Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Online Auctions, eBay Craigslist Petroliana Is this eBay seller a scammer???

eBay seller "service_station" amazingly has hundreds of NOS gas signs for sale. One auction after another of mint pump signs and Firestone signs. He claims they are authentic originals and some have dates on them. He has a 99.5% positive rating. Does anyone here know this seller or can confirm whether those signs are original or repro's? Also he does sell under other another alias on eBay. When I asked him a question he said to look at his other NOS signs for sale under another name. I forget the name I deleted the message. Thanks in advance for any enlightenment.

Those are valid observations you have made. Not everyone takes the time to do their homework as is evident by these sellers week after week selling the same nos signs in mint condition.

He is a seller who knowingly sells repro items as nos.

At the top of your browser click on History, click on Show All History, click on Last 7 Days or This Month. Scroll thru till ya see something familiar then Double click it. W/O a sellers name it hard for others to commit.
Another way to find them is to look in your Email Trash Folder.

superflex_moonbeam is the other ebay username the person uses.

He told me he found cases of NOS signs and was selling them individually. Yes it was superflex moonbeam his other name. Whats amazing is he only had one negative feedback accusing him of selling repros. Thanks for feedback.

He's from that famous state.... Indiana seems to be a hotbed for trash slingers

Easy thermoman!

Yes should not judge the whole state on couple bad apples.

Along w/ A FEW from N.C. & Georgia. I'm sure that every state has a few Bad Apples.

Calling these guys bad apples is being very nice. I've got other names for them but won't say because it always seems to get me in trouble here,thus I don't post often. Rest assured I'm on here every day. Knowledge is king. ;;;;;;;;;;Ron

Can we start a list of eBay sellers that sell known fakes ? Or is that against the law ?

Agreed. Make a list of eBay scammers to protect the new petroliana collectors and even current. Sometimes it's just to damn hard to tell. If we can make a list lets try and make it happen.

You can post names and your opinions as to authenticity of their signs. Each person expressing an opinion needs to be responsible for that opinion. In other words, we don't want an official Oldgas.com list of sellers because it could get us into a legal battle. If individual members make posts in a topic about suspicious sellers, the legal ramifications, if any, are between the seller and the individual pointing him out.

So word your comments carefully, using tact and leaving out name-calling.

some states have more than others , 2 of 3 mentioned come to mind..

Duely noted Jim.

Maybe have a list called "honest individuals". Of course, we would all know the secret code for scammers was "honest individuals".

Bruce Haddle?,FYI.... thegamechallenger is selling fake signs & will not respond messages & loveclassics i suspect to be affiliated with bruce h.

Just reading your post...i.m.o..i would "steer clear" from this seller!

A few years back I bought out a company that was a bulk dealer for over 80 years. In the deal were boxes of NOS Mobil shields (over 90), Texaco pump signs (25 or so) and Ethyl pump signs just to name a few. During the time I was selling the bulk of these signs I had several people accuse me of selling Repops. One guys rational was "nobody could possibly have that many NOS shields". I have been selling some of the remaining Ethyl pump signs I forgot I had, recently on Ebay. I sold one and the customer asked to return it because "his friend" told him it was a repop. I personally unwrapped these from the shipping cardboard and the newspaper packing that was dated 1952.
My point is, there are some real thieves out there passing off junk and garbage. but unless someone knows 110% that a person is selling repops or fakes, they should just offer an opinion. Listing peoples names without 100% proof, and just an opinion could lead to some serious problems for the poster. That is JUST MY OPINION>

WOW< WOW< WOW,,,,do I ever agree with that statement,, well said.

Judge Judy..

In my humble opinion I also STRONGLY believe e-bay seller service_station is selling 1954 repo Standand Oil Signs. I asked him point blank and he has now blocked me from bidding on his items. I called and had a lengthly discussion with e-bay asking them to look into this seller.E-bay does not have a option for reporting this kind of activity in their drop down menu. They told me that buyers should call them for cases like these when we have concerns.
I also was able to connect to several of his past customers and they suspect the same,1 buyer said the other originals he has seemed to have a metal finished back instead of porcelian on the back.
Sellers that are selling repo's as originals are ruining our hobby and investments!
The comment that we need 110% proof from a eariler poster is a joke to me...The seller needs to convince me that it is an original! Showing the back of the sign is a must for one!
If you look at vics66.com web-site you will see that the repo's are dated 1954.
One Needs to be very careful when bidding on this sign.Personally I would stay away from the year 1954 altogether.

We bought a sign guaranteed to be old. Hard to tell by pics. You didn't have to be a genius to tell it was a fake when it arrived. It wasn't cheap but was guaranteed to be old and said pics were just bad. When I tried to get something done about it, because Ebay protects you and so does PayPal, I suddenly became the victim. The seller accused me of taking his good sign and replacing it with a repop and then trying to get my money back. He opened a dispute console on me and I couldn't even leave him bad feedback. I won't mention the name because it has already been mentioned on Old Gas. Thanks Old Gas for trying to make us a little more knowledgeable about people selling fakes for the Real McCoy.

What state did it come out of?........just curious?

Mike&Deb: What was the final outcome? Were you able to get your money back? It has been my experience (as a buyer) with e-Bay and Paypal that they usually favor the buyer.

Why won't you mention the name of the seller?

Or even state?

I have to agree with Dick here as I know one in Iowa too................ Ed Shaver

update from another buyer of this sellers signs:
e-mail sent to me was as follows:
"This guy also sells on eBay under user ID- superflex_moonbeam
He's a real thief.He refunded my money back and admitted to Paypal and me that it was a reproduction just like alot of other signs he sells,the Red Crown,the White Crown,The Sinclair Gasoline,etc... check his auctions and his feedback and you'll see.He sells another NOS sign every week,they are all repro's!"
His current user name is service_station

How long after you bought the sign did you ask for a refund? Did you know right away that it was a repro? I too bought one of his signs and as time went along I noticed the seller selling the same signs over and over. That was about 4 months ago so my guess it would be too late to get a refund.

If everyone is interested in putting an end to superflex_moonbeam's blatantly dishonest business tactics, then I can propose a solution. It would require a concerted effort on the part of about 10-15 e-Bayers/oldgassers. They all make a purchase and then file a complaint for item received-not as listed. Then everyone gets their money back and leaves the appropriate feedback. 15 negatives feedbacks and the time and effort and money that e-Bay would have to invest in the refunds & investigations will result in precise and swift action to be taken. I can guarantee that. Not to mention the fact that this will surely reveal superflex_moonbeam as a e-Bayer who continiously and knowingly sells reproductions as originals.

If everyone is interested in putting an end to superflex_moonbeam's blatantly dishonest business tactics, then I can propose a solution. It would require a concerted effort on the part of about 10-15 e-Bayers/oldgassers. They all make a purchase and then file a complaint for item received-not as listed. Then everyone gets their money back and leaves the appropriate feedback. 15 negatives feedbacks and the time and effort and money that e-Bay would have to invest in the refunds & investigations will result in precise and swift action to be taken. I can guarantee that. Not to mention the fact that this will surely reveal superflex_moonbeam as a e-Bayer who continiously and knowingly sells reproductions as originals.

Dave...on ebay, there is a pretty clear (and they enforce it) rule about intentionally damaging someones feedback...if such a thing happened and that seller could show something like what you just posted here...not only would he get all the negatives removed, but all those people would most likely get suspended, probably forever. Of course, a plan like that could work, but putting it in writing on the internet...well you see my point....I hope.

I agree with what you state in your post. That is why I said appropriate feedback. I am of the opinion that he or she is selling reproductions. I am suggesting that if other like minded persons are interested in confirming their suspicion's. Then we as a group can check for ourselves. If you bid on an original sign and receive a reproduction then you are entitled to leave feedback that accurately documents your experience based on your personal experience with that seller. I don't see where intentionally we are damaging someone's feedback. We as a community are asserting our right to protect ourselves from reproductions. We as bona fide collector's have the right to protect our hobby and investments. And further as e-Bayer's we have the right to ensure that all member's conduct themselves in a manner that is conducive to fair trading with the utmost intregrity, honesty and good faith. It is our collective duty to uphold and protect these values. The e-Bayer in question has refused to answer our concern's. Silence is usually a right excersised by the guilty.

Hey......I'm not defending any person....I'm just say'n.....to PLAN a group effort...well, be careful there.......that's all I'm say'n.

Manipulation of the feedback system to go after a seller could get the participants and this Web site in more trouble than the reproduction seller.

EXACTLY!

Now "service_station" is selling a NOS Goodyear sign he said he found in it's original box but incredibly he doesn't have the original box any more. Maybe his dog ate it.

what he told one buyer was that he bought the standard signs 20 years ago from a 70 plus year old man who is no longer around..

Gee...that's a really original story! Never heard that one before! lol!