Watched item relisted... how dodgy is this?

Contains_Mild_Peril

My DS has been trying to persuade me to let him use my account to bid on item 130031156497, described as a very funny joke with "free" Runescape game account. I thought it looked a little fishy, but added it to my watch list. I then got a couple of e-mails from eBay (all before this item ends) informing me that this watched item has been relisted, but when I click the link in the e-mail it says it can't find it.
One customer has apparently purchased this item from another of his listings for £70 BIN, and left him positive feedback (his only feedback from a buyer), and his "other items" include another duplicate, this time with £80 as the BIN price! How can he sell what appears to be the same game account more than once? What's this clown playing at?

shelly

I know nothing about Runescape but like you say the seller is apparently giving away the same account on different auctions. Also this line bothered me...."THIS ACCOUNT AND ALL ITS ITEMS WILL ALLWAYS BELONG TO JAGEX LTD UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES" Reads to me like you are getting the account free with the joke but you won't own it so if they decide to take it back they can

I'd steer well clear.

oh and tell your son to earn the things.....he'll feel much better about getting them

agogo

I used to play Runescape, and would advise you on strongest terms not to bid on the listing, for several reasons:

a) It might say on the listing itself, but the game account and everything owned on the account is not the property of the player but the game company. This is intended to stop just what the seller is doing - sell game items and accounts. His method of selling a joke with 'free' account is legally dodgy at best - if this held up in court, what stops people getting around prostitution laws or organ trade laws in the same way? If Jagex finds out or suspects the account has been traded, it has every right to delete the account.

b) When I played it (which is ages ago), Runescape had some sort of security question system that could not be changed as easily as the password. I can't remember exactly how it worked, but in cases where someone guessed the account password, the original player could get his account back this way. I can't see the listing you are talking about or the feedback comment, but I suspect if he did sell the account, he got it back this way.

c) Seriously, paying for a Runescape account is not worth it IMHO.

Edit: Just to make clear, it's not just this particular listing that is suspect. Don't buy anything Runescape related on eBay. Runescape is free, addictive, and is played by many young children, which makes it a hotbed of scams.

Contains_Mild_Peril

Thanks for that, agogo. I know virtually nothing about Runescape, but what you've said makes a lot of sense.

His method of selling a joke with 'free' account is legally dodgy at best - if this held up in court, what stops people getting around prostitution laws or organ trade laws in the same way?

I've come across this sort of strategy used to get round licensing laws (e.g. buy a small snack to get a "free" drink at fundraisers), but I'm not really sure what the legal position would be. I do know that "free gifts" are normally considered to be part of the item for sale, so if, for example, a customer bought a computing magazine with a "free" CD ROM which turned out to be defective, they'd be entitled to a replacement disc or refund.