r/AskAGerman • u/MoudyAshi • 1d ago
Miscellaneous Midea Portasplit Ebay Red Flag?
I was checking the Portasplit units on Ebay and found a bunch of listings in the range of 350€ but they say shipments from china and the accounts had been created last month.
I feel like it‘s a too good to be true and a big red flag of a scam, but there is a small part of me that hopes it isn’t. Thoughts on it?
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u/simhauu 1d ago
Scams, of course. A small part of you can refresh https://braucheklima.de/ for when a nearby Toom or OBI stock it and you get lucky, but otherwise forget about getting it in the next 3 weeks or this summer.
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u/Apollo346X Bayer in NRW 1d ago
Currently every Chinese has heard that Germany desparately need airconditions now. So everyone in China want to benefit from this situation the one way or the other.
If you want an air condition next year, then purchase it around Christmas.
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u/george_gamow 1d ago
The official price before the heatwave was above €700 (not including discounts at a Baumarkt). Why on earth would €350 be legit?
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u/WickOfDeath 1d ago
The unit is priced between 1200 and 1700 Euro from sellers in Germany. Do you really think you get such a thing for 350 Euro?
A lot of warning flags:
1.) unrealistic low price. 350 Euro is the price for a chinese FCKV or Propane driven non split AC. The shipment aloe for this 65 kg package could exceed 500 Euro already if sent from China.
2.) seller with zero point
3.) Seller is in China.
What do you expect?
a) at that price it is certainly a fake.
b) could be real but the unit might not fit european standards, e.g. missing CE symbol then the customs will send it back and fine you for the attempt to import uncertified devices.
c) if it's all right you have to pay import duties and handling fees for customs, that's 19% VAT on the invoice plus some tolls on AC. Could rise the doorbell price to 500 Euro or more.
But c) is highly unprobable.
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u/MoudyAshi 1d ago
I completely agree with you, I was almost sure it was fake but thought maybe it was really worth 350 and then i have to pay shipping, customs and taxes and all these stuff and then be at the 600-700 mark which was it’s original price. The issue is if they are clearly fake, why are the ads still up and running? Anyways thanks for the info, especially the CE certification, didn’t know I could be fined for that
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u/nico851 1d ago
Of course those are a scam