8mm Forum: Who sells as thefilmprojectionist on ebay

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Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on May 16, 2009, 01:27 PM:

I am curious if anyone has had dealings with someone selling on ebay under the name thefilmprojectionist? I have had a rather unfair dealing with him and I am curious what others might think.... He had a projector for sale I was interested in, and I missed bidding on it, but the auction ended without a bid, so I thought I'd try and ask him if he'd sell it for his opening bid which was GBP240. Here are the email exchanges with the most recent on the bottom...I am curious if I am being unrealistic in thinking that this was terribly unfair on his part.

April 26 - Lee offered the projector to Dino £for the £240 starting bid.
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April 28 - Dino accepted and asked for shipping costs etc.
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April 28 - Lee said he would check shipping costs and pointed out that the machine was designed for 240V operation.
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April 30 - Dino sends an email as he hasnt heard anything from Lee
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May 1 - Lee replies say that he is having ongoing problems with email. He says the cost of Shipping will be £100.
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May 5 - Dino requests Lee's PayPal details to arrange immediate payment.
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May 7 - Dino once again requests PayPal details as he has not heard and wonders if it's down to Lee's email problems.
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May 9 - And yet another request for PayPal details.
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May 10 - Lee replies, requesting Dino's paypal details so he can send Dino a PayPal invoice and requests Dino's postal address.
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May 10 - Dino gives the requested details to Lee.
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May 13 -
Once again Dino sends the requested details.
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May 14 - Lee now replies to Dino saying that he has relisted the projector on ebay with a one day listing and hes sure that Dino will win it. Item No 230343113130. He then wishes Dino Good luck.
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At this point he relisted the projector for GBP 349 + GBP 100 230343113130
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May 14 - Dino replies saying that it wasn't a nice thing to do as they had agreed a price etc. He explained that he could not afford the £109 extra which had been added on. Dino asked Lee to reconsider.
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May 14 - Dino once more asks Lee to reconsider the original off ebay deal which they had both agreed on.
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May 15 - Once agian Dino asks Lee to reconsider the original agreed deal of £240 +100 shipping +4% PayPal costs.
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May 16 - Lee expalins that to meet EBAY RULES he has now got to sell it via ebay. He goes onto explain that since the first listing the machine has had a service which did cost which is why he had to up the listed price via ebay. He expalins that the reason why he relisted it on ebay was due to the extra he had spent on it and was surprised that Dino had not bid on it. Lee then says he will relist it one more time and that to note that the last one of these he purchased cost £600 so this one was something of a bargain.
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May 16 - Dino explains that he is terribly disappointed since Lee had said "Yes I will sell the projector to you for GBP240 + GBP100 shipping and then backed out on his word. Dino then explains that he's sorry that Lee's raised it up to a price he cannot afford and asks if Lee would honor the deal they had made originally with instant payment.
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[ May 19, 2009, 04:33 PM: Message edited by: Kevin Faulkner ]

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on May 16, 2009, 03:20 PM:

The guy is definitely doing an improper thing. To use the excuse of "honoring ebay rules" would only apply if the projector was on ebay all during the time that you were in negotiations with him for the projector.

He would not have offered it for sale to you, unless he had taken it off ebay already, (at least, an honest person would do that). For him to relist it, and then beg the argument that ebay proprieties have to be honored is doing you a wrong.

If this ebayer is a member of the 8mm Forum, then shame on you, as you not only have dis-honored a decent buyer who will no doubt not buy from you again, but now, because of your actions, all 8mm Forum members know your ebay identity and will no doubt tend to steer away from your auctions OR write you off completely.

Unless you can come on this forum and answer for yourself.

If anyone knows who this person is in fact, if you would not wish to say on the Forum, please e-mail Dino and myself so we'll know.

Thank you for bringing this ebay seller to our attention Dino, you have done us a good service. Fortunately, no money had passed from your hands to this person, and you can still invest that money with a honest person, (as we don't know as to whether it is a man or woman).

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on May 16, 2009, 04:20 PM:

Dino, This is one of the many reasons why as moderator I had Lee kicked off the forum sometime a go.
I know of quite a few people who have had extremely bad dealings with Lee and I would suggest that you now leave well alone. BTW he used to trade with a different ebay ID which had quite a lot of negative feedback.

My advice to you is leave well alone and don't believe the story about the service being the reason for the hiked up price. The chances are the machine is not worth that price. Its like dealing with a "second hand car salesman"

Kev.

Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on May 16, 2009, 05:05 PM:

I really appreciate the info and the support as it helps justify that I was not crazy in my interpretation of this seller. I thought he acted very dishonestly, and while I am crying myself to sleep to not be acquiring a Monaco, I am happy to have not been burned of my limited funds.... Thanks guys [Smile]

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on May 16, 2009, 05:16 PM:

Dino, Your more than welcome. This is what this forum is all about [Smile]

Helping fellow cine enthusiasts and not those taking others for a ride.

Sleep tight,

Kev.

Posted by Jim Carlile (Member # 812) on May 18, 2009, 01:37 AM:

You know the old rule, don't you? Never show interest.

I had to laugh at him being quizzical about the fact that you didn't bid on it the second time. Like yeah, right, you raised the price, that's why!

In theory there could be an issue about going around EBAY even after-the-fact. They do have express rules about this, because it can be manipulated. Technically you're supposed to relist an item if there is some later interest. I have actually known people who've gotten in trouble for soliciting off-EBAY deals about an item while using the EBAY email. The other party reported them.

Posted by Mark Todd (Member # 96) on May 18, 2009, 08:05 AM:

I think on ebay there needs to be some flexibility, if an item doesn`t sell on the auction then the odd ex ebay sale should be fine.
I mean Heck as their business keeps growoing, now higher ebay fee`s and paypal too, their % charged could be going down, not up every now and again.

Regarding the projector sale this is a classic case of Profit souring a cine deal. Its easy to let it get a hold of you a bit it seems. I suppose we are all abit short now, but so is a buyer.

Ive had good dealings with Lee selling him bits and even given him the odd film, he often likes a few bob off or free post etc. And thats fine with me, its all about people and the hobby after all. But better if that could work both ways.

If I have the chance to sell an item that didn`t sell via ebay I always try to knock a bit more off then or free post etc etc.

But I`m not a fan of sqeezing more out of old cine machines price wise as they inevitably have odd issues these days and on older stuff even more so.

Maybe Lee will get in touch with a fair price Dino or another will turn up.

Best Mark.

Posted by Daniel Beijar (Member # 1577) on May 18, 2009, 08:48 AM:

He charged me 6 pound for a 150 feet super 8 movie from the UK to Finland (normal charge around 2 pound)! I didn´t get any answers from him when I tried e-mailing him about the postage. When I didn´t pay him he threaten to call the deal of so I was forced to pay the high postage to get the film. Now I understand why nobody else was bidding on that item exept me. And in my feedback he wrote: "This buyer likes minimal postage fees and expects to pay little for Royal Mail". Do Not Bid for Items from thefilmprojectionist!

Posted by David Erskine (Member # 1244) on May 18, 2009, 11:03 AM:

You are all right, chaps! Lee seems to be a trifle unstable - I'm told he has a medical condition. I'm also told (I can't remember where) that he claims to be on benefits in the UK - yet seems to get abroad for holidays fairly regularly. He's no longer a member of Group 9.5 as he wouldn't pay the £2 rejoin fee after not paying his subs for some years (I'm the treasurer). And yes, I also had a bad deal with him. Ken Valentine reckons that a Monaco ain't worth anything like that much (£349+) - but, as he says "What do I know - I only worked there." Dino, be glad you got away lightly. Cheers, David E
P.S. Nice to see it didn't sell, though.

Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on May 18, 2009, 12:05 PM:

I thought I would post the final installments so as to show anyone interested I for one am not trying to mislead anyone, I simply wanted a Monaco, and believed someone when they said they would sell it at the price they quoted me....Here are the final exchanges.

This picks up after my last one to Him on May 16th so essentially I sent two to him in a row.

May 16 - Dino explains that he is also a fellow member of Group 9.5 and that he was surprised the way a fellow Group 9.5er has been treated. Dino goes onto say that he's now "a less trusting 9.5 enthusiast"
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May 17 - Lee replies saying that he has not had time to read all Dino's email but that it does seem he did not wish to buy via ebay for some reason although he had 3 opportunities to do so. He then goes on to say that the item in question is no longer available so he had now "Missed It!" He then wishes Dino best of luck finding another warning Dino that it had taken him 40 yrs to find the last one.
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May 18 - Lee once again writes to Dino suggesting that he had come to the ebay listing via the 8mm forum of which he had bitter experience of said members buying form ebay sellers. He said that he now treads carefully when he gets offers after a listing has ended and explains they are just trying to snap up a bargain. He then goes onto explain that because of this thread he has now added Dino to his list of blocked bidders. Lee than goes on to explain that his feedback on ebay is 100% positive with no neg feedback.
Lee then expalins to Dino that there was a lot of Jealousy of him on this forum but he still keeps in touch with some members and that his ebay feedback is not as suggested by MrEumig! It then gets personal about Mr Eumig.
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May 18 - Dino replies by saying he thinks Lee is a very difficult person to figure out and that he's very sorry he feels so negatively about him and the forum and that he couldnt understand why the price had changed so drastically. Dino then explains that if the price had not been raised on the second listing he would have bid immediately. He then asks the question why after the comments above didnt he just politely refuse to sell in the first place and leave it at that?
Dino then goes onto finishes by saying that personal problems should not have come into it and that his main gripe was that Lee said that he would sell him the Monaco for GBP240 + GBP100 shipping and then backed out.
Dino finally ends by wishing Lee the best with any future listings and that all he expects is for people to honour their word.

[ May 19, 2009, 05:30 PM: Message edited by: Kevin Faulkner ]

Posted by Mark Todd (Member # 96) on May 18, 2009, 12:24 PM:

Lets not get things out of hand here. These things can happen between people and at the end of the day its just a hobby, for a bit of fun and focus away from the benalities and stresses of life etc.

We shouldn`t get too personal.

I`d forget about the machine Dino, another will pop up if you really want one I`m sure.

Its not worth any of us in the hobby falling out with each other if we can help it.

Try sending Lee a pleasant mail to leave things on a good footing. I`m sure he will respond in kind.

Best Mark.

Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on May 18, 2009, 12:37 PM:

Mark that is excellent advice and I have done exactly that, which out of respect I will not post here, but I will move on from this thread with a hefty thanks to all of us who keep this hobby going. [Smile]

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on May 18, 2009, 05:04 PM:

I would like to know who Mr Eumig is? Maybe he means me MrElmo [Eek!]

Cant be as I have not been chucked off of any forum except this one and surprise surprise it was all a misunderstanding which was all sorted out as grown men.

Mark, What Dino is complaining about is the fact that Lee agreed to sell it to him for £240 +£100 shipping which seems well over the top to me for shipping. Then he pulled out and put it back on ebay for £340 with shipping yet again on top of that and told Dino to buy it via ebay.
It doesn't take a mathematician to work out that Lee decided it was going too cheap hence the high shipping then decided to ebay it once more to get an even higher price....bit underhanded dont you think.

Dino you have had a lucky escape and as I said before he may have 100% feedback now but what about his old ebay ID? that certainly wasn't glowing.
Just listen to what others have said on here and non of them have any particular gripe etc with the guy but have dealt with him and know the things he gets up to.

Its a case of buyer beware!

Kev.

Posted by John W. Black (Member # 1082) on May 19, 2009, 12:00 AM:

Dino,
Always remember,as a scoundrel will hide behind the flag of patriotism,so will he hide behind Ebay's idiotic rules.

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on May 19, 2009, 05:18 PM:

Sorry Dino, but I have had to edit the above text due to Lee complaining about the publishing of content from private emails which is actually against forum rules.

What I have done is to replace it with a synopsis in each place of what was said so others can follow what took place etc.

Sorry about this but hope you understand.

Kev.

Posted by Jim Carlile (Member # 812) on May 20, 2009, 01:59 AM:

I kind of thought this idea was funny:

quote:
He said that he now treads carefully when he gets offers after a listing has ended and explains they are just trying to snap up a bargain.

Well yeah, but it didn't sell!

Out west here we have an expression: it was 'chicken' and 'bogus' of the seller to renege on the deal, and then relist it at higher price when he knew there was interest.

It just goes to show, you always have to play hard to get, I guess. But I can't imagine why this seller would want to antagonize someone from the UCLA Archive, who's in the business itself. It makes no sense-- a lot of people would jump at that connection because of possible future sales.

Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on May 20, 2009, 02:25 AM:

Kevin
I just read the rewritten version and I think it is a very fair synopsis of what transpired, as it has not really changed any of what was exchanged thematically, just as you say for safety sake it allows the story to be told without any rules being broken. I again appreciate all who keep this hobby going and hope I can always treat my fellow enthusiasts as teammates rather than opponents. ...Now about my ST-1200 speed problem [Big Grin]

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on May 20, 2009, 04:00 PM:

I just got back from vacation and had the fun of re-reading this series of posts. You were the lucky one, Dino. I lost a big load of bucks on the guy which I'd really rather not go into as I'm still stinging from that.

Look, just like anybody else out there, if I can make a fair profit selling or re-selling something, I'll do so, but its a completely different thing when you say you'll sell something to a someone and then up it like one Lee did.

One of the reasons why I just love this Forum, is that, (as a general rule), you will get a good deal on something that is offered ...

Why?

Because there is the potential that if the sale went bad or the item was not as described, the word will get back to the other forum members, and that would jeopardize they're good standing with fellow members and with only so many Super 8 lovers out there these days, we can use each and every legitimate buyer or seller.

It's like having good laws. The laws are there to protect the honorable. This forum stands as a "law" of sorts for the honorable collector. It keeps a potential "iffy" super 8 seller in check. It also protects those buyers or sellers from ebay or otherwise sellers like Lee who will make questionable deals.

Do to this series of posts, many a collector will be wisely steered away from Lee. Don't get me wrong, Lee, in and of himself, may be an alright guy, except when it comes to making the odd pound.

But then, perhaps, Lee may realize that he grossly overstepped things here and may choose to do the right thing by our own Dino.
Perhaps Lee will realize just how many people he may be turning off from his auctions in the future.

Also, lastly, if Mr. Lee has a 100 percent rating, he's probably only saying the half of it. He may have a 100 percent, (as of right now) on his new ebay account, but his earlier ebay account was shot to heck by bad business decisions. Besides, I have no reason to believe that our own "Mr.EUMIG" would just state an complete lie about something.

Hey!! I should be Mr. EUMIG!!

Sometimes those bad ratings can be from irate people, (as the two in a row lady ebayers did to me, as was related in a much earlier series of ebay posts.)

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on May 20, 2009, 05:43 PM:

Osi, You are MrEumig from now on [Big Grin]

I think you made some excellent points there and I go along with all you say.

Yes I think your right. The forum is a community and word will soon get round. Were here to help each other and generally this is the case and that includes steering others away from what we know is possibly a bad deal or seller.

I'm certainly not ashamed of anything I said earlier as I have heard the tales of woe where this seller is concerned too many times before. You are obviously another one who has got stung and I'm sorry for you. My hope now is that this thread warns other collectors before they too have a bad and sour deal or indeed a trying time like Dino.

I did toy with the idea of maybe putting a sticky thread up in the Gen Yak area where we can put bad deals etc as a warning to others. A sort of name and shame area but I need to check the legal implications with Brad first.

Kev.

Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on May 20, 2009, 06:22 PM:

Mr Elmo and Mr. Eumig (Can I be Mr. Specto?) I think that is a good idea about a bad deals section off the beaten path in the General Yak. My guess would be there is no problem listing details about the transactions as long as there is no real name calling or "DO NOT BUY FROM_______" If you are just listing specifics of what happened that is all true it can serve its purpose so people can look up a seller before dealing with them, I think it might be helpful. I know I usually try to look up ebay monikers before dealing with people, and looked up filmprojectionist but did not find anything

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on May 20, 2009, 07:02 PM:

It could be a "sticky situation", Kevin ... [Big Grin]

I personally believe, by all that has been written on this forum in total, that our bunch here are a great, honorable bunch of buyers or sellers.

The only problem I can see with it, would be, if a person just doesn't like the fact that they just made a purchase, and the seller isn't willing to to take back the print or return the money, may cause a person to potentially lie a lot about a decent seller, (as I was bitten by on ebay about a year ago, and my ebay account never quite healed from the lies, but fortunately, it didn't involve anybody on the forum, to my best knowledge), and potentially do harm.

What I would suggest is something that has actually been posed by another member. A section where both sides can present thier case and then all forum members can either add they're positive or negatives to the posts so all can have an informed decision concerning the transaction is question.

This would make sure that, lets say a person who have been one hundred percent reliable; if that person is improperly mailgned by another member, then all those who know for a fact that the maligned member is good and trustworthy, can arise and come to that persons aid.

You could call it a form of arbitration.

Anyway, I think that could be good, as it would allow for proper checks and balances.

Posted by John W. Black (Member # 1082) on May 20, 2009, 09:17 PM:

Shucks,I wanted to be Mr.Eumig,having 14 of then,but,alas,I'll be Mr. Keystone K-109.The best reg 8 silent machine ever made!

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on May 20, 2009, 09:52 PM:

John,

I officially christen you ... Mr.Eumig ...

I'll be known as "P8OSI"

in honor of my beloved little Eumig!

Posted by John W. Black (Member # 1082) on May 20, 2009, 11:19 PM:

Thank you,Osi,I will try to be worthy of the title

Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on May 21, 2009, 01:37 AM:

quote:
I'll be Mr. Keystone K-109.The best reg 8 silent machine ever made!

Have you tried an elmo AP-8? I have never enjoyed a reg 8 more and did I mention it has remote control focusing? but even having said that ....Cmon guys....I really wanna be Mr Specto [Razz]

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on May 21, 2009, 05:24 PM:

Out of "respecto" for my friend Dino, I think that he should be Mr. Specto! [Big Grin]

Posted by John W. Black (Member # 1082) on May 21, 2009, 11:51 PM:

I second the motion,Osi. Dino,you shall be Mr. Specto

Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on May 22, 2009, 12:37 AM:

Yeah! !!!!If my avatar ever gets added you can see me and one of my beautiful Specto's - Speaking of which there is a nice one (1 9.5) listed on ebay right now incorrectly as an 8mm so its gonna go cheap !!!!! ! [Big Grin]

OOH and I just watched Lights Out and the stars appear to celebrate....GERALD MCKEE LIVES ON ! ! !! !

Posted by Mark Howard (Member # 870) on May 31, 2009, 03:27 PM:

Not wishing to stir things up now the dust has settled, but I've just read this topic and I have to say that I've had a fair few dealings in the past with Lee on Ebay and never had any problems, and on the odd occasions we've had e-mail exchanges since he has always been very helpful. Maybe I'm just the lucky one, but I would quite happily buy from him in the future if he had something on Ebay I wanted.

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