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 Peter Clatworthy insisted that unlike in other cases, the auction site listing contained no small print that indicated he may only be buying a picture.

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

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 inside.

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.'



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.'

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/