Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Well, he's bidding on this one as well...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2537676985

For what it's worth.

not anymore, he's from Italy by the way, probably not a shill, registered 5-20, before the "68" was listed. Bob Young Super Sleuth Protector of the Ric tradition, Ma-Perú Div. Ric Police

I think I should make a RIC Police Deputy Badge for you, Bob, out of an "R" (rumour has it that famous R is going to be phased out/out of phase!) that sometimes explodes when it doesn't like what is happening.


(Photo courtesy of Bjorn Eriksson, Rickbeat.com)

Jeff stated: "Interestingly, it is strictly against ebay's policies to contact the bidder of an auction, which is why it is so hard to get email addresses through them. They want to discourage informed buying."

Although I agree with Jeff that this is a consequence of eBay's tortuous (and to some, torturous) contact procedure, the reason for making it difficult arises from, again, greed: early on, anybody could contact anyone through their eBay User ID. However, apparently what happened was that people (greedy, unscrupulous) who had items similar or identical to what a bidder was bidding on, would contact the bidder and offer to sell them their item outside of eBay if the bidder cancelled his/her bid. And, of course, the spammers got involved and sent unwanted sales pitches to eBayers, who then complained to eBay about receiving such crapolla, so with all that sidelines stuff going on, eBay decided to do away with the easy contact system.

In contrast to the seller of the '1968' silver 4003, the seller programmingwizard, who posted this very-white appearing 4003 bass:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2539272790

was happy to receive my note about using the serial number to date the guitar, and revised the ad accordingly.

There have been occasions when I have looked at ads at one web site, then gone to another web site and seen that someone was wanting to buy something I just saw. One time when I e-mailed such a potential buyer with the seller's ad (with a clearly written proviso that I had no stake in any transaction), I got a somewhat gruff response like "What's in it for you - why do this if there isn't?", I had to calmly explain that it was simply a fact that my memory works the way it does, and I thought that connecting a buyer and seller, who might otherwise not be aware of each other's existence, was simply a right thing to do. The person e-mailed me back with an apology, stating that he had become too accustomed to the "me-me-me' mentality so pervasive in society, and was glad to have run across someone who reminded him that not everybody was out just for themselves.

Bottom line: there are good people on eBay, and ther are bad people on eBay. I concur with the sentiments previously stated that eBay needs to clean out the baddies!

I don't really have a problem with ebay's contact policy, as it does help curb unwanted spam or side offers. When selling, it is obviously advantageous to let your buyers do their own research without someone sticking their nose in and trying to steal their bid. If the buyer is willing to overpay for something, that is their problem. However, if the seller is trying to pass off one thing for another, that's a completely different scenario. I do wish ebay would crack down harder on fraud and bootlegs.

It's best to do your research amd know what you're buying when dealing with ebay or any used sale.

I just emailed the bidder, grandejohn1974, and had no problems doing it. I let him know very factually where it's at, and stated that I had nothing to sell.

As I asked in the "For Sale" forum, am I risking getting my eBay membership deep-sixed?

Garry

I e-mailed him a couple of days ago, he knows, and has rebid 3 times.

As for being deep-sixed from ebay - just remember that Groucho Marx line..."I've been kicked out of better places than THIS" (slightly paraphrased, I'm sure)

It may be that the bidder just likes the bass and is not concerned with the year it was made.

Ebay obviously didn't do anything about any of our complaints, it has been several days now since I complained to misleading titles. And there is something strange going on, everyday I look at that (68?!) and the price is up a little bit and it's always grandejohn1974 that has done the bidding, maybe he is a shill.

On Wednesday night I saw the ad for the bass still had the claim that it's a '68 and composed a note to E-bay under E-bay's misleading description rule. When I hit the enter key to submit the note to E-bay customer service I got an immediate popup stating that E-bay was investigating this claim already and they would make their decision in 36 hours.

By my clock 36 hours is up right about now.

I would be very recluctant about buying ANYTHING off E-bay. I like to play a bass before I slap down my hard earned money for it. Unless I knew it was a legit, honest seller. There are too many people out there more than willing to cheat. I don't mean to throw the baby out with the bathwater,it's just that I'm real cautious.

Not a bad plan Randy. I have bought a few things off E-bay including an amp and cabinet from a guy in Saskatchewan, Canada, and haven't been burned so far.

I really try to get to know the seller before I bid via e-mail and I'm sure most buyers do, but there is a fair amount of risk involved in placing your trust in someone you really don't know and can't see, especially on a big ticket item like a bass or amplifier.

I haven't had any problems with big stuff either, I ask many questions, feel out the seller make sure that he or she knows what they are talking about. On the other hand, I've had a book not show up, I am waiting for that now. I also bought a shortwave radio that doesn't work and I had already given feedback to the seller. With basses I've had good luck. Be very careful how you word your ads though. For example if you sell a head and have the matching cab, state that it is not included in the auction, I got burned once that way. When I have had problems it was usually because of my negligence. If you do your homework you should be ok.

I haven't sold anything on E-bay though I am thinking about putting my SVT-CL rig up for bid. I sure wouldn't want to hassle with trying to package and ship the thing though. If I do it, I would probably limit the sale to someone who can pick it up.