Nomen Nescio wrote:
I've been looking at an oscilloscope on eBay. Seems real nice. It isn't
the deal of the century, but seems better than most. But the seller has
taped over or blocked out the serial number on all the pics posted. Other
than the thing being stolen, what other possible and logical reason(s)
could there be to block out the serial number?

Maybe he wants to substitute in a different one at shipment. You be the
judge which is likely to be the more desirable one.

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The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
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Why don't you ask the seller and see what his response is.
Maybe he doesn't want anybody to copy the serial number !

kip
"Nomen Nescio" wrote in message
...
I've been looking at an oscilloscope on eBay. Seems real nice. It isn't
the deal of the century, but seems better than most. But the seller has
taped over or blocked out the serial number on all the pics posted. Other
than the thing being stolen, what other possible and logical reason(s)
could there be to block out the serial number?

"kip" wrote in
:

Why don't you ask the seller and see what his response is.
Maybe he doesn't want anybody to copy the serial number !

"copy the s/n"? For what purpose?
I suspect the scope could be stolen.I see no reason to hide the s/n.
Tektronix maintains a stolen instrument database for their products,call
TEK security to find out about a particular unit,or to report one stolen.


kip
"Nomen Nescio" wrote in message
...
I've been looking at an oscilloscope on eBay. Seems real nice. It
isn't the deal of the century, but seems better than most. But the
seller has taped over or blocked out the serial number on all the
pics posted. Other than the thing being stolen, what other possible
and logical reason(s) could there be to block out the serial number?







--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Well if he thinks it stolen Dont Bid On The Thing..
Sounds simple to me ..
kip

"Jim Yanik" . wrote in message
.. .
"kip" wrote in
:

Why don't you ask the seller and see what his response is.
Maybe he doesn't want anybody to copy the serial number !

"copy the s/n"? For what purpose?
I suspect the scope could be stolen.I see no reason to hide the s/n.
Tektronix maintains a stolen instrument database for their products,call
TEK security to find out about a particular unit,or to report one stolen.


kip
"Nomen Nescio" wrote in message
...
I've been looking at an oscilloscope on eBay. Seems real nice. It
isn't the deal of the century, but seems better than most. But the
seller has taped over or blocked out the serial number on all the
pics posted. Other than the thing being stolen, what other possible
and logical reason(s) could there be to block out the serial number?







--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

"Jim Yanik" . wrote in message
.. .
"kip" wrote in
:

Why don't you ask the seller and see what his response is.
Maybe he doesn't want anybody to copy the serial number !

"copy the s/n"? For what purpose?
I suspect the scope could be stolen.I see no reason to hide the s/n.
Tektronix maintains a stolen instrument database for their products,call
TEK security to find out about a particular unit,or to report one stolen.


I think it much more likely that the unit pictured is not the actual unit
for sale. If it were stolen it'd be easy enough for the recipient to find
out anyway.

"James Sweet" wrote in
news:MuCFe.7451$uy3.6639@trnddc05:


"Jim Yanik" . wrote in message
.. .
"kip" wrote in
:

Why don't you ask the seller and see what his response is.
Maybe he doesn't want anybody to copy the serial number !

"copy the s/n"? For what purpose?
I suspect the scope could be stolen.I see no reason to hide the s/n.
Tektronix maintains a stolen instrument database for their
products,call TEK security to find out about a particular unit,or to
report one stolen.


I think it much more likely that the unit pictured is not the actual
unit for sale. If it were stolen it'd be easy enough for the recipient
to find out anyway.




The seller could easily state in the product's description that the
pictured S/N is not the exact one that is for auction.
Buying a TEK scope,I would want to know the S/N of the unit I am
considering,as some TEK instruments have S/N breaks where it really
matters.It also gives me an idea of the age of the instrument.
(date codes from internal parts are more precise,though.)

And how would a potential buyer find out if any Ebay item is stolen?
Where does one go to check this?
AFAIK,there's not national DB of stolen goods that civilians can access.

I know some police cruise Ebay looking for stolen goods,but that's a mainly
local and not widespread practice.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

The seller could easily state in the product's description that the
pictured S/N is not the exact one that is for auction.
Buying a TEK scope,I would want to know the S/N of the unit I am
considering,as some TEK instruments have S/N breaks where it really
matters.It also gives me an idea of the age of the instrument.
(date codes from internal parts are more precise,though.)



I won't argue against that, nor would I bid on that scope.


And how would a potential buyer find out if any Ebay item is stolen?
Where does one go to check this?
AFAIK,there's not national DB of stolen goods that civilians can access.

Just as easily as anyone seeing the serial number in the auction could find
out. Funny thing is, if he'd simply made the picture more blurry or used
Photoshop to obscure the serial number it would have been far harder to spot
but that tape is blatantly obvious.

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 14:50:02 +0200 (CEST), Nomen Nescio
wrote:

I've been looking at an oscilloscope on eBay. Seems real nice. It isn't
the deal of the century, but seems better than most. But the seller has
taped over or blocked out the serial number on all the pics posted. Other
than the thing being stolen, what other possible and logical reason(s)
could there be to block out the serial number?



By looking at his feedback he goes through alot of scopes. Maybe he
took one set of photos and by blocking out the serial number he can
reuse the photos for more auctions.

Only way to find out is to ask him. But he does have a perfect
feedback rating with over 500 transactions with no retractions. My
guess is he is legit.

In article ,
Nomen Nescio wrote:
I've been looking at an oscilloscope on eBay. Seems real nice. It
isn't the deal of the century, but seems better than most. But the
seller has taped over or blocked out the serial number on all the pics
posted. Other than the thing being stolen, what other possible and
logical reason(s) could there be to block out the serial number?

He sells lots of them and doesn't want to take a pic for each one?

--
*If you think nobody cares about you, try missing a couple of payments *

Dave Plowman London SW
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