Profiteering US eBay re-seller Flobaca strikes again !

[Seiko7A38]

So it was just a matter of time before he listed his next well-worn example of the 7A38-7069. I knew this one was coming. Yesterday evening he listed this as a 7-day auction with an opening bid price of $250:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226327633196

Flobaca's most recent 7A38-7069 remains unsold at the time of writing - now halfway through its third 7-day re-listing.

His latest 7A38 eBay listing is something of a departure from his usual stock in trade (lately almost always 7A38-7069's).
Late last night he listed this fairly well-worn 7A38-7070, fitted with a non-original replacement Seiko bracelet (which evidently he fitted), as a 7-day auction, with a typically over-optimistic opening bid price of $375.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226372223726

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The slightly unusual case-back serial number, ending in 999, and that it was fitted with a non-original replacement bracelet struck a chord. So it didn't take me too long to find where I'd seen it before, at the beginning of February:

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It was listed by another US eBay seller as an auction, with an opening bid price of $349.99, eBay item # 355434181361. Unfortunately I don't recall what it might have sold for and its long since been deleted from eBay history. Here's just a couple of the previous seller's 10 photos, one of which shows it fitted with a different incorrect replacement bracelet.

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[Seiko7A38]

Looks like flobaca may be trying to get back into the lucrative 7A38-702X 'Royal Oak' market, which used to be his favourite stock in trade, before he was squeezed out by the competition. I spotted this non-working 7A38-7029 'head only', which sold on eBay in the States, a couple of days ago.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/375689143433

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It was originally a 3-day auction, with an opening bid price of $1, and the option to make an offer. It sold within half an hour of being listed for an undisclosed best offer. The encrypted buyer ID, beginning z***3 with private feedback, could only be zenodass44 (flobaca's alter ego, that he uses for purchasing).

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The seller uploaded a total of 19 photos, including 4 of the movement, which looked reasonably clean. I suspect it may be a while before it re-appears on eBay, so for future reference, here's the clearest shot of the case-back, showing the serial # 3N5810.

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[Seiko7A38]

His latest 7A38 eBay listing is something of a departure from his usual stock in trade (lately almost always 7A38-7069's).
Late last night he listed this fairly well-worn 7A38-7070, fitted with a non-original replacement Seiko bracelet (which evidently he fitted), as a 7-day auction, with a typically over-optimistic opening bid price of $375.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226372223726

Before I go any further, I need to post a belated update. Flobaca's 7A38-7070, fitted with a non-original Seiko bracelet, sold in the early hours of October 12th for the opening bid price of $375. This was his first re-listing of this watch. (He had replaced the lacklustre photos in the original listing with some better lit images.)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226385132842

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Flobaca's most recent 7A38-7069 remains unsold at the time of writing - now halfway through its third 7-day re-listing.

That 7A38-7069 (from early September) still remains unsold at the time of writing, now on it's eighth 7-day re-listing.

[Seiko7A38]

Apart from being one of the longest-standing US-based profiteering eBay re-sellers, flobaca is also an opportunist. He habitually buys the cheapest watches he can find, often paying less than $100, so that his marked-up prices don't look too outlandish. He listed two more 7A38's yesterday evening. I'd previously inadvertently commented on one of them, without realizing he was the buyer, in another thread elsewhere on the forum, because of it's 777xxx serial number.
The first was a two-tone 7A38-7270, which he listed as a 7-day auction with an opening bid price of $170. As can be seen in his photos below, he hasn't bothered replacing the scratched and chipped crystal.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226431010030

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As I wrote in the other thread, the watch previously caught my eye because of it's case-back serial number 777897.
It was listed very briefly, a week ago today, with a Buy-it-Now price of $39.99.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/167050819597

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WatchCount's look-up tool shows the listing was live for less than 15 minutes:

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When I first looked at the eBay Purchase History, I didn't recognise the encrypted user ID. I should have known.

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Note the 'Sold as a special offer'.

[Seiko7A38]

The second 7A38 listed yesterday evening by flobaca was a common-or-garden gold-tone 7A38-7289, in average worn condition, with typical plating loss on the bracelet, again as a 7-day auction with an opening bid price of $170. Note once again, in the photos below, that he hasn't bothered replacing the crystal, which is chipped around the edges in a few places. Nor has he bothered cleaning all the black crud out of the bracelet properly.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/356221018705

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Although I'd seen four other gold-tone 7A38-7289's listed on eBay during the month of October, for some reason, I hadn't spotted this particular example before, which meant I had to do a little digging in eBay history. Transpires the reason it hadn't come up in any of my eBay saved search notifications previously was because the seller hadn't included the model number in the title or description. Instead they'd included the serial number 965622 in their title !

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/146108119643

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The eBay Bidding History shows that it was a 7-day auction listing, with an opening bid price of $30. Flobaca sniped it in the closing seconds, to win for a mere $51, using his alter ego eBay ID zenodass44.

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[Seiko7A38]

Evidently I'm not keeping a close enough watch on Flobaca's spurious activities. He appears to have pulled a couple of fast ones with those two recent listings, for a two-tone 7A38-7270 and gold-tone 7A38-7289. What were supposed to be 7-day auctions (without any option to make offer) were both ended as a Buy-it-Now's on 9th November with no selling prices shown. Oddly there are no revisions shown on either listing, so I suspect they may have been 'back door' sales.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226431010030
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/356221018705

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[Seiko7A38]

From my observations of his past eBay activities, generally speaking, profiteering US re-seller Flobaca seems unwilling to spend more than $250 on a 7A38. That fact, given the current healthy buoyant prices is what is limiting his market share. So this example makes for amusing reading, particulary when you look back at the pricing history.

Overnight he listed an average worn condition 7A38-702A as a 7-day auction, with an unrealistic opening bid of $375.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/356361906607

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As an aside, there is another 7A38-702A listed on eBay in the States, as a 7-day auction (with one day left to go), which is in a similar cosmetic condition and has a case-back serial number (424830) ten away from the one under discussion.

This 7A38-702A which Flobaca is hoping to re-sell for profit has been kicking around on eBay in the States since the end of August. The previous seller horohombre first listed it as Buy-it-Now for $400 on 27th August as item # 126645359979. He eventually conceded; ending that listing on Sunday 17th November, because of an error in the listing (obviously in the pricing). The same day, he re-listed it as a 7-day auction with an opening bid price of $250 as item # 146201255603. Rather surprisingly, no bids were forthcoming. So on 24th November, he re-listed it again, as another 7-day auction, with an opening bid of $200. Which is where it finally sold on 1st December for $255 after 3 bids.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126794240845

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The eBay Bidding History shows Flobaca used his alter ego eBay ID zenodass44 (with private feedback) to snipe it in the closing seconds. But this time, he bid slightly over his usual self-imposed $250 limit.

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And of course, the case-back serial number 424820 matches.

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[Seiko7A38]

Despite his much-re-listed 7A38-7069 and previous 7A38-702A still remaining unsold (@ $250 and $375 respectively) profiteering US eBay re-seller Flobaca is chancing his luck by increasing prices. His latest 7-day auction listing for a well-worn two-tone 7A38-7020 has a laughably over-optimistic opening bid price of $590 !!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226519015450

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Unfortunately, for once, I've so far failed in my efforts to uncover where he bought it. If it was eBay in the States, as usual, it must have been badly described for me to have missed it. Its general condition, with the bezel's gold plating worn away to almost nothing and the fact he had to replace the crystal points to it having been a cheap pick-up.

[Seiko7A38]

That 7A38-7069 (from early September) still remains unsold at the time of writing, now on it's eighth 7-day re-listing.

I must admit I'd lost count of the number of times Flobaca had re-listed that 7A38-7069. It must have been at least 15 or maybe 16 times by the end of December. But it looks like he may eventually have sold it via the 'back door', because yesterday he ended the most recent re-listing as allegedly no longer available ....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/356421979665

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He confused me momentarily, because he re-listed it soon afterwards, but then used that as a clone, to create a new listing for yet another 7A38-7069. As usual this one's a 7-day listing with an opening bid price of $250.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226528341371

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I'm a little annoyed with myself that I haven't so far been able to track down where Flobaca bought this one. However there's something more important that needs drawing to the attention of prospective mug punter buyers. This watch is fitted with a non-original two-tone 'president' style bracelet, but is fitted using the correct original Z1162 stamped end pieces, whose cut-outs are about 1mm too wide for this bracelet. So there'll undoubtedly be some sideways slop. Note also the gold-tone clasp is the shorter 5-hole SQ clasp, rather than the longer 7-hole version. His typically deceptive description merely states: Band - stainless steel signed SEIKO, fits approximately 7,5 inch wrist

[Seiko7A38]

Profiteering US eBay re-seller Flobaca is getting off to an early start in the New Year. Yesterday evening, he listed a poor example of a gold-tone 7A38-7190 as a 7-day auction, with an opening bid price of $170:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/356438886999

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Even before I clocked the stamping, there was something about the bracelet, which didn't look right to my eye. But when I found where he'd bought it - in a job lot pair for spares or repair listing on 1st January, it all fell into place. Although the ended listing no longer shows any price, it was a Buy-it-Now for $39.99.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256769403152

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As you can see from the photos, the 7A38-7190 did originally come fitted with the correct Seiko p/n B1405G bracelet, but it was broken at one end. Flobaca simply substituted the similar appearing bracelet off the gold-tone SQ. Typically his deceptive description reads: Band - original stainless steel fits appropriately 7,5 inch wrist .has extension. Original Seiko maybe, but not original to this watch. Needless to say the case-back serial number 610609 matches.