In the past I have bought some junk off ebay.
Amplifiers that were way over rated.
Second hand disco lights which only half of the lamps worked.
I recently sold a speaker DC protection circuit.
A day after I posted it I got a snotty message from the buyer saying I had used 7 amp connectors with a 16 amp relay !
I had to send him the RS components stock number so he could check himself that it is in fact a 24 amp connector !
I also see lots of DIYAUDIO threads about fake components on ebay.
I can see why people are a bit wary or dubious about buying off ebay.
Amplifiers that were way over rated.
Second hand disco lights which only half of the lamps worked.
I recently sold a speaker DC protection circuit.
A day after I posted it I got a snotty message from the buyer saying I had used 7 amp connectors with a 16 amp relay !
I had to send him the RS components stock number so he could check himself that it is in fact a 24 amp connector !
I also see lots of DIYAUDIO threads about fake components on ebay.
I can see why people are a bit wary or dubious about buying off ebay.
I have been using Ebay for five years now. The only time i had bad experience was when a seller from US cheated me on a standalone ECU. I didn't really understood USPS tracking notifications back then (well, i still haven't now). I think i read a notification that USPS acknowledged for an item to be delivered to them but never really got it from the seller, or something like that. If anyone can shed a light on that, that would be great. USD200 gone to waste but it's ok.. i have spent a lot more than that buying stuff from Ebay.
I guess you just really have to be picky about what to buy there. I try to avoid semiconductors but stuff like russian tubes, hard-to-find high voltage caps, tube sockets.. i don't mind at all.
I guess you just really have to be picky about what to buy there. I try to avoid semiconductors but stuff like russian tubes, hard-to-find high voltage caps, tube sockets.. i don't mind at all.
Sods law got another complaint today.
I sold a couple of 50 watt amplifier modules.
As they were built at different times I used different 3 watt resistors on the pcb.
One has larger white ceramic resistors and the other has smaller green wire wound resistors. The buyer is not happy with the smaller green wire wound resistors.
For gods sake they are the same wattage !
I sold a couple of 50 watt amplifier modules.
As they were built at different times I used different 3 watt resistors on the pcb.
One has larger white ceramic resistors and the other has smaller green wire wound resistors. The buyer is not happy with the smaller green wire wound resistors.
For gods sake they are the same wattage !
Unless you use registered mail or express international mail, you will not get accurate tracking through the USPS. These services are *EXPENSIVE*. I've sent a couple of circuit boards (~200 g letters in padded envelopes) to Asia that way at the request of the buyer. The postage was about $45... The boards did arrive in about three days, though, and were tracked all the way through.
The regular first class or priority international mail do not provide actual tracking. Sure, you get a US Customs number and you can usually see when that piece of mail hits the mail stream, but once it hits the outgoing customs in the US, there is no more tracking. In many cases, I've had shipments show as "electronic notice received", i.e. that the USPS has received my electronic postage payment but the mail has still not been in the hands of the USPS, even after the letter had been received by the buyer.
Even for shipping within the US, the USPS tracking is often rather inaccurate and a few days behind. On items I receive, it's common that the status changes directly from "electronic notice received" to "delivered" a few hours after I have the item in hand...
If you want minute-by-minute tracking, go with Fedex, DHL, or UPS. Then again. USPS's prices are pretty darn competitive. A few bucks for a padded envelope within the US and maybe $10ish for international versus $20 (US) and $40+ (international) for Fedex/UPS letters. Tradeoffs, tradeoffs...
For that reason, I always make sure the modules are 100 % identical if I'm selling multiples. Even in cases where the difference may be the case color of a tantalum cap. It's silly, but I'd hate to waste my time with the "item not as described" claims.
Tom
The buyer saw the white wire wounds in the picture and assumed all the pcb's would be the same. Because the green wire wounds are smaller he is assuming the yare a smaller wattage which they aren't.
Buyer got in contact today and doesn't accept my explanation that the green resistor are ok.
He says he wants white 5 watt resistors fitted to the pcb !
Clearly my 35 years of electronics design count for nothing.
So I have asked him to return them for a full refund.
What is stupid is he already got the new pcb's for half what it cost for me to make them so he is shooting himself in the foot.
I have blocked him from buying from me again.
I hate those cement blobs, i would have wanted the green ones 🙂
Pictures speak louder than words so always always always show photos of the actual items you are selling. I have sold a fair amount on ebay, and bought a metric crap ton of parts and honestly i've never had a bad experience that i can recall. One or two items got lost in the post, but i always got a refund for those. Maybe i've just been lucky...
Pictures speak louder than words so always always always show photos of the actual items you are selling. I have sold a fair amount on ebay, and bought a metric crap ton of parts and honestly i've never had a bad experience that i can recall. One or two items got lost in the post, but i always got a refund for those. Maybe i've just been lucky...
I've been buying and selling on eBay since about 1996. I've had remarkably good success.
Sure, a few items could have been boxed better - by the seller or by me - but overall it's been a good run. It's also a great place for window shopping.
Sure, a few items could have been boxed better - by the seller or by me - but overall it's been a good run. It's also a great place for window shopping.
I have sold maybe 200+ of diy electronics on ebay over the past 10 years and I have only had 1 return.
Ebay in general is a great outlet for DIY
Ebay in general is a great outlet for DIY
I have been buying / selling on Ebay for over 10 years.
Only one non-payer who did not communicate with me or Ebay so was blocked.
Several items bought were lost in the post. Refunded without question.
I've only had 1 attempt to rip me off. A Turkish buyer said the pair of speakers I sent him had huge rips in the cones and did not work. I offered an immediate refund if he returned the pair to me. He said he was so unhappy with them , he had thrown them in the garbage. Yeah! Right !!! I said no return, no refund. and Ebay agreed.
Andy
Only one non-payer who did not communicate with me or Ebay so was blocked.
Several items bought were lost in the post. Refunded without question.
I've only had 1 attempt to rip me off. A Turkish buyer said the pair of speakers I sent him had huge rips in the cones and did not work. I offered an immediate refund if he returned the pair to me. He said he was so unhappy with them , he had thrown them in the garbage. Yeah! Right !!! I said no return, no refund. and Ebay agreed.
Andy
I have been buying and selling via EBay since 1999, mostly HP and Tek test gear, ham radio equipment, occasional Pioneer 1970's vintage equipment.
It's a different experience now vis a vis the mid 2000's. The company oriented their pitch to bigger sellers, driving the flea-market, basement traders off the page.
WRT shipping. There are a lot of crooked buyers out there in DIY land, and the TOS are tilted against the seller. I have had folks complain of non-arrival (F5 kits) only to display their handiwork on DIYAUDIO. RN55/CMF55 resistors don't just turn up at RS components in the UK.
It's a different experience now vis a vis the mid 2000's. The company oriented their pitch to bigger sellers, driving the flea-market, basement traders off the page.
WRT shipping. There are a lot of crooked buyers out there in DIY land, and the TOS are tilted against the seller. I have had folks complain of non-arrival (F5 kits) only to display their handiwork on DIYAUDIO. RN55/CMF55 resistors don't just turn up at RS components in the UK.
I buy a lot of stuff on eBay myself, but I stay away from popular or obsolete audio semiconductors, specially from China/HK sellers. I source those locally when I can, or from D-K or other folk. Same with parts that find their way in audio lore - pretty sure this market drives the fake parts industry in a big way.
Apart from that caveat, I find the sellers - including East Asian sellers - helpful and courteous, and much more honest than local Indian businessmen. The language barrier may be a problem in some cases. but for the most part they are pretty upright people. Never had an issue with refunds either, though now I switched to paid shipping only to arrest pilferage in the post office (as said, my country also has its share of crooked folk).
Not that it's always smooth sailing - some sellers are not very communicative and sometimes products arrive broken and kits put together properly do not work, and support for products tends to be poor. Also some specific sellers are quite popular outlets for fakes (no names taken, but usually the bigger sellers are worse in this regard) and you may get used products instead of new. And sometimes you store the parts for a few years and find out when it's too late for refunds. You just have top accept that as a life lesson and move on.
But overall, I don't think it's nearly as bad as it's made out to be.
Apart from that caveat, I find the sellers - including East Asian sellers - helpful and courteous, and much more honest than local Indian businessmen. The language barrier may be a problem in some cases. but for the most part they are pretty upright people. Never had an issue with refunds either, though now I switched to paid shipping only to arrest pilferage in the post office (as said, my country also has its share of crooked folk).
Not that it's always smooth sailing - some sellers are not very communicative and sometimes products arrive broken and kits put together properly do not work, and support for products tends to be poor. Also some specific sellers are quite popular outlets for fakes (no names taken, but usually the bigger sellers are worse in this regard) and you may get used products instead of new. And sometimes you store the parts for a few years and find out when it's too late for refunds. You just have top accept that as a life lesson and move on.
But overall, I don't think it's nearly as bad as it's made out to be.
You will get the occasional buyer and/or seller trying to make a good deal better. I sold a small camera to a buyer in China. After he received the unit, he said, "it doesn't work right, and will cost $250 to fix it. Send it to me.".
I said, "return it for a refund.". No return, no refund. I'm not sending you any money.....
I said, "return it for a refund.". No return, no refund. I'm not sending you any money.....
Whereas I am sure that guy was trying to con you, I must also note that most sellers from the Western world are terrible at packing stuff. And not just eBay or individual sellers. Parts Express has no idea about packing products for long cross-continental journeys and most stuff arrives broken, punctured or plain wrong. Neither does Madisound or Digikey - both of whom just stuff the order into a brown box with some newspaper.
Recently I bought from some output transformers for a chap in the US who simply stuffed them into a USPS box. The mounting ears took the brunt of it, but I see the China/HK guys take quite a bit more care in packing. There will always be exceptions I'm sure, but in general this is my experience.
Recently I bought from some output transformers for a chap in the US who simply stuffed them into a USPS box. The mounting ears took the brunt of it, but I see the China/HK guys take quite a bit more care in packing. There will always be exceptions I'm sure, but in general this is my experience.
I don't believe it, the buyer is still arguing about the resistors.
I have told him to send the amps back but he wont.
I cant seem to convince him the 3 watt resistors work just fine.
What I cant understand is if he thinks I got one resistor wrong then why aren't all of them wrong ? If the amps are really so bad why doesn't he just return them ?
I wont give a partial refund or pay for the 5 watts resistors so he either sucks it up or returns the amps.
He sounds like he may just be a problem child, any attempt to appease him will just be futile. As you say, return the items or suck it up.
....bet he leaves you negative feedback saying you are an untrustworthy horrible person 🙂
....bet he leaves you negative feedback saying you are an untrustworthy horrible person 🙂
I don't care about negative feedback.
I don't sell much anyway.
He seems to be getting off on the pcb's not having the same resistors as in the picture. I have already told him I agree they are different but they are functionally exactly the same. But he is having none of it.
He is just being bloody minded so I am too.
Well... He can file an "item not as described claim" against you. He will then be required to return the item for a refund. Buyer pays return shipping per eBay policy. Suggest that he does that. If he doesn't want to play that game, I suggest chatting up eBay's customer service. They're friendly folks. They'll look through the messages between the two of you (assuming you're communicating through eBay rather than via personal email) and can provide some suggestions on what to do.
I've bought and sold on eBay for 15+ years. I've had one item disappear in the mail.
I've had one attempt of fraud. Buyer bought a slide film scanner from me. Value roughly $1500. Buyer was registered in Russia but wanted the scanner sent to Poland. I said no and canceled the transaction. I only ship to the registered/confirmed address. I listed the scanner again and this time a buyer in Poland bought it and wanted it shipped to Russia. I suspected it was the same guy, so I pulled the plug on that transaction as well. Listed it for the third time. This time as an auction with no buy-it-now. A guy in the US won and I shipped it to his confirmed address. Buyer was happy and I got more money than the Polish/Russian dude had paid via Buy-it-Now.
I've had one "item not as described claim". I sold a lens for a camera (about $1k). Buyer said the front element had a scratch and returned it. I provided a refund. The "scratch" turned out to be a smudge that a drop of lens cleaner and a gentle cleaning took right off. I probably lost about $70 on that deal. Easy come, easy go, I guess. I not trying to appear arrogant here. I didn't have a choice in the matter, so I chose to suck it up and move on. I didn't enjoy losing money, but that's the cost of life, I guess.
I used to list things with a "no returns" policy, but buyers will just use the "item not as described" claim as return policy in those cases. So now I offer a 2-week return. Buyer pays shipping.
Tom
I've bought and sold on eBay for 15+ years. I've had one item disappear in the mail.
I've had one attempt of fraud. Buyer bought a slide film scanner from me. Value roughly $1500. Buyer was registered in Russia but wanted the scanner sent to Poland. I said no and canceled the transaction. I only ship to the registered/confirmed address. I listed the scanner again and this time a buyer in Poland bought it and wanted it shipped to Russia. I suspected it was the same guy, so I pulled the plug on that transaction as well. Listed it for the third time. This time as an auction with no buy-it-now. A guy in the US won and I shipped it to his confirmed address. Buyer was happy and I got more money than the Polish/Russian dude had paid via Buy-it-Now.
I've had one "item not as described claim". I sold a lens for a camera (about $1k). Buyer said the front element had a scratch and returned it. I provided a refund. The "scratch" turned out to be a smudge that a drop of lens cleaner and a gentle cleaning took right off. I probably lost about $70 on that deal. Easy come, easy go, I guess. I not trying to appear arrogant here. I didn't have a choice in the matter, so I chose to suck it up and move on. I didn't enjoy losing money, but that's the cost of life, I guess.
I used to list things with a "no returns" policy, but buyers will just use the "item not as described" claim as return policy in those cases. So now I offer a 2-week return. Buyer pays shipping.
Tom
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The items were reduced by 50% before he bought them, then he insisted on buying 5 for the price of 4 so he got another 20% discount.
He doesn't want to send them back, he wants me to pay for 18 off 0r47 5 watt resistors which will be £10-£15 and I wont pay it.
For me it would be much better to get them back, take a new correct photo and re-advertise them at the original price.
I have never disagreed that the photo is wrong. The photo shows 5 watt resistors. But 5 watt or 3 watt it doesn't matter either will work OK.
He doesn't want to send them back, he wants me to pay for 18 off 0r47 5 watt resistors which will be £10-£15 and I wont pay it.
For me it would be much better to get them back, take a new correct photo and re-advertise them at the original price.
I have never disagreed that the photo is wrong. The photo shows 5 watt resistors. But 5 watt or 3 watt it doesn't matter either will work OK.
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Are these in any way different than the nearly 500 hits I get when searching for RN55 & CMF55 on the RS UK site?
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