Ebay sellers switching tubes
I have purchased 466 items from ebay, none were available locally. I have had two bad experiences. The first was G scale 1917 model T panel truck, it came in a Chex cereal box with minimal news paper wrappings, she did refund half the purchase price. Yes, the item was mangled, some parts were usable, so we worked out a refund for half of the purchase price. The second Item came from a record company exec. He sent a Proceed AVP in a cardboard box with no padding, the box arrived with USPS tape all over it, just to keep the box together, his scotch tape fell apart. It came with pieces missing, the sub chassis was floating inside the main chassis. It was a well made pre/pro. It still actually worked well, just looked like it fell out of a truck. Paid $454 for it 400 + 54 for shipping. Tried to negotiate a refund for 200, got nasty and refused. I sent him 10 or 15 pix, of the box and damage. Refused to consider any refund. Sent the pix to ebay with a complaint. They sent a shipping label and full refund to my account. Postal clerks laughed at the shipping label and told me it was for 3 pounds nowhere near the actual cost of shipping, he got the bill. I buy from 100 per centers or 99.7 at worst. I check their feedback before the purchase, especially the neutral feedback as well as the negative. I have purchased about 15 200wpc channel amps with no problems. Ebay requires that we do our due diligence before the purchase. When it comes to refunds the buyer is treated very, very well. |
Not more than a few months ago I walked into one of my favorite local high end stores and the owner hands me a tube and asks me what it is. Easy. It was a very common and not too good sounding run of the mill GE tube. It was easy to tell with the factory coding on it as well as construction. No seam at the top so not European. The store owner took the tube from me and handed it to some forlorn looking man who I learned had just dropped some serious money for the tube, which now had an "Amperex" brand silkscreened on it as well the famous "Bugle Boy" icon. The tube was shipped in a factory fresh Amperex box. All fake. All bought on Ebay. And all are from a county in Asia with a huge population and are notorious for counterfeiting. Unless you know what you are doing where tubes are concerned, construction of said tubes, codes etc. Ebay is not the place to go. The lure of cheap prices is everyone's downfall. You pay for what you get. Spend a little more from a reputable dealer (TubeWorld, Vintage Tube Service, even TC Tubes) otherwise you will be paying a lot more; once for the junk, and again for the tube you should have bought in the first place. |
eBay may not be the most reliable source of tubes, but, there are not that many alternatives. I can't run down to a local tube shop. It is also hard to determine if the seller is intentionally ripping off the seller. It is almost impossible to determine what is meant about a tube testing good, even when the tester and value is mentioned, because of differences in calibration of machines and because most testers really don't give much meaningful results (they don't test tubes under full power stress, for example). Ripoffs work both ways. I know someone who sells tubes on eBay that, on quite a few occasions, the buyer complained and he took the tubes back; the return, however, was of different tubes. |
Buy from sellers you know can trust,,,shows tests results, Also not necessary to have strong print,,as these NOS are now 50+ yrs old,,and the print can wipe off fairly easy,,,some great deals can be had with tubes/no/low print. Teles should have Diamond logo on bottom. https://www.audioasylum.com/messages/tubes/246426/do-all-telefunken-12ax7-tubes-have-the-diamond-on-the-bottom |
