Man buys Mac book on Ebay for $450, gets just a picture of it.

 Man buys Mac Book on eBay for $450, gets just a picture of it

 Surfer duped in eBay scam after selling his last board to help buy £300 laptop but all he was sent was a photograph of the computer

Paul Barrington won bid for MacBook worth £1,500 to start new business

But days later he received 'light as a feather' cardboard box in the post

Devon-based 38-year-old had given up surfing for first time since age 10

'I sold my pride and joy for a piece of paper', he said. 'It makes no sense'

eBay said it will refund him and the fraud was unusual - but not the first

By DAN BLOOM FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 08:09 EST, 4 February 2015 | UPDATED: 10:08 EST, 4 February 2015

 A surfer sold his last board to buy a top-of-the-range laptop on eBay - but was sent a black-and-white photo of one instead.

Paul Barrington, 38, thought he had bagged a bargain when he bought the £1,500 Apple MacBook for £300 to set up a wedding DJ business.

But all that arrived at his seaside home in Ilfracombe, Devon, a few days later was a 'light as a feather' cardboard box with the printout insideebay mac
Mr Barrington was forced to give up surfing - his passion since the age of ten - and his job in childcare after developing the lung condition bullous emphysema, which causes shortness of breath.

He hoped to forge a new business as a DJ at wedding receptions, using the computer to arrange his playlists and run his accounts during regular trips to hospital.

With the money from his last surfboard, he ordered the MacBook from eBay - but all he received was a small square box.

'I sold my pride and joy for a piece of paper,' he said.

'It's the first time I haven't had a surfboard since I was ten years old, but I need a laptop so I checked the listing and the seller's rating.


Pale imitation: The black-and-white photo on an A4 sheet of paper which Mr Barrington bought for £300

'He'd been a member for a few years, so there was nothing to be suspicious about.

'I was excited about winning the auction and just thought, "I've got a laptop so I can start the business".

'The package was as light as a feather. Why bother sending a picture in a box? It doesn't make any sense. I almost had to laugh.

'The worst thing is, I'm trying to set up a business and this is a massive delay.'

eBay insisted similar frauds were rare - but Mr Barrington was not the first victim to receive a piece of paper.

A father who bought a 'bargain' XBox One on eBay was shocked to receive a grainy printed photo of one instead.

Peter Clatworthy, 19, has the same shock after he spent a year saving up to buy a limited edition XBox One for his son McKenzie's fourth Christmas.

The student from Bilborough, Nottinghamshire, was duped in December 2013 by an advert which said 'XBox One Fifa Day One Edition, Photo Brand New UK 2012' - referring only to a sheet of A4 paper.

He paid £450 and the auction site seller even wrote 'thank you for your purchase' on the back.

But Mr Barrington insisted that unlike in other cases, the auction site listing contained no small print that indicated he may only be buying a picture.
An eBay spokesman said: 'I can confirm that this type of incident is very rare and is also covered by eBay Money Back Guarantee.

'We were very sorry to hear about Mr Barrington’s unusual experience. We’ll make sure he gets a refund as soon as possible and investigate the circumstances around this sale.'

A spokesman added: 'eBay takes the issue of fraud very seriously, with more than 149 million active global users engaged in transactions across 50,000 unique categories.

'At any given moment, over 800 million listings are offered for sale on eBay globally – with the overwhelming majority of listings on eBay coming from honest and law-abiding sellers.'