When Will We Learn?

I’ve had total disaster, plinth, TT, tonearms, dust cover ALL damaged here and there. Seller/shipper was idiotically irresponsible to me as well as himself.

Even if insurance is for you, you pay seller for it, the seller buys the insurance, so the damage is on your end (take photos outside, and layer by layer when unpacking), you have to document the damage at your end, and he has to make the insurance claim on his end. Even if he is not successful with the claim (as my disaster was not covered), you need to get your money back.

Sooo, before sale, I write questions to seller, get assurances, IN WRITING, before, and those messages are in eBay’s system. Much easier to make a successful claim with eBay, PayPal protection, reverb, etc.

I always fund my PayPal account with my credit card with the best protection. I have called the credit card prior to purchases, to verify protection, and they keep records of those calls. Generally they process a problem as Fraud. They threaten PayPay, PayPal threatens to close seller’s account ...

When I riskily bought my long tonearm from Russia, I called square deal. Told them, no maker or parts in USA. They said, if unable to find someone to repair, they will cover the full cost.

Next, I needed VAS to rewire the tonearm because 1 wire’s insulation wore off. Square deal covered VAS bill in full.

IOW, assume it MIGHT be a disaster, then what???

Oh yeah, any costly item, using Friends and Family is simply stupid. Tell seller you will pay the PayPal protection fees in full to get them to send you an invoice for the item, i.e. GOODS.

Slight damage, you can get a partial refund, same documentation methods, then I/you should set the reasonable refund amount, don’t wait for the seller’s offer.

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Oh yeah, buying used, get brand and model # on the invoice, but do NOT include Vintage or Antique in the description. UPS sold the seller insurance, then later they said: "It's an antique, we don't insure antiques".

There's a belief system spreading around the world that you can buy something from some random person on the internet, have them ship it to you anywhere in the world and the product arrives in perfect working order 100% of the time.  A small number of people have made billions of dollars selling you on that idea.

one thing if money cannot compensate the price for equipment that is fairly unique and irreplaceable, you can only rely on yourself picking it up personally.

As a buyer, you cannot make a seller into a better shipper.  

I never agree to pay for shipping.  If they want $2000 plus $100 shipping, I offer $2100 and they ship it.  this eliminates any ambiguity who is responsible for shipping.  Until you recieve it in good condition, the seller is responsible.  When you give advice on shipping or pay extra, you are muddying the waters.  

I always make it clear that shipping is thier responsibility, that I am in no hurry so take whatever time needed to ship it safely.  that is all I say.

When I am the seller, I operate the same way.  I take responsbility for shipping.  I've done a lot of shipping, plus I'm an engineer/physicist so I know what it takes to protect a package.  So I never have shipping damage...well almost.  I did have a component of an amp inside the amp become dislodged during shipping and I worked with the buyer to get that fixed.  

If a seller doesn't agree to ship on their nickel and take responsiblity, then pass.  there are other peices of equipment out there.  If they seem uncertain about their shipping abilities, I pass.

Jerry

These kind of concerns are why I either buy through a dealer or through a company  when used… like Echo, or Upscale. My audio equipment is the second largest investment I have after my house. Buying used makes sense, but worrying about shipping, and perhaps a seller that is less than perfect is just not worth the stress. 
 

Choosing the right audio component has lots of uncertainty and  requires a great deal of effort. Throw on top of that, uncertainty about the seller, shipping, all possible ways you can get taken advantage of… not worth it to me. What are you going to save? 
 

I buy from dealers and companies that take the worry about shipping and condition of a component out of the equation. I can sleep at night. I know I am going to get what I paid for.

Perhaps it was buying my first car (used) in Chicago, from a completely dishonest jerk. I completely got taken. I ended up paying more for the repairs than the initial cost of the vehicle. I don’t like worrying any more. Seeking a “great deal” can have costs.