Beware of white vans with men selling speakers

Hey all,
So I was minding my own business on Gisela Str today, when I saw a familiar scam in an unfamiliar place. It is fairly typical in the US, and being a young man, you are a typical target for the famous "men in a white van selling speakers"

Basically, the scam followed the typical pattern:

The guy honks, gets my attention, then pulls over the white van and gets out.
"Hey, do you want to buy some speakers"
"No, not rea..."
"Because I have some here, real high quality ones. We were delivering some, but got some extra from the warehouse by mistake. They aren't stolen."
(shows the delivery receipt)
"So I can give these to you at a price, because they are free to me, and we need to get rid of them"

Ok, just in case that exchange didn't set of your "scam radar"... yes, these are a scam. Apparently this scam follows the same routine all over the world. I think younger guys are more often the target. I was asked 2 or 3 times in the US previously... always the white van and the same story.

So beware.

This will soon be followed by some Italian guy selling his "luxury" Italian made clothes cause he is broke and wants more of the Ofest experience. Oh, and it doesn't matter that the fucker is 6" shorter than you, weighs 50kg less and is driving a 40k car. That part always amazed me.

I was actually involved in one of these scams a few years back. The speakers are great and are still in my livingroom, give a superb sound (Dynalab). It's unfortunate that I can't use them to there full potential.

See a review here of someone else who got a bargain:
http://www.audioreview.com/cat/speakers/fl...37_1594crx.aspx

Of course I was sure it was a scam, but the guys even delivered to my door.

I must be missing something. If there are really new/working speakers being sold at a decent price, who cares where they got'em from.
Of course I'd check each box and verify the contents are what they claim and that they arn't damaged and even test them before i hand over $.
How is this a SCAM? Sounds more like a boot sale (Well back of a Van Sale) to me.

The key word is "if"... you never know what you're getting, if it works, or what the build quality is. Usually, they are sub quality knock-offs being sold as brand name speakers... that story they tell is just a cover to make it sound legit.

Edit: it is a scam because they tell you they are selling a certain brand, when in fact they are not. It is also a scam because the back story is a fabrication.

Hince the Testing and Inspection before the $ changes hands...
All 2-3 posts in the linked site TG posted say they gotem from a van, but they sound fine for the price paid ($200)..

"Hey, guy walking down the street, want to buy some speakers?"
"Why yes, I just happen to be walking here with my frequency emitter and spectrum analyzer"

Ok, fine, if you feel you can do a visual inspection on modern electronics to determine their quality... be my guest. I suspect most people don't feel so qualified, so I posted this warning.

Again though, if they are sold as a brand which they are not, and the back story is a fabrication... it is, by definition, a scam.

Hell, I've even read some reviews where the reviewers claim they bought very good sounding speakers, it still doesn't change the facts I mention above.

They pressure you really hard to get the cash. Testing and inspection won't happen. Sometimes you will get boxes with a couple of bricks in, sometimes really crappy speakers when they show you top-notch ones.

There are more variations on this as eurovol mentioned: guys who've got 'excess stock' of jewellery etc. etc.

@thefirelane
Of course not.. But If you can talk'em down on price, you might beable to get them to Deliver them (As the poster in the linked site did)

@wheel
You are correct. And this is why I ain't buying anything outta a van anyway..

I have gotten approached on the speaker scam. I think it was in the parking lot of Walmart here. The fact that so many speakers are being sold out of the back of vans (white or otherwise) suggests that somewhere along the way something just ain't right. Somebody somewhere got screwed. Whether they be knock offs, stolen or whatever we all lose. That is the scam unless you are into buying stolen authentic merchandise for 20% on the dollar (euro).

They've got to get back to the warehouse, they've got another client to visit blah blah. What flags it for me always is the rush: the story changes but they want the cash now.

I was stung with this scam over 10 years ago in Dublin ... had cash etc etc... eventually I was on to the police and I got almost all my cash back... sometimes the speakers work , sometimes not.