# Ranger Champion on Ebay



## bobcycles (Apr 29, 2015)

*Anyone see this listing? ....very short auction for a bicycle that once belonged to Larry Helfand in New York. 
Seems like a scam, I was bidding and noticed NO PICK UP.........yet I live 45 minutes from where the bike is located so I called the seller.
Guy says he's selling for his "brother" and brother said No Pick up.   Guy sounded shady on the phone too.  Anyone know anything about the seller
or if indeed they own this bicycle?  They have another bike listed and the pix look to be harvested from an older Ebay auction I seem to recall.
funny business?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/20133981741....l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT#ht_53wt_1093

*


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## catfish (Apr 29, 2015)

Too many red flags. Those photos look like they were taken at Larry's place. But that would have been a long time ago.


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## catfish (Apr 29, 2015)

Bad feedback too.


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## bikewhorder (Apr 29, 2015)

I hate it when stuff you want is being sold by shady or difficult to deal with sellers. Its so frustrating. At least on Ebay you're somewhat safe. I'm working on something right now but the guy says he doesn't have a phone and wants to do all the communication via email.


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## spoker (Apr 29, 2015)

only a 12 for a history?


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## stoney (Apr 29, 2015)

Seems odd to me also that the bikes end within minutes of each other, yet one bike has the pics taken inside and one bike has the pics taken outside. Maybe me being cynical.


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## VintageSchwinn.com (Apr 29, 2015)

I've seen both pics and saved them on my computer 3 years ago.  Buyer beware!


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## Evans200 (Apr 29, 2015)

No description whatsoever of either bike. I wouldn't buy a pair of shoelaces from this seller. The "no pickup" is a huge red flag as well. Bikes are a pain to take apart, box and ship/ Most sellers would LOVE the bike being picked up.


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## catfish (Apr 29, 2015)

Evans200 said:


> No description whatsoever of either bike. I wouldn't buy a pair of shoelaces from this seller. The "no pickup" is a huge red flag as well. Bikes are a pain to take apart, box and ship/ Most sellers would LOVE the bike being picked up.




It's OK. He'll have one of his employees ship the bike........ I bet that will work out well.


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## vincev (Apr 29, 2015)

Run !!


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## catfish (Apr 29, 2015)

We should all hammer the seller with stupid questions on ebay.


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## fordmike65 (Apr 29, 2015)

*Done & done...*



catfish said:


> We should all hammer the seller with stupid questions on ebay.





"Very interested in this bike. Can I please get the serial number off of it so I can determine the actual year? Has it been repainted? What size & brand tires are on it? How many spokes does each wheel have? What is the diameter of those headlights? Is there anything inside the tank? Can I get a pic of the insides? What is the reflector made of? How many teeth does the front sprocket have? What does the sticker on the seat tube say? What's a "Ranger"? Thanks so much for your help! I'm really excited! Hope I win the auction!!!"


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## ccmerz (Apr 29, 2015)

Ship to Canada????  Who does that????


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## Jeff54 (Apr 29, 2015)

feedback doesn't look that bad, but obvious new at selling. hard to say where photos of his bikes are from, accordingly lives in Santa Ana Ca. would be, if won an auction, before paying, get seller's info and confirm address before paying.  and it's been over 30 years but I'm pretty danged sure this bike's photo was taken at a Tiburon town homes complex in Santa Ana or fountain valley. I lived at both different complexes but they all look the same. Especially in center background next to the sticking out front door, the inner front door on right behind bush, with cedar roof,  looks like where I lived!    .   
an ended sale with no bids for $1,250.


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## kccomet (Apr 29, 2015)

i love rangers. someone will get a pretty nice bike or not. whats the scam, if there is one. with paypal ebay your covered....right. aside from tying your money up for quite awhile. i noticed there is another ranger,a pretty nice one just listed with a motorbike and they are in santa ana too. same low feedback same nothing description. both of these sellers have some bike sales feedback. im not saying anything negative of either seller, just same city same poor description


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## VintageSchwinn.com (Apr 29, 2015)

Just in case anyone is "kinda buying" into this scam?  Take a look at my website at:  http://www.vintageschwinn.com/_pages_bikes/1939_5.html

I posted those pics over three years ago.  This bike was on eBay and sold LONG ago.  This is a scam.


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## VintageSchwinn.com (Apr 29, 2015)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Schwinn-Pre...968?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ee0c9d3d8

Beware of that one, too.  That Ace was picked up about five years ago at an East Coast swap by J.C. Reznikoff.  Those pics were taken in his backyard in Vermont.  He sent me the pics immediately after taking them.  The bike was later sold on eBay, probably 3 to 4 years ago.


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## Wheeled Relics (Apr 29, 2015)

Is anyone reporting to to EBAY fraud?


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## kccomet (Apr 30, 2015)

well.... someone got a great deal on the champion or not. as i said in my earlier post whats the scam or whats the benefit to the seller if he hasnt got the bike to sell. paypal would refund your money after a month or so..... i guess he could send you a free spirit with confirmation of shipping and say he sent a ranger. so how does this work for the scammer besides a big headache for the buyer


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## catfish (Apr 30, 2015)

fordmike65 said:


> "Very interested in this bike. Can I please get the serial number off of it so I can determine the actual year? Has it been repainted? What size & brand tires are on it? How many spokes does each wheel have? What is the diameter of those headlights? Is there anything inside the tank? Can I get a pic of the insides? What is the reflector made of? How many teeth does the front sprocket have? What does the sticker on the seat tube say? What's a "Ranger"? Thanks so much for your help! I'm really excited! Hope I win the auction!!!"




Very Nice!!!!!


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## catfish (Apr 30, 2015)

kccomet said:


> well.... someone got a great deal on the champion or not. as i said in my earlier post whats the scam or whats the benefit to the seller if he hasnt got the bike to sell. paypal would refund your money after a month or so..... i guess he could send you a free spirit with confirmation of shipping and say he sent a ranger. so how does this work for the scammer besides a big headache for the buyer




If the photos are five or six years old. The bike could be in bad shape or have damage.


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## VintageSchwinn.com (Apr 30, 2015)

I know someone who talked to the seller on the phone, he definitely has NO clue about what he was even listing.  That Ace was purchased years ago by Reznikoff and sold to another collector who still owns it.


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## VintageSchwinn.com (Apr 30, 2015)

Ed, do you remember when J.C. bought that Ace in Trexlertown?  lol


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## Jeff54 (Apr 30, 2015)

VintageSchwinn.com said:


> I know someone who talked to the seller on the phone, he definitely has NO clue about what he was even listing.  That Ace was parted out years ago, so the chances he bought all the parts and reconstructed the bike are highly unlikely.  lol




Humm berry interestik.  if those bikes are indeed a scam, as you input the odds just skyrocketed, not for seller convo as the claim is "out of town" and employee will ship'  that single thing pulls a red flag, but, "employee' wouldn't necessarily know jack. But was parted out years ago? This is then a very elaborate scheme. I considered so reviewed the past sales feedback and no two are alike so, they must have sold those parts to get the feedback.. That's a lot of work to establish sales credibility, and the involvement deepens for parting out the blue frame a week or two ago. as that bike appears to be an undesirable because the tank was repainted crappy. 

That part out lends an indication of higher knowledge of differences between crap and quality. This is unlike any scheme I've seen on e-bay before. Unless or except the guy who began parting out stuff, his account was hacked shortly after began; to employ the scheme. OR!, the scam is taking it up another level. back in the days when it was easier to pull off scams, they'd have a few different people, but usualy no more than 1 or two different people and accounts,, it would mean that all the feedback is a masterful accounting of several users names and people gathered to pull of a few grand? or whole intent is to sell under the feds limit of 20 grand and then rinse and repeat. 

I've seen a ka-zillion schemes on the bay and other sites too, but not one as elaborate as this.

Another interesting note for a successful rip off is getting the money out of paypunk.. I'mm pretty you need 10 positive sales and then paypunk will release the funds directly after the auction ends. So,, you could fake the right number of sales and pull off the big one, then just close the account or ignore it,, rinse and repeat into another category.

Edit, wait, there are a few ID's that have bid won and 'bought' more than one item. But if they're involved, this gang has been working this for quite some time. It's just too bad e-bay eliminated so much info, back in 1998-2000, you could interlink all the bidders and discover scams easy. However as late as 2010, I watched homes being sold in Florida on ebay and found several possibilities of shill bidding. I bought a home online through different site, really cheap then yet,  some were so cheep on e-bay I considered it but, all the e-bay sales  were too suspicious. Not a fake sale but way too much suspicious shill bidding activity. Albeit, all those homes in 2010 have quadrupled in value today.


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## catfish (Apr 30, 2015)

VintageSchwinn.com said:


> Ed, do you remember when J.C. bought that Ace in Trexlertown?  lol




It was a long time ago. Too many bike shows since then.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Apr 30, 2015)

I recognize that bench in all his pics....I swear this seller went by another name... was always parting out bikes... can't remember his name though. . But that bench I remember clearly. ..


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## VintageSchwinn.com (Apr 30, 2015)

There is a similar account on eBay doing the same type of sales, it certainly appears like the same guy, both Santa Ana, both similar pics, both similar feedback:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Sch...0OP%2BoPnjWNZQ1K47ZNA%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

and

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Schwinn-Vin...0OP%2BoPnjWNZQ1K47ZNA%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Both of the above auctions were ended due to "errors in the listing" right after the Ranger and the Ace auctions ended.  Looks like the same MO to me, very similar accounts, both Santa Ana...hhmmmm


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## Jeff54 (Apr 30, 2015)

VintageSchwinn.com said:


> There is a similar account on eBay doing the same type of sales, it certainly appears like the same guy, both Santa Ana, both similar pics, both similar feedback:
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Sch...0OP%2BoPnjWNZQ1K47ZNA%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
> 
> ...





Yup it's the same person but WTF is he up too?

http://www.ebay.com/sch/corte_raque...jWNZQ1K47ZNA%3D&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1&rt=nc

Both accounts have sales with feedback for parts sold.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Apr 30, 2015)

that wasn't his ebay name 6 months ago...


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## Jeff54 (Apr 30, 2015)

Obi-Wan Schwinnobi said:


> that wasn't his ebay name 6 months ago...




If the case then, he's got several accounts.

These two have not changed name or identity since the accounts were opened, ebay has always retained name changes inside of ID history:

garus_gqo9ihdi  Jul-17-14  Present  http://contact.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ReturnUserIdHistory&requested=corte_raque

corte_raque  Jan-16-15  Present  http://contact.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ReturnUserIdHistory&requested=garus_gqo9ihdi

Which would mean there's more yet to be disclosed.


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## VintageSchwinn.com (Apr 30, 2015)

Be careful of bikes in Santa Ana!  lol


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## bobcycles (May 1, 2015)

*


VintageSchwinn.com said:



			Be careful of bikes in Santa Ana!  lol
		
Click to expand...



-------------Santa Ana is a pretty high crime and impoverished working class city and is now considered the most densely populated city in the United States.  Congratulations California!
You have the dubious honor of being the nations most overcrowded and congested city.   You would think it would be some big city somewhere?   They base it on 
people occupying a residence.  To Santa Ana's defense, there is an effort going on to revitalize some parts.  Probably not the Ebay sellers hood.*


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## VintageSchwinn.com (May 1, 2015)

Anyone know who either of the "lucky winners" were of the Mead or the Ace?  Curious how that goes for them.


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## klunk! (May 1, 2015)

No idea on the current "auctions", but can speak for the ACE as I still own it.  Bought it from JC several years back and is still in my garage.


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## Jeff54 (May 1, 2015)

klunk! said:


> No idea on the current "auctions", but can speak for the ACE as I still own it.  Bought it from JC several years back and is still in my garage.




I've reported all of the bike auctions to ebay the other day but they don't let ya add stuff unless you own it.. You should click the report icon and call ebay too and make sure you hand them both identities. . Stop that SOB thief in his tracks. 

garus_gqo9ihdi 
 corte_raque


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## VintageSchwinn.com (May 1, 2015)

Ha!  He told me he parted that bike out.  I'm happy he didn't!  I dig the Ace !!!  

As for that Ranger, I remember it went for high dollar.  For some reason, I thought Evan Penny ended up with it, anyone know??


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## Xcelsior (May 1, 2015)

Mark Gordon owns it.  Or at least he did.  Scams...


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