Ebay Buyers Beware!

[CapnLockheed]

To all my guitar geek pals. If you buy gear on eBay, BEWARE of this seller:

top40powertrio

I won an auction for a drop dead mint Sunn A-212. All tube with 6550 power tubes. Super loud with miles of clean headroom. A perfect platform for stomps. I also happen to have a matched pair of NOS JAN GE 6550's that have been waiting for THIS amp for years. B@stard seller cancelled my winning bid stating there was a "problem with my shipping address". Total BS....he just wasn't happy with the final selling price.
There is NOTHING wrong with my shipping address. I get eBay items delivered here via USPS, FedEx and UPS on a nearly daily basis. In fact, FedEx delivered a package yesterday and USPS delivered one this morning.
I'm often unhappy with final selling prices but, unlike this @-hole, I honor my obligations.
Too bad....it was a sweet amp......
Proving, once again, most people are dicks.

[lfm]

Was price with shipping, or would that be added shipping on top of auction?

Thinking that is part of his "problem" - your address would be very expensive?
But could be as you said, not happy with auction price.

I bought an amp, that was over 20 kg i weight that was shipped from a store here in my country to home, and it came in a certain cage and stuff. 20 kg is a limit here where everything is abnormal and shipping and handling goes up in price. And tube stuff might need special fragile care and so on.

But as I recall - there are grading systems and reviews of sellers on eBay - but a one time seller of course does not care. I usually checked that seriously how seller was graded.

I think eBay grading has more impact than here TBH.

[BertKoor]

Yes, ebay buyers must always be aware.

Were you tricked into parting with some money in return for nothing? I don't think so.

Is this seller structurally not doing his side of the bargain?
https://www.topratedseller.com/ebay/top40powertrio

top40powertrio is trusted by more than ten thousand eBay shoppers who have rated the seller at a 99.6% positive overall score. top40powertrio is based in United States and have been selling on eBay since 2002.

I would say no.

One transaction bounced. So what. I understand the frustration and I trust eventually you will get over it.

Would I ever buy sensitive & heavy equipment online and have it shipped? Never ever. I'll drive some hours (not out of my country/state, let salone across a whole continent) and pick it up myself. My address or shipping costs are never the problem.

[CapnLockheed]

First off, I'm not about to drive from NY to CA to pick up anything. This seller ships hundreds of amps all across the country he knows how to pack. Secondly, he KNOWS what shipping costs are. His shipping costs are flat and ALWAYS high enough to cover costs to anywhere in the Continental US. This is simply a matter of principle. Yes, he's got a good OVERALL reputation, that's one of the reasons I bid on his auction to begin with. BUT a huge feedback score and a good seller rating can be a double edged sword. It also means he's free to screw a few buyers here and there as it won't much effect his rep.

He was NOT happy with the final selling price. Plain and simple. Theoretically, that amp should have sold for MUCH more. I'm often not happy with my own final sale prices but, unlike this guy, I honor my obligations. The worst part of it was that he did it behind my back AND lied to eBay about it. He claimed there was something WRONG with my shipping address. That's just pure BS. Had he contacted me first I might have been more understanding. But no he just cancelled the order. And here's another reason why....he knew full well that once the order was cancelled I would not be able to leave him the negative feedback he deserved. I did, of course, report his happy @ss to eBay.

I trust eventually you will get over it.

I was over it shortly after it happened. That's just the nature of the eBeast. Some days you eat it.....some days it eats you. I just felt like venting a bit and perhaps help a few others avoid future regret and disappointment.

[vurt]

i saw the title, i assumed this would be about the perils of opening ebay while stoned

[BertKoor]

Question: did you have any direct contact? You could have called (maybe not a good idea if you're angry) and perhaps negotiate. Nevermind, the milk is spilled

What I don't understand though: you can set a minimum price on eBay auctions, right? If that reserve is not met, there is no deal. If he set it too low or did not set it, he has no right to complain. You offered the highest price, so it's not like he got a better offer.

[Hink]

I think what he is saying is he did meet the reserve but when the seller saw the cost of shipping the beast they realized they screwed up so they looked for a loophole. I gotta imagine shipping an amp from cali to ny isnt cheap these days. If a seller makes a goof or has a problem on his end you must give him a chance to rectify the situation, it would seem only fair that you are given a chance to offer up at least an alternate address (I know yours is good), not even that seems odd...I suspect he sold it somewhere local...cash and carry and you are likely sol...sorry this happened to you dude, that would have been a sweet amp to have.

[ghettosynth]

It's still available.

https://reverb.com/item/42384689-sunn-a ... age-1970-s

[ghettosynth]

I think what he is saying is he did meet the reserve but when the seller saw the cost of shipping the beast they realized they screwed up so they looked for a loophole. I gotta imagine shipping an amp from cali to ny isnt cheap these days. If a seller makes a goof or has a problem on his end you must give him a chance to rectify the situation, it would seem only fair that you are given a chance to offer up at least an alternate address (I know yours is good), not even that seems odd...I suspect he sold it somewhere local...cash and carry and you are likely sol...sorry this happened to you dude, that would have been a sweet amp to have.

I don't think so. He was asking a reasonable fee for shipping. It's not hard to find the listing, these amps are not that common. Yes, he looked for a loophole, but it was because the auction ended at a really low price. Now, you can label him with names if you want to, but the reality is that if you are an experienced buyer and you are buying from an experienced seller then you should know that this will happen every once in a while. The amp finished at a stupidly low price, so low that I suspect was even below his cost on the thing.

In other words, I think that OP has the wrong attitude here. If a seller doesn't cancel an auction like that then it's your lucky day. I suspect most of us have a deal story or two to tell, yay. In this case, the seller was set to lose money and chose to take the risk of canceling the auction to avoid that. I'm not surprised, it would have been a terrible deal for the seller.

[Hink]

...dont have any clue what you're going on about labels, I didnt label anyone with names unless it's now offensive to call the selling party a seller

[ghettosynth]

...dont have any clue what you're going on about labels, I didnt label anyone with names unless it's now offensive to call the selling party a seller

I was using the impersonal you.

[Hink]

It's still available.

https://reverb.com/item/42384689-sunn-a ... age-1970-s

no it isnt, has it listed as sold

[ghettosynth]

It's still available.

https://reverb.com/item/42384689-sunn-a ... age-1970-s

no it isnt, has it listed as sold

I don't recall that when I looked at the listing, but I might have missed it. In any case, that seems like what I would expect an amp like that to go for.

[tapper mike]

In all my years I've never had an issue with purchases on ebay... Crazy I know but true.

Oddly I have had issues with purchases on reverb.

[CapnLockheed]

i saw the title, i assumed this would be about the perils of opening ebay while stoned

Drunk bidding is even more dangerous! I have a basement full of gear due to that practice!

But could be as you said, not happy with auction price.

And THAT is the fact. This guy is big time. He KNOWS how to set shipping prices.
He always makes his shipping rates flat and high enough to ship anywhere in the 48 lower US states. AND this was I "no reserve" auction. Bidding started at $1 and I won. As you can see from his Reverb listing, (which BTW IS still active), his opening bid is $899. Quite a jump from $1. And as you can see the shipping rate remained the same.

No, he was simply pissed off that I won the auction for so little. Quite frankly, I would be upset myself. But I honor my obligations and would have taken the hit. What REALLY made me angry, is that he cancelled my winning bid behind my back without contacting me first. I might have been willing to accept the cancellation and he would have avoided negative feedback. He also refused to answer ANY of the messages I sent him. That's just plain rude.

Question: did you have any direct contact? You could have called

Call?? I guess you don't know how eBay works. Buyers do not have access to seller's phone #'s or even e-mail addresses. The ONLY way we are allowed to make contact is through the eBay messaging system. He refused to have even the common decency to respond.

But I did make a call....to eBay Security. They fully agreed with me that this seller was in the wrong. He now has some black marks on his record. Not like he cares, it's just a slap on the wrist to such a "big time" seller.