What to do when the preamp you were ripped off on shows up online ?

bigjoe,

"...the seller asked if I still wanted to buy the preamp from him ,I said I would but cannot..."

I hope you did not mean that. The "would" part, not the "cannot" part.

If you used PayPal and haven't received the item contact them and let them know. They hold the funds until everything looks good on both ends.best of luck and thanks for the heads up. 

Big Joe, would you adopt me? Your son is a lucky guy. Have you considered giving your son your C-2200 and replace it at your leisure? Just a thought. I had a similar experience a while back. I unloaded both barrels by opening a Paypal dispute and a credit card dispute simultaneously (I have a credit card as my payment method with Paypal). Had the credit card charge reversed before Paypal could put its pants on. Only way I do business online. If someone doesn't take Paypal, I don't buy. Rarely a problem. I'm glad things are going in the right direction. Have a very Merry Christmas.  

Why not just give him yours? You can get another for yourself or even an upgrade. That is if you can do without for a while?

johnmarzy:

eBay's "sides with the buyer 100% of the time" cuts both ways, and personally, I find it a crock.  Let me relate to you MY personal experience:

Several months ago I sold a vintage Akai R2R deck on eBay.  As I always do post-ship, I contacted the buyer a couple days after receipt to determine their satisfaction with a follow-up courtesy note.  No response.  Another follow-up note.  No response.  17 days elapsed before I was notified that the buyer wanted a refund.  Said the unit wouldn't record (it certainly did when I had it) and said they didn't like the sound.  I complained to eBay that this sounded like someone who bought a tape deck expecting it to sound like a CD, didn't know what they were buying, and was suffering from buyer's remorse.  Ebay at first said "sorry, have them ship it back - on YOUR dime - and refund them their money."  Shipping was about $55 if memory serves.  Then I contacted the buyer two more times asking for assistance with the shipping process:  box dimensions and weight.  Still no contact.  I contacted eBay again and implored them to look at all the facts:  I'm a 14-year member with over 400 transactions, 100% feedback, and they were a new member with less than 10 transactions.  They ignored ALL communication.  I made it clear that if this WASN'T a scam of sorts then the buyer would certainly want to participate in and help facilitate the return.  Further, I made it clear to eBay that they should certainly have that expectation - that a buyer seeking a refund should be an active participant in the process.  Eventually, eBay agreed with me after pleading my case (which is literally what I did on the phone).  They reversed their decision to my favor, but told me the buyer could still appeal their reversal.  I never heard another word about it, so I'm convinced there was something nefarious up with the buyer.

I don't agree with their "buyer is always right" policy because, IMO, it promotes the abuse of honest sellers by unscrupulous buyers.  It's ridiculous to me that their default position is "buyer gets their money back regardless of the facts".