eBay Horror Story! MP20...channel dead!

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vwcsonic

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So I've been buying and selling on eBay for years...no problem. Decided to finally make a move to a decent preamp. Joy, joy, won an MP20 on eBay for $237. Package arrives promptly, rip open box and there's my MP20 in all its glory.

First thing wrong. One rack ear slightly bent, but other than that, it's pristine. Plug in my Rode NT1 to check out the sound. Hmmm...Channel 2 needs me to crank the drive up to max just get any level! Channel 1...quiet, clean, sweet.

So, unless I'm missing something, I just been sold a unit with a blown channel or something. Haven't heard back from the seller yet, but what else could this be but a scam? Was advertised as like new, one year old. The nightmare we all fear. Someone blowing up a good piece of gear and then passing it off on eBay as "like new." Guess the new member/no feedback status might have clued me in, but guy seemed way cool in email.

Gear gurus. If I'm stuck with this piece, worth fixing the bad channel? Any chance I'm a total idiot and Channel 2 needs something special done to work (no manual to work from). thanks for any input...ahhhh!
 
never EVER buy from someone with no feedback. After spending 1100 on a faulty synth I won't even buy from someone with less than 20 feedbacks and less than 99% positive rating.
 
yeah ive been scammed on ebay a couple times...all I can say is I hope you used paypal. paypal has bailed me out every time.
 
I bought a mixer from ebay that was faulty and I was tearing my hair out trying to get hold of the seller... Nothing! :mad: :mad:


... for 3 weeks. Just as I gave up (after running out of expletives) I got an e-mail from the seller. Just back from holiday... sorry about the mixer... full refund... nice bloke! :cool:


Wait and see what the seller says. If he sounds way cool, he may be.


ps did you pay for postal insurance???
 
Several options:

1. Contact Presonus and see how much it would cost to fix the broken channel. If it's reasonable, go for it. You could also consider getting them to mod it at the same time, which would appreciate the unit's value and sound.

2. Contact the seller and ask for an explanation. If he claims the unit did not have the defect, then contact the postal service to see about insurance coverage.

3. Re-list the item with the aforementioned defect. You will likely take a bit of a loss, but at least you will be better prepared for future transactions.

- I've never used the MP-20, but I'd rule out "being a total idiot" :p
 
vwcsonic said:
Was advertised as like new, one year old. The nightmare we all fear. Someone blowing up a good piece of gear and then passing it off on eBay as "like new." Guess the new member/no feedback status might have clued me in, but guy seemed way cool in email.

Gear gurus. If I'm stuck with this piece, worth fixing the bad channel? Any chance I'm a total idiot and Channel 2 needs something special done to work (no manual to work from). thanks for any input...ahhhh!
Click to expand...

This has happened to me a number of times. I'm in the middle of trying to resolve a situation like this myself, where I was sent a unit that was DOA. I have yet another rack unit sitting on the floor that is waiting to go to the repair shop. I bought a mixer a while back that was promised in perfect working order and when I got it, it wouldn't even pass signal. I sent it in to the manufacturer for refurbishment and they said the chips in the master section had the tops blown off them.

Some people on eBay are "traders", meaning that they pick up gear on eBay that is selling for lower than average prices and then turn it around quickly for a profit. Often, they don't even use the gear. So you end up with the same faulty piece of gear getting passed around eBay for a while. For this reason, I always look at the past months purchases by a seller with something I want to bid on. If they have recently bought it, I pass on the auction.

And some people on eBay are just con artists who are pawning off old bad gearon unsuspecting buyers. This has happened to me, and it seems with greater and greater frequency. I'm getting more and more leary about buying gear on eBay, as recently I've had a number of problematic auctions.

I agree with the advice about contacting Presonus and seeing what it would cost to refurbish the unit. Ideally, you would still come out ahead as compared to buying a new preamp.
 
I have never bought or will ever buy anything on E-bay no matter how good the "deal" may be.

Wayyy too many horror stories!
 
81 transactions.... and no problems...
Bought a bad, used double head video card last month, but the seller sent me a new one the next day, and didn't even make me return the bad one. Great guy... Most of my studio was originally on eBay!!!!

I love eBay!!!!!!! :D :D :D
Just but from people w/ good feedback!! No problems.
 
81 transactions is not really all that many, you can still get lucky and not come across problems with that few auctions. I've got well over 200 transactions and didn't really start hitting bad ones until I was in the hundreds. When I started out on eBay there was much more of an honor system. As it grew, that has fallen by the wayside and now there are a lot of scammers out there. Most sellers and buyers are legit, but there are a few who mess it up for everyone.

I should point out that I've also been ripped off by well known music stores, when it comes to used gear. So it's just one of those things. I've also met some great honorable people on eBay, and overall it's been a good experience.
 
the only bad experience i had was waiting over a week to get my mxl 67v mic. it was one of those sellers who sells something to you and then places an order for it from the main company so if the main company sucks at getting it out...its just slow all the way around. i really hate that warehouse with satellite sellers shit...honestly, i dont buy goods on ebay if i dont have the money on me or in my bank account so i would expect the seller not to sell something he doesnt have in hand or at his house.....guess i just need to open up my own ebay store and treat customers the way i would want to be treated.
 
I have an MP20 - there were some quality control issues in which some connection in one channel went bad (don't remember wat it was I had to send mine in under warrenty and they fixed in very quickly.

As suggested - contact Prosonus - the repair may not be too costly and you then have a good unit. If not, $237 for a decent single channel is not the worst deal. People have paid more for less.
 
Just a thought...the op amps in the MP20 are in sockets and swapable (upgradable-or sidewaysgradable). Maybe an op amp came loose in shipping? open her up and take a look see. It's really easy to just push it back in (there are 2 per channel). Just a thought ; )

mckay
 
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