Precautions before buying on eBay.

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-- Precautions before buying on eBay.

Posted by Vlad on Oct-22-2003 04:47:

Precautions before buying on eBay.

These are my "rules" of buying stuff on eBay, I always abide by them.

1. Make sure the there is a picture of the turntable being sold, and not a picture of the turntable that you would normally see on a website.

2. Make sure you get a legit serial number - chances are if the person posted a pic of the turntable being sold, he wouldnt mind taking a snapshot of the barcode and serial # for verification.

3. Try your best to identify the product as authentic - some Technics can be fake - I usually dont even look at turntables with replaced covers unless it is another authentic cover, its a liability.

*4. Dont be afraid to ask the seller questions (How long have you had it? Approximately how many hours have been played on it? Have any parts been replaced? Do any parts need any particular attention?)

*5. Make sure the seller is a good seller. Check his rating (anything below 97% is unacceptable - any person with alot of minus feedback is unacceptable - any person with 2 or more minus feedback within a month is unacceptable). Read some of the feedback.

*6. Also try to stay away from people with few or no sold items - Along with new members to eBay. Its hard to trust people with new accounts.

I thought I would post this for people looking to buy equipment on eBay before they decide to jump on auctions. If anyone has anything else to add, please do so, but I think this should cover the essentials.

Cheers,
Vlad

Posted by punchline on Oct-22-2003 05:06:

excellent post

I agree with everything said. I have used eBay a lot and I have been burned a few times. The times I got burned were when I violated rule 5 and 6. Thankfully it was on nothing expensive.

It would be absolutely heartbreaking for a beginner DJ without a lot of money to get ripped off just trying to buy the equipment. But if you follow the rules above you should be safe. Also, if you use Paypal, they have something like a 9.95 optional kind of insurance (buyer protection I think it's called) that you can pay; and if you do get ripped off, they will refund your money. I would recommend getting this if you are spending over 200 USD.