Well, the $1000 Garmin 496 deal is a scam....
I wanted to believe, mainly because I had previous experience of being on the receiving end of a great deal. Back in the late 80s when the HP LaserJet II was THE printer to have, none could be found for less than their list price of $2,795.
But then my boss told me of a friend who won a LaserJet II in a raffle-contest. He didn't want or need it, so he offered it for $1,000.
I snapped it up and was very happy. That printer served me well for two decades.
So when this Garmin ad came along, it matched the true story I experienced.
Alas, it's a fake - starting with the unusual grammar of his e-mails, that fact that weeks later this "great deal" is still available, his insistence that he'll provide an invoice through eBay so "the transaction is insured and secured", his inability to be available in Philadelphia for me to pick it up in person, and finally an article from eBay about
Garmin GPS scams [
reviews.ebay.com]. Luckily it didn't cost me $1,000 to find this out!
* * * * * * * * * *
PS - When I bought the laser printer 20 years ago I don't think the seller realized that he'd have to pay tax on 'income' of $2,795, the list price of the printer he'd won. I figured out later that, after taxes, he barely came out ahead on the $1,000 sale.
PPS - One female friend suggested that instead of spending $1,000 on a laser printer I should instead take my girlfriend at the time on a vacation. The friend was a writer and verbally painted this idyllic scene of my girlfriend and me lounging on a tropical beach.
I then talked to a male co-worker. He cut me short by saying "Don't do that! That printer will be there long after the girl is gone!"
I listened to the guy - and he was right.
