Ebay annoyance

Damn annoyed in fact, although I suppose if people want to be stupid...

Anyway, I saw a Tenor going on ebay tonight - a Brunswick BU4T tenor in fact - about £60 new in the UK.

Dont know much about them, but a few shops sell them, and they are laminate mahogany.

Anyway - this guy has it listed, and says throughout listing that it is solid. He even has a question from a bidder which he has posted on his page, where the bidder has asked what he means by solid. His reply was that you get either solid instruments or plywood ones, and the solid ones are the top quality...

I am irritated by this, so I emailed him saying that he needed to be careful as he may get a complaint from the eventual winner when they find the instrument is NOT a solid mahogany ukulele.

He responds to me saying "so long as the laminate material is all mahogany, it is a solid mahogany instrument".

It sold for £65.

I'm annoyed! - if, by any chance the winner reads these pages - do yourself a favour and return it - it is NOT a solid ukulele!

Sorry to rant..

I understand your concern and frustration. I believe that on eBay in the US, potential bidders can view questions posted about an item. Had I been in your position, I might have posted a question saying something like "It's my understanding that a solid wook ukulele is different from a laminate ukulele. Please let me know whether this ukulele is solid mahogany or laminate mahogany." Whether I wanted to purchase the item or not, my question would put other bidders on notice to understand that there's a difference between solid wood and laminate.

I bought a Brunswick concert ukulele (BU4CE) about a month ago and its a great ukulele. It is solid mahogany, not laminate. I don't think they would change the wood from size to size..

A question for u though,,,, I notice u have a Mahalo U30. Are they ok? i might get my bro one for christmas just as a cheap little gift.

As a seller, when a potential bidder emails you a question, you have the option of posting the q and your response in the description, but you don't have to do it. Anyway, I only hope the winning bidder discovers the truth and responds accordingly.

eBay is definitely a "let the buyer beware" environment. If you're buying something from an eBay seller - especially an individual or low-feedback store or something like that - it's in your best interest to research items you will bid on.

That doesn't excuse a seller for lying on a posting, but it's very much in the buyer's interest to know exactly what it is they are bidding on!

SidG said:

A question for u though,,,, I notice u have a Mahalo U30. Are they ok? i might get my bro one for christmas just as a cheap little gift.

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Spend a few quid more and get a Makala Dolphin Bridge a far superior little uke to the Mahalo U30 for very little more money.

For UK dealers get on over an join us at the UK.lele social group at: http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/fo...php?groupid=30
for all things Uke in the UK. There is a thread there with recommendations

That's messed up, and you're right to be ticked off.

I've just noticed this guy
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mahalo-Black-...ryZ16224QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
has still got his Mahalo U30 up for sale on ebay.co.uk at £290.00 (originally £450.00) despite the fact that myself and several other people have asked why he is trying to sell a £20.00 uke at such a ridiculous price (these questions listed at the bottom of the page). Buyer beware indeed!!!!!!!!!

dang, i guess i should mail my uke back to Deach then....






jk lol

Sid G,

The BU4T is billed as "mahogany top, back and sides", but it is mahogany laminate.

I spoke to a music shop that sells them and they confirmed that even Brunswick are misleading in their description, but it is indeed laminate.

They are going brand new for £55 - next to impossible to offer a totally solid Ukulele for that price. Interested to hear about your Concert, but have a look at the wood around the sound hole - you will be able to tell if it is solid (you will see the top grain running through the edges). Also - the grain inside the uke should match exactly the grain on the outside. If it is indeed solid, I stand corrected, but the Brunswicks are not (according to my source)

Re: the posting of ebay questions - the seller (and only the seller) can elect whether to display the question and response or not.

I suppose the fact it sold for more than you can get a new one for should make me think that the buyer made his own mistakes, but I still think he was misled.

Buyers beware. A few months ago I was high bidder (almost $700) on a Martin style 1. The seller was a music store and the owner supposedly wrote for different guitar mags, was a certified Martin repair guy bla bla bla. Anyway , his description was original condition,light wear,no cracks. The light wear looked like someone used a wire brush above and below the bridge
it was scored deep. The bridge had broken off and poorly repaired, you could see daylight underneath and glue blobs. He took it back after I agreed to pay shipping costs and the cost of the ad. I still have steam coming out my ears when I think about it. He resold it later on Ebay .

that is seriously annoying -

And what I find even more annoying is that he sold it again on ebay!

I like the darwinian aspect of ebay.

micromue said:

I like the darwinian aspect of ebay.

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There is something to be said for that. It never ceases to amaze me the number of items that sell on eBay for more than I can go to a retail store and pick one up. I must admit I also enjoy people that think they have to stay in the lead , and keep bidding the item up when I am selling something there.

I sell quite a bit on "the bay", and I have seen that happen with my items also.

(I sold a Nintendo Wii recently, admittedly with a couple of games, and it went for £200. The supermarket down the road was selling them that week for £140)

I would, however, never list a musical instrument as being solid, when it wasn't, and then try to claim to someone who questioned it that because the laminates were all mahogany, it was, by definition, "solid mahogany"!

Is the Brunswick Concert Uke (Mahogany) better than the Sammick Greg Bennet Uk-50?

Basically, what the title says! Does anyone here know which is better out of those two?
Thank you x

FYI and I wish I'd known this earlier in using EBAY--there is a clain SNAD or significantly not as described. Ebay will refund if the seller balks.

Not sure, but I think that could be considered wire fraud. It carries heavy penalties, including prison sentences.

Pukulele Pete said:

Buyers beware. A few months ago I was high bidder (almost $700) on a Martin style 1. The seller was a music store and the owner supposedly wrote for different guitar mags, was a certified Martin repair guy bla bla bla. Anyway , his description was original condition,light wear,no cracks. The light wear looked like someone used a wire brush above and below the bridge
it was scored deep. The bridge had broken off and poorly repaired, you could see daylight underneath and glue blobs. He took it back after I agreed to pay shipping costs and the cost of the ad. I still have steam coming out my ears when I think about it. He resold it later on Ebay .

Click to expand...

There are, of course, plenty of ebay stories with very fair and happy outcomes.

When the bug bit me last year and I started hunting for my first uke, I found a 40's Martin style 1 soprano on ebay from a seller with no feedback. He claimed to have inherited it from his Grandma and being a Metalhead electric guy, had no interest.

I ended up winning the auction but felt a little uneasy about hitting the paypal send button to a guy with no feedback. I politely explained myself and asked for a phone call just to put a voice with the purchase and maybe get a vibe.

He called me and I was completely convinced that this was a young guy that just wanted someone to be happy with his Grandma's old Ukulele and I got an outstanding vintage Martin in beautiful, crack-free condition for $580 shipped.


Scooter

Barry - I've been buying and selling things on ebay since '98 and as everyone knows there are all sorts there. I have expertise in several areas and have tried to provide information to "mistaken" sellers on multiple occasions, always in a very tactful way like "you may not be aware of it but it is likely that ...." Rarely, this elicits a positive response so I usually don't do it any more. Many sellers are lazy and don't want to correct the info, some are dishonest, and others just don't care. A few are thankful. This happens not infrequently with ukes, anyone who watches vintage ukes on ebay knows that they are frequently judged to be much older than they actually are, just as they are frequently judged to be in better condition than they are "great condition, just a few cracks". Multiple times I've seen Martins with the post-1962 "Made in USA" marking listed as 20's-30's Martin Uke, and this also happens with other vintage ukes although the dating is less precise (as it is with Martins between the 30's and '62). Had an exchange with a guy selling a Favilla in which he insisted that it was a 20's uke, I just asked him how he knew and he said "oh it's just that old" when I told him that with what looked like '50's white tuners it was likely a much newer but still valuable uke and told him that my information came from Tom Favilla he just replied "well I'm sure I'm right". As Marion Bradley often quoted in her Darkover books "The world will go as it will, not as you or I would have it.", so I rarely waste my time providing information anymore. And I love bidding on the 20's ukes that are just listed as "Old ukulele" <g>. Ebay is still the wild west and it's caveat emptor, but still a good place for the discerning and patient buyer! Onwards and upwards, g2