A question of ethics

A short while back I sold a vintage instrument which had an excellently repaired crack. I was fully honest in the sale, disclosing the repair to the buyer. Now I see the instrument listed on ebay for sale and the seller says "Beautiful instrument with no cracks".

On one hand I suppose it is not my business, but knowing that people are always concerned about condition and about cracks, I think it is really shady.

You should write the individual privately using the "ask a question" to express your concern. It does not call them out publicly but might help you feel better about it.

Since it does bother you, and you know the seller is aware of the repair and is not being truthful about it, you should probably contact the seller or eBay.

If you contact the seller, he/she should realize it is really in their best interest to disclose the repair, because if there is a dispute, you can vouch that the crack existed prior to the sale since you are the former owner of the ukulele.

If you don’t want to contact the seller, you can always contact eBay and let them know that you owned the ukulele prior to the current seller and it has a repaired crack that contradicts the description. This way if a dispute arises after the ukulele is sold you have provided this info prior to the end of the auction. If the new buyer doesn’t care you haven’t gotten involved with the seller.

John

This is one of the reasons I only acquire used instruments from folk whose selling/trading reputations are stellar. Taking the time to do a little "due diligence" on the seller/trader can save a lot of post-transfer grief. Quite often that "too good to be true" deal is indeed too good to be true, and the other person's reputation is the deciding factor whether to deal or not.

If you ask a question then that question will be visible to others as will the reply.

I believe that it is not public automatically, but if the seller chooses to make it so.

All is good as the seller has updated the listing with a mention of the crack.

Good job!

John

I like wise would be disappointed that some one would deliberately mislead a potential buyer.
It is great that you were vigilant enough to catch this one and even better to facilitate a correction.
Well done
Dave in Petaluma