Keeping Perspective

Many buyers become bottom fishers: obsessed with buying at the bottom of what they think is the range of prices for their desired item. Remember that if what you're seeking isn't a commodity item, it may take you days, weeks, or even months of searching and waiting before you win an auction at the bottom of what you think is the market range. Even if you end up with a smooth transaction and not a costly disappointment, that's not really a good bargain. That time is your life. If you need that gear to create the kind of music you want, you may have set yourself back weeks or months to save yourself the amount of money you might spend in a typical night out with friends. It's time you could be spending writing music, or practicing, or learning, or making money. So, being a bottom fisher can be a classic example of being penny wise and pound foolish.

Now let's suppose you buy 10 items and you manage to get each at a price 10% below the market average. If just one of those purchases goes sour, it wipes out all of the savings on the others, and you've just spent a lot of time for nothing but some frustration.

The best approach to buying is to find a trusted seller with fair pricing.

Who's Out There?

Frauds

Irresponsible Sellers

Some very common problems with used gear are things like data wheels with erratic, jumpy, or sporadic response, keyboards with uneven velocity response on some keys, dim or uneven backlights, scratchy pots, loose, broken, or scratchy jacks, etc. Irresponsible sellers sweep these problems under the rug, so gear with such unannounced problems sells everyday on eBay to unsuspecting buyers. Repairing used gear is usually expensive and often not cost effective. Keep in mind that repair shops usually charge about $80 per hour, with a one hour minimum, in addition to parts costs and two-way shipping costs.

Be cautious about as-is auctions, especially when they come with a fishy story, e.g. "a client gave me this module for free but I don't need it ..." In many cases, "untested and as-is" should be read "tested and found defective."

Then come shipping fiascos. In many cases, an irresponsible seller isn't willing to take the time and money to obtain proper packing materials. Horror stories abound of cases of expensive electronic gear being shipped in boxes without fill material, or in flimsy garment boxes, etc. In some cases, an honest seller simply doesn't know how to properly pack an item. Sensitive electronics may be wrapped in ordinary bubble wrap, metal framed modules with sharp protruding parts may be loosely packed in small or ragged boxes, etc. Even if such items are fully insured, it is unlikely that a shipping company will honor a claim.

Professional and Responsible Sellers

How to Spot a Good Seller

PowerSeller status is an excellent (though not perfect) indication of a good seller. But many experienced buyers set the bar even higher. In a recent informal survey, only 20% of experienced buyers would consider buying from a seller with feedback under 99%. I contend that a seller should really have essentially no legitimate negative feedback -- the operational word being legitimate. There are always going to be a few bad apples among buyers, buyers who may not have ever even paid for an item, who may be irresponsible or fraudulent, and who leave negative feedback out of spite, or in retaliation for negative feedback deservedly received. For this reason, demanding 100% positive feedback may be excluding many good sellers. But beyond the occasional negative feedback from an irresponsible buyer, there's little justification for any negative feedback.

Another consideration when assessing feedback is how difficult a business the seller is in. Some businesses are inherently more difficult than others. Selling the same prepackaged commodity item again and again is relatively easy. Selling used music gear, where each item is somewhat unique and must be checked exhaustively for defects, and where buyer expectations are not always easy to gauge, is relatively hard.

The bottom line is: check the feedback score, and read the feedback comments, especially the negatives.

Now for the bad news. Fraudulent sellers often have great feedback. How do they do it? A favored practice of fraudulent sellers is to open a new account, rack up some positive feedback selling a few cheap items, or some expensive items to cronies, and then list a large number of high ticket items with attractive pricing. The strategy is to appear to be a legitimate seller, land a large number of quick sales without any intention of shipping the items, and make off with the money before the buyers, eBay, and PayPal realize what's going on. These sellers may accept money orders or they may accept PayPal. It doesn't matter. Either way, the buyer will be fleeced. By the time buyers realize a few weeks later that they aren't receiving what they paid for, the fraud has already disappeared without a trace.

Another favorite method of frauds is to hijack an account in good standing. This is one of the most insidious tricks, because the seller's feedback and track record may appear to be stellar. The best way to guard against this kind of fraud is to be alert for anything fishy: a price that's too good to be true, free overseas UPS shipping (which would generally be extremely expensive), an auction currency that does not match the auction location, an email address listed in the auction along with instructions to avoid eBay's messaging system, a direct request for payment by money order or Western Union in conflict with the auction's stated payment methods, etc.

This is an apt moment to raise an alert about another common fraud technique. In order to gain the trust of a buyer, a scammer may claim to have been certified by eBay, or to have had their auction guaranteed. They will sometimes reinforce this illusion by forging an email to you that appears to be an official notification from eBay providing a guarantee or service of some kind. Don't be fooled by such official looking messages; they are very easy to spoof. Apart from the eBay and PayPal buyer protection programs (see below) there is no such thing as a certification or guarantee from eBay for a seller or his auction.

Hidden Costs

It goes without saying that shipping should be a prime concern when buying from overseas sellers. Customs taxes will also be required on most such purchases and these taxes are charged as a percentage of sale price and can be quite high. Shipments between Canada and the US that go by ground are also frequently assessed an expensive "brokerage fee" even if the item is not subject to customs duties. Brokerage fees can also apply to purchases from other countries if a commercial carrier is involved.

Another common source of hidden costs is missing accessories. Used gear is often sold without all of the original materials. In some cases, those materials are superfluous or outdated, but in others their absense can be a nuisance, or even a show-stopper. Be sure you know what you need and you know what the seller is offering. A particularly frustrating situation is to buy an item only to find out that it is missing a seemingly trivial part, such as a screw or a cable or a brace, without which the item is difficult or impossible to use. Many unscrupulous sellers gloss over such omissions, or assure you that they will be easy and cheap to replace. Make sure they really are easy and cheap to replace before buying. Otherwise, your bargain item will likely end up being an expensive piece of useless clutter.

But I'm Protected, Right?

Coverage is particularly problematic in cases of defective or misrepresented items. Such items may be essentially worthless, or worth much less than what you paid, but it will be very difficult to recover your losses. Keep in mind that in order to gain reimbursement from eBay or PayPal for a misrepresented item, you'll not only have to win the dispute with the seller, you'll also have to go through a claims process. This will involve, among other things, obtaining an appraisal of the misrepresented item from a store or neutral third party with appropriate expertise, based on a physical inspection, and put in writing on store letterhead. If common sense does not convince you of the difficulty of obtaining such an appraisal, you might want to call a few of your local music shops to ask them if they would be willing to help you in this way. Keep in mind that most such shops will regard eBay as troublesome competition, may not have seen an item of the kind you bought in years, will be leery of putting any statement in writing, and probably won't have any way of attaching a meaningful value to a defective piece of used gear. If you find a saintly store that is willing to assist you in this process, there is still no reason to expect that the appraisal will be at a value low enough to help you in your claim.

Law Enforcement?

I am sorry to have to report such a grim view of the situation. I wish it were not so, but in this new Wild West of internet crime there's a rising tide of fraud and no agency with the means and the charge to fight it effectively. In most cases, you'll have to rely on your own wits and a fast draw.

Conclusion