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NBD!! With some unexpected findings

What would you do?

  • Full refund

  • Partial refund

Results are only viewable after voting.
#22
Dang I opened this thread hoping to see some insights and aha moments but no, it's just another tale of buyer's remorse.

I hate to bag on OP but its a used instrument. There are going to be dings on it. If you want pristine, buy new and baby it. IMO you can't get too hung up on the semantics of the advertisement - one man's pristine is another man's junk, as we've seen so many times on here.

I can't see the dings in the first or second picture. The third picture, yeah, but it's kind of on a buyer to request more pictures. Would OP have bought it, and bought it at the asking price, if they'd seen the neck dings in the third picture?

Buying instruments online has pitfalls. I prefer to avoid these situations by buying in person - See it, touch it, interact with it. People on Reverb and whatnot are trying to get rid of things they don't want... of course they are going to be less than transparent about the condition. They want to make a sale!
 
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#23
alex1fly said:
Dang I opened this thread hoping to see some insights and aha moments but no, it's just another tale of buyer's remorse.

I hate to bag on OP but its a used instrument. There are going to be dings on it. If you want pristine, buy new and baby it. IMO you can't get too hung up on the semantics of the advertisement - one man's pristine is another man's junk, as we've seen so many times on here.

I can't see the dings in the first or second picture. The third picture, yeah, but it's kind of on a buyer to request more pictures. Would OP have bought it, and bought it at the asking price, if they'd seen the neck dings in the third picture?

Buying instruments online has pitfalls. I prefer to avoid these situations by buying in person - See it, touch it, interact with it. People on Reverb and whatnot are trying to get rid of things they don't want... of course they are going to be less than transparent about the condition. They want to make a sale!
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A little contradictory here huh?
Heres a cautionary tale for those of you missing the point here:
The Oly white Jaguar listed a week or so ago, I asked all my usual questions when buying a used instrument and apparently “too many” questions so much that the seller refused to sell the bass to me.
His excuse was, “this is a well made American Fender” as if that precluded it from any and all potential issues. He stated “no one has ever asked me about fret wear” saying, “what kind of question is that?”
 
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#24
alex1fly said:
Dang I opened this thread hoping to see some insights and aha moments but no, it's just another tale of buyer's remorse.

I hate to bag on OP but its a used instrument. There are going to be dings on it. If you want pristine, buy new and baby it. IMO you can't get too hung up on the semantics of the advertisement - one man's pristine is another man's junk, as we've seen so many times on here.

I can't see the dings in the first or second picture. The third picture, yeah, but it's kind of on a buyer to request more pictures. Would OP have bought it, and bought it at the asking price, if they'd seen the neck dings in the third picture?

Buying instruments online has pitfalls. I prefer to avoid these situations by buying in person - See it, touch it, interact with it. People on Reverb and whatnot are trying to get rid of things they don't want... of course they are going to be less than transparent about the condition. They want to make a sale!
Click to expand...
I bought a Sandberg that was suppose to be mint had a drum cymbal like dent on the side...guy was a jerk so I fixed it and moved on, turns out to be Sandberg show bass for when the super lights first came out. 5 string cedar and I guess they picked an extra light peice of cedar to promote the lightness, it's really light weight. It turned out to be a pretty good bass.
 
#25
sclemmer said:
A little contradictory here huh?
Heres a cautionary tale for those of you missing the point here:
The Oly white Jaguar listed a week or so ago, I asked all my usual questions when buying a used instrument and apparently “too many” questions so much that the seller refused to sell the bass to me.
His excuse was, “this is a well made American Fender” as if that precluded it from any and all potential issues. He stated “no one has ever asked me about fret ware” saying, “what kind of question is that?”
Click to expand...
Exactly. Sellers want to make a sale first. Especially third party sellers... many of them have little motivation to make you happy beyond avoiding a dispute. They are not interested in you getting a good instrument, they often don't know anything about the instrument, they just want their money and to move on with the rest of their life. Yes of course some are enthusiasts and care about their buyers but even in those cases there are going to be some unexpected things like a ding they didn't document or a pot that is scratchy in the buyer's rig but wasn't in the seller's rig (or the seller hadn't played it for years and it worked fine before the listing). Not saying you shouldn't buy online but when you do you have to accept that there will be some BS that you aren't expecting from the ad.
 
#28
Bikeguy57 said:
1) Buy Used bass.

2) Scrutinize every inch with giant magnifying glass.

3) Post tiny marks on Talkbass so other nit pickers will agree with you.

4) Cost seller another shipping charge because you didn't really want it anyway.
Click to expand...

It’s like we want rock bottom used prices but turn into Sadowsky’s quality control inspectors when it arrives. Sure we’ve seen some bad examples, but when you have to zoom in to show the imperfection, is it being too picky?
 
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#33
Well I sure do appreciate all of scrutiny, accusations of buyers remorse and other friendly sentiments here. There's no buyers remorse. I buy basses all the time to try em out and if I don't like them, that's on me. I sell it and usually eat a small loss. It's just the way it is. The seller is the one who continues to push the "play it a little longer" scenario, more than likely to avoid the extra shipping and I don't blame them for that all. I've bought "mint" basses and found plenty if small dings. My caprice came with well over a dozen "mint" tint dings in it. The fretboard dents, after describing the neck as pristine, is my hang up. I suppose maybe a "just here to take shots at a stranger" option is inorder on the poll!!
 
#34
sclemmer said:
I would and will but I’m not the OP. Just here taking pot shots at all the “derp then buy new, derp expecting too much, derp buy USED bass” folks who are missing the point.
Folks need to stop cruising the new thread section and replying for the sake of replying.
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Eh I guess expecting the same transparency I use when posting an ad is too much to for some of the crowd here. I've bought plenty of used basses. This stuff happens. But sheesh, apparently asking the opinions of bass forum wasn't the best move!
 
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#35
Templar said:
I agree. Apparently not everyone understands the covenant that buyers deserve to "get what they paid for". In the OP's case, that means a virtually flawless guitar...pristine literally. Selling platforms warn against using descriptors like pristine, mint, as-new, perfect, in the interest of full disclosure and to protect sellers from dishonest buyers who like to invent imperfections after the fact, in order to "renegotiate" the already-agreed-upon selling price.

If the OP got it from Reverb (I don't think he's mentioned that), and wants to return for a refund due to its undisclosed issues, he might want to check with Reverb first. A "refund" through Reverb may not include any of shipping costs that the buyer has paid, neither coming or going. (don't ask me how I know) If it turns out the OP is on the hook for the shipping, then a partial refund may be the lesser of two evils, depending on all the $ numbers involved (which we don't know).

OTOH, things could have gone smoothly if the seller had been forthright with his description in the first place. Then, any buyer would have had both eyes open and been able to pay whatever price they felt was justified, commensurate with the true condition of the item. But that clearly isn't what happened. Instead, the item's condition was misrepresented, and now the OP has to deal with the aftermath caused by the seller, which most of us might consider unpleasant and completely avoidable, no matter how it ends up.

** I'm assuming that everything the OP has related is exactly what transpired.
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It was ebay. From someone who explicitly sells instruments. I contacted the seller they, showed them the marks. It was packed extremely well, so we discussed what could've happened. The finish marks continue into the pickguard and dig in a bit. I suggested maybe a razor blade during packing. They came back said it had to be from a file doing fret dressing before it shipped. Apologized for the neck ding and said they simply missed it and since it was advertised as pristine, they would stand by the statement and offered a full refund if I wished or if I played it and liked the bass, a partial refund.

There's no smoke and mirrors here. Simply wondering what others who buys and sell basses and the same silly rate as myself would do. Because, if I do decide to sell it, the knocked fretboard will affect my resale value.
 
#36
dalkowski said:
The bass you received is not "pristine." (Nor was the refinished Hamer I saw in the classifieds the other day "mint." :banghead: Use the dictionary, people — this isn't rocket surgery!)

The seller is being more accommodating than many. I would take him up on his offer of a partial refund (2 hundie?), BUT I'd do it in the next day or 2, not in a few weeks. You don't need a few weeks, or even one week. Repay his courtesy with your own.
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Again, that's the timeline they set out. I also think it's a bit much. So far I've found them be above and beyond the normal seller. Last "mint" bass I received full of marks replied with....that looks pretty mint to me!
 
#38
Does anyone on Talkbass actually play bass anymore? It’s seems every other thread is about someone who buys a used bass online and then freaks out over the smallest perceptible imperfections and is always looking for a reason to return it or to demand some kind of partial refund. It sounds like 95% of you guys and gals should just stop buying online. Are you a bass collector for a pristine only bass museum or are you a bass player?

Buyers’ remorse isn’t a reason to nit-pick every little thing about a bass as an excuse to return it or to ask for a refund. Was it used? Does it tune up and play? Are there glaring discrepancies or large chunks taken out of it? No? Suck it up buttercup you bought a used bass online. I can guarantee you you’ll never get even a new bass from GC that’s been out on their sales floor that looks as good as that Lakland. Had to zoom in with an HD digital camera to find the imperfections? It’s likely they went unnoticed or weren’t a big deal to the last person. It doesn’t mean you got scammed or deserve something extra.
 
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#40
I’ve learned that a lot of sellers will list items one step up from the condition it actually is. Unless it has the plastic, hang tags, and original strings not completely dead. It’s not like new.

the real answer is going to be in how much you actually paid for it. From what I could tell from the photos it’s a few minor nicks and dings. While not “pristine” Deff in very good condition. If i paid towards the top of the used market value I wouldn’t be too happy and go for a return. Dependent of course on how much they where actually offering in the partial.
 

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