Yeah, I don’t sell via G&S anymore since the reporting threshold has dropped to $600/yr from $20,000/yr. I want to build flashlights for people for fun, not because I want to become an accountant. X_X
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Adding @LuminousBeam to the warning list after receiving private complaints from two different members about suspicious and/or failed transactions. I will allow the account to remain active for 2 weeks from the date of this post so that any pending transactions can possibly be resolved via PM, after which the account will be closed.
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Currently awaiting any response from this member Asterix1 if anyone has dealt with this member I would appreciate a comment. Currently has my money and no reply to post the flashlight I paid for
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That’s an account with four posts in total, all on the same day and only with generic content. I’d say your money is gone.
Hmmm, “Thank you for your patronage.” Awkward wording for a private seller, probably scammer.
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It’s pretty low to learn there’s still people actively pursuing people and scamming them. Admin need to squash these members out, at least have the sale section a minimum post count to view
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Really sorry to hear that happened. But unfortunately I really have no way of knowing who those fraudulent users are until reports like yours appear. Please know that I do take action as soon as there is evidence of fraud. In this case I just now added @Asterix1 to the WTS seller warning list. I’ll leave his/her account open for 1 week from the date of this post so affected users can still try to make contact, and after that the account will be banned.
We tried that, but it unfortunately created a lot of situations where legitimate buyers were unable to interact with the sellers (since there is no way for the forum engine to distinguish between buyers and sellers). I had disabled the restriction, but I am now re-implementing a new restriction for the Want to Sell category so that only users with some amount of reputation are able to create new sales threads there. So we’ll see how that works in practice.
But, and this is an important but, the automated system is still no replacement for caution by users. I simply can’t vet sellers or broker personal transactions, so I urge all potential buyers and sellers to carefully read and apply these suggestions:
Again, I’m really sorry to hear that your transaction went south.
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sorry to hear about the fraud.
Ugh. I fell for the same scam… I feel so stupid. I got excited and didn’t properly check out the account history.
Using a different alias. When they scammed me.
Maybe we could add, “Check buyer/seller Stats on their profile” to the list of tips. If their read time is really low that’d be a red flag for me. People who don’t hang out on the forum regularly aren’t going to care if they lose rep here.
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Add user: EDCwrap to the list of untrusted sellers. Do not buy under any circumstances. He also uses email: m****y@yahoo.com
I will post on CPF as well.
Any comment from @EDCwrap ?
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Add user: @SAOPRKLER a.k.a. Kage
On January 23rd, 2025, Kage told me that he would send me a flashlight to replace a defective flashlight prototype that was sent to me.
On January 25th, 2025, Kage told me that he would provide a tracking number within two days.
On January 30th, 2025, I asked Kage what was going on (though I used other words than that.)
As of this post, Kage still hasn’t gotten back to me and I still have not received the tracking number.
I do not think that Kage is an honest BLF member.
Although @SAOPRKLER did not sell me a flashlight, I did win a flashlight from them on BLF, and they are trying to sell SAOPRKLER branded flashlights on BLF.
I can provide @sb56637 a link to the private message conversation that confirms what I have reported in this post.
This happened during Chinese new year festival. It’s not surprising you didn’t get a response and even if they triggered a replacement, there likely wasn’t anyone preparing it for shipping. Just wait until next week when everything returns back to normal.
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Kage works in Utah (in the U.S.), not in China.
Also, if CNY were a factor, Kage should not have told me that he would provide a tracking number within two days of the 25th of January.
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Yeah, and ArmyTek was made in Canada. Remember?
If you take the trouble to examine the route of your first flashlight (on T&T) you will see it has traveled through at least three different countries in the Far East before it landed on your (or mine) desk. What you are asking for equals next day delivery by USPS on Independence Day in the US. Have some patience.
Since China is such a vast country, and many workers in the industry originate from rural area’s, a lot of them add some days of personal leave to the official duration of CNY. It might be the only time of the year they meet their parents and/or children.
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Time will tell if @SAOPRKLER is truly honest or not.
Although they told me that they would send me a tracking number in two days, they failed miserably at that.
Thus far, they have not been honest.
Kage is the one that said the he was in Utah, U.S.–if that’s a lie, that’s on him.
@SAOPRKLER can still redeem themselves by providing the tracking number via PM and delivering on what they said they would deliver.
Of course, they can respond to this thread and explain themselves in this thread.
I should also add that they originally sent me a defective flashlight that does not work as intended (with both 21700 cells and 21750 cells), and they have ignored my PMs in the past, so it’s not like they have a history of being honest.
I am posting in this thread to get their attention, and to give them a chance to redeem themselves.
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Maybe put a magnet on the negative end of the battery and at least be able to try the flashlight.
You still need replacement but may as well see if it is any good otherwise.
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