old amp buyers - mini rant

eatapeach

I'm selling an old Fender Bassman - it's a very tidy amp and sounds great/works very well - runs silent and no problems.  It's been maintained before I had it and also serviced in my ownership.  
I had a guy contact me on ebay asking for gut shots - here we go was my first reaction - tyre kickers always ask for gut shots and transformer codes.
So I sent the gut shots and got the response that it had changed parts. "What parts?" I asked  
He replied that it has changed capacitors (Spragues) and a couple of resistors.  He also replied that in his opinion it was only good for parts and that "As far as I am concerned, the value of these amps rely on their originality. "

Imagine shopping for an amp that had never been serviced, and over 60 years had become unusable as an amp but great as an ornament?  Imaging looking at an old Lamborghini and complaining that it had been over serviced, had new brakes and tyres?

I should know better, but where do these people come from?

strumjoughlamps

They would be on my blocked buyers list if it was my listing. 

You just know sometimes that if they are successful in winning it’s not going to end well for you.

eatapeach

strumjoughlamps said:

They would be on my blocked buyers list if it was my listing. 

You just know sometimes that if they are successful in winning it’s not going to end well for you.

yeah - he is now on my blocked list. 
The more I think about it the more idiotic it seems.  Some people must get an ego boost from thinking "I'm too good for that amp"

maharg101

"Well, you can replace the crapped out components once you've purchased it."

merlin

They will offer you a pathetic lowball and if you accept they will buy it and then put it on the market for a superb profit.

Say to them "go and stick your head in a dead bear's bum". 

boogieman

Pedants be pedantic. I love these type of guys….they simply have to tell you how they know everything, even though they probably wouldn’t buy it anyway. 

octatonic

'thank you for your unsolicited opinion' and then block.

S56035

Man asks for pictures to ensure it's what he's after (yes, what he's after is bonkers). Turns out it isn't. Politely says thanks but not thanks. Seems fine to me.

digitalscream

Yeah, I had a few of these when I was selling my Soldano.

"I can tell you with certainty that this amp's not worth any more than £600, and I'm only offering you that out of pity. I've worked for Soldano, and it's irrevocably broken because..."

"Oh, that changes everything, you clearly know what you're talking about here! I've actually been chatting with Mike Soldano over email about the Jet City amps, so I'll ask him what he thinks. Do you think he'll remember you?"

<silence>

goldtop

eatapeach said:

I'm selling an old Fender Bassman - it's a very tidy amp and sounds great/works very well - runs silent and no problems.  It's been maintained before I had it and also serviced in my ownership.  
I had a guy contact me on ebay asking for gut shots - here we go was my first reaction - tyre kickers always ask for gut shots and transformer codes.
So I sent the gut shots and got the response that it had changed parts. "What parts?" I asked  
He replied that it has changed capacitors (Spragues) and a couple of resistors.  He also replied that in his opinion it was only good for parts and that "As far as I am concerned, the value of these amps rely on their originality. "

Imagine shopping for an amp that had never been serviced, and over 60 years had become unusable as an amp but great as an ornament?  Imaging looking at an old Lamborghini and complaining that it had been over serviced, had new brakes and tyres?

I should know better, but where do these people come from?

There's a very well-known vintage Marshall buyer who is exactly the same. He's a dealer and just trying to lowball. He lied about parts that he claimed were changed and most clearly were not. I gave him chapter and verse and even pointed out a near-identical amp he'd recently sold.

And again .... <silence>

TimmyO

digitalscream said:

Yeah, I had a few of these when I was selling my Soldano.

"I can tell you with certainty that this amp's not worth any more than £600, and I'm only offering you that out of pity. I've worked for Soldano, and it's irrevocably broken because..."

"Oh, that changes everything, you clearly know what you're talking about here! I've actually been chatting with Mike Soldano over email about the Jet City amps, so I'll ask him what he thinks. Do you think he'll remember you?"

<silence>

OMG that’s brilliant 

Sporky

S56035 said:

Man asks for pictures to ensure it's what he's after (yes, what he's after is bonkers). Turns out it isn't. Politely says thanks but not thanks. Seems fine to me.

I'm not sure offering half the asking price is terribly polite. Especially as that's a standard dodgy dealer tactic. 

blobb

'Hope that helps'

Gassage

Just seen the amp- simply wow.

Great price too.

Kurtis

Sporky said:

S56035 said:

Man asks for pictures to ensure it's what he's after (yes, what he's after is bonkers). Turns out it isn't. Politely says thanks but not thanks. Seems fine to me.

I'm not sure offering half the asking price is terribly polite. Especially as that's a standard dodgy dealer tactic. 

Not sure they were really offering anything, just basically saying they weren't interested but good luck anyway. 

Suppose they might have been hoping you just said OK here you can just have it at half price, but hard to tell for sure.

They maybe thought they were being helpful.

Some people do look for "barn find" cars, that are totally original. 

Cols

Gassage said:

Just seen the amp.

Me too - even worse than his villainy with the resistors and capacitors, he’s CHANGED THE POWER VALVES in a 60 year old amp.

It’s worthless now.  Still, if he gives me a tenner I’ll take it away for him.

snowblind

Kurtis said:

Some people do look for "barn find" cars, that are totally original. 

Which in its own way is idiotic since the first thing they have to do is replace half the parts, probably a good chunk of the bodywork and the interior. Unless said barn find happens to be a Lamborghini Miura or a Ferrari 250 these things are door stops or museum curiosities. Even if you are having parts custom-made to order the thing will never be totally original. 
Is that original 1960s paint you are applying? 

It is one of those paradoxes. For a thing to be truly art it must serve no practical purpose and have no value other than aesthetic. As soon as the thing becomes functional it ceases to be true art. 

Devaluing a thing simply because one tiny, otherwise invisible component has been changed in order to keep it performing its proper function is ridiculous.

Sorry, your '63 Bassman is only worth £2.50 because you changed the mains cable. Cork sniffery at its worst.

Supportact

Just be grateful that you found out what he was like before he bought it. I imagine that it would have turned out much more hassle had he actually bought it. 

I sold an interface/control surface once on ebay.  The person asked a lot of odd questions before buying which should have alerted me and I should have blocked them.  Anyway after they received the items they started complaining and it became apparent they didn't actually know how to use it. I agreed to a return to avoid the hassle (they actually started to get a bit stalky/obsessive and kept sending me these mad long emails about how I had 'betrayed ' them). It as a total nightmare though, and I haven't used ebay since for selling.  

eatapeach

S56035 said:

Man asks for pictures to ensure it's what he's after (yes, what he's after is bonkers). Turns out it isn't. Politely says thanks but not thanks. Seems fine to me.

except that isn't what he said.  Fine if he did, but no.

eatapeach

Kurtis said:

Sporky said:

S56035 said:

Man asks for pictures to ensure it's what he's after (yes, what he's after is bonkers). Turns out it isn't. Politely says thanks but not thanks. Seems fine to me.

I'm not sure offering half the asking price is terribly polite. Especially as that's a standard dodgy dealer tactic. 

Not sure they were really offering anything, just basically saying they weren't interested but good luck anyway. 

Suppose they might have been hoping you just said OK here you can just have it at half price, but hard to tell for sure.

They maybe thought they were being helpful.

Some people do look for "barn find" cars, that are totally original. 

I looked at his profile - he's a bedroom dealer with an attitude 

eatapeach

Supportact said:

Just be grateful that you found out what he was like before he bought it. I imagine that it would have turned out much more hassle had he actually bought it. 

I sold an interface/control surface once on ebay.  The person asked a lot of odd questions before buying which should have alerted me and I should have blocked them.  Anyway after they received the items they started complaining and it became apparent they didn't actually know how to use it. I agreed to a return to avoid the hassle (they actually started to get a bit stalky/obsessive and kept sending me these mad long emails about how I had 'betrayed ' them). It as a total nightmare though, and I haven't used ebay since for selling.  

I avoid ebay at all costs since I had a similar experience.  I sold a 360 camera, the guy messaged me the next week saying it was faulty and didn't charge.  I told him to send it back, expecting the brick in the box trick.  But no, the camera arrived and was working and charging fine. 

I found him on facebook, and found the videos of a wedding he had taken with the camera prior to sending it back.  It was basically a free rental he got out of me.