Ever wonder where eBay gets a lot of its merchandise?

[89911]

I'm sure this is just one of thousands of similar cases:

Addicts hired as shoplifters
Purloined goods then sold on eBay
Wednesday, August 02, 2006

The Associated Press

ALTOONA -- Heroin addicts were hired to shoplift items that were resold on eBay and at a pawn shop in separate conspiracies involving four people, state prosecutors said yesterday.

Attorney General Tom Corbett said the 22-month grand jury investigation dubbed "Operation eBay" was spawned by a surge in retail thefts and industrial burglaries in the Altoona area in late 2003 and 2004.

Heroin addicts were paid as much as $800 to $2,000 each per day for sporting goods, electronics and other small appliances stolen from retail stores, Mr. Corbett said. The groups also sold industrial equipment like compressors and paint sprayers stolen from businesses and construction sites.

Altoona-area Wal-Mart, Lowe's, Kaufmann's, Dunham's Sports, Radio Shack and Sears stores were among those targeted. Dunham's Altoona store reported that $14,000 worth of baseball bats were stolen from April to June 2004, and that the company considered closing the store after its shoplifting losses reached as much as $139,000 a year, Mr. Corbett said.

"The defendants took advantage of the desperation of local drug addicts, along with the anonymous nature of Internet auctions, filling their bank accounts while addicts got sicker and stores were pushed to the brink of closing," Mr. Corbett said.

Authorities charged that one ring was headed by Michael Friedenberger, 37, and the other by Brian Patrick Wyland, 33, both of Altoona. While both men allegedly sold the stolen items online, Mr. Friedenberger also was charged with selling them out of his Altoona pawn shop, Best Buys.

Mr. Friedenberger was assisted by his wife, Lynette, 33, and mother-in-law, Pamela Cross, of Altoona, who channeled proceeds from the online auctions into several bank accounts, authorities said. The grand jury found that online auctions in the Friedenberger case totaled $220,000, Mr. Corbett said.

The women are charged with participating in a corrupt organization and various conspiracy counts.

Mr. Friedenberger and Mr. Wyland each face dozens of charges including participating in a corrupt organization, conspiracy, retail theft, and criminal solicitation.

It was not immediately clear if any of the suspects have attorneys. Mr. Friedenberger, his wife Lynette, and Mr. Wyland were jailed when they were unable to post bond after they were arraigned yesterday. The Associated Press could not locate a listed phone number for Ms. Cross.

[bryanthompson]

There was a whole ring of shoplifting workers snagged at a Walmart where a lot of my friends worked. They put the stuff up on ebay and made tons of $$... until they were busted.

[legion]

Law enforcement has been slow to catch up with the Internet.

In the past if a lot of stuff was stolen, cruising by the local pawn shops was generally sufficient...

[GDSOB]

Ever wonder where the mom & pop convenience stores in rough neigborhoods get their merchandise?

[pwd72s]

Ebay is probably the world's largest dealer in stolen goods...

[Jims5543]

I do not use e-bay period. This just confirms my decision.

[tobster1911]

Originally posted by Jim Cesiro
I do not use e-bay period. This just confirms my decision.

+1

[89911]

I use it......but mostly to sell my Porsche stuff. Once I get into mainstream merchandise, thats where my problems start.

[Bryan Beaumont]

FUCH E-Bay. Do Not even be tempted by half of the ***** on there...

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I'm 99.9% sure a pair of Oakleys I bought on there a couple months back were hot. They were advertised as "brand new" but arrived with a couple of small scratches and without the box, bag or warranty card. They were simply wrapped in tissue paper & bubble wrap. Turns out a couple of other people had left similar feedback about similar issues. I sent a number of inquisitive e-mails to the seller asking for an explaination (who got indignant with me, surprise, surprise) and got absolutely nothing in the way of help from ebay. My intention was to wait 89.9 days (I set a reminder for myself just so I wouldn't forget) and then leave brutal negative feedback but by then the guy was "no longer a registered ebay user". I'm sure he/she is operating under a different username selling similar goods now.

At least I still got a good deal but I just KNOW these things were "lifted" from a sunglasses store in a "snatch & grab" and chucked into a bag or something with a dozen other pairs (would explain the scratching and why the seller had so many pairs of Oakley sunglasses to sell).

The feedback system sucks. You have to wait 90 days simply to avoid being retaliated against for being honest. Load of crapola. I use Craigslist for most stuff now. I'll only buy on ebay if it's an exceptional deal ("marginal" doesn't count - it has to be absolutely a one-in-a-million deal). Too much a haven for stolen goods, scammers, B.S. artists and people trying to circumvent the "free market" mentality that built it in the first place.