Rack gear off ebay

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onestu3

New member
I know a lot of people might say to only buy stuff from the retail stores so you have the peace of mind that if it breaks you can get another one easy, but has anyone really ever had a problem with something they bought off of ebay, rack gear that is? I am curious.
 
No, not me.
And I must admit to going against my own advice in this regard.
I have recently upgraded all of my live gear (Behringer PMP 1280 mixer/amp plus three pairs of speakers and one set of cables) through E-bay with no faulty gear at all.
The Behringer dealer (not Behringer) lied on the Customs Declaration which resulted in the amp being held at the border for 2 weeks but other than that, no problems. I just won't deal with those guys again.
I think that there are enough safeguards in place, both by E-bay & Pay Pal that the risks are low but if something does go wrong, it can be slow to resolve. (waiting time)
I am aware of all of the risks but in all honesty, choosing the same gear and going with whichever brands I can get locally, I probably saved about $1000.
That's how much I spent in total.
The speakers may not be the same quality, I'll never know but when I can get a pair of 12" speakers for half the price of one speaker, I'll take the chance.
 
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I've never been screwed, but I have been disappointed... You can find some real deals out there, or you can get carried away, and wind up spending close to retail... decide your the cost / benefit / Risk thresh-hold... and stick to it, don't be afraid to loose a couple auctions on the way to a great deal.
 
MOFO Pro said:
decide your the cost / benefit / Risk thresh-hold... and stick to it, don't be afraid to loose a couple auctions on the way to a great deal.
Click to expand...
absolutely key. And it will take time - if you don't have time, then you have to go new. (but if you do have time and can do what MOFO Pro said, it's much better to go used in many cases, imo). Also, if you can buy from the classifieds here or at GS, a lot of the same concerns still apply (and more, in some ways, because you don't have ebay between you), you can do well, too. I've been happy with all my rack stuff I got from here and GS
 
also instead of going through ebay, you could always go local and check out craigslist. good deals and you usually get a chance to test out the product or atleast see it in person. just my 2 cents.
 
MOFO Pro said:
decide your the cost / benefit / Risk thresh-hold... and stick to it, don't be afraid to loose a couple auctions on the way to a great deal.
Click to expand...

I couldn't have said it better myself. Although i often cheat to make sure that i stick to my original price. I use esnipe, it automatically bids close to the end of the auction. I set it up and i don't look at the auction again until it ends... it keeps me from talking myself into paying more than i wanted to initially.
I lose more auctions this way, and sometimes it takes me longer to get a piece of gear at the price i want, but i DO get it at the price i want eventually (now that i've learned to defeat my biggest enemy... me).

I had one seller try to screw me over on ebay, and paypal took care of me. Another time i received a defective product, but i got it exchanged without too many problems. Other than that I've had great experiences and have saved myself thousands of dollars on music gear and other various pieces of electronics over the years.
 
tewfus said:
I use esnipe, it automatically bids close to the end of the auction. I set it up and i don't look at the auction again until it ends...
Click to expand...
I used to use something similar years ago, before everyone started using them and eBay even came up with it's own sniping program... boy did I make some killings, just bid the price up over reserve, and then set it to bid a dollar over the existing bid 3 seconds before closing. When you were one of very few doing this... wow.

Had a couple people refuse to sell because, even though reserve was met, they didn't think the price was fair...

It's not nearly as effective now as it used to be... but it does prevent getting hauled into a last minute bidding war... Yeah!!! I won!! For how much??!! ...oh crap...
 
I got my MOTU 2408 with the 324 PCI Card shipped in the Original MOTU Box with All Documentation and the driver disc.. I paid 50 bucks :-D so I definately can't complain..


... Switching from the onboard audio card stereo drum recordings to multi-tracking drums with little/no latency... priceless

-Paul
 
Also, 1986 Laney Protube-Lead AOR 50watt Head, 150 shipped.. the only thing that one had wrong with it was the mid knob was broken.. easily enough fixed.

OTH... I did get screwed on an SM57 once, showed up with a busted capsule.. paid 50 for that..

-Paul
 
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