Posted on 01/29/2015 6:10:47 AM PST by jimt
I would never buy a new player from an ebayer, unless it is someone I have dealt with in the past. I’d get a Blu-ray player from Amazon or Newegg before I’d go with ebay. The problem is that most ebay sellers are simply individuals rather than professional companies. Half the time, they know little or nothing about the items they are selling.
My experience lately is things are just over priced. I'm doing most of my buys off amazon now
Also...pay attention to the seller’s feedback score and buyer comments.
A lot of the feedback comments are simple boilerplate “Great eBayer”, “Would buy again.”, etc., but when you see a lot of negatives...red flag!
The higher the positives, the greater likelihood you’ll get a good product, or a last some attentive problem resolution by the seller.
Bad feedback has driven me away from purchases from poorly rated sellers. Systems such as this have also convinced me that I need to leave feedback...which I generally don’t leave at most other websites.
By law returns can’t be sold as new. Someone orders a product, changes his mind, and refuses shipment... the item technically is new but by law can only be resold as refurbished. The seller has to check the item to ensure it’s in working order. Same with items opened but returned after a few days or so. For the buyer it’s a great way to save money. Just make sure the seller will replace the item if by rare chance you get a dud. A reputable seller will ensure you get a good product. Check their feedback. I’ve bought all kinds of refurbished equipment from high end camera lenses to exercise equipment with no problem. Just make sure you’re dealing with a reputable seller.
Thank you all for your comments and advice.
Texas Eagle’s post is directly to the point. Deception and lies have been going on since before people had “knowledge of good and evil”. It’s stupid of me to think otherwise.
I have had good success with “remanufactured” products. I bought a top-of-the-line Gateway business computer (from eBay) and it’s been great. Exactly as advertised, never a single problem. “Remanufactured” isn’t the problem. It’s that disgusting “new other”.
Any freepers want to buy a “new other” car for only $15000 ? It’s a Cadillac CTS-V. I won’t tell you it’s been remanufactured by Pancho’s Fly By Night Auto Service after being totaled and completely flooded. After all, it’s new other, right ?
If there is a reasonable warranty or return policy you aren't risking much.
The "language evolution" has been happening since the first word was spoken who knows how many thousands of years ago.
Whether we like it or not, language is DYNAMIC, as dynamic as plants in a garden, because language is all and only about HUMAN NATURE. The changing nature of language bugs me even more than it bugs you because I earn my living as a writer. It irks me no END to see stupid language changes, such as using the term "gender" (a grammatical term) instead of the word "sex" to refer to a person's SEX. I don't like it, but it doesn't care whether I or you like it. The fact that language is constantly shifting is beyond our control.
That language is a living thing that is constantly changing is probably the ONLY thing the Founders forgot when they wrote the Constitution. We are close enough in time to understand perfectly well what the Founders intended, and the words ARE "in stone," so to speak, so don't wrongly conclude that I'm saying the Constitution is a "living document," because it is FIXED, and we know it, we know that the Founders intended it to be fixed.
Language is dynamic, but the IDEAS it expresses are the same. THAT is what is important to remember. As for buying things on Amazon, I do it all the time. As for HOUSES vs HOMES, five letters versus six, and real estate agents have to opt for fewer characters. Also, the word "home" means more than just a house, it means a home. THAT is why they use it, because they want to suggest to the reader that it is not just a house, but a home.
Yep, it took me a bit to understand the importance of this! On both ebay and on Amazon!
Good thread, jimt!
The "home" versus "house" thing pissed me off even then. You have to make a "home" - you can't buy one.
Your "language is dynamic" statement is very true. I guess I should shut up and accept that. And thanks for the compliment !
We bought a small space heater at Walmart last week. When we opened the box, it was obvious the item was used, and not just opened and returned. There was pet hair all over it and it smelled like used cigarettes (nothing against smokers, just describing the smell). Took it back and told them that not only was it used, but it had been used a while, and then returned, and placed back on the shelf as new.
The "gender" deception is more insidious and dangerous, in my opinion. Up until about 25 years ago (I remember seeing it happen, and even hearing my hero Rush switch from "sex" to "gender" which REALLY ticked me off!!!), the word "gender" functioned on its true meaning: a particular quality of a word in grammatical context. Very few English words have gender. The word "ship" is as close as I can come to off the cuff, because ships are "she," though their sex is certainly NOT female. Ships don't have a sex, though they have a gender.
The actual meaning of "gender" is best illustrated in a language like Spanish, where every noun has a GENDER -- either masculine, or feminine. "La bola" is "the ball," and its gender is feminine. If you want to say it is a black ball, you would say "la bola negra," because the gender of "bola" is feminine, so the word "black" (negro/a) must agree with the gender of the noun.
"El bolo," on the other hand, is a ninepin, as in bowling. The word's gender is masculine, so if you wanted to say "the black ninepin," you would say "el bolo negro," so the word black agrees with the gender of the noun.
Neither the balls nor ninepins have a sex. They have a GENDER. Gender is a purely arbitrary thing and of very little significance except grammatically. SEX, on the other hand, meaning the biological determination of an organism, whether a person is a man or a women, or a whether or not a horse is a stallion or a mare, is PROFOUNDLY important and significant. When language attempts to replace the word "sex" with the word "gender," it is on a deeper level trying to reduce something as profound as someone's sex, into something arbitrary and of little importance.
But language being so dynamic, outsmarts such deceits in good time. Look at the word "gay." Once upon a time it meant "happy and carefree." It became fashionable to use that word to describe homosexuals, who are generally miserable and worried because they are abnormal. Within a generation, the word "gay" ceased to mean "happy and carefree" because people are smarter than to buy into it. So in a sense, the very dynamic nature of language is a defense mechanism to preserve true meanings of concepts. The same is true, I expect, of the (mis)use of "gender."
But things like that still tick me off!!! You and me both, Brother FReeper!!!
{^)
Over the years, I have bought quite a few electronic “refurbs” and saved a bundle in the process. Only had one failure - and got a refund on that one.
I was in Fry’s one time and they had a massive end cap of refurbed Iomega zip drives (this just before the onset of USB sticks). I figured there was no way that that many units could be refurbs and that it was more likely excess stock dumped in a way that wouldn’t permanently reduce the price of the items.
I’ve seen that lately with video players and recorders - and some flat screen monitors.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.