DR-M100S On Ebay - $200 Shipping Fee???
 

Here's the auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/JVC-DR-M100S-DVD...-/200586279100

They reference DigitalFAQ's DVD Recorder page which praises this model's performance. Then, to dispel any doubt that the $200.00 was just a typo when setting the selling price, they reiterate the $200 shipping in the description.

This seems like an odd way to try and get at least $180 or so for this unit (shipping will only really be $20 I'd imagine)! It could throw people off if they don't notice the shipping charge, too.

I'm guessing the person who listed this on eBay will see this thread... why not just make the starting bid something like $150~$180? Anyone looking for the specific model will know it's worth more than the average DVD recorder...

Well, a JVC DR-M100S in top condition is worth $200. :)

However...

eBay classifies that as "fee avoidance" and is against their policies. The shipping price is not calculated into the approximate 8% fee eBay now charges to sell items. The auction would get taken down by eBay, if it were reported.

• Shipping rules: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/....html#shipping
• Listing policies: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/...ng.html#policy
  • See the 'Offering or requiring additional purchases' text, and expand it.
  • 'You can’t offer or require the buyer to: Pay an amount beyond the final price and a reasonable shipping fee' --- and eBay personnel decide what is and is not reasonable. I doubt eBay would find $200 reasonable on such a small item. At best, shipping this would be about $50 via UPS Ground. (Standard S-VHS VCR ground shipping rates, as of March 2011.)
  • Bottom of this page is the 'Report listing violations' link, should you choose to report it.

This practice has been "outlawed" on eBay since the DSS card days, circa 2003.

Not that I'm a fan of eBay. Their unabashed raising of seller fees has gone to ridiculous rates -- which is what gave rise to sites like Craigslist and even seller areas in forums like this one. And that doesn't even include their habitual tendency to make up rules as they go along, such as applying policy unevenly to competing sellers.

Definitely becoming more fond of Craigslist. Just snagged a JVC 9800U vcr for $100. I haven't picked it up yet, but the seller had lots of equipment listed and he had an asterisk next to the VCR (and some other items) and the footnote said "Items marked with * are in mint condition with all original packaging and accessories."

:)

Ask him if local pickup is available. :D

Haven't had any luck with CL finding any of these high end VCRs... the most I get locally is deter's want ad looking for some VCRs.

My local VCR want ads in the Philly area usually are unfruitful. Mostly offers to sell me cheapo RCA models... did get a fixable HM-DH30000U from an eBay Classified ad for $20 shipped. Got it back to 100% working order. I feel bad for the guy... his eCost receipt from way back in 2002 was in the box... $750 :/

Relisted, same shipping cost! :D :p

eBay has changed their rules effective a few weeks from now to the final value fee being a percentage of the item price and shipping combined. It's presumably to fight fee dodging, but screws over sellers who did nothing wrong and will now have to charge higher item prices. I suspect we'll start to see just about everyone have "free shipping" and item prices that factor in the shipping and fees when that happens.

That's bulls**t! You don't make a profit off of shipping, why should eBay?! I'm gonna go start an ad revenue-based auction site right now. Or let's call google and have them start Google Marketplace ;)

Direct from ebay:

"Updates to eBay fees starting this spring will essentially remove the upfront cost to list on eBay for sellers paying Standard Fees—pay only if your item sells. Final Value Fee rates for Fixed Price listings and Auction-style listings for Store subscribers will be reduced and applied to the total amount of the sale—including shipping. Under the new fees most eBay sellers will enjoy reduced overall fees or will see little or no difference from what they pay today."

http://pages.ebay.com/sellerinformat...pdate2011.html

Thanks, NJRoadFan. I was going to look up details myself... but that's certainly not as bad as I thought.

It's a pain to keep getting nickel-and-dimed for stuff that doesn't even sell.

I suppose this will also encourage people to use auctions instead of Buy It Now since the latter will still cost 50 cents regardless.

The up-front fee to list something on eBay is why I quit bothering with their site for high-dollar items that have value, but may not sell for several attempts. By the time you blow $10 each, you may as well just sell the item elsewhere for less. But then that doesn't work with me, as I needed a fair price, I wasn't just going to give it away.

That's part of why we started the Marketplace forum here. And so far, it has worked. :)

What amazes me is when people spend top dollar on something that not only comes "as is" and/or "not tested" (plugging it in and looking for a power light DOES NOT count!) -- but it even looks damaged!

For example, I was tracking this TBC-1000: http://cgi.ebay.com/DATAVIDEO-SINGLE...item25624e9ae4

I'm not paying $100+ for something that looks like it was drop-kicked against the wall. It's very heavily scuffed and scraped up, and that level of mistreatment can wreck the internals. Soldered inputs and boards are not that tough. It would be one thing if it was known to work, tested by somebody that could demonstrate even an ounce of video knowledge. But not on an auction with no returns, missing parts, etc. Ridiculous.

I just don't understand eBay buyers sometimes. :rolleyes:

Speaking of shady eBay auctions, I'm wondering if this guy's DVD/HDD recorder could be fixed by formatting and/or popping in a new HDD?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=190517012093

I only got a DR-M10 recently, and that doesn't have a hard drive. I'd like to get a JVC model with a hard drive, and I'd be willing to put a new drive in the one above if I can get it as cheap as the starting bid.

What I'm wondering is if JVC recorders have some special formatting or image on the hard drive before it's installed at the factory? If that's the case, it probably wouldn't be as straightforward as formatting the drive NTFS (for example) and popping it in there...

No, it's not that easy. The JVC has firmware on-drive that must be replicated from a working unit. We've archived some of that process here in this forum, but it's incomplete and untested. I know it's missing vital parts for the PAL users. Not sure on NTSC.

I saw that auction, too, but decided to pass on the $50 + new drive + time + risk it will fail and be huge waste of $$$
I don't have that much money to burn right now.
But if you want to give it a shot, go for it. Again, the files are here.

There's also a chance it's a simply "LOADING" error, in need of replacement caps. Remember JVC uses generic error messages, and I believe the generic message on the HDD units is not 'LOADING'.

A quick search got me this thread: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/home...jvc-dvm70.html

But there aren't any files really posted there. Is there another thread you were referring to?

Sometimes I wait to see if auctions like this close with no bids, then I message the seller and try to talk them down on the price. It's worked before and I've gotten lucky on "for parts/repair" items... if this auction ends with no bids, I'll try to talk the guy into $40 shipped. I don't mind blowing $40, the worst that will happen is an unfruitful learning experience :)

There's a chance the thread was never finished. About 500MB had to be RAR'd and uploaded to a thread.
I'll look into it when I get some time. My inbox is still full right now, so much to do.