You're all OBSESSED!!!

[icarus]

. . . and I mean that in a good way.


I can't beleive the detail an scrutiny and the lengths that you folks go through to authenticate MRE's out there.
see this post:viewtopic.php?t=1255

While I've had my suspicions regarding many of the MRE's offered on Ebay, never would I be able to pick through the detail that some folks here have done with regard to the 2007 MRE's currently being sold.

. . . and I appreciate it. I had seen the latest mre's posted recently and had been looking to purchase them, but now I'm not sure. I guess I want to make sure that they are legitimate as far as production date of food, etc. But, it seems that you really can't be too sure.

This brings up my first question, how do I get an honest mre, and for a decent price? I was in a military surplus store and they were looking for $10.00/ per meal!!! (u.s.d), and $100.00 for a case of 12


Also, I belong to another forum where food and survival issues are talked about, and MRE depot is touted as a good place to do business. It seems that folks here have other thougts about that place.
. . . why is that?
I personally don't find the product list too great, and have always gone somewhere else instead for products (this even with the discount code that was given last year to folks on the other forum that I mentioned).

[bishopmarine]

in my opinion icarus your best bet is ebay. if you dont have to have the new 07 menu. you can get some good REAL military mres on ebay produced in 06 for about 70-80 including shipping. you can protect yourself by paying with paypal and asking for actual pictures of item you will recieve. i have been ripped off on ebay one time and it was for six cases of supposedly military mre's. when i got them it was actually mre's from mredepot they were six cases i only got four different varietys of meals. every meal had a civilian nutrigrain bar in it. they all had the same mixed fruit pack in them. they had no crackers or wheat bread. no peanut butter no cheese spread. so yeah i was pretty pissed. the little jerk off that lied to me cancelled his account afterwards. paypal said if i sent them back to him i would get my money back minus shipping so i just kept them. so you do have to be careful. i have almost six full cases of real mres now so i wont be buying any soon. but good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[icarus]

I guess my main issue is that ebay seems to be the place that could most likely be where most of the shady dealings take place. I always find discomfort in sellers that do not put the straight forward facts with their listings. Including the most basic of things like test dates, etc. forcing you to e-mail them questions on specifics. I don't like that kind of business. Plus, I don't understand why half of them don't take the time to take photos of the actual product and post "stock photos".

I'd rather find a reputable company that has a good history and positive feedback.

[bishopmarine]

yeah i fell you. i guess its sort of a double standard. i mean it is illegal to sale them. if the seller stole them then technically we would be recieving stolen goods. i know its not really enforced thank god. but we are dealing in shady business. i know its ridiculus all we want to do is eat some good ole military rations. or prepare our family for the worst. but i think that is why some sellers are discreet its due to nature of there business. i know if i had a bunch of possibly stolen mres to sale i would not take photos of them. there was a good seller named ina that i used to buy from. his had all the numbers except for dates cut off. even where it was produced. made me wonder where he got them. then of course there are some who are just douche bags.

[Treesuit]

Icarus,

Hey, don't get us wrong Ebay is by far the best bet for getting MRE's at a good price but if you come here often you can be a lot more educated on buying. Since becoming a member myself I know more and are a bit more shrwed on buying from Ebay. If you want to buy a case or two just shop around and ask a lot of questions. If something doesn't seem right: skip it. Plenty of other sellers out there. I think there was a thread here not to long ago pointing out the asshats selling them and the really good buyers as well. Might want to surf on over and check it out.

[kman]

if the seller stole them then technically we would be recieving stolen goods. i know its not really enforced thank god.

I have actually heard from one person who received a visit from Army CID when they were investigating MRE sales on eBay. He had purchased some MREs from a seller who was being investigated. According the Army investigators, the MREs the guy bought were "improperly obtained" and they confiscate all the cases.

So that's just another reason to be careful on eBay.

But outside of worrying about the source of the MREs, you should also use some of the safe-buying practices the guys here have already mentioned. At the top of that list is to make sure you see pictures of the actual cases being sold. If you've browsed MRE auctions for a while, you'll get used to what the stock pictures look like. Sometimes they use stock pictures because they don't have a camera or don't want to take the time, and sometimes they use stock pictures because they're trying to rip you off. If you don't see real pictures, ask for them. If they don't send them, move along to another auction.

Me personally, whenever I see an auction that's obviously fraudulent - like someone selling MREs dated 2011, I report them to eBay and the auctions are usually yanked. I used to email the sellers directly to warn them of the error, but I've received response that vary from "uninterested" to "hostile" so now I just let eBay deal with them.

[bl00k]

Me personally, whenever I see an auction that's obviously fraudulent - like someone selling MREs dated 2011, I report them to eBay and the auctions are usually yanked. I used to email the sellers directly to warn them of the error, but I've received response that vary from "uninterested" to "hostile" so now I just let eBay deal with them.

Well theoretically it's already possible to see Inspection Date 2011 cases, after all it's 2008. Packdate: 8001 INSP:01/2011

[kman]

Good point, bl00k. I guess I was thinking about the last time I emailed eBay, way back in 2007. :-)

[BigMark]

Also, I belong to another forum where food and survival issues are talked about, and MRE depot is touted as a good place to do business.

Heh, are you fishing? I think there's another thread about that site, I'm not going to bother starting anything else here, my opinion is known.

Ebay is fine, just make sure you get a picture of the little red dot deal, if they won't give you one, don't buy it. Not that it couldn't be fake, but I'll have them take a picture of it with my name on a card or something before I buy it. The smaller people will do that, I don't know about those massive sellers. I've had good luck until the MCW's or whatever they're called now I just bought, the little red dot thing isn't so contrasted on it, but they're dehydrated, so it's not AS big a deal, but I'm still kicking myself for not checking.

[BigMark]

Well, I certainly retract my last statement, please order from him and let us know what you think. I don't have any current bias and would like to think that you'll get what you're looking for. (FWIW Icarus, my problems stemmed from something a long time ago) The good thing about not using ebay is that you'll get what you're looking for without wondering if it's been sitting in someones closet in 90 degree heat or in a climate controlled warehouse. IMO of course, there are some good ebay sellers out there, I made a comment somewhere else, ask for a picture of the little red dot temp indicator if the seller seems on the smaller side.