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US buyers, stay away from needlestore@eBay

banyanleaf

banyanleaf

Active Member
To share my experience with this seller in Canada: I purchased item #261201829300 on eBay. Apparently they use picture from Audio Technica and JICO's website and didn't answer the question whether the pictures are honest presentation of the stylus they sell. I tried my luck and turned out to be bad decision. It arrived and it was a very lousy Pfanstiehl D7 conical stylus instead of the advertised elliptical stylus. I contacted the seller, waited and waited, no reply, then I escalated to eBay claim. Then I was asked to ship it back AT MY OWN COST and must have tracking information to get the refund.

Shipping to Canada with tracking? It is going to cost more than the whole purchase price. What a joke.

US buyers, think twice when you want to buy from needlestore for 3 reasons: 1) faulty advertising; 2) lack of communication; 3) costly return. I would only buy from American sellers from now on.
 
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Myneedlestore and needlestore are the names under which Normarh Canada sells on Amazon, eBay and perhaps other places. Normarh S.A.S. is a Colombian company that manufacturers, among other things, styli. By reputation, Normarh styli are of very poor quality. Given that myneedlestore is the Canadian arm of Normarh S.A.S., it seems likely that much or all of what they sell is Colombian and not Swiss or Japanese.

I don't actually know if I've ever owned a Normarh stylus but I've come across a couple that were of unknown origin and were really, really bad. Maybe they were Normarh. If so, I would never knowingly buy one for any reason.

John
 
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Just be careful what you are ordering from any seller - although the photo is misleading, the auction does state that they are selling a generic replacement.
 
I came thisclose to ordering from them via Amazon yesterday, but I didn't want to order from outside the US due to timing issues. Bullet dodged!
 
Generic for sure, but putting up a JICO picture, not answering question, and send a conical stylus instead of elliptical as listed is NOT acceptable.

Lost Monkey said:
Just be careful what you are ordering from any seller - although the photo is misleading, the auction does state that they are selling a generic replacement.
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This is a good example for sticking with trusted sellers and doing your homework here on AK before buying anything audio related.
 
I have shopped with them a few times and have had a good experience.

They pretty much sell exclusively pfanstiehl stuff, however hearing that they use the JICO photos are very misleading.

They once forgot to send me something as part of my order and they shipped it to me right away at no extra charge.

I was also able to get a single, rare Piezo YM-320 cartridge from them, NOS and it arrived safely and quickly.

Perfect, no, but not sure they are out to scam you
 
From my past experience, do not except the terms of having to pay return postage. Keep your item not as described claim open, eventually Ebay will send you out a return label, and they will bill the seller. You shouldn't have to have any responsibility for someone else's misleading listing. It doesn't hurt to speak with an ebay rep directly either. They are usually understanding, and helpful if it is truly a misleading listing. Enough complaints, and the seller will forced to change their practices.
 
jkilla said:
I have shopped with them a few times and have had a good experience.

They pretty much sell exclusively pfanstiehl stuff, however hearing that they use the JICO photos are very misleading.

They once forgot to send me something as part of my order and they shipped it to me right away at no extra charge.

I was also able to get a single, rare Piezo YM-320 cartridge from them, NOS and it arrived safely and quickly.

Perfect, no, but not sure they are out to scam you
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I've had nothing but good experiences with them as well and I have bought from them several times. I don't go to them for OEM or top quality equipment but for basic repair parts I've no complaints.

I had a look at the listing # and while they do have a picture that has a AT logo on in, they also use a generic one in the search result pic. And they say in large text text above the picture: "Generic replacement AUDIO TECHNICA ATN-13 stylus".

Yeah they probably made a mistake, and whether intentional or not, it doesn't look like a really serious one. I've seen lots of sellers do a lot worse.
 
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banyanleaf said:
I contacted the seller, waited and waited, no reply, then I escalated to eBay claim. Then I was asked to ship it back AT MY OWN COST and must have tracking information to get the refund.

Shipping to Canada with tracking? It is going to cost more than the whole purchase price. What a joke.

US buyers, think twice when you want to buy from needlestore for 3 reasons: 1) faulty advertising; 2) lack of communication; 3) costly return. I would only buy from American sellers from now on.
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See my dead thread on eBay's new returns policy. I'll bet you can work that claim and have them pay you for the stylus and shipping both ways, or get a refund of your bid and shipping paid. The seller is lowballing you on the return and I bet you can do much better.

i'll see if I can find an eBay link for you.

Montycat said:
And they say in large text text above the picture: "Generic replacement AUDIO TECHNICA ATN-13 stylus".

Yeah they probably made a mistake, and whether intentional or not, it doesn't look like a really serious one. I've seen lots of sellers do a lot worse.
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Well, if the listing says elliptical and they ship a conical, that's about as wrong as it can get. Most places would just send the right stylus and not sweat a $14.00 hit.
 
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majick47 said:
This is a good example for sticking with trusted sellers and doing your homework here on AK before buying anything audio related.
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I will sure second that........ Don't be shy about posting a question, about a vendor, you'll get lots of feedback here, for sure. I sure always ask, never been stung yet, knock, knock:yes:
 
boreas said:
Myneedlestore and needlestore are the names under which Normarh Canada sells on Amazon, eBay and perhaps other places. Normarh S.A.S. is a Colombian company that manufacturers, among other things, styli. By reputation, Normarh styli are of very poor quality. Given that myneedlestore is the Canadian arm of Normarh S.A.S., it seems likely that much or all of what they sell is Colombian and not Swiss or Japanese.

I don't actually know if I've ever owned a Normarh stylus but I've come across a couple that were of unknown origin and were really, really bad. Maybe they were Normarh. If so, I would never knowingly buy one for any reason.

John
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John,

I can confirm this. Last year I ordered a replacement stylus for a Shure M104E. The main photo looked like a red N92E generic stylus. However, the description shows a pale yellow (correct N104E color) photo with the correct diamond spec .2x.7 elliptical. Not knowing any better, I ordered it. What arrived in my mailbox was a Normarh stylus. It was indeed a yellow grip, but more of a caution sign yellow. Good thing I tried it on one of my expendable test records because it sounded hideous and caused noticeable damage to the test record. I later read about the problems with Normarh quality (too late). I trashed it immediately. Like the OP already noted, return postage is too expensive to return it for a refund. The listing is still up on the auction site. I just noticed that the recommended tracking force is 1.5 - 3 grams. It should be 1.25 grams to be a suitable replacement for the N104E. Oh well, live and learn.

I have found that stereoneedleslady is a reputable seller (no affiliation - just a happy customer). I have purchased numerous JICO made EVG needles with no problems. Fast shipping and responds to questions quickly. Recently, she exchanged a defective? Pfansteihl N91 for an EVG with no problems. (I was conducting an experiment of the performance difference between the two). She even told me she was thinking of discontinuing the Pfansteihl because of customer complaints. That tells me something about the quality differences of stylus manufacturers - and honest sellers....

Cheers,
David
 
Andyman said:
Well, if the listing says elliptical and they ship a conical, that's about as wrong as it can get. Most places would just send the right stylus and not sweat a $14.00 hit.
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"Wrong as it can get" would be ordering a stylus and being sent a dirty sock...or a bridge. ;)

And yeah, sorry, I missed the conical part.
 
Montycat said:
"Wrong as it can get" would be ordering a stylus and being sent a dirty sock...or a bridge. ;)
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Ha!!

brooklyn_bridge_wtc.jpg
 
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