My list of seller red flags

Interesting discussion
Definitely had horror stories with Ebay. Be wary of buying used subs, as damage by shippers, one amp destroyed by USPS(took forever to get money back, badly packed, and needed insurance copy from seller, did leave negative), another UPS, working, but front upper corners damaged, took a month, but got decent partial amount back.

Old unique sound processor did not work , burning fuses, in agreement, mostly refunded, but have product so only about 12 dollars. Believe left negative. Sometime may spend $30, local electrical audio guy, who has worked on Legacy Whispers that I have seen, maybe can at least fix the amp. 



A top Cardas cable (think canuckaudiomart but US seller), seller had the cleaner in ad and did not send that, so asked. Got mad at me, talking about purity of audio. Good price on cable and cleaner cheap, so let it go.

On here, the Gon (as I call it), seller was not clear in ad about paypal fee, so complained and we split it. Little unhappy, but product was mint as stated which was nice. And still not clear to me reading this discussion about paypal fees.
But this was minor and have not had any issues with purchases here.


Interesting question, got new, but old stock upper level Optoma projector for about $500, retail 7k. Very happy with it. Bluray, of course, not 4K (BTW, was UPS ground and perfect. Marked fragile all over box.)
Clearly (think Ebay, high rating) seller making money off of this.


Or how about Cardas EM5813 earphone, now older model, was $425, now max $250 online sellers, mine $100 from Drop. No trial, that is the risk. Was very happy, but sadly one side just failed. Well under warranty, and Cardas good company, so not worried.

But again, these discounts are amazing from original retail price.

  To get the units that I for upgrade and resale, I use eBay. So then, I am the one who has to pick between lies and price. The ads go out of their way to lie about the component in some cases. Fully tested/inspected means it was plugged in and the light came on. One seller even takes the lid off of the unit to show the craftsmanship inside. Since I work on these exact units, I can clearly see that absolutely nothing has been done.
>>>>>>Then there is the price. I get that the unit Might be in great shape for it's age. It may even come with the original manual and box, but that just doesn't make it good as new. The capacitors inside the unit in these cases are 30 years old to begin with, and I routinely see corrosion inside the RCA jacks from the back view.
 Fortunately for me, I am able restore these units regardless of electrical condition, but if I were buy/plug/play, it would easily be considered a ripoff.

I stopped buy gear from private sellers on the net many years ago. Why, well the list above has a bit do with it.  Back in the early part of this century "Buying On Line"  was smooth with only a few bumps.  Once the scam artists learned to use computers, private sales became much harder.  Of the four pieces I have purchased lately only one was used and I drove 140 miles to see was I was getting.  The remainder were New or Demo from Commercial sellers on this site.  George said it "All Things Must Pass"

I figure that the scammers got in on the ground floor actually. It just took awhile for them to "Perfect" their, "Games" I guess. But you can weed them out for the most part. 
 "4Krowme"? I agree with everything you have said. But also realize- There are a few of use who got into moving used gear, "But ONLY of a certain quality", not to make a profit. I started out actually just helping friends find nice gear at a good price. The fact that I could fix it? That changed the ballgame a bit because I actually got "Heavy" into it trying to "Find, fix and then sell at simply the cost of what I had in the gear itself".  This so friends , then acquaintances, and finally everyone whom fancied themselves "Budding Audiophiles"- So they could not only find the gear I was talking about. But try it, enjoy it and learn from it.  And also to further, "As a whole", this hobby I love and enjoy so much. And I am not the only one. But typically? "We", don't advertise ourselves. Take for instance the fact that I will not here, tell you my username nor even the sites I list/deal with the most. The gear that I sell. after I have found it. I typically have had at least a few months at least before I list it. And either I have gone through it myself OR If I don't have the time. I am paying one of the few shops around that I trust, "To a point"!
And have cultivated a relationship with. And many of these fellows at the shops I have gotten to know over many years. "Like most of us end up doing". And really only deal with the few of those whom seem to care as much as I do about this gear. 
 Now, Why do I still do this? Many friends over the years "seemed", to be "Budding Audiophiles", yet always ended up with say, "The Pioneer flagship stereo system" (At BEST)! As their end-game when it came to audio. But "I",  could show them and then "Get them", a system just nice enough. To be just (Sensitive) enough. To really begin to hear the differences. But ONLY with older, 'Vintage", type gear. much of the same gear I found the, "Magic" in back in the 60's, 70's and 80's myself. And  now for about half the cost of that, "Pioneer", "stuff"? They can get a system that was a companies "Flagship", of amp/amps and pre. With modern source gear and speakers of at least a decent quality. "The speakers have also been gone through as needed", if used. {Yes, I do that as well,.....Exhausting}!! 

 And "POOF"! They get to experience the magic they thought had disappeared from life back "Usually",  in the 80's.  And, "I", get another friend to share my hobby with.
 But yeah, the cost of say one of these amplifiers after I acquire it and then fix and sometimes upgrade a few things? Typically a bit more then what it sold for new. But adjusted for inflation? One hell of a deal! And to purchase "anything", new? Anything that would even begin to approach the sound quality of this gear? It would cost WAY more than any of them would shell out without first,- "Climbing that ladder" that "IS", this hobby! 
Eventually, some do, some stop there. Most fall in the middle actually, but ALL are happy!

 And you have to admit.....Having a nice sounding rig does indeed, (Improve the overall quality of your life).

And if you cannot realize that? I am not to sure, just quite "Why", you are here!
 Yeah, there ARE scams,. They "abound", in fact. If it sounds too good to be true..........
 But there are also those like myself....
 And, "NO", I still will not answer a question asking me to sell "That amp Nelson Pass built by hand", to you- For just $250 bucks! And that "After" asking for, "Provenance". Of which I then provided!!!
 Talk about, "Exhausting"....
And yes, That has happened- MORE than once...
 There are always two sides!

And I'll end with this. 

When it comes to the "really", nice "Vintage", gear? 

It is actually NOT,  "A Buyers Market". And for good reason.
 Think on that a bit...
And also think about the fact that ALL of the gear "Used" I have purchased? All of it was purchased from "Online sites" here or, "Overseas"-(Auctions)!
  And that is an entirely different ballgame!