI Neo4 Platinum SLI/MSI 6800 Ultra/1 GB Kingston HyperX (Dual Channel)/74GB WD Raptor/600Watt Enermax Noisetaker/ Dual Mitsubishi 21 Inch Monitors</b></font color=blue>

Reply to lonelypauly
BigMac   06-10-2005 at 10:33:38 AM
- 0 +

Not only his camera is crap, his photography skills are also crap.


BigMac

<A HREF="http://www.p3int.com/product_center_NWO_The_Story.asp" target="_new">New World Order</A>

Reply to BigMac
lonelypauly   06-10-2005 at 02:57:00 PM
- 0 +

I thought you said you could fake a better one than that, ROFL.

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Reply to lonelypauly
Riser   06-10-2005 at 03:13:38 PM
- 0 +

That explains why I'm not a detective. I do computer stuff because apparently I think real pictures are fake.

It was an odd way to take a picture.. better safe than sorry and you probably got yourself a good deal on it.

Reply to Riser
lonelypauly   06-11-2005 at 05:53:30 PM
- 0 +

Well, thanks for the input. Perhaps I should keep my computer problems to myself as well, lol jk.

<b><font color=blue>Athlon64 3200+ Winchester/MSI Neo4 Platinum SLI/MSI 6800 Ultra/1 GB Kingston HyperX (Dual Channel)/74GB WD Raptor/600Watt Enermax Noisetaker/ Dual Mitsubishi 21 Inch Monitors</b></font color=blue>

Reply to lonelypauly
BigMac   06-13-2005 at 08:31:31 AM
- 0 +

Quote :


I thought you said you could fake a better one than that, ROFL.



Indeed, I can fake a better picture than he can make genuine ones. Go figure how crap he is at taking pictures :lol:

Seriously, it should have been very easy to make a picture that shows what you wanted to know and that should raise no immediate suspicion about whether it's fake or not (which is not to say that I can't fake one that you would not get suspicious about but that's another matter).


BigMac

<A HREF="http://www.p3int.com/product_center_NWO_The_Story.asp" target="_new">New World Order</A>

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