eBay Guides - Drum Workshop DW Roland drums SCAM listings

Attention: Drum shoppers on eBay!

There has been a great flood of scam listings for Drum Workshop drum sets and Roland electronic drum kits lately. (Drum Workshop are commonly referred to as "DW" as well)

I have done my best to report them to eBay, but frankly, the scammers put up false auctions faster than eBay can take them down.

During my email contacts with eBay, I have been advised that these scammers "hijack" eBay accounts and will list dozens, if not hundreds of items on some poor user's account.

Here are common traits to the scam:

The DW Drums, Roland (or other item) will be listed in a section where experienced drummers and shoppers "in the know" won't see them. The scammer's intent here is to take advantage of a buyer is NOT knowledgable about drum pricing. Carefully check where the drums are listed. A red flag will be a set of drums listed in "gardening supplies" or "jewellery".
Usually, the auction length is a 24-hour duration only. The scammer's intent here is to get in, get a nibble, make a cheap offer, score a deal and then be gone within the 24-hour span.
The following photos have been recycled to death on the eBay-DW-Roland scams. I really feel bad for the original sellers (whoever they were)....since now, the photos are used almost exclusively by scam artists. A listing using these photos should be avoided. When in doubt, ask the seller for MORE photos. If a seller cannot supply more, be cautious. I have emailed scammers as a test, and the excuses I've received are all the same---"new condition".
The scammers use the EXACT same item descriptions AND titles. I will not reproduce it here, but the advice remains the same-a real seller will be precise in the description, and be able to give even MORE of a description if asked by email.
Check the item location. Usually, the item location will be different that the location of the seller information.
Check the item description. The scam is easily spotted by the scammer listing a Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail or Gmail email address right at the beginning of the description. The scam seller advises immediately to contact them at the email address noted and NOT to use the eBay contact. The scammer will ALWAYS type in some B.S. comment about how the eBay system doesn't work and to contact them directly. This comment will be of a different font than the rest of the listing, or be of a different color or highlighted, or all. I'm not saying that Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail addresses are ALL scams, but it is widely known that these email addresses are disposable, easy to set up using false information and virtually untraceable after-the-fact.
Closely related to #6, there is ALWAYS a unbelievably cheap offer to "buy it now". The scam seller feels compelled to remind the buyer that its a "100% safe and fast deal". Usually in the $900 to $1200 range. I cannot stress this enough----YOU CAN NOT FIND DRUM WORKSHOP DRUMS FOR THIS KIND OF PRICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As an example, the scam listing that uses the photos above usually has a item description that includes stands and cymbals for a complete deal. A set of that size would run anywhere from $7000 to $9500. In addition, the scammer will always offer FREE SHIPPING.
A quick check of the scammers "other listings" will reveal a whole host of other scam listings. These are usually high-end computers, electronics, music gear, etc. In all instances, the auctions use very vague descriptions, and/or use "cut n paste" descriptions and "stock" photos from manufacturer's websites.
When in doubt ----- ASK MORE QUESTIONS AND REQUEST MORE PHOTOS!
Remember ----- IF IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS!