Hi all,
I use ebay very successfully. In that, I mean, that I stretch my budget by least double through ebay. I also am able to do R&D projects with raw LEDS. It is great fun and successful.
For example: I have invented a very useful
fixture in a 40
foot long pipe
fixture - yes it is 40 feet long. And it is lighter than a source 4, 12 volts,
dmx on 4 channels, 110 volt supply. It lights the top 2 feet of my
cyc. Why? well, I hate that "light
lag shadow" at the top of the upstage hang position. I do not want to see the shape of the
fixture on the
cyc. I want a solid field. I now have it.
My
current favorite ebay seller is BML inc. They sell off ebay too. They answer the phone, and emails promptly. generico-bmlinc (2275)
So, why did I buy this one studio color from Texas? Well, it was $500. I already have many of them and that means I fix them. To own a studio color is to fix a studio color. I sent it back because the problems were adding up on a
fixture advertised as "used, but fully functional." Is was used, but not functional. Not even tested. I opened it up and the inside was filled with white powder - busted
bulb. Not cleaned. Not serviced. The guy lied. He has still yet to pay, and is making a shipping claim to hold up the process. Sigh.
So, the warning continues on this guy... .l u i s (or) r i c k y p l a t .. a is the guys name. In Texas, yes. his score is (223) so he has been around ebay for awhile. loboe nrique is the ebay name. I hope none of you have the issues I
face now. But he looked Ok from the outset.
Aside: My friend pointed out that Mercury was in retrograde in February. Maybe that's why the deal went sour. IDK. I'm just done with it.
So, how about the ebay
feedback system? I find it inadequate. It is very serious to give negative
feedback and one is strongly discouraged from even giving
neutral feedback. I have often thought of building a real
feedback site, but the site would probably fail just for being too honest. I would suggest a honest discussions of all vendors here on this site, tho. Maybe we could have an area that can only be searched by logged in members of CB. That would be useful.
Why put up with that? Well Sc's work great for what they do when they are working. With what I know now, I'd say plan to have 25% of you SC
stock on the
ground at any one time. Even with that, $500 is cheap for a mover with that much output. I paid $850 for my Trackspots some 15 years ago. That was a deal, too. Mover do a bulk of the work these days.
I will continue to use ebay to get deals on movers, source 4's and little experimental parts. Heck I just bought a 30v 10A variable bench
power supply for $106. That's a good deal to me. When you
play with
led's you need at least on of those.
Anyway. I am *not* very mad about this situation. This is just part of doing business in an ebay world. NTL, I figure we can have strength in numbers in terms of used lighting or other gear by talking to each other on CB. If we really tried maybe we could influence the standard of expected prices and condition of such items. I used facebook to overthrow a bad condo board just by having all concerned parties post what they witnessed - with photos. It worked.
As far as avoiding ebay goes...well that is not
practical for me. I need to do alot with a little. I do agree with the trusted seller
point, tho. Maybe I learned not to bite on too good a deal. I hope so.
John
