MPX300 on eBay

[Nevermore]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3084470076&category=15043

Um. Last I checked, this phone wasn't even being manufactured, yet. I don't fully understand how auctions like this last on eBay. Is it really that easy to rip people off and get away with it?

Unless, of course, I missed something and the phone is SUDDENLY AVAILABLE ON EBAY.

At least there are some good pics. :D

[Mike Temporale]

Wow. That looks amazing. :drool:

It looks legit. The guy has a fair amount of positive feedback. I wonder if Motorola has started shipping on orders, but they aren't going on sale for a little while longer?

[Nevermore]

Heh, I suppose that's a possibility, and it would be great if I could grab one of these right now.

I dunno too much about eBay scams, but it seems like it would be pretty easy to setup a network of accomplices or fake usernames in order to add positive feedback. And the fact that the pictures seem to be of a fastened-down dummy unit, with no boxshot suggest even further that this is a scam.

Anyone have any thoughts?

[Jason Dunn]

It's been pulled, so I have a feeling it was a scam. Remember if something is too good to be true, it probably is. ;-)

[spg]

It's been pulled, so I have a feeling it was a scam. Remember if something is too good to be true, it probably is. ;-)
Yeah, that is usually the way it is. I'm curious though, was the supposed "Mpx300" they were selling the same as the Mpx?

[Mike Temporale]

Ya, it was the MPx. I've looked through my cache, but I can't seem to find those pictures. :( Too bad. I should have PDF'ed the page right away. The pictures looked very nice, and they were not the standard pictures we have seen to date. One of the pictures clearly showed a display "tie-down" connected to the back of the device.

IMO, the auction would be pulled for 1 of 2 reasons. The account was stolen, and the owner complained to eBay, or someone notified eBay that this product is not currently available and the person selling it does not have permission from Motorola. I'm guessing it's the second reason. And my guess is that these are about to hit the streets really soon. This guy has his stock and jumped the gun on selling.

[spg]

Display tie-down? I'm trying to picture this... but not having any luck. :)

I suspect you are probably right with that guess. From what you guys are saying it looked fairly legit, except for the fact that the thing isn't released yet.

[Mike Temporale]

Display tie-down? I'm trying to picture this... but not having any luck. :)

When you walk into your local mobile phone store, all the phones on display have that cable that ties them down so people don't steal them. It had that attached to the back of the phone.

Damn I wish I had PDF'd that page. :(

[spg]

Oh... that type of display tie-down. Duh. :) I was thinking the device's display for some reason. I understand you now though...

[Mike Temporale]

So I'm toolin' around ebay today and I think to myself "Could the MPx be back on eBay?". Do a search and here's what I saw.

http://www.bluerocket.ca/images/MotoMPx300.jpg

Please excuse the formating, I PDF'd the page (which doesn't record the background colors) and then created this picture from it. When I went to click on it I got an error that the auction was not found. I re-ran the search and it was gone. So I just missed it. :evil:

[spg]

Interesting... odd that it would show up again if someone had jumped the gun and been warned the first time. Still, with the recent announcement of Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, I suppose this device could be just around the corner...

[Rick Stenson]

My thinking is that they took a picture of the phone at an industry event like a development conference, and then made this fake ad. I was at the Embedded Devcon in July and they were showing this phone so someone could have easily gotten a pix there.