Some advice on an ebay purchase, please? Item condition issue

[Keatah]

Doesn't ebay have a New(other) category? That means it's "new" to the seller, but the seller may have gotten the item from a refurb factory or someone else.

 

"New" is becoming rather ambiguous on ebay. And sometimes I will ask if the item came directly from 1 single factory where it was built, with no "refurb" departments or "factories", distributors, or 3rd party resellers involved.

 

This is especially true of HDD. Where a seller likes to purchase 50 HDDs from someone that is in the business of reformatting and zeroing out errors. To the seller, it is a "new" product - because he bought them from "refurb factory" that produces a product. This drive will not have come directly from Western Digital or Samsung, for example..

[icemanxp300]

On eBay nowadays, the seller BUYER is always right, especially when you have such ample documentation that this is "significantly not as described." Sellers can say "no returns" all they want, but eBay will overrule that to keep the store full of good stuff.

 

 

Fixed.

[Flojomojo]

Fixed.

Oops. I said the exact opposite of what I meant. Thanks, I fixed my original post too.

 

Ebay will almost always side with the buyer nowadays,

[Keatah]

I've had to contact ebay 5 times in the past 2 years about wonky sellers to make them do the right thing. And ebay always sided with me.

1- improperly packed CRT that was broken on arrival.

2- chips that were clearly not the number I ordered.

3- one time to coerce a seller into issuing return postage for a problem I've now long forgotten about.

4- two times for non-genuine item.

 

Thing that bothers me is when someone responds to communication after the sale and directly/indirectly acknowledges the problem, but when asked for refund they magically stop all emails and seem to disappear. It usually happens within hours, and is not likely due to some personal mis-fortune on their end.

 

No. You are not going to drop the issue and hope I go away.

 

In contrast, last month, I had to return a camera part, that was clearly cheaply molded and not genuine. To the seller's credit, the seller refunded the cost with no more trouble than an email. But overall I was dismayed that while the auction did list the part as repro, in seemingly hidden small print, it was of such low quality it looked partly heat-damaged when compared to the rest of the camera.

 

If the seller hopes the buyer is going to overlook small expenditures such as this, forget it. I'll ask for a refund/exchange on a $1.00 part if you (the seller) portrays it as being a quality item.

 

If it's cheap china parts, then, ok, it's understood you may get 2nd rate merchandise of not the best fit, or materials. Though I have been pleasantly surprised at the "cheap" electronics parts.

 

---

 

This "indifference" or "incompetence" or "apathy", whatever, seems to be more common among people selling one-off personal items. These one-off items seem to be the most difficult to exchange and are likely to need help from ebay mediation. On the other hand the "huge" big-ass powersellers tend to issue refunds instantly, some even don't ask for a return, especially for the cheap-o items.

[AMenard]

The last time I had trouble with a seller was for a badly packaged Teac cassette deck. The guy used a single layer of cheap bubble wrap in a tight cardboard box. When the deck got to me one corner was bashed in and one motor was torn off and loose inside the machine.

 

The guy seemed to be a "pro" at this since most of his replies to my complaint were what I would considered stock, multi paragraphs, legalese filled email. The guy even made legal threat if I wouldn't drop my claim. He even lied in his last email, telling me that ebay had told him he had won the case and that I'd be banned if I didn't drop my claim in the next 24h.

 

But what piss me off is that you can't leave a negative feedback after you've won your case. That transaction is locked. So bad sellers can, and do, continue to prey on people.

[Keatah]

Yes. Ebay has an image to protect too, you know. And other people may not be too picky about an item, just you. So why axe a seller prematurely if a complaint is coming from 1 person only.

 

Less conscientious people may be happy enough to simply have gotten their refund. Case closed. Or may be happy with a sub-standard item. Why stir the pot unnecessarily?

 

There's times I've ordered a complete vintage computer console with intent to throw it away after I've removed the single impossible-to-find-elsewhere part. I could've cared less the seller shipped it to me wrapped in a trash bag with no padding, and that keys were rattling, and the case split. I wanted a date-correct LS series chip, and that's what I got.

 

I might have gotten that TEAC deck, but just wanted some specific screw or the drive belt. Forget the rest.

 

So there's that.

Edited June 3, 2018 by Keatah

[0078265317]

New means new, not refurbished. Refurbished is refurbished, not new.

[karokoenig]

I dunno. Tiny scratches like that and a somewhat rough surface in some places might already have happened in the production line or packing plant. The surface texture in your photo 3 and 4 might also be a result of impurities in the plastic, or even a reaction of the plastic to sweaty fingerprints at any time between production of the unit and today. We're talking 30 years here. Material detoriation in the box isn't anything new in the retro scene. Extreme example: Acti-Plague on factory-sealed Activision carts.

 

I understand you paid a load of cash for this, but really in my opinion asking totally mint for anything that old is asking a bit much. Maybe your expectations were a tad high in the first place? There often is a discrepancy in perception between different people, and we collectors have a tendency to be an order of magnitude higher on the "picky" side than any sane person. Yes, there are idiot sellers and scammers out there. But there are also quite a few decent sellers who are just not prepared to deal with the expectations of some super anal high end collector. You mentioned yourself that the damage is rather subtle, and you had to look somewhat hard to notice it. Maybe the seller just didn't look hard enough before describing the item.

 

Not saying you are one of those. And even if I did, I should probably add: "We all are, to some degree". Just pointing out that in a highly specialized scene like ours, the language is different from the outside world. So are definitions of condition. And when you look at it from the outside, both sides may just be right.

[icemanxp300]

Material detoriation in the box isn't anything new in the retro scene. Extreme example: Acti-Plague on factory-sealed Activision carts.

 

Usually deterioration is a result of poor storage. In those cases the items should not be listed as new condition because they are not. An item whether used or not, should represent original released condition to be marketed as new. If damage has occurred over the years it is no longer in new condition and should be listed as new w/damage or some similar wording.

 

Op has made it quite clear he paid a premium for a "new" condition item not an unused subpar condition item.

[karokoenig]

Poor storage conditions (read moisture here) should have affected the cardboard outside box first and foremost, which, according to the OP is in good condition. Plastic detoriation is a completely different beast. Styrofoam (especially the old stuff) releases gases, parts of the case plastic could have submicroscopic gas bubbles or other impurities in it. This raise the reactive surface of that area by orders of magnitude. Something as simple as touching the plastic with your fingers adds all sorts of stuff: salts, water, some organic material, bacteria - you name it. Lots of potential catalysts for spontaneous corrosion. I have a Pong console which is in very good shape, spotless even. Except where the RF cable has touched the case during storage. The volatiles from the cable isolation have literally melted dents into the case over the years.

 

My post was more a general statement about how different people define terms. If the seller has checked the items in the box for their condition, then the term "new" doesn't apply anymore anyway, right? If the seller even states that he has done just that - which is apparently the case - well, then no one can consider it "new" under such a strict definition. Also, "new" doesn't mean "flawless". There are always a ton of tiny flaws on anything that just rolled off the production line. You just have to look hard enough. We are talking about a piece of electronics that was built to be handled by kids in their room, kicked around, carts inserted with butterfingers and whatever your imagination can come up with. We have no idea how strict the quality control criteria were back then. For all we know, a significant portion of produced units could have left the factory already with small scratches here and there. Today, a small community of people treats these items as if they were the Mona Lisa. I can't help but notice a slight disconnect there.

 

Again - I'm not blaming the OP. A scratch is a scratch, and they are there, no doubt. The question is one of proportionality: how closely does a seller have to look at his wares in order to confidently claim they're good as new. In this case (great box, great styrofoam, stapled bags, etc.), I wouldn't blame him for overlooking what the OP described. That doesn't save him from a possible (partial) refund, of course, because technically, the item is not as described. But I wouldn't blame the seller for saying to himself "A refund for THAT? Wow...".

[AMenard]

Yes. Ebay has an image to protect too, you know. And other people may not be too picky about an item, just you. So why axe a seller prematurely if a complaint is coming from 1 person only.

 

Less conscientious people may be happy enough to simply have gotten their refund. Case closed. Or may be happy with a sub-standard item. Why stir the pot unnecessarily?

 

There's times I've ordered a complete vintage computer console with intent to throw it away after I've removed the single impossible-to-find-elsewhere part. I could've cared less the seller shipped it to me wrapped in a trash bag with no padding, and that keys were rattling, and the case split. I wanted a date-correct LS series chip, and that's what I got.

 

I might have gotten that TEAC deck, but just wanted some specific screw or the drive belt. Forget the rest.

 

So there's that.

Now I've taken the habit of specifying to the seller how I want it packed and shipped (at my expense and politely of course). I understand why you may not care, but i rarely do what you do. I mostly buy to use and I'm presently out of a tape deck with a dozen brand new, sealed, tape gathering dust because of that guy :-)

[icemanxp300]

Poor storage conditions (read moisture here) should have affected the cardboard outside box first and foremost, which, according to the OP is in good condition.

 

Yes and in my non-trusting assumption this was a pieced together set so nothing in my opinion originally came in this exact box from the factory. Therefore talking about how the system box should have deteriorated before the system itself is irrelevant. When you have blatantly obvious discrepancies on how these systems came from the factory (such as mis-colored twist ties) it is quite a good assumption the box was stored in a different environment than the system.

 

We are talking about a piece of electronics that was built to be handled by kids in their room, kicked around, carts inserted with butterfingers and whatever your imagination can come up with.

 

and this unit most likely was lol.

[HoshiChiri]

I dunno. Tiny scratches like that and a somewhat rough surface in some places might already have happened in the production line or packing plant. The surface texture in your photo 3 and 4 might also be a result of impurities in the plastic, or even a reaction of the plastic to sweaty fingerprints at any time between production of the unit and today. We're talking 30 years here. Material detoriation in the box isn't anything new in the retro scene. Extreme example: Acti-Plague on factory-sealed Activision carts.

Here, let me show you something: I bought this copy of Tokobot Plus on Ebay recently. Looks fine, doesn't it?

 

Here's a photo I took of it just now- see that scruffy scratch by the spine?

 

 

 

That's all over the left-hand side of the box. It's hard to photograph becuase you can only see it when it catches the light. Sound familiar?

 

Then I tilt the console under a good light source. I see...it's hard to describe, but I can only describe it as a kind of scuffing. Very small, but all over the sides of the console. Both top and lower halves, the grey and white portions. They are not scratches, and you can't feel them. You can't even see them unless, like I did, you tilt it under the light.

 

Like I said- I don't know if the seller is intentionally trying to be a sneak, or if someone lied to him about the system's origins. All I'm saying is, I know shelf wear, and that console has shelf wear. It's not new by any definition. For me, it's not an issue- I bought a used game, so extreme shelf wear is not a concern (and this is one of the nastier cases I've had for it). But the OP paid a premium for a new unit, and didn't get one- all that remains is, is it worth having a used, but complete-in-box version of this console instead of a new one? And that's up to the OP.

[atarilovesyou]

This resolved over the weekend, guys. I don't have time to go through the posts from last time I checked, but will update tomorrow. Thanks for the insight.

[icemanxp300]

I'm going to re-buy it, swap the case on the nes, get some factory ties and cash in LOL.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I prefer my consoles rough around the edges. Scuff marks. Well loved. If it's dirty, I clean it a bit. I do have a boxed NES and I'm grateful. But the pin connector was janky. And the NES Zapper, and the Mario/Duck Hunt, were missing. Took me thirty minutes to get the game working. I went to GameXChange and got the missing accessories. And a bonanza of game carts. That was 2003. It's been my daily banger for the past 15 years (well until the AVS came out), and was someone else's daily banger long before.

 

It's got a Lik Sang sticker shaped like an NES controller. I stuck it on there in 2005 before they weng under and I'd dare not remove it now. I stupidly clipped pin 4 of the wrong chip when trying to do the lockout disable. I resoldered the pin with a glob of solder, then cut pin 4 on the correct chip. The red led faded and eventually burned out. I modded it with a blue led and shiny red volume pot for the powerpak audio mod. I installed a copyusb, and stupidly cracked the bottom casing trying to drill the hole. It's got battle scars, and I backed the blw kickstarter. The blue Led was obnoxiously bright so I subbed it with a 405nm violet one. Blw finally arrived and I installed it without issue. I stuck retrobit decals on it. Then ripped them off. Now it has tasteful Famicom SMB artwork on it. The art came with a sticker set included in a 45rpm vinyl from Japan with the overworld theme song on it. The cover unfolded to reveal a poster of the smb famicom boxart, which I lovingly have framed on my wall.

 

My nes has been through hell and back. It has battle scars, but I love it. Every console I've ever bought second hand has a story. Do you want yours to be "someone put me on a shelf and never played me?"

 

Not mine. No console of mine has a story that ends like that...

[youxia]

Every console I've ever bought second hand has a story. Do you want yours to be "someone put me on a shelf and never played me?"

 

A-men. It's a good angle, apart from "so much cheaper".

[icemanxp300]

Every console I've ever bought second hand has a story. Do you want yours to be "someone put me on a shelf and never played me?"

 

Not mine. No console of mine has a story that ends like that...

 

I'm looking at over 30 of those stories right now for Atari, neo geo, nes, snes, genesis, master system, sega cd, 32x, gamecube, wii and so on. That doesn't include handhelds if they count

[atarilovesyou]

Wow, so many good points brought up and personal stories and experience Thanks guys, exactly what I was looking for.

 

Ok, so here's how it turned out: I ended up keeping the set with a substantial discount. The End.

 

Now for the long story:

 

Everybody looks at these cases from their own viewpoint and mine is no different. But you just have to look at backgrounds and it usually makes sense. Iceman is an ebay seller, and has a massive amount of scummy buyers who have tried to rip him off (I'm probably understating, Ice) Keatah was probably like me once and has 'seen the light' so to speak Kosmic sees the value in an item with history (ie: 'battle damage' of the experiences its had). I'm a mix of all that, but still leaning towards being a 'picky condition guy'...for some things. Ok, most things I could go on, that's another thread.

 

So after a quick couple messages exchanged, the seller said he was willing to work out a partial refund. I gave him my offer, he responded, and we came to an agreement. As I said, it was substantially less money. Almost half. At that price, I was willing to overlook the cosmetic issues.

 

As previously mentioned, had it been 'new' (as it was advertised, and as I was fairly certain before buying, it was) I would have gladly paid the asking price. Well...maybe not gladly Is anybody ever happy about paying on the higher range for a collectible? But for me, it would have been worth it. I should also note: I followed the listing for six months before I moved on it.

 

Here's my thoughts on condition listings on ebay, and perhaps why people had best be like Tanooki mentioned above: don't talk 'up' the condition of an item. It can only end in problems for the seller (and buyer, to some degree, but mainly the seller). Like Flomojo and Ice said, ebay is currently a BUYER favoured service. Absolutely true. I don't even know why a seller can put "no returns accepted" when the 30 day Ebay Satisfaction Guarantee is applicable (and another 180 days worth of protection if using paypal!). I don't feel that it's a scenario that was unwarranted. How many times i was jerked around by dishonest sellers on ebay, and I'm sure others, brought it to this state. Once upon a time, I was quite hesitant to purchase certain things specifically because there were dishonest sellers, and it was a crapshoot to see how you would be treated. But personally, I think the scales are now far too in the direction of the buyer, to the point where I think prices of items have actually gone UP across the board to make up for the multitude of slimy BUYERS who try to get away with (sales) murder. All manner of ill behaviour, you all know what I'm talking about.

 

So ebay has 'new' and 'like new(other)' as far as I know. The 'new' moniker was what my item was described as. It was what gave me a sense of certainty and protection, as I literally had nothing to lose but time and a few days without my money if it turned out to be a scam. So when I eventually got together enough cash, I moved on it. Although it was described 'new', anybody could see it was opened. I agree, if it's opened, it's no longer new. I would have personally listed it as 'like new,other' with a description at the least. Were it my item (and if it ever goes up for sale again), I would list it as 'used'....with plenty of photos, and a detailed description of what the item's condition is. Only a sealed item gets a 'new' rating for me.

 

This item was, whether I like to admit it or not (thanks Ice, lol) was used. I can't remember what my earlier post said, so I'll paraphrase: this NES CIB control deck had three owners, then me makes the fourth. If I believe the seller, it was a gift that was never given to the intended recipient (I do love a good background story for items, and I'm sure sellers know this 'tactic'...anyways), and then was stored in a closet for decades. Then it was given away (or sold) to another person who says the item was never powered up. Then, it was used in exchange for a modern video game system to the ebay seller, who took the pictures and posted it up. It could be 100% bull, or maybe not. What I can say is this, for those interested (take a look at my OP for more details of condition, pics)...I think that the seller must have powered up the unit to see if worked. He runs a business, that's his livelihood. To not do so would be silly, in my opinion. In any case, he took the NES out of the box, opened the foam, snapped some pics of it, put it back in the box and listed it on ebay. The photos showed exactly what I told you. No close ups, not that they would show the cosmetic issues I mentioned anyway.

 

The only way I would have considered this 'like new' would be: after the original person gave it to the second owner, that owner left it in a closet for another X years, and then brought it to the store, where THAT buyer also did not take anything out of the box and just list it on ebay. I doubt that's what happened, for a few reasons: the cosmetic damage to the sides of the unit (very strange, I'll never figure out what happened: the bottom? Flawless. Same as the top. Only the SIDES...weird!), the fact that the manual had clear water damage on the top back pages (tell tale sign of once wet, then dried), and two of the twist ties for the RF switch and AV cables were not black but blue and white. Also, the AV cable had no original baggie.

 

Ice is probably right: this unit was pieced together by someone. It's impossible to tell what parts, and by whom. The controllers, the power supply, even the little rabbit ears adapters, all in original baggies and twist ties. The baggies for the console are intact, and have english and french (again, it's a Mattel distributed Canadian NES)...I can't say if the American NES units had bilingual packaging, but I would assume not. Or if it was, Spanish would be the second language, not French. Note, there's a similar CIB NES on ebay right now that has the console in a biligual plastic bag, but the system is an American version (the box, and bottom of the console show it's a US product).

 

So this unit was clearly used...but was it powered up and PLAYED? Not by these controllers, they're too new. And not by that power supply, either. And when I mentioned the 'new electronics smell' that the NES had, it literally does have it (I backed that up by a secondary nose from a friend ) ...so that deck is, however it looks on the outside, 'new'. And I powered it all up and tested it, everything works flawlessly.

 

Whoever put this package together probably has all the original parts. My hunch. They probably lost the bag for the AV cables (it happens), and the twist ties, ditto. But there's no reason to think this was pieced together from a bunch of different NES systems. Maybe, but I don't buy it. The box has a few dings, and the original sales sticker that shows the right date and store from Canada. The foam is perfect. The baggies that are there are correct. The only sticking point is the manuals: it came with three, the user manual (again, bilingual, oversized, the right one I remember from BITD), and two posters: a large ROB the robot one, as big as the manual, and a smaller more modern "now you're playing with power" poster you'd typically find in a Nintendo published game. But...it was sold in 89, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a separate "seal of quality" insert that should have been there, and a subscription insert for Nintendo Power (possibly even the Fun Club newsletter, as I think my unit had way back). I'm not sure, and I don't know who would have that knowledge. It's pretty picky stuff. I intend to find out at some stage.

 

So that's that for now. I still overpaid, sure: but I can tell you that I haven't seen anything like it before, during or since...unless it's a graded box that truly was 'sealed'...for thousands of dollars, which I'm not interested in. Note, the NES was never truly sealed as it had a cardboard flap on the side. You'd most likely tell by the feel from opening it if you were the first, but there was no plastic tape on it. Not these mid-life versions, anyways. I'll always be on the lookout for an absolute mint Mattel deck, but will be probably near impossible to find on its own. If it's that mint, it's usually because the whole thing is mint. And I'm happy enough with the condition of everything else to leave it as it is. Maybe those extra paper inserts, but that's it.

 

A note on over expectation: I have a few items that I have purchased 'new' on ebay, and they were in fact, New old stock. And as long as it's in the package, the only thing that will deteriorate are foam (very slow) and soft cushion plastic stuff...like headphone covers, those ear pieces. Those disintegrate over ten years. And someone above mentioned, the foam can react with plastic cables. Absolutely, and that happened on my sealed Colecovision expansion modules that I opened: where the cables touch the foam, it 'melts' into it. Very strange. I'm sure ambient heat has something to do with it, but time is time.

 

But the plastic on those items was all perfect, just as it had been opened back in the day. That's what I was (sadly) expecting with my NES deck. Not today, but at some point down the road. At some point maybe I'll put up a collector condition thread...I am really picky about certain things. And I don't mind if I was the one who did the wear and tear..I just don't want to pay for it like that out of the box, is what it comes down to.

 

Thanks for reading if you made it this far. No more apologies from me on length: I like to read, and can type quickly, so if you want and like to read, I'm sure you're happy Another five minutes well spent on the shitter If not, I'm sorry there's no Coles notes. Actually, I will go up and sum up in one sentence, just for you guys, ok? OTAY!

[atarilovesyou]

I prefer my consoles rough around the edges. Scuff marks. Well loved. If it's dirty, I clean it a bit. I do have a boxed NES and I'm grateful. But the pin connector was janky. And the NES Zapper, and the Mario/Duck Hunt, were missing. Took me thirty minutes to get the game working. I went to GameXChange and got the missing accessories. And a bonanza of game carts. That was 2003. It's been my daily banger for the past 15 years (well until the AVS came out), and was someone else's daily banger long before.

 

It's got a Lik Sang sticker shaped like an NES controller. I stuck it on there in 2005 before they weng under and I'd dare not remove it now. I stupidly clipped pin 4 of the wrong chip when trying to do the lockout disable. I resoldered the pin with a glob of solder, then cut pin 4 on the correct chip. The red led faded and eventually burned out. I modded it with a blue led and shiny red volume pot for the powerpak audio mod. I installed a copyusb, and stupidly cracked the bottom casing trying to drill the hole. It's got battle scars, and I backed the blw kickstarter. The blue Led was obnoxiously bright so I subbed it with a 405nm violet one. Blw finally arrived and I installed it without issue. I stuck retrobit decals on it. Then ripped them off. Now it has tasteful Famicom SMB artwork on it. The art came with a sticker set included in a 45rpm vinyl from Japan with the overworld theme song on it. The cover unfolded to reveal a poster of the smb famicom boxart, which I lovingly have framed on my wall.

 

My nes has been through hell and back. It has battle scars, but I love it. Every console I've ever bought second hand has a story. Do you want yours to be "someone put me on a shelf and never played me?"

 

Not mine. No console of mine has a story that ends like that...

 

I also have my daily use consoles. But this particular type of NES is the one I had back in the day, and I wanted it as pristine as when I had it then. I do tend to treat my systems with far too much care, though...I just want them to last as long as possible. But my 'beater' units all work great. For display purposes, I also like to keep them looking quite new. But like Keatah mentioned, that can really take up a lot of mental energy. A thread in itself, really. Thanks for your insights!

[Tanooki]

For what it is worth I read it and agree with you entirely. It just makes more sense than other possibilities, not that they're impossible though.

 

I did the same kind of thing, mostly local, over a period of like maybe 6 months a year ago. Started out I found an excellent box with the interior foam, the UHF and mono cables still unopened, then the big bag with the warranty, posters, manuals, etc in there but that's it for maybe $10 or so. I was determined to piece together excellence. Dumb luck struck a week later a totally destroyed box for another $10 had me a pristine console and AC adapter. After that I went online and snapped up the matching controllers and orange zapper in a bundle, then another order for a SMB/DH cart, manual, and sleeve. I don't have a few twisties and missing a couple bags, but overall given it's from around 1988/89 it's as good as it will get without buying new and it runs perfect and I was $50 into it in the end. I did research online to match sure I'd match everything exactly from the production run for that time, and if I could do it, anyone could piece one together even like the one in this story here if that is the case.

[spacecadet]

I don't even know why a seller can put "no returns accepted" when the 30 day Ebay Satisfaction Guarantee is applicable (and another 180 days worth of protection if using paypal!).

 

They're different policies... I put "no returns" on all my listings but I'm definitely prepared to take something back if it ends up breaking in transit or something. But putting "no returns" makes it clear that there's no "try-before-you-buy" thing going on - you're not going to buy something, use it for 7 or 14 days and only then decide if you want to keep it. You're going to get it, test it out as soon as reasonably possible and if it works, it's yours.

 

The Ebay guarantee is not a "satisfaction" guarantee, it's a listing accuracy guarantee. They call it the "Money Back Guarantee"; not "satisfaction". So if a seller describes something as working and it isn't, or something as new when it's used, you can get your money back. But if a seller puts a return policy of their own on something, it just opens up a can of worms and people think they can return something for basically any reason, even if you try to be really specific with your policy wording.

 

Basically, I look at it the opposite way you do. Given that Ebay guarantees returns if something isn't as specified in the listing, there's no reason for a seller to have a return policy of their own. There's no reason a seller *wouldn't* say "no returns" as a blanket policy. Ebay's policy already covers the only situations in which most sellers would want to accept returns. A seller only needs to specify other terms if they accept returns for other reasons, and I don't know why any seller of retro game stuff would do that. I'm not Blockbuster; I don't rent games out...

 

This doesn't really have anything to do with your specific case, but I guess I'm just trying to answer your general question.

[atarilovesyou]

For what it is worth I read it and agree with you entirely. It just makes more sense than other possibilities, not that they're impossible though.

 

I did the same kind of thing, mostly local, over a period of like maybe 6 months a year ago. Started out I found an excellent box with the interior foam, the UHF and mono cables still unopened, then the big bag with the warranty, posters, manuals, etc in there but that's it for maybe $10 or so. I was determined to piece together excellence. Dumb luck struck a week later a totally destroyed box for another $10 had me a pristine console and AC adapter. After that I went online and snapped up the matching controllers and orange zapper in a bundle, then another order for a SMB/DH cart, manual, and sleeve. I don't have a few twisties and missing a couple bags, but overall given it's from around 1988/89 it's as good as it will get without buying new and it runs perfect and I was $50 into it in the end. I did research online to match sure I'd match everything exactly from the production run for that time, and if I could do it, anyone could piece one together even like the one in this story here if that is the case.

 

Great story! I'm thinking to do the same thing, but at some point cost is going to have be a factor. A MINT NES for 10 bucks?!?!?...some guys get all the breaks Might I ask where you got the info for what came included in the boxed sets of NES? I've tried Nintendo Age but didn't get far. Mostly, I'm looking for what documentation came with the consoles. Also, I see dozens of different ways that the items were packaged in the foam...some look like they make sense, but others, not so much. It depends on the foam inserts, but rarely do I see two the same. And the unboxing videos do little to help as most of those are folks just opening up what they have, not a 'true' unboxing where they crack the seal on a console...that would be fun to watch

 

 

The Ebay guarantee is not a "satisfaction" guarantee, it's a listing accuracy guarantee. They call it the "Money Back Guarantee"; not "satisfaction".

 

Never really looked at the ebay return policy in that way, lol...makes perfect sense. But let me tell you, and I probably don't have to, but there are TONS of improperly categorized items as far as description goes. In that way alone, I had nothing to lose.

[Tanooki]

It is a nice story I guess, for me it was more just a pair of really nice back to back(within a week or two) coincidences that paid off. The NES was surprising. It looked banged up, but it was just nasty on the outside, oddly quite clean inside, so it was superficial ugly that made it look grim. No surprise the box was not intact, foam was chipped broke and battered as was the box. Water damage, light bleaching, stains, it was horrid. I didn't even want it in my car and pitched it taking the system+power plug and set it on the floor mat. I just had to go and buy the other parts, made no sense to wait other than taking about a work week to find the best deal looking at sold values to snap up the accessories and game. The most remarkable was the box and the unused untouched paperwork and video parts inside that.

 

Cracking one open is kind of special, but considering Nintendo didn't really tape their first two consoles at launch shut, anything can be left up to interpretation of trusting something being new. Cracking open something new that's tape sealed would be the mid 90s like a Virtual Boy or N64 and after time frame. From a museum preservation stand point it would be nice to see a true virgin system layout in the box if someone was looking to recreate it.

[atarilovesyou]

I think the unopened boxes for the NES are recognizeable, but the only REAL way to know...is to open them Cracking that 'brand new' cardboard fold has a distinct feel.

 

And the later post 90 boxes in the new style, they have a flap that definitely shows if it was opened before. I've seen one intact, it's easy to see.

 

I wonder...where could we find info for what documentation paperwork came with which boxed set? Possibly a thread derailment, but if anyone knows, please feel free to let me know.