Is this a scam?

marble

Everything seems to point to a scam ... but I just wanted to check because it seems too good to be true (which is my number 1 reason for suspecting a scam).

I got a leaflet through my door this evening saying there is a clearance sale at a local pub tomorrow. The leaflet is all very professional, printed well and gives lots of prices for stuff on sale.

It says it is a clearance sale for Argos/Index/Freemans. It says that there will be Ipods for £40, Xboxes for £28 and washing machines for £25 - all new and guaranteed. There is a £2 entrance fee and (bizarrely) it says that no entrance will be allowed 10 minutes after doors open ... for security reasons.

I can't understand why all this stuff would be going so cheap and it was advertsied last minute. Anyone have any experience of this kind of sale/scam? What could go wrong (apart from losing £2). I guess I could get sold faulty stuff - is the no admittance 10 minutes after opening to stop people buying something, going home, finding it is duff, and then returning?

Might just go to find out and report back!

Al

Candice

Sounds like a Dutch Auction to me.

Ted_Hutchinson

Bound to be some kind of scam as if all the items were genuine they could simply display them and not charge an entrance fee.

Having a start time after which folks won't be admitted it to create an atmosphere in which you will be encouraged to bid for items and we all know that folks get carried away at auctions (even on ebay) and bid more than the product is worth or available from elsewhere.

Mark7799

These were quite frequent in South Wales a few years back (even went to one myself but quickly realised what was happening and limited my losses to my entry fee). A few 'bargains' were offered and quickly snapped (by stooges?) before the masses were encouraged to bid for parcels of ?????. Suggest you avoid this one.

ManAtHome

Have a look here http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/Web/corporate/pages.nsf/Links/467EB6ADF7547A0D80256C78005D47DF or http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/dumgal/MiniWeb.aspx?id=76&menuid=673&openid=673

These 'auctions' are illegal - your local Trading Standards would be interested (this is why the dodgy geezers go leafletting rather than adverts in the local press).

marble

Thanks for the info. I decided not to bother going in the end - it does sound too much like a scam ... and £2 entry is enough for a pint!

I did try trading standards to see if they were interested, but they don't seem to work weekends round here (or at least don't answer the phone). I guess the reason the leaflets only came last night is that the people doing it know that there will be nobody at trading standards until it's all over!

Al

Bossyboots

marble wrote:

I guess the reason the leaflets only came last night is that the people doing it know that there will be nobody at trading standards until it's all over!

Al

Spot on. You should still let them known on Monday though as they might want a few words with the pub landlord if only to ensure he knows they are illegal.

Freebie_Hunter_2

These people should be shot.
They're absolute crooks and I've seen grown men reduced to tears because of these people.

I went to one about 10yrs ago with the pillock I was dating and his much older friend. You paid a pound to go in and as it goes, once everyone was in the doors were shut and guarded by some rather fierce looking guys. The smae people were guarding the outside door so nobody could get in the porch and listen.

They DO have the top-of-the-range goods but as pointed out, there were people in the crowd from the company who bagged these.
They sold you a walkman for a fiver, this was 'your ticket to 'really good bargains' where you'd save more than a fiver so you in effect your walkman is free'....
..well the walkman cost all of 50p wholesale anyway.
Anyone without a walkman wasn't allowed to bid or buy any of the special deals.

They were doing 'mystery bags'. These were bin bags full of electrical goods which COULD contain sony etc (you know the score). Gave it the old 'i'm not asking £100 for this bag worth £300, nor do I want £90 ...' ... anyway, they were banging these bags out for £75 BUT...


... and this is the good part....

you weren't allowed to open it 'til you got home!!!!! Thats not all.

There were bouncers in the car park to make sure you didn't open them!!!!

To put you at ease he pointed to one of his badly disguised heavies who'd 'purchased' a black bag and asked him to open it and show everyone what he'd got. He did and came out with a sony discman, a gameboy etc.
So, the sale continued. They had T-O-T-R Tv's, stereos etc displayed. People flashed the cash and were given boxes.
The 'host' actually said 'this is all top quality goods at silly prices, bankrupt stock, we just need shot of it. I'm sure you won't have any complaints but if you do, please see our complaints department in the corner' and he pointed to 5 HUGE blokes in the corner and laughed. Everyone else laughed thinking he was joking...

The end of the show came and someone managed to open the box of a £150 tv he'd bought without being seen. It WASN'T what was advertised (how predictable) so he went to the guy and protested. He pointed to the guys in the corner with a less friendly look on his face and said 'as i said, complaints go to them'.
They all disappeared and after 5 mins the guy came out looking pale with his crappy £20 TV and disappeared quick.
I saw people opening their bags in the chaos of everyone leaving and some people were in tears as all they had was total rubbish. Some of it was broken, some of it was worth 50p if that, some things totally useless. Some of the larger goods like tvs and stereos were again rubbish, a few second hand. One person had an empty box and another had a TV with nothing in it!!!!

These people were gone within half an hour and left absolute devastation. As soon as the sale had ended they turned nasty, hostile and threatening.

Unfortunately some of these groups have been very careful with wording, descritions etc and even though supplying someone with a TV which isn't as advertised (which they don't usually find out 'til they've gone), as long as they have the goods that are advertised and they're being sold - even if it IS to their heavies -the sales themselves are actually legal. They make sure that they know the law.

starlite_2

there was a dshop on our high street doing this, they had a week of 'promotion' where nothing was for sale but they ranted on about the bargains, and were handing out leaflets for the actual sale ,which was a fiver entry.
The walls were covered in notices from trading standards warning people to be careful so they must know about it, but be unable to stop them. What a crazy business....

greenwich

I've just come back from the shopping centre. There was what looked like a disused shop with a man on a stage with a microphone selling electrical goods with lots of Delboy-type patter ("I am not asking for X, I am not even asking for Y" etc.) He said he had Gameboys for a fiver, portable TVs for a fiver, PSP for £20, iPod Minis for £20 (didn't actually see any of those) and so on. Lots of people standing around looking unconvinced and no one was buying.

I was not almost tempted but I'll admit I was almost almost tempted. What made me walk away was the thought that if all these bargains are genuine, the man would not be having to work so hard to sell them, they would sell like hotcakes without any effort.

trisontana

Candice wrote:

Sounds like a Dutch Auction to me.

I think you mean a Mock Auction. A Dutch Auction is one where the price starts high and then drops. They are used in the Netherlands at the wholesale flower markets.