Warning: DO NOT buy parts/repair items from eBay!
 

Right now, there are scummy low-life eBay sellers intentionally selling broken gear -- and for high prices. They're hiding behind "for parts or repair" and then making it sound as if the unit is good ("powers up", "pulled from working environment", and other BS).

I got cc'd on a conversation, where the seller admitted that it doesn't work. But on his listing, he pretends to know nothing. He wants $1k+ for an irreparably damaged TBC-1000, and it will be (and I quote) "the buyer's problem" when it is discovered to be useless. He wants "his" money back, from his own stupid losing gamble buy of a broken TBC-1000 (the unit being resold). He wants to screw somebody out of $1k!

To be blunt, don't be a damned fool, and pay +/- $1000 for broken TBCs, +/- $500 for broken VCRs, etc. No matter how good it sounds, no matter how much you think the seller is just a dummy (and that you're smarter). It's all BS.

Lately, eBay is not taking down fraudulent auctions, nor taking actions against scam sellers. The seller was reported, eBay didn't care.

This isn't a one-off, it's an epidemic right now, and for much of 2022. Right now, I can point out several dozen listings with huge red flags. (You could cover your house in a flag that large!)

Trying to return faulty "used" items is already a chore, and you may still lose the dispute. But with most parts/repair listings, you're just screwed, you lost the moment you clicked the buy botton. Be prepared to light your money on fire.

I don't want to see members of our community taken advantage of. :mad4:

You have been warned. :warning:

I can attest that this year, 2022 a lot more listings take your money and then never reply or update shipping status.

On several occasions the strategy seems to be wait until its too late to ask eBay to refund your money for lack of replies. Be sure to keep a tight observation on expiration dates.. if you do take a chance. Never hesitate to ask for your money back from eBay.. i've just started doing it automatically.. where before I'd msg and msg.. until it was too late.

Be aware that "many" listings now also simply use the photos and pics of previous "listings" so you should take that a very hot red flag. Look at "Complete" and "Sold" listings to see if they are using the same pictures.

We are headed into what looks like a bad recessionary environment, and more inexperienced listers are probably going to out number the genuine listers.

We are also headed into Winter.. which Seasonally.. is usually the busiest Season since people are forced indoors, and buyers start trying to revive old transfer projects so they can get rid of things. The churn goes up. I'd fear that this year more people than normal will be sorry for a eBay purchase.

ebay also isn't the only one, Canadians to the North have several local swap meets and local pickup hybrids with online presence. I'd be especially cautious.. even if they offer a shipping option.

The story is pretty much the same around the world as most of it is in recession. I've done business parts of Asia, Germany and Great Britain.. we're all headed into a bad period of history.. guard yourself.. be safe.

You reminded me of something else, for our marketplace sellers here at this site.

I've recently had to ban some newbie nobody members. They never even posted here, nobody noticed.

I'd get a ridiculous (and barely literate English) PM stating something like "I see you have __ for $__, but I see the same item on eBay for $__. I will pay you $__ for the item, and I will use Paypal."

I'm honestly not sure if it was a scam, or if the person was just a complete idiot, maybe even a kid. Regardless, bye-bye.

The entire communique was BS. The item in question was not the same, not the same condition (MINE ARE REFURB'D! -- not random condition!), or something that hasn't even been seen on that platform in months to years.

Anybody that gets such PMs needs to PM me, and I'll investigate.

PS
@jwillis: We're already in recession, and have been for all of 2022, worldwide. It's the inflation that is getting us all, especially groceries. And rents, for those that don't own. In Europe, add energy and utilities.

In the last few years eBay did a lot of changes in their platform in favor of buyers, If you do file a complaint and then after few days escalate to a dispute if no agreement has been reached you will likely to get your money back if you send back the item, Now it's on the seller's expense, this use to be the buyer's responsibility.

Either way there are assholes sellers and assholes buyers on any shopping platform not just eBay, so most of the time they cannot really get the full story from either party, so rules are not always fair to everyone. This is the reason Amazon got rid of sales of used stuff, and I can see eBay heading that way pretty soon, They make more money from mega sellers selling brand new Chinese junk worldwide than the average joe selling scrap picked up from the dump.

Remember few years ago a bill was about to pass prohibiting the resale of consumer stuff from the retail lobby, eBay stood against it by mobilizing sellers and buyers to send letters to their senators to prevent it from going to the floor and it worked, I don't doubt a similar bill will be drafted again and I can guarantee you eBay will not fight it this time.

That shift happened about 10 years ago now. The slimeballs have learned to game it in recent past years. There are now even sites that tell you how to screw over both buyers and sellers. Additionally, eBay is having financial issues in recent years, go look at the stock financials. And so it appears eBay is lax, erring on the side of collecting fees, not protecting buyers and sellers. Yes, most other places are still worse, but the realistic opposite of bad isn't necessarily good.

The is really the crux of the matter. Actually, even worse...

A lot of what we see for video gear -- and I mean a huge majority, at least 90%+ now -- is from recyclers. Facilities, estates, etc, dump off e-waste at these places. Each item is power tested, mean it lit up when plugged in. It is therefore deemed "working", and listed at a random price. That random price may be "only half" of what a truly refurb'd unit may be, but the sellers know nothing about the time and costs to refurb. So they're "only half" unit is ridiculously overpriced. The "parts" are often worthless to worth little, the skill and time is the real cost.

It's a knowledge situation. The eBay recycle sellers don't know their ass from their elbow, nor a TBC from a toaster. All they see is $$$$$$ without comprehending their e-waste truly is e-waste. For example, when the heads are shot, that's it, it cannot be fixed. Or when certain board chips are burned out on mainboards, it's done. You may have to buy 3-4 decks to assemble all the needed parts. But when those junk decks are $500, no way in hell is it feasible. Nobody is going to buy a refurb'd JVC VCR for $4995 because the assclowns with parts want insane prices.

From a community stance, I've been disgusted by recycler attitudes of "if I can't get big $$$$$$, I'll just trash it". These have value, and we need/want the parts. But for $, not $$$$$$. Anytime units are trashed, when something was still usable, we all lose.

My warning is not just about Joe Skuzzball, but some scummy recyclers are now acting this way. Some quality recyclers used to at least attempt to function test units, or sell untestable items for pennies on the dollar. Now the quality recyclers are off the platform. Now everything is lazy, rude, and for $$$$$$.

Again, a stern warning for the community. :warning:

It's a matter of time, All this is going downhill for them, You can only pull this off for so long. If eBay shuts down used stuff they will be looking for another job because they aren't going to get that much on craigslist, offerup or similar platforms.

I avoided eBay when I needed a VCR and TBC and got my gear from lordsmurf instead. That was a very good decision. Didn't have to worry about getting ripped off or receiving garbage equipment. For a few other items I needed that were less expensive (i.e. my ES15), I did use eBay. In those cases, my received items were as advertised, but those were all lower-risk purchases, with usually less than $100 at stake.

The advice here is well worth taking. eBay is just not a good place to get something like a VCR or TBC unit. I've browsed some of those junk listings myself, and shuddered.

ebay is high risk. Not everything is bad or a scam, but too many are, and the problem is telling which are and are not.

To me "as-is" implies less than full functionality and/or uncertain calibration/alignment. "For parts" implies it does not work or substantially not working, or missing components. In some cases valuable parts may be missing and you get the shell you may not need, but no ribbon cables or heads, or dead boards swapped out from another unit.

For gear "tested" should include details of the test and reports/sample video from the unit offered for sale. However, issues such as remaining life are about impossible to estimate for consumer/prosumer gear without operation and maintenance logs and run-time indicators. Documentation, drivers, and power supplies should be described too.

The unit serial number should be specified to help ensure no bait and switch.

In any case, if you buy from an auction site know the seller well, or be willing to take the financial, lost time, and inconvenience risk if the product does not meet your expectations. (And a bad VCR may even risk your tape.)

I think at this point it's probably safe to say the that the enthusiasts that know what they are buying have already plundered what was left, re-sold, whatever. It's been quite some time for people educate themselves and for the information to circulate. There are very rare hidden genuine "finds" anymore. I'm all for high risk, but at least know you're going for a high risk.

Don't give up hope. As the the "enthusiasts" age out and their gear go on the market you can expect a continuing trickle of decent stuff, along with a torrent of junk, to become available. We are probably in a lull in availability because the analog analog era folks looking for the gear (largely boomers) have not yet aged out, but that day is drawing nearer.

The issues is separating the pearls from the paste.