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Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 12
Location: Cambridgeshire, UK | Some of you will know from an earlier thread I bought a 1598 12 string Adamas thinking I'd got the original OP50 electronics. Well although the ad said OP50, I actually got the OP30. I now just bought a Celebrity CK057 thinking I'd bought the OP20 electrics because again that's what it said in the ad. However I ended up with a much older electrics pre-amp. Not even sure what model. Its' very annoying because I turned down another guitar because I didn't want the older pre-amp.
So the moral of the story is, if you see pre-amp x or other detail advertised on an Ovation in ebay don't assume it's what it says it is. I've been done twice (probably unintentionally by both sellers, who have just been careless by copying the descriptions from Ovation website without seeing actually what is on the guitar they're selling). Check thoroughly with your seller. |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | The most important three words when dealing on Ebay, "Buyer BeWare" |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 1380
Location: Central Oregon | With one notable exception I've had pretty good luck buying (& selling) things on the bay. You have to do your part as a buyer. Be particular about the people you are considering buying from. I ALWAYS send an email to a seller & ask a question. Something pertinent but simple just to see if I get a reply & how soon. If they want to sell me something they will send at least a short reply. If they don't respond I don't bid. Look at the sellers feedback very closely. You can learn *a lot* from feedback. I like to see things like "fast shipping", "good communication", "great packing", "would do bizz with again", etc.
I don't pounce on something that only has a few hours to go. There's always another one, whatever it is. I paid too much for a few little things because of that in the past.
I don't like to see anything less than 97% positive feedback either, although sometimes when I go & look at their negatives some noodle head(s) may have given the seller undeserved bad feedback. That's another thing, I also look at the people's feedback that left the negatives. Many times you will find someone with really terrible feedback has given negatives to many people out of pure meanness. The seller can't control those idiots.
I won't usually bid if the seller doesn't have at least 20 positives unless I get an email back from them promptly & we are both sure we have answered any questions about who is to do what & for how much.
Look at the feedback to see how much experience the seller has actually selling. Some people may have 20, 30 or more transactions & are really good at sending off money via PayPal but are completely clueless when it comes to actually packing something up properly & sending it in a timely fashion.
Sometimes I'm not as particular on nickel-dime items but if I'm buying a guitar or something else of more significant value I'm pretty fussy. Above all before I will bid I want communication that makes me think the seller is a good person to deal with. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | as a seller I can offer the following observations
the less said the better, be precise in what you say personally I don't want to read a dissertation about an instrument.
the cheaper the item the more problems you will have with the buyer. Yes the bottom feeders come up and want a piece of gold for $350 they sometimes get it but when they don't they bitch and moan and scream etc.
I have over 1000 postive feedback and probably had 3000-4000 e bay deals I don't really solicit feedback. What people concentrate on is the 11 negatives I have. Wow less than 1 percent of my customers were unhappy, I bet that is better than wallmart !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I get sometimes 100 e mails a day. If you want a penpal go to match.com, If you want the information then expect that and nothing more. Some people just don't have the time to right long e mails. I know I don't.
I also buy on e bay I have been screwed over several times by people with big feedback profiles and by people with small feedback profiles. Some of my BEST customers were first time buyers, some of my worse were first time buyers.
There is no business model for e bay, it just does not exist, anytyhing is possible at any time. If I could write the business model and teach it at wharton school, then I would be making a ton more money then I am now. And as Michael Wong will always be quick to observe and point out "I am a horrible businessman"
I can rant forever on ebay... |
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Beware of descriptions when buying on ebay
