One should always be somewhat suspicious of purchasing a piece of equipment from a private and unknown entity via on-line connection. While 99% of transactions turn out to just fine, there is that small number that turn out to be scams. For those of you that do many of these transactions, you may know some of the warning signs, but many don’t.

Gearsecure would like to give you as much knowledge and some tools in handling these situations to make dealing on-line as safe as possible.

First, let’s look at some of the basics. If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. That $2,500 guitar that you’d looking to purchase for less than $1,000 is likely not the real deal. In a retail setting, this is one of the first clues that an item may be stolen or counterfeit.

In dealing with the seller, it is worth asking a few questions. It is perfectly valid to ask what the serial number of an item is. We have some resources here, and more in the gearwiki to help you verify the serial number format. There are other resources across the web and your local retailer can help if you can’t get any information from these sources. The serial number the seller sends may have a couple digits x’d out. That is a fair practice for privacy.

In asking for these, you may ask a few more questions, where the seller purchased it, how long ago, any modifications made, whether it comes with the original documentation or case. The absence of case or documentation, or suspicious replies could be a warning the item is stolen.

Once you are comfortable with these answers, you should next consider the terms of the connection and the sale. Is the seller private, or a retailer? How will you pay? Does your means of connection have any protection for you?

The most important thing you can do in a transaction is protect your money. eBay has some amount of insurance for sales occurring on their site, but you have to follow the rules. If you stray from their procedures, you’re out of luck on their protection. One of the biggest points is to complete the auction through eBay. If the seller offers to complete the transaction outside the framework of eBay to avoid paying the commission, it is almost certainly a scam. Do not take that deal. Another warning sign is if the seller asks you to take communications off eBay’s messaging system to regular email addresses. Any emails outside fo eBay are inadmissible in eBay’s fraud claim process. Paypal also offers some protection in fraud prevention in ways similar to eBay, well, they are they same company, so I guess that’s not a surprise.

Other services, like Craigslist offer no protection. This isn’t to say their ads are any less honest, or their services are of any less quality, but they work like a traditional classifieds page, they put out the info, any dealings are from the people who respond. When dealing with craigslist or any classified sites, your loss prevention instincts are your only defense.

If the seller asks you to pay via wire transfer, it is almost certainly a scam. Wire transfers exist only for money transfers of large amounts or over long distances, like, between continents. In the retail environment, we encourage wire transfers only for amounts over $10,000, and we’re the ones accepting the cash. Wire transfers are irreversible and not protected by your bank. If you can pay by credit card, you can also recover the money, depending on your card and the terms of the contract.

If the deal is from somebody from a foreign country, say the is to be shipped from Nigeria by the former prince who has money that is inaccessible in a bank account unless he gets money from selling this item to you, well, that’s a scam. There are several ways of perpetrating this scam on eBay that skirt the eBay rules a bit. In one way, because the item is in a different country, you may buy it for a small amount, but they then add a couple hundred dollars for shipping and handling. This is something to ask before the sale completes or even before placing a bid.

At gearsecure, we’re working up a service for the deals that exist outside of the protected transactions, where we could be an impartial third party to safeguard the transaction. We’re working out the rules right now, but we’re willing to hold the money in an account for a certain period of time until the item arrives and its authenticity is verified. For this service we would ask either a flat rate fee or a small percentage. Again, we’re working up the rules, but if you would like to use us for a transaction until we are ready to add the service officially, you can send an email to bryan@gearsecure.net

An unfortunate store bought this Counterfeit Ibanez Jem in the other day. This is about a $2,600 guitar, and so the store just lost a lot of money buying an unsellable copy. We present these photos for you to study, hoping you can avoid the same fate. These could walk into your store or be sold on eBay or Craigslist as genuine, so beware.

Side by side, they look pretty good, right? Want to try to guess which is which?

(its on the right)

We’ll start with the most obvious detail, the serial number. Compare a real Jem on the right to the fake, on the left. Click for larger images.

Real

Fake

First thing you notice is, there is no serial number on the fake, much less any actual standard graphics, just a shoddy printed model number. This should have been a HUGE warning sign to this store. Any name brand guitar that is $2,600 should have a serial number. It is that simple. Even the name brand guitars that are $100 have a serial.

Significantly, you’ll also notice the fake’s tuning machines read “Ibanez” while the real ones are Gotohs. I’m not sure if they always used Gotohs or not, but the example is a current issue. You’ll also see the fake lacks the bolts that hold down the lock nut, and if you’re really observant, you’ll notice that the points on the far left of the real one are actually separate pieces of wood, while the fake is made from one piece.

Real

Fake

Do you notice how the monkey grip is routed differently? On the real one, it is square and only as thick as the top edge of the guitar. The fake ignores this and follows the contours of the body.

The next significant details is the pickups. First, very hard to show in a picture, the real one has “DiMarzio” inset into the top of them, but not colored in any way.

Other than that, check out these two pictures focusing on the pickups.

Real

Fake

Notice the middle pickup? The real one has normal slug style pole pieces, while the fake has gold poles. This is a common tell on fakes, something I’ve seen on at least two different fakes.Also notice the knobs. The fake has the more fancy gold knurled knobs, the real one has simple plastic white knobs. If you refer bak to the top pictures, you’ll see that the spacing of the knobs is also off.

Just a couple more things to look at on this one. The Bridge is important.

Real

Fake

The fake has a standard Floyd Rose, while the Ibanez has an Ibanez specific lo-pro edge trem. Accept no imitations.

Last one, the Headstock.

Real

Fake

Notice the “Jem” script? On the real one, it’s slim and elegant. On the fake, it’s the same font, but somebody hit the “bold” button.

These are some examples of how to tell the difference on a fake Jem, but it is only one of many fakes from many different factories out there. These are just some of the things you should look for.

When you place an order with a small, high end luthier, you can often expect a long wait. Two years or more are not uncommon. But you do expect to get what you ordered in the end.

A follower alerted us to some forum posts about Henneken Guitars. Their site is very attractive, but hasn’t been updated since 2005. It is hard to call this definitively as a scam or a maybe the luthier is just a flake. Who knows, really? From these posts, it is hard to tell if anything has ever been delivered, but Markku, after much chasing, is making right for at least the first forum poster, and many thanks must go out to the forum users who played detective and translator from a continent away.

We’d like to discourage you from making inquiries with this company until its reliability can be confirmed.

Here’s the biggest story:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=412191

or this blog:

http://www.12review-henneken-guitar.blogspot.com/

The reviews on Harmony Central are all from one person, and while he is listed as an endorsee, the relationship has soured by the third review.

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar/product/Henneken+Guitars/Royale+Delux/10/1

If you have had a similar experience, please let us know. We’d like to pread the word about scams or companies that are not living up to their word. You can send us an email at bryan@gearsecure.net

**UPDATE** July 8, 2009 – We have received confirmation that this is no longer the Midwest’s problem. Cases have been reported on both coasts. This is nationwide. – MKuhl

There has been a rash of credit card scammers buying Macs in the midwest, with reports coming from several states. The M.O. is to place a cell phone call to their issuing bank, who is actually a friend and give a false authorization code. This one is easy, it only affects retail owners and employees. Solution: only authorization numbers from their own merchant services should be accepted. If the scammers realize we’re onto them, they may switch to a different product, so be on the lookout. Never take an authorization number from a customer’s phone.

The San Diego Union-Tribune has an article on what to know if you have to pawn something. With money increasingly tight for just about everybody, pawn shops are becoming a valuable niche in the instant capital market. These are some guidelines on what to expect, how to find a reputable pawn shop, and how not to be taken.

Check out the article here.

Take a look at this article from Times of London on-line. While I know others have had an easier time at ending auctions with eBay than this writer, we all know sometimes you need a little help navigating the bureaucracy of major corporations. Of course, having an email address and column at a major news venue can help as well.

About five years ago, I  talked to somebody about a keyboard that had been stolen, and he got his insurance check, went to eBay to buy a replacement, and wound up by chance buying his own keyboard back. I don’t know if he pressed charges or anything, but it serves to illustrate the need to know what you’re buying on eBay. We hope you think of us when you are considering a purchase from eBay, Craigslist, or from a private buyer.