Jimi said, "Are you experienced? have you ever been experienced?" Tell us about your eBay from hell experience and what became of it! I have a few good ones I will share after a bit.....

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Never had one. Whenever I ebay, I contact the seller, offer to buy private for cash and thereby avoid paypal fees. Then I inspect the item in person before I hand over any moolah.

There have been times when I've said, "you gotta be joking mate" and walked away

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No no and no

I won a 96 Twin and when it shipped UPS played football with it. Cracked the cab and broke the pots off the chassie. I got my shipping cost back and had it repaired and now its a great amp. I think I let the guy off easy but I got the amp for a good price and didn't cost too much to repair it.

Never had a bad experience on ebay.

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Current Gear: Ron Kirn Barnbuster Tele,
Marshall: 1971 SuperLead 100>1997 1960-TV, bunch of pedals
and a 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera coupe named Veronica

As some of you know, I love Strat Plus guitars. I bought one off eBay from a guy in Altoona PA. He failed to disclose that the guitar had a chip on the backside that was the size of a quarter all the way down into the wood. I was really disappointed, to say the least. I told the guy he was not very honest to sell a guitar and not show that in the pictures or to disclose it in the description. He told me to send it back and he would refund my money. I paid for the guitar with a certified bank check.

A couple weeks went by and no refund. I emailed him and even called his home and left messages. No reply. Finally I called a friend who was a private detective and told him what was going on. He decided to spoof the guy, so he called the number and told the guy he was a private detective hired by me about the guitar, and that he was on the case. It worked.....kind of. The guy emailed and said a money order was in the mail...

Well another two weeks went by and nothing. So I emailed several times and he told me he sent the money order, that it must have been lost in the mail and that he had proof that he sent it. After more pressure he emailed a pict of the receipt from a credit union money order for the amount of the refund. One mistake he made was to disclosed the name of the credit union, which was connected with the place he worked. I called the credit union and told the lady that this guy said he sent this but I thought he was lying. After getting the guys name she told me she was the one who issued the MO. She gave me the main credit union number and told me to ask for such and such a person.

I followed through and emailed the copy of the pict to the person at the main credit union. They did some research and said the MO had cleared and they had a copy of the one that was cashed. Here is what the guy did. He made out the money order to his girl friend and made sure that the carbon copy was not under the MO. Then he wrote my name on the receipt! He got the cash and he has a receipt for me...

I called a detective at the police deptment in his city and told the guy what was up. This was a felony as it was interstate mail fraud. I emailed the guy and told him he was caught....andbwas facing a felony...and then the detective called. The next thing I know is the guy emailed me and said my refund was in the mail and extra for the shipping back!

I did not press charges but got my money back by priority mail in 3 days! Man, some scammers!!!! That is just one experience.....

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

had it been me, he would be a soap chaser for a guy named bubba right now and seeing life through bars. i do not play games like this.
letting him off just gave him opportunity to go do this to somebody else.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Jeezez.....That's intense...I dont have any because buying from the other side of the pond down here i'll only buy off a power seller!!!

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Oh, if it would have been realistic to do prosecute, I would have loved too. People need to be held accountable for their actions. BUT, I grew up around law and lawyers and I know the system. First of all the guy lived in PA and I in Idaho, the price on the guitar was around $600, and to press charges with the distance and the investment involved was just not feasible. To take time out my my busy schedule, pay for travel to PA and to invest hours of my time, just to have a court slap his hands and tell me "He did reimburse your money, right?" Well it just was not worth it..... In some ways I think the guy was a young kid, (around 25) who was not a real pro at this, was trying to pull a fast one and got caught. I hope there was a little bit of a lesson learned from it as it was.

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

not had one, maybe you should be more careful who you buy off and sell to...

About 10 years ago I had 4 bad experiences within a few months of each other and swore off eBay for life. I don't even browse anymore and haven't for years. I just no longer have any interest. Upon reflection of those experiences I realize I was prolly expecting too much. After all it is impossible to guarantee a good buying experience when you purchase something before you examine it.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

The biggest problem with eBay (IMO) is all the counterfeits and fakes. It is a problem on CL, too. To save a few bucks I was going to buy a used Gibson Les Paul on CL. I did not want to go the eBay route as I wanted to see and play it before buying. After studying up on counterfeit Les Pauls, the first two I inquired about were counterfeits. The guys who were selling them seemed legitimately surprised when I showed them why their guitars were fakes, likely duped themselves. Enough of that ... I bought mine at GC where I know it was made in Nashville ... with 0 miles on the odometer, too.

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

This isn't guitar-related, but I have had only one negative experience with eBay.

In December of 2006, I bought a DVD of the brilliant Russian comedy The Diamond Arm from a seller called creator_2000. The DVD I received was a bootleg, so I requested a refund. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and gave him neutral feedback. He blasted me with the only negative feedback I have ever received.

I complained to eBay and got his shop shut down, but he is probably still out there suckering somebody somewhere.

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I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.

I listed a car on eBay motors many years ago....it came down to the final few minutes and this crazy girl and her mother kept going against each other raising the bids to WAY more than what a new car would cost!

So, after talking (phone, emails didn't help) with a rep at eBay, it was ironed out and the girl ended up buying the car for a mutually agreed upon price.

This goes back about 8 or 9 years ago and I will never put a car for auction again for many reasons (increased fees, lunatic bidders, crazy questions, etc).

Live and learn I guess.

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

This one has a real good ending. I had a American Standard neck that I did not need so I decided to list it on ebay. First thing I did was put it on the bench and checked the truss rod—it turned easy each direction. If you know me, you know I am OCD about things. Anyhow, listed it and it sold.

The guy got the neck and then emailed me and told me I sold him a neck with a stripped truss rod nut. When I emailed him back and said, "No way, I checked it before I listed it"....he called me a liar and wanted to return it and to get a complete refund. He sent it back and sure enough, there were metal filing all over inside the truss rod hole and it was stripped—that bugger... I told him he ruined it, and was wanting me to eat the neck and that no way I would do that because it was a matter of principle. So he opened a claim against me.

I called eBay and talked to them about it. They told me to call PayPal.... then that person directed me to a PayPal manager in Illinois. I called this guy and long story short, he told me to make a compete refund to the buyer for the neck and made sure I never got a negative feedback (somehow), then they also gave me a complete refund (including my shipping costs) for the neck and let me keep it too boot. I called the guy at PayPal and ask, Why would they do this? His answer? "Well, you have done a lot of business with us" (telling me exactly how much too the penny) and went on to say, "and we don;t want to loose you as a customer." I was blown away. Ended up selling the neck on eBay, letting everyone know the nut was stripped for a little over $100 on top of it....

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

Well just has a real big one. Bought a guitar off eBay (Strat Plus) and the guy stated: "Pristine condition.  There is not one visible mark on the neck or body.  Beautiful 1989 USA made Stratocaster Plus." I paid $850 plus $50 shipping which is a fair market value for a guitar like this in good condition. When I received the guitar it was poorly packed. On inspection it was obvious that the guitar was not "pristine." For a collector such as myself, words like "minty" "pristine" "98% out of 100%" indicates a very clean guitar with perhaps some superficial scratches and maybe in need of cleaning.

Turns out there were big cracks in the neck socket on both sides and gouging on the fretboard down into the wood, which was discolored by dirt. Also a few dings on the end of the headstock. There was also chip on the lower edge near the pickguard that was touched up with blue paint. This chip is about 3/4 long and 1/2 inch wide and down into the wood. There is a dent on the back as well and smaller one on top. Here are just a few samples. Does this look "PRISTINE"?





Too make it worse, when I tried to communicate with the guy he insulted me every way possible. He continued to accuse and used name calling, saying I was trying to get the guitar for less money. After seeing the pictures he called me a jerk and several other adjectives that I never use in dealing with people. I felt it was a compliment when he called me a "punk jerk." i think I am too old to be a punk! LOL! He admitted the cracks but said they were just finish cracks and no big deal. He accused me of taking the guitar apart, trying to rip him off and on and on. Truth is, my patience was tested to say the least!

All thought this ordeal, I was polite, kind and respectful to this individual. never call him names or got angry. I tried to be kind and reason with him. I finally just gave up and turned it over to eBay buyer protection. OK, I won a claim with eBay and he had to refund my money and pay shipping both directions. NOW, he has relisted the guitar, barely changed the auction description and is going to do it all over again to someone else. A friend emailed him through the new auction and asked if there were stress cracks in the neck socket. His answer? NO!

Here is the NEW auction number. 190564788763 Maybe one of you should buy and have fun like me! Or better yet, ask him some questions.

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com