California Clean Air Vehicle Yellow Carpool Stickers for sale of eBay

Did you read the seller's legal disclaimer?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prius_fr @ Feb 21 2007, 02:27 PM) [snapback]394193[/snapback]</div>

Quick scam artist.

He hopes to make a quick buck off someone who will either not read it or ignore it and hope that the transaction does not come back to bite him.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Feb 21 2007, 06:31 PM) [snapback]394198[/snapback]</div>

Yeah, the seller also has 0 prior ebay sales. Anyone who buys this will never see it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prius_fr @ Feb 21 2007, 05:21 PM) [snapback]394186[/snapback]</div>

Wow, that's pretty gutsy. The seller even shows the number of the stickers in one of the pictures. Based on the number, it looks like he's had them for awhile. I gotta believe one email to DMV referencing his sticker number will put him out of business

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prius_fr @ Feb 21 2007, 05:27 PM) [snapback]394193[/snapback]</div>

I guess his finishing point should be, "so don't buy them." That's the gist I get from his little disclaimer.

 

Chances are eBay will cancel the auction before it's over and he won't see a cent.

 

The guy can sell 'em if he wants. It is just illegal for the buyer to use them. However, what would the penalty be if you got caught? Using a hadicapped placard that dosent belong to you will cost you about a grand (1000) if you get caught. Dont ask how I know..... I cant imagine that the penalty for being caught using these stickers would be more than 4 or 5 hundred. I personally would pay $200 to $300 a month for the right to ride in the HOV lanes if I didnt already have that right. If you can avoid speeding in the carpool lane, I would think the odds of being discovered as a fraud would be very, very,.....very slim, and thus worth the risk. Of course you would have to get past the ethical implications, but.....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fathale @ Feb 22 2007, 03:33 PM) [snapback]394884[/snapback]</div>

Misuse of a state seal (which this decal has) can be punishable as a felony. I don't think you'd want to take the risk.

 

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/16765764.htm

CARPOOL STICKERS STALLED ON EBAY
NO BUYER STEPS UP WITH $10,000
By Leslie Griffy
Mercury News

Who would spend $10,000 on a carpool sticker that's illegal to use?

Nobody, apparently.

Less than a month after the Department of Motor Vehicles ran out of the yellow key-shaped stickers that allow hybrid cars into the carpool lane, one entrepreneur tried to sell a set of spare stickers on eBay.

The six-day online auction started at $10,000 and the seller, who didn't respond to e-mails Thursday seeking comment, didn't receive a single bid.

Probably because the posting included this caveat:

``If you buy them, you can't use them.''

State law prevents the stickers from being transferred, because DMV registers them to the car, not the driver.

According to the posting, the seller decided to sell the sticker set -- they come in packs of four -- because she received two sets and has one hybrid car.

But the green-friendly aren't the only people looking to make some cash off the popular stickers. Also on eBay are look-alike stickers marketed to fans of gas-gulping muscle cars, noting that such cars might not get special privileges but adding that their owners prefer power over perks.

``Access denied,'' they read, ``California hasn't neutered me.''

Contact Leslie Griffy at [email protected] or (408) 920-5945.

 

I'm the guy who listed the stickers on eBay. I'd be happy to answer any questions to clarify anything. But for the record, I am not a "quick scam artist", and I would have sent the stickers to the highest bidder. This was all real. In case you are wondering, I received a FedEx from the DMV dated 4 days after the auction started. It provided a return envelope, and requested that I send the extra stickers back -- which I did so immediately. I called the DMV, and asked how they found out they had errantly sent me a dup, and she replied, "We entered in your VIN and our records showed you had been issued two sets of stickers." I then said, "it was the eBay auction, wasn't it?" And she quickly answered, "Yes."
It was all a very fun experience, and a fun event. Lot's of internet discussion about the whole thing. Good learning experience.
Anyways, since this is my first post to your forum, just thought'd I say something about my car. It is a 2006 Prius, and it is Automotive Perfection.
Well, any other questions for me, just post.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(skiesofblue1 @ Mar 2 2007, 08:11 PM) [snapback]399397[/snapback]</div>

I got the point, first I started reading about it. If people can sell a grilled cheese sandwitch for a bunch of money, why not five it a try. Your only mistake was not scibbling an image of Mary on the sticker, and making it a one day auction.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NoMoShocks @ Mar 3 2007, 12:34 AM) [snapback]399410[/snapback]</div>

Yeah My second mistake was not blurring out my sticker number from the photo!.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(skiesofblue1 @ Mar 2 2007, 09:46 PM) [snapback]399413[/snapback]</div>

Asking for $10k for the spare set of stickers that "can't be used" was clearly a solicitation of criminal buyers. Clearly, you were hoping some less than ethical buyer would pay you 10 grand to use the stickers illegally. Why on earth else would someone pay that much for a set of stickers that "can't be used". If you had succeeded in selling the stickers, there's a decent chance you could've been criminally prosecuted, at least to make an example of you. You're lucky the DMV stopped you before you could pull off your criminal transaction, which probably would've occurred off ebay after the listing failed. Had you succeeded in selling off the stickers, I'm sure you would've learned a LOT more about the criminal justice system and the penal code.

I have to ask, what on earth were you thinking?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rockefella @ Mar 3 2007, 11:48 AM) [snapback]399502[/snapback]</div>

Your post is very intelligent, articulate, and thoughful. Here is what I was thinking, and my thought process:

1) In any sales transaction, there are three elements: Sale, Purchase and Subsequent Use. They are all independent. One simple example is an auto dealer can legally sell me a car, and I can legally buy a car if I am at least 18 years old. However, I can't subsequently use the car as a get-away car in a robbery, or drive accross the high-school football field, or run someone over, or use it to tresspass, or race down the street. In my case, the sale is fine, and the purchase is fine. Even using the stickers would probably have been fine, as long as they were not used to drive in the carpool lane solo. Thus, I clearly disclaimed the Use issue in the auction for the prospective buyer. Now, knowing that the Sale element is fine, we come to the question of price.

2) The price of the auction has no bearing on the legality of the transaction. In other words, it is either legal or illegal to sell the stickers, regardless of the price for which they are sold. For example, what if the auction price was $8? Or $1? So, let's say I had started the auction at $1, I doubt all of this fuss would have been made.

3) I love my carpool stickers, they are my favorite feature of the car. I like them better than "smart-key", better than Nav, better than back-up camera, and better than the Bluetooth phone connector. I remember waiting for the stickers from the DMV was a long month. Every day my heart would beat as I would run out to the mail box to see if they had arrived. When I finally placed them on my Prius, I stepped back and smiled. The next day, I eagerly inched my way to the carpool lane and I still remember the odd but wonderful sensation of riding solo in the carpool lane. I reflected on this. I had two sets of stickers, and there were new Prius owners unable to get stickers. So, partially out of my supply-and-demand based capitalist nature, and partially as a curious experiment, I decided to let the free-market decide their fate.

4) You mentioned that the DMV stopped me before I could "pull off" the transaction. Let's clarify that point. I ended the auction early, on my own, before I received notice from the DMV. It was a 7 day auction, I ended it a day early. After I ended the auction, I received the DMV request. Why did I end the auction early? I ended it due to the small degree of uncertainty that I had about the legality of selling the stickers. I was fairly confident, maybe 99% confident, that selling the stickers was ok. The 1% doubt I had prevented me from allowing the auction to go to the last day. (The last day of an auction is when all the true activity and bids come it.) I don't know if they would have sold or not. There were many auction "watchers," so who knows. Sometimes, I am glad that I ended the auction early, because it enabled me to comply with the DMV request and return the stickers. Sometimes, I wonder what would have happened if the auction went all the way. Sometimes, I wonder if there would have been a big bidding war at the end between a couple of rich Prius owners. At this point however, there is no-harm, no-foul. The DMV representative I spoke with was friendly, and we sort of laughed about it. All-in-all, it was a pretty interesting adventure.

The best thing out of all of this, is that now a Prius owner should be able to get those stickers. Since they were sent back to the DMV, hopefully they will issue them. The only question is, how will the DMV decide who to issue them to? Ebay?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(skiesofblue1 @ Mar 3 2007, 02:44 PM) [snapback]399624[/snapback]</div>

Sorry. It is not the same. Not even close.

A car has many legitimate uses besides committing crimes. The HOV stickers you were trying to sell had no legal or legitimate uses. PERIOD.

You were hoping to profit at the expense of someone who intended to break the law, which would have made you an aider and abettor to that crime, or to take advantage of someone who did not read all your fine print disclaimers.

Your outrageous asking price was clear evidence of your immoral intent. Stop justifying what you did. It does not wash.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Mar 3 2007, 06:44 PM) [snapback]399656[/snapback]</div>

rockefella had asked me what I was thinking. I explained my thought process; that is it. I am not trying to "justify" my actions, only to honestly answer his question.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Mar 3 2007, 03:44 PM) [snapback]399656[/snapback]</div>

Not true. <_<

In the future, a mint condition set of those stickers will definitely be worth more than the eight bucks we paid for them. $10,000? Probably not.

But, I could imagine a scenario where someone may want a set of mint condition stickers for use in artwork, or, maybe, in a presentation plaque a higher-up executive at Toyota may wish to give to the Hybrid design team to commemorate the sale of the one millionth Toyota Hybrid.
Would THEY pay $10,000 for a mint set? Maybe.

For most things, rarity breeds value.
Just think of all the toys and stuff you came across as a kid. Don't you wish you had the foresight to just stash the stuff in the closet and go ride your bike instead?