Honesty on the forums about items for sale

[Hot Rats]

Great read...I have been burned once here on TB. Traded my streamliner for an amp and cabinet. The amp had a distortion/phasing problem and the cabinet had a buzz. Other party denied the existance of said symptoms...oh well. On the other hand..I have sold an amp I thought worked.....seller said it was all jacked up. I felt so bad I refunded all money, shipping and let him keep the amp. I will only buy sight unseen from TB.

 

[bdgotoh]

I think the most important thing is to make it right if anybody is ever dissatisfied. Just take the item back and work out shipping costs based on the circumstances. Even with good intentions sometimes people just have different ideas about condition and price (which in a perfect world would be a good proxy for condition).

I'd only ever go to negative feedback if return/refund was refused.

This.

 

[khui]

thanx for this thread.

all kinds of people out there...moral/ethical and the opposite. this applies to retailers as well as individuals...

I'm proud of record and try to conduct myself as honestly and ethically as possible. Here's my horror stories...

listed same item on sale through multiple venues...i.e. talkbass, ebay, craigslist, etc. sold item through one venue and somebody used "buy it now" on ebay. I gave it to the "first buyer". the ebayer was refunded in full amount within 3 hours of his purchase. he was upset he didn't get the item and left negative feedback. my flawless record of 700+ FB was now tainted.

placed an order through a retailer and he failed to deliver the item in the timeframe shared. nor, did he communicate the delay. i cancelled the order. he proceeded to charge me the for the order after it was 2 months delayed. it wasn't a custom order or special order. had to fight it out through the CC company...here's the kicker...he claims to have a 15% restocking fee, but instead of charging me the 15%, he charged me for the fulll price...when item was never shipped out throughout the whole transaction.

sold F basses, Pedullas, Musicmans, Carvins, Fenders, and sent them all over the world...from US to France to Germany. Glad my buyers were happy.

k.

 

[Art Araya]

most of my purchases on TB have worked out well. there were one or two where i would have preferred more disclosure.

not enough to deter me from future purchases on TB but I am more careful to ask all of the right questions before purchasing.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Not everyone would agree or do this, but I offer a seven day return, minus shipping, so far I have never had one come back.

I used to do that until a buyer wanted to return an item and said he just bought it to try it out.

 

[NortyFiner]

I try very hard to be honest and give full disclosure (to the point of being wordy) in my sales posts. I have perfect feedback as a result. I wouldn't want anyone else to lie to me or cover anything up, so why should I do that myself? To screw people over by misrepresenting what you're selling is wrong, plain and simple. Especially when you consider how many people here are in varying degrees of financial stress; for some here, even buying a cheap used $20 pedal is a big deal. I am not one of those people now, but I was one for years, and I haven't forgotten what it was like. To screw over a poor musician like that is more than just a musical annoyance; it genuinely hurts and impacts their life. Honesty is not just the best policy; in TB sales, it should be the ONLY policy.

 

[RS]

The overwhelming majority of folks her are very honest and good sellers. What constitutes "full" disclosure and accurate condition are somewhat subjective. If anything, I think the buyer sometimes need to ask more questions if there is something for them that is a personal make or break (i.e. if you don't like neck width over 1.5", look up the specs or ask the seller).

 

[BawanaRik]

I just bought a Peavey Custom Shop Cirrus and you'ld be hard pressed to find a new bass at GC that looks the "new".