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eBay Still Sucks Monkey Balls


Albert

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So, two more auctions to report where I'm not too happy. The first is relevant to classic gaming, and was an auction for 484 empty Atari 2600 carts, with the labels and boards removed. Perfect for homebrewing, right? I won the auction for $58.89 plus $43.35 "USPS Parcel Post" shipping. I received the package today, only to find that all 484 carts were shoved into one large box with no packing material whatsoever, and the box was split badly in several places. Frankly, I'm amazed the box made it to me without completely disintegrating.

 

First, the auction:

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 1403770993271?ff3=2&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&camp

 

Now, some pictures:

 

carts_box_1.jpg

 

carts_box_2.jpg

 

carts_box_3.jpg

 

carts_box_4.jpg

 

This last picture shows the carts inside the box. Because there was no packing material and likely aggravated by the sides of the box splitting and making the carts inside "looser", the carts rubbed together quite a bit during their journey. All the light areas you see on the carts are where the carts rubbed together. The carts all have a gritty feeling as a result (from the plastic dust) and basically the entire lot is unusable for me as far as turning them into homebrew games is concerned.

 

carts_box_5.jpg

 

I will probably just trash the entire box of 484 carts and take it as another example of how to stay away from eBay. Basically for $102 I ended up with pretty much no carts I can use. I have written to the seller asking for at least a partial refund. I have not left feedback yet.

 

Unrelated to this auction is another I won for two Intel Wireless network cards:

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 1803797661291?ff3=2&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&camp

 

The auction description states that "FREE antennas" are included in the package. The cards arrived today (taking several weeks from Hong Kong) and of course...no antennas to be found. Just wrote the seller stating that no antennas were in the package and please send me some now, thank you very much.

 

Great, just noticed the seller is away until February 19th, so I have to wait at least another nine days before the seller will even see my message.

 

:x :x :x :x

 

..Al

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How in the heck did those cartridges get so nasty? Looks like someone drug them around for decades to dusty/sandy flea markets. They look all rubbed to hell! Awesome score otherwise, besides UPS/USPS almost ruining the box. I wonder what the guy did with the PCB's for these, why he stripped the labels off, what he intended to do with them and if there were any gems besides commons (Quadruns, Waterworlds, etc.) lol

 

Oh - I bought a wireless "airport" card for a PowerMac off ePay recently. Guy claimed it was 100% compatible. Nope, sorry. System profile doesn't even see the card at all and the pins don't line up exactly right in the PCI port either. There goes another $25 down the drain!

 

Re: the wireless guy.... convenient that you have to wait since he does have a 7 day return policy...

Edited by save2600
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Now that's just plain careless. If you're going to go to the trouble of emptying and stripping the labels off of all those cartridges, how much extra trouble would it be to pack them properly? The cartridge shells I ship are always wrapped in plastic, inside a box lined with bubble wrap, to try to prevent just this kind of thing from happening. That box also looks like it was badly overstuffed, which might have been why it burst open en route.

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Convenient that you have to wait since he does have a 7 day return policy...

Not worth the trouble returning unless he refunds my shipping as well.

 

How in the heck did those cartridges get so nasty? Looks like someone drug them around for decades to dusty/sandy flea markets. They look all rubbed to hell! Awesome score otherwise, besides UPS/USPS almost ruining the box. I wonder what the guy did with the PCB's for these... and what games they once were.

They got this way because he shoved 484 carts in a weak box, the box split open on both sides and the carts were much looser as a result. This allowed them to rub together frantically during the journey (on trucks), and you end up with the pictured result. If smaller boxes were used inside the larger box, or the carts were shipped in at least two separate boxes, they would have done much better.

 

Oh - I bought a wireless "airport" card for a PowerMac off ePay recently. Guy claimed it was 100% compatible. Nope, sorry. System profile doesn't even see the card at all and the pins don't line up exactly right in the PCI port either. There goes another $25 down the drain!

You have to be careful with non-Apple hardware on eBay. There is a TON of "compatible" hardware for Macs (especially laptops) and I'm basically skeptical of it all. I haven't tried this network card yet (it's for a tiny Acer Revo machine), but there's no point in even opening up the case until I have the antennas.

 

..Al

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I see that ebay is now moving along to sucking different species' balls. First donkey, now monkey. What's up next, elephant? They just suck all sorts of balls.

 

 

EDIT: Well, I tried to do the embedded media thing, didn't work :?

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Those carts look awful. Are you sure its not a bait and switch? Do any of the ripped off end labels match the ones in the auction photo?

It's not a bait and switch, that's just what happens when carts rub together for periods of time. Especially in such a dense box of carts. It took days for those carts to get here, presumably on a truck (Parcel Post), and given the condition of the box it's about what I expect. Properly packaged, they would have had very little of that damage. I've received thousands of carts in the mail and very rarely do I see anything like this.

 

..Al

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It never ceases to amaze me how I can get something shipped from the south end of nowhere and it comes in excellent shape, and something coming from just a jaunt down the interstate looks like it spent time under the wheels of a Mack truck. Overall, I have had good luck with Ebay, minus a cart that never arrived, and anyone who has bought from me knows I use a half-roll of packing tape to ensure the structural integrity of the box.

 

The problem is in those trying to make a quick buck. Out of the select few that list in our genre who are not excessively prideful in their price-setting, there are those who just get the money, throw it into a convenient box, and cast it to the winds. I once paid priority shipping only to get my carts a month later in a shoddily taped box sent via media mail.

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It's not a bait and switch, that's just what happens when carts rub together for periods of time. Especially in such a dense box of carts. It took days for those carts to get here, presumably on a truck (Parcel Post), and given the condition of the box it's about what I expect.

..Al

You really think it took a week or less for the carts to look that way? I wouldn't think so. It's not like the box was bouncing around in a metal parts tumbler... or was it?! :lol:

 

Looking at some of the white on those carts... they won't clean up at all I suppose, but you could always try a heavy duty cleaner, such as Spray Power. It's sold around here at Farm and Fleet... not sure you have access to it out by you - but that stuff really does work wonders. Has never disappointed for all sorts of rubbed stains, smoke damage or whatever. Might be worth a shot trying something like that. Be a shame to simply chuck 'em.

Edited by save2600
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First, the auction:

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 1403770993271?ff3=2&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&campid=5336500554&customid=&item=140377099327&mpt=[CACHEBUSTER]

 

 

..Al

 

Rutrow! I bought a whole bunch of sealed games off of that same guy. They were supposed to ship USPS but his response to my request to combine shipping including a UPS tracking number "signature required."

 

First of all, everything UPS delivers to my house gets damaged. Secondly, signature required means I'm gonna have to travel 45 minutes to the nearest facility to pick up the damn thing cuz most people are at work when UPS shows up.

 

I'll let you know how I make out.

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I will have you know that I AM COMPLETELY CONFIDENT that ebay has nor ever will be anywhere even CLOSE to my balls. I am offended by this insinuation.

That's okay, we're talking about monkey balls here. Are you a monkey? :ponder:

 

..Al

Well, looking at the avatar, this member just might be....

 

<sarcasm>And remember, based on the last around-and-around thread about feedback, you cannot leave a "self righteous" negative feedback till you have contacted the member, opened a dispute and wasted many hours of your time emailing back and forth with the seller, while he likely tells you to go suck monkey balls.</sarcasm>

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That's okay, we're talking about monkey balls here. Are you a monkey? :ponder:

..Al

 

Yes, yes I am. I am as much a monkey as you are a joke-getter. :D

 

That actually sucks, though -- 484 carts is nothing to scoff at and that would seriously be good for some homebrew projects. Hope you can at least get some money back on the deal, Al.

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I actually had something shipped to me in a similar way, that to be honest, I'm still pretty ripe about 7 or 8 years later. It wasn't ebay, but I bought from one fairly well-known C= seller every issue of Compute! and Compute!'s Gazette magazines. All of them, every issue. Jackalope threw them all in two flimsy boxes with about a half piece of tape holding each box together. I had to pick up the magazines in a bin at the post office (the box remnants were in there with it). Needless to say, a bunch of magazines were missing, and I've never replaced them. Jackalope didn't care, said they were packed fine. :x

 

I also once had a very beautiful condition unrestored classic bike shipped to me once the same way. All the parts just thrown into a box, and all the parts arrived freshly scratched from rubbing together. The twin of this bike was sent the same way (same seller), but broke open and was consequently lost by UPS for several weeks on top of all the damage.

 

I swear, most people don't have any clue whatsoever about how to pack things, on ebay or otherwise (even a few on this site). Human stupidity never ceases to amaze me.

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Here's an idea for those cartridges: somebody should make a homebrew 2600 game which involves sloppy, overpriced eBay shippers who don't know how to pack merchandise properly. That way, the scuffed-up look of the cartridges would fit right in with the theme of the game.

 

And the game should be called eGrinder!

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I've received many classic computers in boxes with no packing at all. Usually, they have broken keyboards or cases where everything bounced around. I finally had to give up. Even people that promise to pack them well seem to lie about it. I've got a completely broken Atari 400, TI99/4A, C64's, etc. Anyone need parts? :)

 

I did have someone send me an Apple II once that actually took several whole newspapers and put them all around the computer. Not separated and crumpled newspaper pages, but *whole* folded newspapers. This doesn't really add much cushioning, as you might guess, but also he blew a bunch of extra money shipping it to me because 15 pounds of it was just newspaper.

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Ugh. It's just not worth it to go with eBay any more.

 

The last several auctions I've won have resulted in my getting merchandise that's not of the quality advertised or even pictured. I've let it slide and slide, but on this last one I didn't. It was advertised as a "mint" CIB game, but it arrived with a warped box probably due to moisture damage. The seller didn't give a hang when contacted. So I gave a negative, stating dispassionately what was advertised and what I got. The seller then sent me a profanity-filled email, which I sent on to eBay. That resulted in another nastygram, which also went to eBay.

 

eBay is too populated with lowlifes to bother with, as far as I can tell.

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The seller then sent me a profanity-filled email, which I sent on to eBay. That resulted in another nastygram, which also went to eBay.

It's too bad eBay doesn't actually seem to do anything when reporting such emails. They can see the entire email exchange to see that you did not provoke the seller into a profanity-strewn rampage, but they don't give a rat's ass.

 

..Al

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Sorry to hear about that, Al. That's a real shame, too, since the carts being empty and stripped of labels would save you a lot of time over repurposing commons for homebrew...

 

Like everyone else, I've got a ton of eBay horror stories as well. I've bought dozens of consoles and computers described as "tested and working," that were not only DOA but upon closer examination hadn't been working for years. Every attempt to pursue the issue resulted in no action from eBay and the same nasty emails from sellers that others here have described...

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