I regularly scan ebay and other sites used equipment listings. Some are great, giving all the info and good quality photos which show the article fully and from all angles.
There are some terrible examples too. From sellers of speakers not showing the drivers, others posting a couple of photos with hardly any information.
For me, if I have to ask the seller for more information or photos, I am generally not interested unless I think it’s an absolute bargain.
I also check out the surroundings of the articles in photos. It often gives an idea of what the seller is about. Is the ad written in half decent english or do they use text/slang etc.. If the item is listed as nearly new I will usually ask for a receipt. If none is available I will generally assume there may be something not quite right with the article or/and that it is older than advertised.
Here is an example only of a listing which I would immediately disregard;
I can live with certain imperfections if an item has had years of use and if I can repair it but I would not buy from anyone that can’t even be bothered to give something a wipe down when trying to sell. He/she will likely not take care of their stuff or have little respect of what others think.
Has something been advertised as ‘serviced’ or ‘tested’? If it is the former I will expect a bill showing what has been done. Without it it’s a straight no. If it is the latter I will assume it worked when it was plugged in and that’s about it.
You probably have your own standards to which you hold advertisers. Perhaps you can add to this.
It’s annoying having to ask for better photos cos you simply can’t judge the condition. Sometimes, the item is absolutely fine but the owner is just not very proficient with a camera/phone, or perhaps lazy.
Some of the optimistic grading makes me laugh at times too. Occasionally a seller will describe something as ‘very good’ condition when it looks trashed to me.
I’ve always had good experiences with cheap items; sometimes the pictures weren’t so great because they don’t clean the devices, but when it arrived, it was almost always fine.
An interesting article, having fallen foul of poorly advertised equipment and promises made as far as packaging etc is concerned.
I once purchased an Ariston RD80 with an LVV tone arm, shown in stunning condition and no operation issues.
Would be disassembled and packed well as per advertised, well quite the opposite, arrived with little or no packing, cracked lid and broken arm lift collar on LVV
It didn’t cost an arm and a leg so made it a basket case and rebuilt the whole thing. Ok should I have picked it up, no travel cost would have made it uneconomical. The worst thing I ever had was a Garrad SP 25, again not the sellers fault but completely smashed to bits when it arrived, Don’t buy anything now unless it comes with providence and a quality courier through an outlet specialist like TomTom with a history of getting it right
Or what about a firm on ebay that do 2nd hand hifi? Giving very little or often nothing about the real condition of their kit for sale, instead cutting and pasting blurb from the Web. What you really want ( or i do) is specific information about the item they are selling. If sellers are not prepared to be open about their kit, I move on.
To me, this thread is pointless. If one raises the hassles of buying used, then purchase from a reputable dealer. Dealers often have used gear or ex-Demo where one can get significant savings. It may cost more than the internet but you save the hassle and worry.
I simply don’t understand sellers who can’t be bothered, provide very poor photos or just a single one (or worse, copy photos from another listing). Ditto incomplete description. Surely if someone wants to sell something then it is just commonsense to present it as best you can to catch the eye of buyers and make them want it! If the seller company bothered then watch in the buyer? Except of course if it is a rare item that you really want.
A price that seems too good to be true usually is so should raise suspicions, and warrant extra care assessing – however that does not necessarily apply to a low opening bid value when something is for auction,.
I’m really meticulous about all my ads, with lots of honest detail (including any niits I need to share), and enough photos to reveal what I have, that are in focus. Not to mention, when someone pays me for a listing I do everything I can to get it packed (double-boxed, of course) and shipped the same day or next. I have a stellar reputation on Audiogon for that, and like to keep it that way.
I’m also very interactive about offering advice and answering questions, before and after the sale.
I’ve never had anything but very positive reviews. I don’t understand doing things otherwise.
Edit: FWIW, I don’t take chances. If an ad isn’t at least somewhat like I would do I move on. If I have to ask questions about basic stuff that should be in a listing to begin with, then I don’t trust it, and I don’t want to deal with the risk. I deal with people who share my position.
I deal with sellers who have 100% feedback and lots of it. The only exception is when buying something really cheap or where negative feedback seems totally unfair. The ad is just part of the decision. Never had any real issues over 20+ years, just a couple with mass sellers of cheap items (And I always got my money back).
I think the reason is simple. The seller presents a poor picture with limited description so the buyer is forced to decide. Plus, I expect the seller is lazy. Many of these.pictures actually give you a really good idea of the type of seller you will be dealing with.
If what they are selling is popular and in short supply it will sell anyway. But if not in such short supply then I would have thought they aren’t likely to sell as well or for as high a price as better presented ones.
You have put a different sellers logic into the discussion than the one used by the seller.
Its the sellers with businesses that irritate me the most, like the one I mentioned above. They expect you to do the chasing and ask questions. I bought from them once, enquired whether the highcap they jad for sale was complete. Yes, was the answer. But it arrived without a powerline lite. I got one from them in the end, but it was harder work than it should have been. As always, let the buyer beware.
I think there are 4 types of sellers of secondhand hifi online: 1) People selling their own kit. 2) People selling kit they’ve inherited. 3) Hifi dealers who typically will have taken as part-exchange or used as demo models. 4) Dealers who buy and sell anything, including doing house clearances. (And I suppose there may be another: 5) criminals selling stolen goods.)
I expect 1 to be good at providing info and pics to maximise sale chance and value. 2’s approach likely to be reasonable but possibly hankered by limited knowledge of the item. 3 might be mixed, as good as previous owner if qperceived to have reasonable value, done with limited effort just to dispose of it if the dealer has no regard for it. 4 would not surprise me being slapdash and lacking info unless they realise they have something of real value. And 5 also slapdash and lacking info, also priced lowish to dump quickly.
I wonder how much my speculation holds true? If so, it would suggest that the OP’s example was either a 4 or 5 or possibly a minimal disposal effort by a 3.
It’s the optimism of prices in some items that make me chuckle…”It doesn’t work, it’s broken in all these places and it’s clearly had a tough life and is in a very rough condition, perhaps someone can fix it, £295.”
The worst thing for me is when the seller uses ebay’s AI tool and all you get is a generic description totally devoid of any useful information. Anything black is described as ‘sleek’ and anything wooden is ‘brown’. As Douglas Adams had the Vogon captain say, ‘Death’s too good for them’.
