Columbia arm on Ebay???????

[edisonsclone]

maybe I'm missing something? but to me this looks just like any other Columbia arm?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-FACTORY-CO ... 2eb42f80ec

[Covah]

Hope springs eternal.

[alang]

This has been posted on eBay for the last several years again and again, always in the same price range. It seems that the poster thinks it's extremely valuable because it still has the original spare part hang tag attached. Here is a screenshot:

Andreas

[brianu]

but that current $209.25 discount could make all the difference in the world.

[Andersun]

Watch out, the seller is very touchy when you ask him questions. I asked him about the condition of a Home Model A motor he had on Ebay. I wanted to make sure the gears were very good because I had a very very nice machine that needed a motor. I asked him if the motor had quiet gears and told him I was looking for something minty. He responded telling me to go back in time if I wanted a mint motor and then proceeded to ban me from bidding on his items! I was not able to go back in time but I did find a good motor!

[alang]

I agree. I once asked this seller for a high resolution close up picture of one of his items - instead of his usual far away shots - and he responded that he did not have a better camera and was technically not able to do that. Not what I would have expected from a power seller.
Andreas

[brianu]

I've never bought anything from that seller or corresponded with him about his auctions... just observed what seems to be his used-car-salesman approach to pricing. but as someone who sells on ebay from time to time, I wanted to note that it can truly be a pain and a waste of time to respond to so many messages from tire-kickers asking multiple specific condition questions, or for more and more photographs - the majority of the time, they never end up buying anything, let alone even placing a bid. I usually offer in my listings the option of in-person inspection, as a buyer really can't claim some undisclosed flaw afterward... one idiot who bought an early external horn machine from me left negative feedback later - rather than contact me first - that the spring occasionally bumped when playing, despite my telling him clearly that the motor had not been rebuilt... I could go on about that one, but it's not worth the time.

[kitson]

cool

[JerryVan]

Brianu,

Asking specific questions and requesting more photos are ways to root out scam sellers. Also, not receiving a bid after pictures/answers are given is not a bad thing. The perspective buyer has decided, for whatever reason, that the item is not what he wanted/expected. Better to know it up front than sell it to him and get negative feedback or other trouble later. Sure, it's a hassle, but that's why you get paid for it.

[brianu]

Brianu,

Asking specific questions and requesting more photos are ways to root out scam sellers. Also, not receiving a bid after pictures/answers are given is not a bad thing. The perspective buyer has decided, for whatever reason, that the item is not what he wanted/expected. Better to know it up front than sell it to him and get negative feedback or other trouble later. Sure, it's a hassle, but that's why you get paid for it.

some sellers are obviously not "scam sellers". and you're missing my point. I'm not encouraging the withholding of information or photos from people, rather expressing my distaste for inquiries from those who are less prospective buyers than they are tire-kicking time wasters. and then there are the "buyers" who went high resolution photographs of every corner, every possible knick, each decal and label, lid top, cabinet bottom, etc. simply put, it's labor intensive... and if you consider the cost/benefit analysis, it's not worth the time. on the dozen or so occasions that I've fully answered and complied with such requests in my more than 10 years of selling crap on ebay, not once did one of those people end up buying what they were asking about... and so far as negative feedback, or after-sale complaints, I can recall one single occasion where that occurred - in the context of a few hundred sales - and nothing would have satisfied this guy aside from getting some money back... he had no intention of returning the machine that he was so critical of, he simply wanted what he referred to as "recompense."

and I don't know what you mean by that - as in taking additional photos and providing everything prospective buyers request - being what you're paid for. speaking for myself, at least, ebay is not my job, and responding to people of the sort described above certainly isn't as well. and, not that it matters, but most of the machines I've been selling for the past few years don't make me much money, if any... it's more a matter of getting my money out of things that I can no longer keep.