Has anyone used ebay?

bloody minefield if you ask me,but i did see some emt t/tables go in the uk last week. maybe you were just unlucky first time and all.just be cautious.

The underground economy can be a bit disorganized.

I have bought and sold many items through eBay, including Naim equipment. Had very good fortune to date. The only problems I have had have been with bidders that do not answer emails or honour the commitment when they have won an auction.

It is extremely important that one follows the eBay rules and uses a service such as PayPal that will insure the purchase or an escrow service if the amount is large.

The golden rule is that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is, and you should avoid it. Set a limit that you are willing to go to and do not exceed it (even if it is something you really want). Chances are that another item of the same type will appear.

I was emailed about 6 months ago for a "deal" on supposedly late-model NAP135s still in the "original" box. The "deal" was for ~$1000 US for the pair. When I enquired for photos and serial numbers of the units I was informed that "pictures could not be taken as the units were in the original box" and the seller did not want to open the box. When I informed the seller that the amps would be in separate boxes and that the serial numbers are clearly indicated on the boxes, I received the original reply. The seller also wanted payment via Western Union Money Order to a London address and would not accept escrow. Needless to say there were more than enough red flags that all further communications from the seller were ignored.

When and where possible I try to check serial numbers of items with insurance companies to attempt to find out if the goods are stolen or not.

Does NAIM maintain a register of equipment and owners, particularly of any items that have been reported as stolen? I know the Tag-MacLaren Audio site attempted to maintain a registry like this so that purchasers on the second hand market could have an idea if the item they were contemplating purchasing was stolen or not. Maybe an administrator can respond to this?

Cheers,

Many thanks to all who have responded.
James, I think you may be right as I have just contacted another UK based seller who has an EMT 950 for sale (he has a very good buyers history on ebay - Jim Brasco has none)and he responded promptly advising to NEVER send money by Western Union as there have been a recent spate of scams which appear to originate in London. It's a bit of a worry.

I've also just had another "barely English" email from Mr Brasco advising me "he still has the unit and to contact him asap"

Kind of odd, when ebay says it was sold yesterday.

Geofiz,

Naim do have a stolen equipment register. Whenever anybody phones or e-mails us for serial number information the register is cross-checked.

Obviously an item only finds it's way onto the register if we are informed of its theft.

Richard

I've bought & sold loads of things on ebay (my rating is 196), and only had a couple of minor bad experiences.
I have a credit card that gave an anti-internet-fraud promise, and prefer to pay using that. PayPal is a good service, and gives you some protection. However, PayPal costs the seller (I think it's 10%), so it's not uncommon for people to add a surcharge to cover that.
It's also worth noting that you can bail out of a bad deal if you smell a rat, eg. I've won auctions for computer software and then asked the seller to confirm the item is original licenced software, only to be told it's just a copy. The worst that can happen is that you get some bad feedback, but you can respond by commenting that you thought it was hokey and so withdrew.
It's often a good idea to check the feedback of the seller, and have a look at what they've sold. (Sometimes sellers do a few noddy items just to bump up their feedback ratings.)
In summary, though most sellers are genuine.
Hope that's helpful.

Paul Rowlands

I have only bought a few things on line but I always like to talk to people before committing.

An international call only costs a few bucks and with such a specialised hobby it should be quite easy to weed out the conmen from the fellow hobbyists.

Western Union is the ideal way to make hard to trace transfers and is very expensive too. A TT is much cheaper and probably more traceable.

Gus

quote:

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Originally posted by Richard Dane:

Naim do have a stolen equipment register. Whenever anybody phones or e-mails us for serial number information the register is cross-checked.

Obviously an item only finds it's way onto the register if we are informed of its theft.

Richard

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This is valuable to know, I was unaware that this existed. If you are purchasing anything second hand and the original bill of sale is not available or you have questions, your first port of call should be NAIM. I do this as a matter of course when entertaining a second-hand equipment purchase as parts availability/servicability is a big factor in such a purchase.

Thanks for the info Richard.

Cheers and complete your vacation!

I thought I would share my recent experience.

I have used Ebay regularly over the past six months or so and have succesfully bid on 43 items - all safely received and exactly as described (well, bar one which was quiet as good but I could live with that). I have also bidded on a number of other items and have been fairly outbid - c'est la vie.

Last Friday I had two high bids out of three auction items from one particular seller (high star rating and a trader). The auction was no reserve with a buy it now price too. On Saturday I discovered that the three items had been withdrawn from auction on the grounds that they were no longer available. Imagine my surprise to find one of the three items relisted yesterday (exactly the same item) but this time as a "buy it now" item only.

Although I have not lost any money I do feel cheated. Can you imagine the scenario where I have successfully bid on an item at the close of an auction but refuse to make payment. I would quite rightly deserve bad negative rating and perhaps even banishment from Ebay. Whereas the trader in question appears to be riding rough shod over the rules/etiquette of Ebay.

I tried emailing the trader but the email has been returned undeliverable. I have also emailed Ebay and will be intrigued to see what they have to say.

In the meantime I can only imagine that Mr Hughes decided the bidding was insufficient and cancelled the auction. I won't be bidding/buying from him again.

Cheers

Mike

quote:

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" hello
we will do the deal like this
payment via western union money transfer and i will ship via UPS
this is my address and name
JIM BRASCO
60COOMBRES ROAD DANGENHAM
LONDON
ZIP RM96UJ


JohnMak,

I've just done a check on the above address. Anybody can do that by using:

1)Royal Mail's Search facilities for correctness of Post Code and Address;

2)Streetmap - to see such an address really does exist on the map.

Although there is indeed a number 60 Coombes Road, RM9 6UJ, Dagenham, there is NO Coombres Road, and there is NO Dangenham. Please note in the UK there is a space between the post code. And yes, we use "Post Code" and NOT "ZIP" code. Finally, Dagenham is in ESSEX and NOT in LONDON.

Royal Mail's website: www.royalmail.com

Streetmap's website: www.streetmap.co.uk

One trick for higher priced items is to use a credit card and pay via PayPal.
I'm just in dispute with a seller who didn't package a computer well and it got damaged in transit. However, it's not my problem - I've simply contacted the credit card company (Marbles) who have put the charge to my account on hold and will respolve it if I don't get a refund in 30 days. (This is the 3rd problem I've had in internet purchases over about 5 years, and Marbles have been great each time.)
Incidentally, I bought my 82 via ebay though I did collect personally.

Paul Rowlands

Mike

This has happened to me a couple of times.

Why dont you bid using buy it now. Dont answer his emails. Leave him negative feedback. If he leaves you negative feedback, reply that you have tried emailing the trader a number of times but the emails have been returned undeliverable.

I have suggested to Ebay that they should indicate the number of auctions a seller has cancelled early, but without any joy.

Fatcat

I constantly have bids in for CD's on ebay, and so far have never been let down. I managed a CD last week for 1p, as no-one else bid, and there was no reserve!! I would certainly be a bit worried buying something for "real" money though.
JohnMak - maybe try the small stuff just to get the feel for it.

I buy and sell items regularly on ebay. Probably 200 items in total. Prices in range £1 to £1500 and I can honestly say that the only problems I have had have been as a result of Royal Mail breaking the items (porcelain) in transit.

The great majority of people you will encounter on ebay operate with great honesty and integrity. It is a real pleasure to do business with many of them.

Terry

I've never sold anything on Ebay, but I've bought a fair ammount of CDs/LPs (including a fairly nicely priced original issue of the Jilted John LP, and a fairly OVERPRICED copy of the Enya BBC LP (my fault as I put a stupidly high proxy bid on - got another copy for £1.75 in British Heart Foundation 6 months later!!!).

I've also bought Rega Kytes and a Philips DCC recorder from Ebay - that's £72 and £36 respectively. That's probably the highest I'll go though...

Now on the scrounge for a Sony watchman and a couple of hard-to-find psy-trance CDs... And Altern8's album - if anyone here has it and wants to flog it... You know what to do!

Oh - I even bought from one guy who'd sent unsolicited email after I lost an original 1983 copy of Hunky Dory on RCA CD. I took the risk, and it paid off - my copy is mint and trully ancient. I'd not do it again though - too much of a gamble for me...

Make your choice, adventurous Stranger;
Strike the bell and bide the danger
Or wonder, till it drives you mad,
What would have followed if you had.

Terry

Have you forgotten about the phono boards the Royal Mail flattened?

Fatcat

There always is a temptation as, there is in any auction, of overbidding. I have, like many others been outbid on ebay and I have only regretted it the once.

Sadly for you, you do seem isolated; persumably you dont have a proxy buyer. Fancy swapping for a few weeks so that you can track down a TT.


Paul

The phono boards - yes that was another example of Royal Mail doing a great job. I never did manage to get any compensation for that either. I waited for weeks for Royal Mail to contact me after a couple of phone calls and promises from them. Then I gave up. Phono board, a Cona, and two butter dishes all damaged by Royal Mail. But all the people I have dealt with have been good honest citizens.
Hope your friend fixed up the boards.
Terry

Prowla is right that using a credit card with Paypal gives you some protection. I've pretty much stopped bidding on items that don't accept paypal or credit cards.

I probably win about 10 Ebay auctions per month, mostly on small items like LPs, software, etc., but I have bought bigger-ticket items.

I've yet to have a serious problem, but did uncover a fraudulent telescope listing once; the scam was basically the same as JohnMak's.

Luckily for us, scammers usually seem to do something stupid that tips off a careful bidder. I'm waiting for the day this changes, though.

Eric

Terry

Yes, I did manage to get them fixed in the sense that they work. I replaced 6 electrolytic capacitors and 4 tantalum capacitors but they are not the same make or model used by Naim. The sound was very bright, I then replaced the tantalums with a different make, and this improved the sound greatly. However, I do not know if they sound as good as they should.
A couple of months ago I bought on Ebay a set of MC type K boards for £18.00 with the intention of using the capacitors and connectors on the MM boards. I have not done so yet, as the MC boards are quite new (Rev 4) and I am thinking that one day I may buy a MC cartridge.
I am at the moment bidding for some very old MC boards (Rev 1). If I win these I will probably reuse the components.

Regards

Fatcat

An update - the seller responded to my emails. He was polite and explained that he had received an offer (considerably higher than my bid) and hence sold the item. He went on to say that he had another two and had listed these as "buy-it" now items. He also pointed out (subsequently confirmed by Ebay) that the rules are such that the seller may cancel an auction at any stage. The long and short is that he was operating within the rules of Ebay.

Mike

quote:

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Originally posted by Richard Dane:
Geofiz,

Naim do have a stolen equipment register. Whenever anybody phones or e-mails us for serial number information the register is cross-checked.

Obviously an item only finds it's way onto the register if we are informed of its theft.

Richard

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Richard, does this also apply to equipment sold in the U.S.A. I recently contacted NANA via email about a specific item but got no reply. What e-mail address should we send such requests ?