Those "Not Been Tested" Ads (AKA: Balogna Served Cold)

gdmoore28

Super Member
I love them, don't you?

You know the ones I'm writing about: "For Sale: Monster Receiver In Beautiful Condition. Lights Up, But Not Tested Further." Uh, huh.

The one that got my attention this time was a large - but not "monster"- Pioneer receiver with exactly that description. In lots of these type of ads, the seller will claim not to have the necessary equipment to test the gear, or will claim not to know how to test it. In this case, it was simply, lights up, not tested further.

So, curious about this claim, I did a search of other items for sale, along with past sales. Seems the seller sells quite a bit of hifi gear. In fact, he has several other receivers, speakers, turntables and other gear for sale. But, he has an excellent sales satisfaction record. Why would an honest somebody who obviously knows at least a little about audio gear go no further than just lighting this receiver up?

The pictures, I think, reveal the truth in this case. The seller did plug it up, and it did light up. But he tested it no further because it would produce no sound through the speakers he had hooked up. Why do I think this is the case? Because the picture of the rear of the receiver clearly shows that the jumper pins between the pre-outs and power amp-ins are missing. So, the seller with a record for honesty decides to stay honest by telling most of the truth - the receiver lit up, but he tested it no further. Honest so far. But, he sinned by omitting that the receiver failed to produce sound.

That's just one of my haggles with sellers. So, what are yours?

GeeDeeEmm
 
He could have removed the jumpers himself, hoping a clever buyer notices the omission and makes dubious assumptions. Or he may not understand pre-main jumpers (they seem to often go missing). Or maybe all he had time to do was snap a pic. Who knows? "Tested no further" means "move on, nothing to see here" to me, while a tech might spot an opportunity.
 
eBay has, in the past prevented some items from being listed in certain condition by doing string, term and keyword searches in your post description before it is even able to be listed. I feel terms like the ones mentioned above should automatically be directed to parts or not working condition. It would save claims and a lot of headaches.
 
From my experience when seller states powers up and untested means the item is broken and needs repair and he knows it too.
 
I was just looking at cartridges on Ebay yesterday, and I see a nice one going for rather a good price, that is, the price would be good if it wasn't for that part in the item description: "New stylus, but the cartridge has not been tested as I currently have no way to test this on my system."

The funny part is it was a standard 1/2" cartridge and was he was selling a ton of other cartridges, all of which he said he'd tested, giving away the fact that he could have tested this one too (and probably did, finding that it wasn't working).
 
I don't get excited or upset by the "powers on but not tested" description. I simply treat it as an unverified unit......... a.k.a. "parts" unit. And if it's priced higher than a parts unit I ignore it. And if it is priced as a parts unit and ends up actually working? Bonus.
 
The wordings in the 'boiler plate' below the ad, you know the location - 4 sentences on the item, 4 pages on how they exist to serve, leave good feedback only, and how everything is as is. Its all BS. IF the world would stop using ebay a lot of our online problems go away. when we stopped using ebay for our business, there were huge amounts of scammers selling and a huge amount of scammers buying such that you had auctions where scammers were selling to scammers - either accidently, or on purpose to get someone legit to bid.

IF it has no detail, bid as if it were on fire. Literally. If someone else buys it, someone here catches the repair.
 
I often sell perfectly good pieces as "parts or repair",no returns. Few dollars less, but it's easier than dealing with stripped returns and ideally the buyer will get something in better shape than expected.
Doesn't matter how you ship it, all carriers have a 6' drop rule. While i've had good luck shipping things over the years, I'm always wary that the 40 year old gear won't survive the trip. $10 less in my pocket means far less potential hassles. I clearly state it's condition as well, so "parts and repair" isn't often it's actual condition,and buyers can see that.
 
About a decade ago, I went shopping on eBay for a second Technics SL-1700Mk2 for parts for one had with issues. I got a good deal (less than $100) on one listed as not tested, with the given reason that he didn't have a cartridge. It arrived in working condition, with a working Stanton 500 with stylus mounted. Go figure.
 
Like many others have posted, I will sell stuff "for parts or not working" even if it is working fine right now on my bench. There is no warranty or guarantee implied--it might be fine right now, but not fire up tomorrow--vintage is what it is (old and subject, maybe even prone, to failure). Most of the stuff I sell, I have gotten my money's worth out of playing with it for a while, so I'm not looking to make $$$ on it--just pass it on--I'm no professional scrounger or flipper looking to make my next mortgage payment on some piece of audio gear--it is a hobby, and if I make a couple bucks, good--if I break even--that's pretty much all I want--and sometimes you lose, and mainly at my own hand--I tend to sell stuff cheap to people just starting out or getting back into the game--it is Karma--isn't it?
 
I have personally sold a few items (not audio gear) as untested. Sometimes it's because I didn't have the time to investigate how they work and others because it would require other purchases for testing. Old film cameras are one example.
 
Sometimes, people genuinely don't know how to test or even operate the equipment. Even those that should know better. I bought an amplifier just the other day that only worked on one channel. From the pictures on-line, it looked like the bridging switch was engaged.

Lee.
 
I don't get excited or upset by the "powers on but not tested" description. I simply treat it as an unverified unit......... a.k.a. "parts" unit. And if it's priced higher than a parts unit I ignore it. And if it is priced as a parts unit and ends up actually working? Bonus.

Exactly. I bid on two items last night that weren't verified as working. My max bid was low so if I won either I wasn't taking a chance. I didn't win but if the items work well then the buyers that won got a good deal.
 
I bought an untested Sansui 2000X the other day. It turned out to be missing both speaker fuses, AND missing the jumpers, as well as missing 1 1/2 knobs. Works fine now though. Some people just don't have time, knowledge, or interest to test.
 
He could have removed the jumpers himself, hoping a clever buyer notices the omission and makes dubious assumptions. Or he may not understand pre-main jumpers (they seem to often go missing). Or maybe all he had time to do was snap a pic. Who knows? "Tested no further" means "move on, nothing to see here" to me, while a tech might spot an opportunity.


Ha, I've had that same thought as well. I've gotten all excited when I see a listing for an inoperable unit that is missing jumpers. However, a really smart and really dishonest salesman could remove them from a non-working unit to catch a schmuck like me in his trap and make me think that's the missing link. I guess the key is to look at his/her sales history and try to determine if you think they would be savvy enough to know the jumper pins need to be in place.
 
I assume anything I buy on eBay is for parts, no matter what the description says. If the parts are any good, that's a bonus. If it actually works, it's a banner day.

Same here. I typically go for something that's cosmetically nice rather than worrying about the seller describing it as working or not. If it's clean looking on the outside there's a better chance of it not being full of cigarette paste and dried soft drink residue on the inside. Being vintage it's going to need work one way or the other and I'd rather have a nicer starting and ending point.

I actually had a someone almost not sell to me because he legitimately didn't have speakers to test the gear he had stored for many years and was worried the amp and preamp would blow up when I took them home. Something like seller cold feet I guess.
I said "Lets call them very nice decorations and if everything blows up tomorrow there will be no hard feelings." He was reluctant but went through with the sale.
 
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