e-bay

[Dave]

I've purchased a few Ebay items myself, and not had a problem
with anyone's veracity or the quality of the product.

On the other hand, I've been downright RIPPED OFF at ham
fests over the years!  I recall buying a small tube receiver
(I don't recall what it was now - a National NC-something)
for a fairly steep price (at the time, anyway) based on how
it looked outside.  Of course I couldn't open it, but the seller
assured me it worked well.  Got it home and found that it
had mostly the wrong tubes, and underneath many of the wires
had been cut and parts removed.  It was a PARTS SET!
And I have no doubt whatsoever the seller knew it.  Once,
long long ago (in the 70's) I bought a neat little 'QRP VFO/transmitter'
from a guy with a table full of 'em.  He had a little flyer telling
about them, with spec's and all.  They were $40 I think.  Nice
little boxes!  I bought one, and got it home to find it was
an empty chassis with only the parts attached that stick through
the chassis holes!  About $10 (at the time) for the parts, with
a $30 markup for a box of nothing!  And he had a table full
of 'em to sell.  Never saw him again, but I wonder how many
hams that day got taken for their $40 like I did.  (Remember
in the 70's you could buy a HW-7 for $69.95 - UNBUILT!
hehe)

I've had a number of outright cheats like this over the years,
and just chalked it up to experience.  At least on Ebay I have
a fighting chance to complain to the seller, get him tossed off
Ebay, or cancel payment.  NONE of those options are
available to a hamfest buyer.

My 2 kHz worth.

Dave WB7AWK
http://www.boatanchors.com - click on my picture and you'll go to
the section where you can see the HW-7 I built back then!

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