Dodgy shop on Oxford Street selling £20 iPods

rodhull · 2 September 2006 at 9:13PM

I was walking down Oxford Street (London) this afternoon and there's a very dodgy looking shop set up on the south side, east of Oxford Circus tube station, just before you get to Berwick Street.

Looks like they've taken over the premises temporarily (maybe only for a few days), and on the shop windows they are advertising 20GB iPods for £20, iPod Shuffles for £5, ultra cheap DVD players, camcorders etc!!!

The doors were closed and there was a hand-scribbled sign saying "next sale at 4:15pm", so I returned later. They opened the doors and everyone crowded in. There was nothing inside except a counter at the back - it looks like it is an old coffee shop or something. On the counter, one guy was piling up very battered looking boxes of iPods, PSPs, DVD players etc etc. All looked very dodgy and had been sellotaped closed.

The guy then explained that it was all legit, everything was guaranteed to work and could be tried before paying. But that you wouldn't be able to get any refunds if you returned items (hmm). He said they can sell them so cheaply because they want to advertise their new business and that if we are happy with our purchases we will tell our friends and they will then come along etc. Not once did anyone ever say what their "new business" was, unless this was it!

Well, this guy handed over to another dodgy geezer who started selling blank cassettes for 1p each. Then vhs videos for 10p, then moved on to cassette walkmans for £1, then iPod Shuffles for £5 each, and stacks of items such as iPod shuffle, handheld tv, walkman, electric toothbrush, all for £5. Then a stack including Shuffle, Gameboy etc for £10.

By this point I had wasted 30 mins of my life (it went really slowly, mostly because he kept shouting at people for talking over him, etc) and he had only sold about 5 of these piles of items. Still hadn't got on to the bigger stuff, so I got out while I could.

It all looked really dodgy.

So, did anyone else see this place? Did anyone actually buy anything and was it in the box, did it work?! Did they ever get around to selling a 20GB iPod or a PSP?

These would be awesome bargains if they were real, but who knows. I didn't want to risk it, though for £20 I might have if they hadn't taken so long. Beware!

PS. Sorry this is so long!

bindiboo · 2 September 2006 at 9:45PM

Last time I can across something like this in Peterborough, the police were just outside the door filming them with a camcorder for evidence

tatts_2 · 2 September 2006 at 9:56PM

these sort of sales are rarely legit!
Have had them several times in our home town ( til the police sought them out!!) and remember seeing them on holiday years ago, dishing out a few 'great bargains' to the 'runners' ( ppl who actually work for the ppl selling!)

if I were you, I wouldnt touch them with a bargepole! My friend bought a tv off them for £40 and when she got home, it had half its inners missing!!
needless to say, there was no one around when she went back to get a refund!!

sare_2 · 2 September 2006 at 10:00PM

It's a mock auction.
I got scammed by one when I was a teenager.
Basically, they work by the seller giving out small goods at cheap prices such as cassettes.This is to hook you in to the bargain atmosphere.

He will seem to give away higher value goods at an amazing price to someone in the crowd.This person is a plant.

He'll then give away mystery boxes telling you there will be valuable goods inside, and ask say £50 for the box.You'll think it has ipods in because you've just seen the other bloke get a load right?
Inside will be some cheap tat such a watch with a so called rrp of £300, but which might be worth £5.
And there's nothing you can do because he said it was a mystery box.You took you're chance.

Like I said, I got stung for £50 when I was 15.The police could do nothing, but the only good thing is they don't stick around for more tha a few weeks.

davsidipp · 2 September 2006 at 10:10PM

hi was there this afternoon with daughter shopping she said to me thats cheap mum i explained that scam has been going on for years when i worked in a shoe shop in oxford street 28years ago it is unbeliviable how people are suckered in as i noticed quite a crowd looking in the window. most of the gear is old s**t that is only fit for the dustbin.the trouble is this scammers get away with it.

zorber · 2 September 2006 at 10:10PM

last time i saw one of these must have been 10 years ago.
They entise you in with the promise of bargins ie high value electrical at low prices, which i believe the first few do get bargins but as every one still believes its a scam. They then dish out items like vhs tapes or such simular items for a £1, so every one now thinks bargins are to be had. They then turn the tables saying they have all these boxes wrapped up, what is in them is a supprise, you have to give them so much for a box. You dont know what is it until you get out side and then you realise the goods are not worth what you paid.

kittykate_2 · 2 September 2006 at 11:32PM

I remember seeing that on tv a while ago.

I can't believe people actually believe that they can pay a fiver for an ipod. you want the goods, you pay the price.

It's really sad that ppl can sell this stuff to others knowing full-well they are ripping them off. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

KKx

ben500 · 2 September 2006 at 11:40PM

Go to Boots and get your ipod for a tenner with full guarantee and a place to visit if it screws up!

rodhull · 2 September 2006 at 11:43PM

That all sounds about right! Good job I got out when I did. I can see how people would fall for these scams when they are played out like that. They had loads of good stuff stacked up on the counter and that's what you'd expect to be getting (though the boxes were most probably empty).

I did try to take a photo of the sellers on my phone, but the thing's so slow he saw me before I could and then shouted at me to stop!

I'm surprised they're allowed to do this - can the police not do anything to stop it?

rodhull · 2 September 2006 at 11:45PM

ben500 wrote:

Go to Boots and get your ipod for a tenner with full guarantee and a place to visit if it screws up!

I've been in about six Boots stores now and none of them had any mp3 players (the only decent thing I saw was an Xbox, which I wasn't bothered about). Guess I was too slow on that offer!

ben500 · 2 September 2006 at 11:45PM

Anybody wishing to pay £50 for a boxfull of sh1te please send me a pm I have a lot of sh1te and lots of boxes. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Dodgy shop on Oxford Street selling £20 iPods

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