Amazon Deal Alerts & Discussion Thread

Is the ‘budget’ perspective/belief/position manifest in the willingness to take some risks on a ‘deal’ that has some probability of being fake/false/bogus?
This mega-cheap e-bike has got me thinking.
I openly admit to the parsimonious perspective this deal has. I never know where the ‘line in the blue-light-special’ is going to be until I see it an actual situation. I do think that over time, and with more information (and age), I’m getting a…tad…less receptive to deals that look like way more trouble than they are worth. I think at it’s root it may be a gambling problem. (Note-in my personal life I consider gambling an absolutely stupid thing to do with your money-pretty much a guaranteed loss.)

deal vs. hassle - what’s your balance?
Maybe not the best place to have this discussion?

I don’t think we give enough credit to how things should cost. Modern day city water is extremely safe and clean (in the USA), and we pay very little for it yet folks are arguing its expensive. On the opposite spectrum, a “designer” diamond ring would cost a fortune, while being not less abundant than many other mineral, and people will gladly pay 100x than its worth.

The e-bike, remind me of wyze camera. It was manufactured and sold for unbelievable price to the “standard” pricing, yet their secret was that produce in mass, and razor thin margin that only works at scale. So it worked! Who is it to say that we figured out the e-bike seller’s business model that he can’t possibly sell at that price?
Can things always be made cheaper vs Will the seller able to achieve that pricing are 2 different questions. I guess I am hopelessly optimistic when it comes to budget deals, hence i am here on this forum.

Your word of the day is “parsimonious”.
Try to incorporate this word into at least 2 conversations today to help you remember it. :slight_smile:

Sorry, that is just a weird word. Stingy is way less letters and conveys the same thing and easily understood so…
But heh, Party on Garth.

Funny, the other definition of that word is that the simplest explanation is probably correct. We’ll have to wait and see if any bikes show up, I guess.

Interesting. I went to check the order and change the payment method, but the option doesn’t exist. So I look, and the listing is gone, as is the entire Gothskull storefront, which was there before.

Yeah, no. Went to cancel the order entirely, but got notice that it’s too close to being shipped, but they’ll request the seller to cancel it. Well, they’d better…

So you’re saying it’s probably too late to order this e-bike at the sale price? I knew if I screwed around too long, the deal would be gone. I always miss out.

I just got an email that it shipped. Har! Will have to see…

Yeah, Amazon sent me a notice saying the E-Bike was shipped

image

Tracking says Parcel Data received.

We will see…

Yep, I tried to cancel, no joy. Wanted to TRY to contact customer support, and got the application equivalent of Voicemail Hell. All canned responses, all dead-ending at the same useless garbage like “email seller” only THERE IS NO SELLER ANYMORE and the little paper-airplane thingy to send a comment does absolutely nothing, like it’s a non-button.

All I want to do is get it on record that this sounds like fraud, and that I don’t want to get stuck.

If I end up getting a “delivery” on paper that never happens, or if I get a box with a pink B’harbi Dream Bike in it instead, or just a box of rocks, I want to get it back from Amazon, period.

They should keep the bux in the seller’s account in “escrow” so there is no way to grab the bux and run, no? So if I make a claim that this is fraud, they’d better not even think of saying, “tough luck, haha” and wash their hands of it.

Also, if I do manage to get an actual box, I’m going to do a Charles BridgeTec and video the whole f’n Grand Unboxing for the record, too.

I figured at first that with all the new Li-cell legislation going around, some sellers might be rushing to dump non-compliant merch before the legislation kicks in (ie, sell for dimes on the dollar vs zero), but who knows if this clown is selling stolen bikes, factory rejects, busted bikes, or just the aforementioned box o’ rox?

But it seems Amazon doesn’t even want to know, so might even be complicit in any fraud if they want to deny refunds. Doesn’t exactly leave me with a good feeling.

Even if the electric part doesn’t work that great, I’ll settle for a workable pedal-bike (made sure it had pedals vs being electric-only) if only to get around for s&g. Cheap pedal bikes go for about as much as this was, so it’s not so outlandish that someone would want to sell stuff even at a loss vs not selling at all and losing the merch as well.

Wellp, at least we got our objections on record here.

Did anyone notice whether the weight of the bike was mentioned anywhere in the description… when the thing was still up?

I should have taken a screen shot of the page… or just saved it as HTML…

Yeah, that is for sure… having buyers remorse … But mostly feeling stupid for putting myself in the situation to begin with.

Eschew obfuscation.

Carry on.

slmjim

Nah, amazon’s supposed to have their a-to-z policy so people could feel safe ordering from them. So they either put up or shut up.

On the bright side, if the seller doesn’t exist anymore, there’s no way to be forced to ship anything back. If it’s coming from Choina, do we ship it “back” to Amazon?

They should still have the bux “in escrow” until all purchases are settled, no? So unless they’re stoopit and just handed the bux to the now-nonexistent seller before things were settled, that’s a them problem, not an us problem. We shouldn’t have to eat it because they made a mistake. If they do still have the bux and it’s a fraud, they give us the bux back and we either send the box to them, or we “dispose of it” as we see fit.

I just don’t like question-marks.

I’m not feeling very good about this for myself or anyone else. Sorry.
It seems I have post 90% off deals before and they tended to be complete crap or cancelled. I’ll not post 90% off deals again. I have spent an ishload of money at Amz and I hope they have some sort of conscience about that.

You didn’t twist anybody’s arms to make them place an order. No reason to be sorry! Everyone who ordered had to know the old adage, “if it sounds like it is too good to be true, It probably is.”
If we get a shiny new functional E-bike, It is a big win. If not, well I am hoping that it is just a matter of going through the (probably at least semi-painful) process of getting my $108 back. I would think that Amazon will have to recognize that a company that shows up, offers a big deal, then disappears almost immediately is not one that they ever should have allowed to sell on their site.

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No emotionally mature person can hold you responsible if one of these deals fall through. You don’t work for Amazon or the seller; you’re just sharing what you spotted. I enjoy seeing your posts here and hope you choose to continue.

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Exactly. Any situation like this, just ask WWVKD.

(What Would Val Kilmer Do.)

no harm is done yet, why so pessimistic? if anything its a great learning experience. amazon will protect our $100, i am sure of it. I’ve not been burn by them, for what feels like 20+ years.

No, please DO post them. Theres no harm in throwing up potentially great deals here. I enjoy seeing them… I may not purchase every one but this was worth a gamble. When or if it shows up, ill either get money back, or a bike. Ive spent worse on far dumber things that “was not as described” - but thats on me.

Another option to mull over:

Its possible the seller didnt mean to allow the coupons to stack or all be for one item. If they tried to cancel too many buyers items, amz may have shut their store down temp or perm.

Also it seems amz DOES keep the money in a seperate account to release to sellers. Atleast thats whats ive gathered from amazons seller central (code of conduct) thing. So amz has the money.

If the item never arrives, or you get something else, as long as you report the issue, Amazon will refund you. So I wouldn’t worry about getting your money back.

And keep posting, always fun to follow these deals, if only for the entertainment value.

Every body — If these bikes show up by some chance – Please charge them outside on a long extension cord far away from your home/family

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