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Originally Posted by chillaustin
finding a recommended non-TBC JVC S-VHS deck for $200-300 doesn't seem to be feasible.
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PM me.
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I assume that eBay is not a very trustworthy source for VCRs, unless I'm mistaken.
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You're not mistaken. When it comes to VCRs, it can lead to wasted time, and buyer/seller fights (eBay stepping in, which doesn't always go your way, or at least is a months-long hassle, even with so-called Buyer Protection). It's all over the forum, going back years, and ramping up in more recent years.
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Originally Posted by dpalomaki
Buying used gear through ebay is a gamble! What you receive might be spot on, or it might be junk.
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But remember: odds are not 50/50. I actually quantified this in recent years. About 85% of all VCRs on eBay are unusable junk, and that includes "tested" and "working" items. Of that remaining 15%, most get a C or B- grade on my tracking scale (and tracking is an easy determiner of overall head quality, therefore overall deck quality). With refurb work, many of that 15% can be rehabbed into B+ and sometimes A-. Few are B+, A- or A+ as-is. Not happening, in general, overall.
eBay and video gear is like Las Vegas -- but less food, less lights, less noise, and jackpots are low (a working VCR, yay?
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Note that there are reputable sellers on ebay
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- Europe, yep, at least two.
- North America, nope. The few of us that do this in NA are non-eBay. In fact, you have known video gear scammers on eBay, such as the guy in Houston. More irritating, he knows how to game the eBay system, so his negative feedbacks are always removed.
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as well as people who know not what they are doing, The problem is figuring out which is which. You may be able to do some vettign by asking pointed questiosn and seeign if the answers make sense.
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This problem here is knowing what to ask. Newbies to buying the VCRs are generally slightly more competent at setting the clock, until they have some deck-time experience.
What more often happens is this:
The newbies buys the VCR, and it doesn't get used within that 30-day return window (which is itself not bulletproof, as mentioned). Or if the unit is "tested" (the same sort of low-knowledge non-test the seller did), it's not actually used right away. By the time the user gets around to having everything setup up for capture, problems happen. So we get into adding TBCs, better capture cards -- which is needed. But still, issues. Long-term, the VCR has problems, either difficult or costly to repair, or irreparable. But now we're way past that 30-day window where eBay can attempt to "step in" and sort the transaction. Wasted money, you're screwed.
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Buy used from a reputable source, then sell when your project is done as a way to reduce ultimate costs.
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And reduce headaches. When you're not sure, it's good to have a mentor say "yes, that's working" (or not).