Posted on 01/19/2005 2:55:35 PM PST by Lokibob
I frequent a couple of pro guitarist sites and have relationships with many of the regulars...in fact, some of them have become good friends and I meet with them regularly.
With that said, purchases of guitars on EBay have been notoriously risky and I know of MANY people that have gotten burned by not receiving what was represented for sale (clear-cut fraud) and a few have payed for items they never received at all.
I have seen (as many others) photographic evidence and the related EBay auction info and have seen some of these rip-off artist victimize several people before EBay even acknowledged complaints...some of these fraudsters were even actual brick & mortar music stores, and most still operate on EBay (sometimes under new accounts).
I wouldn't spend $5 on EBay after seeing so many horror stories, and FYI I spent over $40,000 in Pro Audio gear so I am quite an experienced buyer. ;-)
The sad part is, I have some awesome vintage gear I'd like to auction as well, but it's getting too difficult to sell things on EBay too from what I hear...LOL
The only hope for online music instrument auctions online for most of us pro-musicians is with certain forums, like the one at Seymour Duncan, which usually ends up in a face-to-face transaction to assure no one get ripped-off...
I have head for the past month that Craig's List is being purchased by ebay. Isn't that something!
I just checked out "bidville" and couldn't get ANY of the musical instrument pages to load, the server kept given me an error message...OOPS!
Not ever purchasing equipment like that, I have no basis for an opinion. I have purchased what I consider to be high end computer and electronic equipment ($5K). When I buy anything that's more than $100 I insure the auction, as long as the insurance still leaves the selling price a bargain. Also, some sellers are bonded, which increases my confidence. It's something one is either comfortable with or not, and with your friends' experience, I wouldn't blame you from steering clear I guess. I have enough musician friends to know it's way easy to get ripped off in a person-to-person transaction even.
Thats strange, because I just visited the music section and all that I pushed came up. Hmmmmm what can I say?
Well, I got one page to load (electric guitars), but when I went back I couldn't get any page to load...LOL
"Unfortunately, we are unable to service your request at this moment. Please try again at your convenience."
http://www.bidville.com/errorpage.html
Reminds me of the internet circa 1995 when I was on 33K dial-up. ;-)
Well, I got one page to load (electric guitars), but when I went back I couldn't get any page to load...LOL
"Unfortunately, we are unable to service your request at this moment. Please try again at your convenience."
http://www.bidville.com/errorpage.html
Reminds me of the internet circa 1995 when I was on 33K dial-up. ;-)
ping
I am extremely wary of Ebay. I once bought a $3100 video camera on Ebay. The seller had an excellent reputation, but he failed to ship 8 or 10 cameras to people who had paid for them. Nothing really happened to him even though we all tried to have him prosecuted.
Every authority said he was simply a bad businessman and we were just out of luck.
I still buy and sell small items, but I am too afraid to go for any big items.
Too many stories like that one out there...isn't it typical though?
All the sheeple herd into one place and when a couple of get picked off by wolves the rest don't even look up.
Now it appears the pasture of ignorant bliss itself is looking to get their cut, how typical...LOL
The shipping prices can be outrageous. Sometimes I wonder if the Seller is covering the actual cost of the item if he does not sell it at a premium. I also wonder sometimes if sellers don't have shills; since I can go almost anywhere on the site and bid and there is usually someone new bidding against me. I am not accusing anyone; but I do wonder.
I know someone (not the sharpest knife in the drawer) who purchased a JAGUAR on eBay.
It died.
Nuff said.
Is that a joke, or are you serious? LOL
I SWEAR!
He bought a Jaguar on eBay and was shocked when it died.
It was practically new.
Buyer beware?!
But if your price increase, along with the shipping cost, drives the price of your product beyond what the local retail price is, you won't sell anything.
"I can go almost anywhere on the site and bid and there is usually someone new bidding against me."
Not only that, but there is a service that you can use.
They bid for you, and will post a bid within the last few seconds of the close.
My daughter just used it to buy a digital camera.
The general point I was trying to make is that in an auction format, it isn't as easy to build new costs into your business because people bid to the price something is generally worth. On the other hand, if there are 20 stores in town that all sell bread, and theres a spike in wheat prices, they all raise prices to cover the new expense, because the entire retail outlet for that product has been affected.
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