All the world’s a stage, but obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
I hate that! I used to get that when I sold stuff on Craigslist in Sac. Sometimes, that would be the first thing they'd ask. It got to the point where I would tell them NOT to ask in the listing. It's like they are so lazy they want you to do the negotiating (with yourself) for them.
One thing about ebay, your eminence. People that buy ham gear on ebay are some of the pickiest and petty people on the planet. When I dumped the majority of my ham stuff last year when things got rough, it seemed like there was a problem with every other sale. They'd bitch about condition, the cost to ship the item, claim it didn't work, the latter which is the worst. As a seller on ebay, you're always wrong and they WILL deduct the money from your paypal account, even if the buyer is full of shit. I had one guy complain that a 430s I sold him didn't work. This was early before I realized how fucked up ebay had become, so I told him to stuff it. Ebay ruled against and they deducted the money from my paypal account. I did get the radio back from the guy, he was in San Diego interestingly enough, unopened. The guy never took it out of the box. It was a complete buyers remorse situation.
I had the same thing happen with a completely loaded Yaesu FT-767GX. Guy gets the radio and claims it doesn't work. By this time I started taking videos of the equipment working and photos of the shipping boxes because I'd so many problems. He comes at me right away and files the complaint with ebay. I sent him the videos and pics and it turned out he hadn't plugged in the power cord correctly. Dumbass. That was another wifey-wife got pissed at him for spending $1100 on a 25 year old radio and he tried to weasel out of it.
In our case, it was worth the trouble at the time, so I understand why you're using that vendor. You probably won't run into the final problem we had. If your approval rates dip below a certain (unreasonable) level, they make you send the items out and hold the money until the buyer approves. It's framed as "customer service", but in reality is a kiting scam because they will hold your money up to 21 days. You can't appeal the ratings. They won't tell you who bitched or why. A lot of buyers have figured this out and will threaten you for something trivial.
Oh, forgot one last thing. Most buyers think you're a retail store. If they don't get the shipping confirmation within 2 hours of payment, they start whining. It could be Christmas in the middle of a snowstorm, and they expect the item the next day.
Fortunately, you won't have to worry about most of this because you don't have that many items.
The other side of the coin is some of those... dare I say it? ("Dare! Dare!") Rat Bastids out there who will bid up an item just to "win." You really have to wonder sometimes...
Down the road, I'm going to be looking for an external speaker for the Omni VI+. That's the one drawback to the rig... for some reason, the speaker in the 960 PS, well, stinks. At this point in time, I'd rather just get a good external speaker & plan on relegating the PS to "lower shelf" (ie out of sight) duty, or even switch from the 960 to the Astron RS-35.
Now, I don't mind paying a fair price for one (such as the MS-4 you have listed). But some of these sellers... $30 - 40 for shipping a speaker? Really?
“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. 90% of the people don’t care, the other 10% are glad it happened.” — Clint Hurdle, 2019
BAN THE DH!
Fudd's First Law of Opposition: If you push something hard enough, it WILL fall down.
Teslacle's Deviant to Fudd's Law: It goes in, it must go out.
"The 2020 election wasn't stolen, and speaking the truth is only a crime in countries ruled by tyrants" - Liz Cheney
“Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump golfed.” — Bernie Sanders
“Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. 90% of the people don’t care, the other 10% are glad it happened.” — Clint Hurdle, 2019
BAN THE DH!
Fudd's First Law of Opposition: If you push something hard enough, it WILL fall down.
Teslacle's Deviant to Fudd's Law: It goes in, it must go out.
"The 2020 election wasn't stolen, and speaking the truth is only a crime in countries ruled by tyrants" - Liz Cheney
“Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump golfed.” — Bernie Sanders
oh well.......
I ALWAYS get outbid.
Last edited by wa6mhz; 03-28-2013 at 02:59 PM.
For some, time is money.
I could literally spend a month of Sundays driving around to every hamfest in creation looking for a somewhat rare but needed piece of equipment...or I could pay $50 more than the thing is worth through eBay and spend all those Sundays doing billable work.
The difference would be made back in 1/2 an hour, by the way.
Obviously, this is a ludicrous approach to take when contemplating the purchase of something as common as, say, a TS-820S or 440 but rest assured if I want that SX-88 or 75S3-C badly enough, I will get it.
"Everyone wants to be an AM Gangsta until it's time to start doing AM Gangsta shit."
A lot of truth, here. If I want something badly enough, I'll pay the price and get it now. Playing the waiting game for that elusive bargain to show up is silly. It comes along about as often as a winning Powerball Jackpot. And in the event I come across that smoking deal somewhere down the line, I'll have two of whatever it is. This does not apply to 20 year old, blue eyed blond nymphomaniacs with big tits.
A clear conscience is usually a sign of a bad memory
RIP ALBI-W3MIV RIP RUSS-W5RB RIP BOB-VK3ZL
Talk about TEARS!!! I just MISSED a PAIR of real live SX-88s for $100 at the HRO swapmeet a few weeks back. Someone came over and told me there were 2 SX-88s in a van down the way at the swapmeet, and I went looking for them. Didn't see them so I figured the reporting person was just Bullshiting me. (everyone KNOWs I want one of those!)
It turns out he was telling the TRUTH! Some guy had 2 of them in the back of his van (Not visible to those walking around the swapmeet) and Someone Nailed them for $100! No kidding!
All this time I was no more than 20 feet away from them in the booth I was sitting at!
SO CLOSE!!!!!!!!! Missing this is just KILLING ME!!!!