Cheap GPX4500 on Gumtree ..for about 2 hours and 2 minutes

[Rusty]

Saturday spotted a GPX4500 on Gumtree asking $3150, with a whole truckload of extras, my guess worth over $5,000. Advertiser was said to be in "Inner Sydney - Haymarket". Timing at the top said the Ad was only 2 hours old. Figured it was too good to be true, but decided to do some follow-up, just up in case. The ad included serial numbers for controller and 3 x coils. I tried Minelab's TXT serial number confirmation, but couldn't get a result. Sent email via Gumtree to the Seller asking them to post a pic of the controller showing the serial number saying that I wanted to confirm it with Minelab. Got a reply literally within minutes asking for my phone number and email address, "so we can communicate with you." It seems that Gumtree don't reveal the email addresses of buyers (Thank you Gumtree). I replied that I didn't wish to communicate just yet, repeated request for serial number pic. Went straight back online to have another look at the ad and ..surprise ..surprise .."This Page No Longer Exists"

It may not be relevant, but Haymarket is Sydney's Chinatown and the copy in the ad was a tad Chinglish, but not obvious at first read. The seller was A Adams, Gumtree member since 2013. The ad said, "check my Seller history and buy with confidence to have a happy time", or words very close to that.

I don't want to bore the regulars here with another Minelab knock-off story, but I make this post because I think we need to keep the subject active for the sake of newbies who drop in here looking for advice. Like most of us on this forum, I'm aware of the price of detectors and that they never come cheap because they are in such high demand, but it really makes me angry that these b@st@rds will no-doubt rip off an unsuspecting newbie.

 

[backcreek]

Hay Rusty,
They may have been fishing for personal info.
I had a text message recently offering me a share of a recent lottery win in the US. All I had to do was to email my name and date of birth to his email address.
Think about it, if you were gullible enough to email back they then have your email address, mobile number, name and DOB.
That's probably enough to steal your identity.

Be careful with your personal info.

Cheers
Mick

 

[Ramjet]

Thanks for the info Rusty.
Another great example of buyer Beware

Rod

 

[marfit1]

Really the only way to purchase one of these machines is to be able to pick it up in person.

 

[Greglz86]

I spotted a very similar add. But this was a bit more obvious even to a noob like myself. On Sunday night This fella in south Australia was trying to sell a gpx 5000 for $2700. With 2 coils and lots of extras. Went back for another look the following day and it was gone. Just hope some silly bugger didn't buy it.

 

[HeadsUp]

has to be either fake , stolen or deceased estate at that price.

any legitimate owner knows what they cost and what they are worth on resale.

maybe we need a few letters written to A Current Affair and Today Tonight about the fakes , but next time we see a seller here offering obviously fake ones then we should serve it up with ACA or TT and that way the population wises up to it and wont get caught by one.

The problem wont go away unless people are aware of it and refuse to buy one .

problem then remains , how long until the fakes are all taken out of circulation in this country ? ? ?

anyone who buys it and discovers its fake just whacks it on ebay and it goes round n round from buyer to buyer

Is it feasible for Minelab to offer a " fake buyback " giving a bit of a discount on a genuine GPX5000 for people who hand them in for destruction ?

there could be hundreds in the country , and more being imported all the time. there must be a way to stop the flow. any ideas people ?

 

[Heatho]

The Chinese have been reverse engineering and copying stuff for a long time,
in the audio industry it was microphones they would copy. Some of these mics
are seriously worth more than a GPX 5000, sometimes double and the Chinese
happily copy them and flog them all over the world a lot cheaper than the real
mics.

How do these mics sound? Bloody terrible! Some are poisonous as well being
covered in lead paint and other nasties.

I think nearly every industry will be affected by Chinese knockoffs soon. Buy from
reputable sources or dealers, try before you buy. It sux, but it's they way things
are now.

A lot of companies only have themselves to blame by moving all their manufacturing
bases to China.

Buyers being aware is the only way.

 

[Nugget]

These guys can copy anything, even eggs, yep eggs

[video=480,360]http://youtu.be/T55tz4qwFMo[/video]

What amazes me the most is that they can do all this amazing stuff, yet they can't cure cancer :/

Nugget.

 

[Martin57]

Hi nugget. Great clip now we know who or what came first , the chicken or the egg , the Chinese did ! very cool , time for breaky eggs benadict cheers