Bad traders

Highly doubt anyone would name a forum ‘Lufguss’ or whatever, either

i couldn't see it on his ebay history, so that purchase is the missing link. who was the seller in that instance and where did the transaction happen?

I think the most likely thing here is someone took an opportunity when they realised there was a mix up with tracking info which was pointed out in an earlier post by kobe.

They've sold it via word of mouth or some other way that hasn't gone through a busy website and probably didn't think to hide their identity in that case.

They've been caught and now it's become an elaborate story that they aren't backing very well.

that "someone" who presumably received the frame due to a DHL error is critical. they have to be:

a) dishonest
b) someone with enough gumption to recognise that this unusual object (a track bike frame) had significant resale value
c) cunning enough to know that selling it under the name of pista mercato (to whom it was addressed) would provide a commercial advantage
d) well connected enough to find a buyer (in vienna?!)
e) able to do all this without leaving an online trail

when parcels go missing, don't they usually end up a few numbers away from the original recipient? i can't imagine it was addressed to kobe (in the netherlands) and ended up in milan or whatever.

as they say in vienna, the plot fickens

Yeah you may be right. I had forgotten the package was labelled with kobe / pista mercato so would be easy if someone took it and looked that up.

And the someone I meant originally was kobe, not a rogue DHL employee

yeah so either kobe claimed he never received it and sold it on, or someone else (and this random person has to be both devious and enterprising in character) obtained it either through theft or by error and then sold it on.

so on balance, it's much more likely that kobe is being dishonest, but we have no proof of that.

I’d hazard a guess that when parcels go missing, if they eventually do end up being delivered it is usually to the intended address.

Stoke Park Country Slazenger Nr. 1

If the frame was never delivered, and the seller got their money back via PayPal - eventually, why would the buyer who supposedly never received the frame, contact someone they don't know where the frame has mysteriously appeared for sale, then buy it back and return to the original seller.

If they never received it, it's fuck all to do with them surely.

Either the eBay account is a shill account, or he sold it to the person 'off grid' and they've latterly dropped him bang in it by stating where they sourced it.

If giving this chump any benefit of doubt, its likely there was a mix up on the tracking and they saw a chance to get the frame for free, expecting that the seller would get a refund too - i.e. committing fraud.

This person is a fraudster, has been caught and needs banning from the forum.

Yes you said it better.

How about the latest seller on eBay apologising for using the name for their listing?
What do they mean by that?

a forensic linguist might like to compare the language used here

and here

and work out if the same person wrote them

An absolute load of bullshit.

We would need to see all the messages to know what the response is to.

'New to the cycling community' - take a look at their eBay listings and sales.

Yeah I agree, Kobes message would be good here.

I'm not reading too much into it without more info around it.

See also @Kobe sock puppet account @hyfive and their massive contribution to the forum since joining specifically to comment in this thread on this issue - which when challenged on they edited out and haven't been seen since.

what's also touching is how the frame increased in value by nearly €700 in a year

Isn't that what pista mercato is all about?

but... but.. pista mercato never received the frame!

Do we really believe there is someone going around intercepting deliveries of columbus air track frames from Pista Mercato and then selling them on claiming to be.........Pista Mercato

on this force we don't think, we prove

i got the DA on my ass i don't need this

we need to make this one stick

I love a whodunnit movie, but sometimes the plot is so thin you can guess the character in the first 10 minutes of the film.