EBAY, what should I know

Not all of us buy perfection. Many buy busted and turn it back into perfection. This is what I do (aside from the MC275 which happened to ship in the original packing).

I wish I had the ability to repair / rebuild this stuff. I can handle the cosmetic issues but I'm lost with any electronic work.
 
That's all well and good, and as long as one is not paying for "perfection first," then having , there perfect piece, turned into "crap" on it's journey to its new home it's all good.

I take it, there was no broken glass on the Delorean?? :)

Actually it had a crack down the middle of the windshield and I have yet to replace it ;)
 
I haven't even seen busted stuff sell on ebay recently that would save you money from buying one from Audio Classics. It is getting ridiculous. I see listings for C26's with shattered face plates selling for $450 plus shipping. You'll have $700 into that thing before you even turn it on and you are already at AC C1 pricing. You can get a Audio Classics C1 grade C24 right now for $599. Why even take a risk on ebay? ebay seems to be the place to pay top dollar nowadays, not get a good deal.

-Geoff

Granted...most of the time they ask too much. But when an otherwise functional MC2505 shows up for $250 with decent shipping or an MX120 shows up for $300 and ends up NOT being broken...that's where the deals are if you have the knowledge.
 
Granted...most of the time they ask too much. But when an otherwise functional MC2505 shows up for $250 with decent shipping or an MX120 shows up for $300 and ends up NOT being broken...that's where the deals are if you have the knowledge.
No one would dispute those points! But near as I can tell Mac Gear, functional or not is not showing up "anywhere" in the sub $500 bucks market??

And I don't doubt "some of it" can be bought Successfully, from "some sellers" on EBay?? But as the saying goes ... do you feel lucky.jpg

Paying 10 to 30 percent less? Does not really mean anything if a "Busted Up Piece of Crap" lands at your door???

I reserve Ebay for stuff I can afford, that I can't find anywhere else and I want it "NOW??" But Mac Gear is a no brainer people know where it is ... Audio Classics Limited. They do what they do and yes, you pay a "premium" to get an item as "described" from them.

And If it arrives broken or "Non Functional?? They will make it good! And sure they are not the cheapest and if one does not want to pay there "Premium" ... then, you know "take your chances??" And buy your "Mac" gear someplace else and take your chances. Pretty much that simple.
 
I have bought a few receivers off the shopgoodwill site (almost guaranteed to be fix and repair project even if in good physical condition) and they have been very good wrapping them in often two inches of bubble wrap some filled with foam or peanuts. They have generally been well packed. Bought a fix or repair Sansui 3000A for $34 on Ebay from someone in SC and it was over packed, I think they used at least 50' of the small bubble wrap around it used an oversized box and stuffed it with other packing. For the way it was packed the cost for shipping was not bad at all. I would burn that much in gas if I drove down to get it.

My last one was a Sherwood S-8900A fix or repair off the bay from someone in Maryland. Maybe 3 layers of large bubble wrap on the front, two layers elsewhere in a box that deformed to the shape of the receiver. That model has some long slim knobs on the front amazingly the USPS did not abuse it (Priority Mail). When I got the box I cringed afraid of what I would find inside. It was in good shape. If it had suffered a big fall and got slammed, particularly face first, the results likely would have been different. That was a seller I sent a comment about packaging electronics and got an indignant response. Got lucky on that one.

Thankfully they did not handle it like I have seen some packages get handled in my stints at UPS and Fedex hubs. Throw a big box 6-8' onto a belt so it crashes down hard because you don't want to walk it over. Then again the way things get stacked the heavy objects may get jammed up high where there was a spot for it and when you open the door it may all want to tumble out. You learn to stand to the side when you open the door so you don't get hurt. Working in the hubs has been educational. There are the employees that treat packages as if they are indestructible. Fortunately not many. Then some of it is luck of the draw of when your package comes through on the sort will it end up in a safe and sound spot, in a precarious position, a relaxed spot in the stack, or in a highly stressed position. It gets stacked as it comes, does not always allow great form especially when a lot of lighter stuff has been coming and then get some big heavy packages. Also depends on the skill and conscientiousness of the people doing the handling and loading and how fast the packages are coming.

Working in that environment you understand why things don't make it in one piece. Biggest problem is heavy objects (single or multiple) in lightweight boxes and little to help the box keep its shape. They often can't take all the handling. Many times there is not much tape keeping the box sealed. Paper tape and rainy weather do not mix. Heavy objects need to be double boxed or heavy double wall cardboard packed tight with some kind of stuffing and well taped if not banded to keep the box in shape. Otherwise the tape or box wants to rip open and spill the contents when handled. Some entities pack their stuff very well. Some others if you put much pressure on the top of the box it is easy to bust them open. Not good for package integrity. Leaving sizable unfilled space in a box is a recipe for problems. You will have your share of close calls.

Suffice to say package to survive a 6' drop and it has a good chance of making it in good shape. Assume that could happen several times in its trip.

So far I have been fortunate on the items I have ordered. Only the Sansui and Sherwood have been off Ebay.
 
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That said only one of my online units have been more than $100, at least two under $40 and most less than $70. Hard for me to spend big money on that kind of risk. So far of the group of online fix or repair units only one is still a work in progress. Not counting the former fix and repair on the bench but it mostly has cosmetics and adjusting the bias left on it. When I looked at the group earlier today only 2-3 pieces were in good working order when I got them (local and online).
 
If you wrap a 95 lb. Mac amp in 16 layers of bubble wrap one 4' drop from one airport conveyor to another and that amp will dive right through that bubble wrap. Bubble wrap is excellent for 10-15 lb. items with no glass other than a radio dial. What's important on Mac gear for the non-fixer owners is cosmetics. I.E. silk screened lettering, chrome chassis and painted glass front. All the electronics on almost every piece can be repaired/replaced. Except for a old CD player or two.
 
I bought my C33 off eBay, mint, but original.
I had AC send the seller the shipping carton, seller put the C33 in the shipping carton, and it arrived nice and safe in its AC shipping carton, job done, no hassles!!
 
Hello all. I'd like to put something out there for everyone's collective opinion. My son in law just made his first McIntosh purchase, a Mac 1700. He's been contemplating one of these for a while, he and I have been having many discussions about this. Unfortunately, he jumped the gun and purchased a unit without my approval. He is now a victim of what I call questionable ethics from an eBay seller.

This was the listing:
MCINTOSH MAC-1700 STEREO AM FM RECEIVER Not serviced. Unit is as is. It's in good condition puts out sound. I do believe it will have to be serviced to be at it's best. Any questions feel free to message me. No returns it's as is.

Yesterday this unit arrives with 1 channel blown. There is no question in my mind that the seller was aware of this condition, it's quite obvious. Never was there any mention of this condition, even though there had been some correspondence pertaining to the history of the unit. My take on this is that the seller was deceptive in not disclosing this problem and evasive in his description. His take on this is "too bad". He stated "as is" and "has not been serviced" in the listing and feels that he is free from any responsibility. FWIW, I had a bad feeling when I first read the ad from this 1st time seller. Unfortunately, by the time I was made aware of this, it was too late to retract the bid. It sold for $410. My son in law is now preparing to deal with the eBay Buyer Protection Process. I feel that he is a victim to someone who knew full well what they were doing. What say you?
Thanks.
 
I agree with your take on it. One channel inoperative is an easy thing to spot and should be mentioned. His description was deliberately vague. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
 
When I read the seller's description all I saw were 5 huge red flags! There really wasn't any positive thing he said about the unit.

Larry
 
He said in the ad it needed to be serviced, so you might have trouble proving you were misled. But yea, that is pretty crappy not putting that in the ad - the seller probably could have got close to the same money and disclosed a channel was out.

On the good side, it is probably not a huge repair - the fact that one channel is working is a good sign means that the power supply is probably still functional. It could be something easy like a cracked solder or bad resistor. Did you check it on all the inputs and tuner? You got it a few hundred less than the other ones listed, so maybe you can still get something functional out of it for a reasonable price. I looked at the ad and it is pretty clean. Let us know how it turns out!

-Geoff
 
What do you mean by "blown"? One channel went dead on my MAC1500. It turned out to be oxidation on the tape monitor switch contacts. Cleaning with DeoxIT D5 on fixed contacts and DeoxIT Fader F5 on controls and sliding contacts restored the 1500 to correct operation.

More generally, if the unit is cosmetically decent, at this point, it is worth paying a few hundred more to have it fixed / serviced. I recommend Audio Classics for that or Terry DeWick if available.

My first McIntosh was an MR-71 from eBay which was kind of a mess. I thought they would be hard to get (wrong) so I grabbed the first one I came across. But I had it fixed and have been using it happily for 12 years now.

Lemonade from Lemons and a lesson learned for your son in law.


BTW, I'm not condoning what the seller did and agree that it was not correctly represented. Just saying make the best of it.
 
What do you mean by "blown"? One channel went dead on my MAC1500. It turned out to be oxidation on the tape monitor switch contacts. Cleaning with DeoxIT D5 on fixed contacts and DeoxIT Fader F5 on controls and sliding contacts restored the 1500 to correct operation.

More generally, if the unit is cosmetically decent, at this point, it is worth paying a few hundred more to have it fixed / serviced. I recommend Audio Classics for that or Terry DeWick if available.

My first McIntosh was an MR-71 from eBay which was kind of a mess. I thought they would be hard to get (wrong) so I grabbed the first one I came across. But I had it fixed and have been using it happily for 12 years now.

Lemonade from Lemons and a lesson learned for your son in law.


BTW, I'm not condoning what the seller did and agree that it was not correctly represented. Just saying make the best of it.
All great points, thanks. Funny, I've had the very same experience with the tape monitor switch on my 1700.
I do have DeoxIT on hand and will probably open this thing up this weekend and give everything a good cleaning as there is also an issue with the balance control that I'm sure is cleaning related. My personal experience with this problem on my unit was evident just by moving the switch slightly. Crackle-y and intermittent. The problem with this new unit is one of the channels is extremely distorted, like a line level source being applied to a mic level input. It's evident on both main & remote outputs, with no amount of switch exercising having any effect on the problem.

Agreed with the recommendation on repair options, all of my Mac has been on Terry's bench at one time or another. Last I heard, he had been on a hiatus, with a lengthy backlog. Regardless, it will get dealt with one way or another. It is clean enough of a unit to justify putting more dollars into, it just wasn't in the budget for a young married couple. An absolute learning lesson.
Also, another example of what can happen when buying on eBay.
As they say, caveat emptor.
 
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Tracing distortion is a whole nother level then finding a no output issue. I tackled that problem on my wife's old Harmon Kardon. Finally traced it to some work done previously to me where a pair of transistors were installed incorrectly. There are all sorts of things that can cause a distorted channel.

Good luck with the repair.

Shelly_D
 
Hello all. I'd like to put something out there for everyone's collective opinion. My son in law just made his first McIntosh purchase, a Mac 1700. He's been contemplating one of these for a while, he and I have been having many discussions about this. Unfortunately, he jumped the gun and purchased a unit without my approval. He is now a victim of what I call questionable ethics from an eBay seller.

This was the listing:
MCINTOSH MAC-1700 STEREO AM FM RECEIVER Not serviced. Unit is as is. It's in good condition puts out sound. I do believe it will have to be serviced to be at it's best. Any questions feel free to message me. No returns it's as is.

Yesterday this unit arrives with 1 channel blown. There is no question in my mind that the seller was aware of this condition, it's quite obvious. Never was there any mention of this condition, even though there had been some correspondence pertaining to the history of the unit. My take on this is that the seller was deceptive in not disclosing this problem and evasive in his description. His take on this is "too bad". He stated "as is" and "has not been serviced" in the listing and feels that he is free from any responsibility. FWIW, I had a bad feeling when I first read the ad from this 1st time seller. Unfortunately, by the time I was made aware of this, it was too late to retract the bid. It sold for $410. My son in law is now preparing to deal with the eBay Buyer Protection Process. I feel that he is a victim to someone who knew full well what they were doing. What say you?
Thanks.
Questionable ethics from ebay sellers? You don’t say ...

Caveat Emptor .... so, your son owns it.
 
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