Auction deals that I've made in Finland - combined buyer and seller - over 10 years combined are more than 1500. In eBay more than 500. I agree with the 1% figure.

VCRs are over 5% failure rate for me but this is expected. I don't think most sellers do it intentionally. Nowdays I distrust very much private sellers which seem to know something about selling VCRs and choose right buzzwords and sell a lot of stuff. I rather choose genuine business seller with verified VAT ID or "real" private seller with occasional deals and better chance of him/her selling something from own use rather than something found in a garage sale / auction lot. Just my experience so far.

Straight out of my hat I can remember about 6 JVC SVHS/DVHS units I've bought from different places (one new), and 5 of them required minor or major service before 100 hours of use. With Panas the failure number is a bit lower at this moment, but more than half have needed some kind of tune up (this excludes one NTSC HDTV JVC which worked like a charm).

I've lost atleast 2-3 VCRs because of bad packaging. I always ask the seller to pack them well and offer to pay for packaging materials. Only really good packaging so far has been from "charly_rackslider". I just don't get how it can be so difficult even after explaining why I want it and are willing to pay a lot for it to be done. :confused:

Funny you should mention charly_rackslider, I was just about to bring his name up here. So far this is the best seller I've purchased from. Apparently he repairs/refurbishes his units himself, I have a HR-S9600 from him in mint condition as advertised, and it's the most reliable deck I own. Unfortunately his selection's always been pretty limited, used to deal more in V2000 stuff IIRC.

thanks guys i appreciate the recommendations , i feel like i am getting a much better picture of how this whole process goes down . Also living in Cape Town , SA , its an absolute must that the seller knows how to pack properly and hence im tending towards a vendor with a reliable record of packaging etc. I will keep an eye on the vendor you mentioned , but at the moment there is not a lot there. Please throw up any names of any reliable vendors , at the moment the only vendor i can see who has stock and looks reasonably professional is http://www.vcr-shop.nl/. But nobody has given a recommendation on them yet so going to try get more info by email etc.

thanks

Here's one that might be ok. I haven't bought from him because he doesn't answer queries about the products but selection is usually good.

http://www.ebay.de/sch/m.html?_ssn=thomasg9540&rt=nc

thanks will browse , i am coming across quite a few philips vcr's with tbc , with some claims of being jvc clones . I dont see phillips mentioned al ot on this site. Is there some value in finding a phillips vcr with a tbc , is the quality any good and are some of them indeed jvc clones , is there a list of such models.

thanks

I almost bought from vcr-shop.nl actually, but found a better deal elsewhere at the time. They always have some good models in stock though, have good communication and seem pretty reputable. I'd gamble on them. The best solution would be to have a trusted repair service nearby to get the full potential out of your decks, but I think that's a luxury most people don't have. Including myself, so I just have to make an educated decision and hope it works out. There's always a risk with this kind of gear, even from honest sellers.

Another store that has a large selection is http://stores.ebay.co.uk/VCR-FOR-YOU-AND-MORE
Haven't bought from them or even got in contact, so not much to say. Lot of low-end decks, but almost always some good ones too.

okay i think i am going to probably go with http://www.vcr-shop.nl/. , if they can convince me everything will be packed properly for long distance travel and it can be insured . Just to check , its best to use pay pal for transaction as that affords more protection to me as the buyer than other methods .

Any important things/tips i havent mentioned already in the thread ?

Decided to purchase VCR 7600EU
 

Hi guys made a decision for a high end vcr i was looking for.

I went with JVC hrs7600eu from www.vcr-shop.nl , it cost 175 Euro for the machine 65Euro shipping and then probably about 25Euro more in import taxes . So total cost about about 265Euro. Will report back on the service and quality levels from www.vcr-shop.nl so fellow forum members can benefit .

thanks for the help and guidance provided so far in the purchase .

This will be very interesting. :salute:

Got my vcr and packaging was excellent , havent tested it properly yet but vcr looks great and in excellent condition , i will report back further as i test the actual machine itself .