[Boatanchors] eBay

[bonddaleena at aol.com]

I too, am guilty of using the derogatory "ePay" term in the past, HOWEVER, as a ham of  50 years (gosh!!) I have bought and sold THOUSANDS of items on 'the bay".
I have been VERY, VERY happy. 
Just 3 simple rules:
1. don't buy ANYTHING from ole "RM". (sorry to bring up the dead horse, but.......)
2. only bid what you can afford and ALWAYS remember that that item (no matter HOW rare) will show up again.
3. bid that amount and never get caught up in the 'buying frenzy'.

In addition, I have had EXCELLENT results buying from the classified ads on eHam.

Here's an example of one of my last 'eBay' purchases..................

I have a nice Drake collection. But, having read the 5/5 reviews of the 2B receiver, I 'had' to have one. There are a LOT of them on the 'bay'. Usually stripped of the calibrator and 2-BQ.

I waited patiently for several months and there was a chap up in W2 land, selling what appeared to be a nice 2B/2-BQ combo. In addition, there was a Torrestronics digital display included. Yes, the 2B has a little corrosion on the chassis, but no worse than the average Drake in my collection. The front panel is mint. Calibrator included. He had repainted the cover. (nice job!). The 2-BQ was also beautiful. The digital display was 100% functional!!!
He included 2 EXTRA set of tubes. The spares and the originals were each carefully wrapped in foam. The xtals were taped to a heavy piece of plastic and marked. Everything was doubled boxed.
I am VERY picky about my collection and the only thing I did to the Drakes was wash the knobs!
Everything works FANTASTIC. The 'buy it now price'?   $260. The deal of a lifetime.
(I have 3 R-4Bs and a R-4C to compare the 2B to).

Yep, I've been bitten also. BUT, if you know what you're looking at and if the description is reasonable, goforit!

A perfect example is the sale of Lafayette receivers. (YES I know they are not Collins quality, but I like 'em!)

Lots of times, I have bought a VERY nice radio because the seller said. "It lights up, but no sound. Selling 'as-is'".
Gee, most of these radios require an external speaker. ha ha
I have several shelves full of MINT radios acquired this way. One BIG caution sign for most folks is the old ; "I don't know how to test it" comment. If you have the ability to repair the item and it's in good condition, I say accept the challenge!!!!

"let the buyer beware".....


ron
N4UE