For Sale Photoshop on eBay listing (1 Viewer)

Location

United States

I was quite interested in a 60 offered by a seller that goes by “European-cars” on eBay, apparently good reviews, car looked great on photos. Paid deposit, scheduled an inspection and was quite surprised to find some serious enhancement of photos on their behalf . Here are a couple of comparisons, and listing. I asked politely for a refund of deposit but was not granted such, still debating if I should address it with cc dispute dept


1987 Toyota Land Cruiser 4WD Manual L6 FJ60 Tow Package Clean CARFAX Rare! | eBay

 

[Scro]

Your not doing the cruiser community any favors by not pursuing this. File a complaint with eBay and your CC. Cut the head off of the snake before the next person is scammed.

 

[Splangy]

Your not doing the cruiser community any favors by not pursuing this. File a complaint with eBay and your CC. Cut the head off of the snake before the next person is scammed.

X2

 

[landcruiserjunky]

Uh, yes you should file a complaint: ebay, your cc, whatever state the dealer is based. That's fraud plain and simple.

 

[ace10]

This guy has been pulling shady crap for years. He's pretty well known for it. Ebay lets him get away with it.

OP, I cannot fathom not pursuing a refund from your CC issuer based on the seller's deceptive business practices.


FYI-

The guy's real name is Vadim Gitman, he goes by Dave.
His license (and signage) is under the business name Car Cheer.
Address is
2635 LINCOLN HIGHWAY
Feasterville Trevose, Pennsylvania 19053


You can find his Pennsylvania licensing info here:
BPOA Portal

 

[JVZii]

The carpet pic is not Photoshop it is a pic of a different cruiser. You can see the carpet on the side in one pic but not in the other. Before the world became so PC we called it fraud.

EBay does have a S**t policy for older cars. If you read the fine print it says something like pictures are no substitute for due diligence in person inspections. And they only cover title issues.

Good luck hope you can get your $$s back .

 

[landcruiserjunky]

@willygil also please file a complaint with your states .gov DMV. Stuff like this helps revoke licenses (much needed as we're finding out).

 

[mwebfj60]

I would say the dash pic is of a different cruiser too.

 

[ccslider]

I would simply make fake eBay accounts and buy all of his stuff. Don't ever stop. No listings for him!!

See if you can get an army of people to help.. I'll grab the pitchfork

 

[SEAWOLF]

I looked quickly on my phone, but I believe it is the same cruiser. I use photoshop almost everyday and I have some experience here. The carpet is definitely photoshopped, I can see at least 5 mistakes they made doing it sloppily. By the same standard I can tell it’s the same cruiser. I’m sure pulling it up on my 5K display would reveal more BS. The glove box photo is obviously shopped as well, you can tell by the bad shadow gradient which is evidence of sloppy spot removal tool, and or clone stamping. Sad really, they spent maybe 6 minutes on these photos and thought they could get away with fraud.

Definitely persue this. I’d be in his office every minute of the day until he counted out the cash in my hand.

 

[willygil]

Thanks all for you replies and advice, yes, no doubt there is photo post processing involved. the carpet shows some cloning as well, done lousily and evidently the loss of detail in the ripped section gives it away. This were just two of the several other examples, the bumper was also cloned...pity they do this.
Claim with Amex has been filed, will contact eBay later.

 

[swamp-thing]

I'm a designer as well -- and I disagree with the photo alteration assessment -- personally, I think it's different images.
It's really hard to get photoshop to be seamless - not impossible, but very challenging.

One trick I use to check my own work is to invert the color profile and then bump the brightness and contrast levels to extreme levels.
With this method flaws USUALLY show up better as inconsistencies in the image. Not always but many times it's hard to fake it in a different profile.

I was skeptical of one section in the carpet next to the side wall behind wheel hump, and after looking carefully at it I think it's just a little depression in the floor casting a weird light.

Here are two screen grabs illustrating what I'm talking about with my invert / adjustments.
The carpet pile sort of looks like bad clone stamping, but I think it's just regular old carpet....

The glove box dent, if it was removed electronically, was done nearly perfectly... I'm concluding it's just a diff't pic.
You be the judge!

 

[SEAWOLF]

Not trying to take away from the OP's situation, but after looking at your post @swamp-thing I'd say it's even stronger evidence of manipulation. I'd say I'm maybe 25% proficient at PS (I know how do what I need to do) so I'm by no means an expert. Now that I'm on my computer I didn't notice the scratch on the case sticker...was the scratch visible in person @willygil doesn't look like it in the photo.

 

[willygil]

@SEAWOLF, good point, and Dave they have removed glovebox photo from the ebay listing. Probably it was another photo altogether that they used.

 

[swamp-thing]

Agreed, not wanting to diminish the OP’s situation. It’s Bait & Switch cut & dry whether it’s doctored photos or photos of a different rig. Far easier to use diff’t photos than shop ‘em though. The scratch is a bit telling on the glove box... why add that? You can see it in the original pics, but becomes really obvious in the inverted shots.

I just took the opportunity to sleuth a little while having my morning coffee. Keep us posted on the outcome & good luck!

 

[savirc]

Maybe its the angle of the pic but the fan box below the glove box are certainly different in both pictures.

 

[Seth S]

You might want to look at the photos on this link too. I simply searched the VIN and it looks like it sold at some sort of dealer auction for $1000 originally. Has a lot of ugly going on with the paint. Same wheels, same driving lights on the bumper.

Auto Auction Ended on VIN: JT3FJ60G0H1139420 1987 Toyota Land Cruis in NV - Reno

 

[CenTXFJ60]

The first pic shows rear shoulder belts. Being a 60 did you see shoulder belts when inspected in person?

 

[jameslloyd285]

You can try to buy on private car auctions than you will be sure that photos are real. Auction yards make photos of cars by themselves, so you can be sure that photos without photoshop. I bought several toyotas with this car auction A Better Bid® Online Car Auctions - Damaged, Repairable, Used, Salvage Cars Sale and never had problems with fake photos

 

[Hodaddy]

Did you ever resolve this situation with Car Cheer? I am looking at an FJ62 they have for sale. Pictures look great, but I’m very reluctant to pursue given all the prior discussion. At minimum I’d have a third party look as I’m in Colorado and the FJ is in PA.