I'm an idiot

[Old_School]

So, poking around the auction site last night, as I usually do, I come across this item.

The ad has no photo, and a pretty sketchy description, and says no shipping outside the lower 48 (I'm in Canada). Still, as I usually do when I see something that interests me, and the seller hasn't indicated "absolutely no Canadians or dogs allowed - don't bother to ask", I asked if he'd consider shipping to Canada. His answer was to the effect "no, but do you have someone in the US who will receive it for you?" I answered that I do have a service just across the border that receives parces for me, so would that be OK? Never got an answer back.

Woke up at 5am, thinking about it. The finally got out of bed at 6 and went to see if he'd replied, and decided to hit the BIN anyway. Of course it has sold, at 10pm Pacific time.

Now, since that link will eventually go dead, I'll explain what was on offer: a Sony ST-5000F tuner for a BIN of $60+$20 shipping. I've been looking for one for a few months now, and the couple I've found are either north of $400 in asking price (which I'd consider paying for one that's in excellent cosmetic condition and fully functional - but neither of the ones I saw for that price fit that description) or, in the one other decently priced one on the auction site, it needs work, but Canadians need not apply (that guy has even locked out his "ask a question" - even if I wanted to ask him to reconsider, he isn't taking questions.)

Anyway, I hope the $60 one is in good shape and goes to someone who'll enjoy it (rather than someone who'll flip it for 4-5 times the price without doing more than plugging it in to make sure it works). It would have looked good next to my TA-2000F/TA-3200F combo.

Now I've got that off my chest, I feel better. Good Kharma to you all.

 

[Drifting]

The last time I bought a bargain with buy it now on a good piece of vintage gear - a CT-F1250, the seller rescinded the contract claiming it "broke". Negatived him, and you never know the downside.

 

[jimbofish]

Seller sold 5 high-priced items ranging from $800 to $12,000 and then lists this one for next to nothing, no picture, and won't ship to Canada? :scratch2:

You might be better off that you thought twice about this one...



... at the least, telling yourself that will make you feel better about it.

 

[Raynald]

I saw that one, have someone in the US to ship to and was skeptical. Sent some questions and it was sold before reply came.

Admittedly it was probably impossible to lose at that price even if it was to resell for parts, but I had to wonder why so cheap and no photos.

I don't really need another clunker in my life, but like you I hope someone ended up with a nice unit at a great bargain.

 

[Old_School]

I think what convinced me that it might be legit was his high-dollar sales and good feedback. He probably got the tuner for nothing, and didn't bother to research it - just wanted to unload a piece of old gear and didn't want to put the time (or fees) in on the ad.

As for not shipping to Canada - you'd be amazed at how many sellers won't. We Canadians are "inconvenient" because we often ask for shipping by USPS so we don't have to grab our ankles for UPS. And apparently, for some, it's a royal pain to do all of that customs paperwork (you know, the little lable that asks you what you're shipping and how much it's worth). I know some of my compatriots are a bit of a pain (asking for marking as "gift" or other tax-dodge tricks), but I always try to be upfront, and hope I've never been a pain.

I realize buying there can be a crap shoot, but at $60, even if it was fried, I could have got a few parts off it for other gear I have. If it was salvageable, I'm pretty sure I could get it up and running and still come well under the $400-500 asking prices (saw another on A'gon for $550). I paid less, with shipping, for both my amp and pre.

 

[analog addict]

Ouch. I've been looking for one to go with a TA-2000 for awhile myself....:tears: And that's only 1.5 hours from here.....:tears::tears:

 

[jimbofish]

Just went back to that link, and at the top of the page it says "eBay.ca'... isn't '.ca' Canada?

I'm confused...

 

[4dryhme]

Just went back to that link, and at the top of the page it says "eBay.ca'... isn't '.ca' Canada?

I'm confused...

Don't be. That's just the ebay ip sniffer deciding which version you should be looking at. It also calculates the prices into the local currency, whoopdedoo. I default myself to the US version as I find the .ca site used to reference crap in my hosts file which irritated me. FYI google and gawd knows who else does sort of thing also -- I'm stuck with google Canada which preferentially pulls things from, ah, Canada. Now if the ebay .ca site just showed stuff one could actually get shipped then it might be useful -- and it might nudge sellers to not just hit the default button when setting a shipping option.

 

[kbott]

As for not shipping to Canada - you'd be amazed at how many sellers won't. We Canadians are "inconvenient" because we often ask for shipping by USPS so we don't have to grab our ankles for UPS. And apparently, for some, it's a royal pain to do all of that customs paperwork (you know, the little lable that asks you what you're shipping and how much it's worth). I know some of my compatriots are a bit of a pain (asking for marking as "gift" or other tax-dodge tricks), but I always try to be upfront, and hope I've never been a pain.

No what's a pain is that you want it shipped in a way that has no tracking whatsoever. If you ship it USPS with a tracking # the prices fall remarkably in line with UPS

why ship an expensive item with no proof of delivery?

 

[4dryhme]

No what's a pain is that you want it shipped in a way that has no tracking whatsoever. If you ship it USPS with a tracking # the prices fall remarkably in line with UPS

why ship an expensive item with no proof of delivery?

Ah, as a clarification, the cost to actually ship might fall in line with UPS, but to land the item at our end with UPS brokerage charges which can run sometimes close to 50% of the item itself... No question to us which method we prefer. The OP wasn't really joking about the bending over bit.

 

[hammr7]

This is one thing AK friends are good for. You can't buy from a country, maybe they can do so for you.

And one reason the piece might have gone cheap - not all gear shows up in every price guide. If your guide doesn't show the item, you might then give it a generic price and hope for the best.

 

[4dryhme]

This is one thing AK friends are good for. You can't buy from a country, maybe they can do so for you.

Thanks, hammr7, although like any relationship; time, patience, consistency... Karma.

 

[Old_School]

No what's a pain is that you want it shipped in a way that has no tracking whatsoever. If you ship it USPS with a tracking # the prices fall remarkably in line with UPS

why ship an expensive item with no proof of delivery?

As a buyer I prefer tracking as much as the seller does. Even though "the system" seems weighted in favour of buyers, I'd rather get what I paid my money for - and tracking is peace of mind for both of us. USPS has it, and I'm happy to pay the extra cost.

As 4dryhme says, UPS adds a fee for the brokerage that is, frankly, highway robbery.

If it goes USPS the brokerage is handled by Canada Post, which charges $7 or $10 (depending on item value) but ONLY if the item is "selected" by Customs Agents for attention (at which point the taxes - 15% here in Ontario - are applied). In my experience only one in four parcels get selected, and anything under $100 has a much greater chance of simply landing on your stoop at no extra cost.

In any case, my spleen is vented on the original issue of my indecisiveness. I am now calm (maybe that's due to the beer, or maybe the tunes I'm listening to, I don't know.)

hammr7 - I think you nailed it. In fact, I suspect if I looked it up in the Orion guide the reasale retail price would be about $60.