[rescue] Wisdom of the Collective: QFE

[Peter Stokes]

Hi All

Just thought I would put my 2 cents (tuppence in real money of course) worth
into the conversation.

I have both sold and bought a lot on Ebay UK for many years now (getting on
for 14 I think) and as far as buying is concerned, you just have to decide
where you stand in terms of risk.

The simplest and safest way of buying is to stick with the reputable traders
with the good feedback and who offer the warranties (I put myself in this
category, ie always offer warranty), there are usually at least a few to
choose from and you normally can find what you want at a sensible price, but
do not expect any rock bottom bargains, these guys need to make a living out
of it.

If you want to buy bargain basement, then this is where the minefields are and
caveat emptor comes knocking. I mainly buy Sun Microsystems gear and most
sellers in this bracket usually know very little about it and you can forget
warranties etc, it is all down to your gut feeling, but the prices will
normally be cheap as a consequence, with a result some you win, and some you
do not. My hit rate is very high on winning, but it is a numbers game, buying
the odd item every now and again can be painful, buying 30 items in a month
and finding 1 duff one is not such a bad deal for me and is more than made up
with the good ones.

Hope that helps

Peter
---------------------------
Peter Stokes
Tel: 01636 627990
Mbl: 07977 532320
---------------------------




On 10 Feb 2014, at 17:01, Robert Novak <rnovak at indyramp.com> wrote:

> Yeah. On the other hand, I bought three dual-10GBE cards over the weekend
> for about $50 each. PCI-e, on current VMware ESXi support list, from a
> fairly reputable seller. I'd do well to find even an SFP+ module at retail
> for what I spent on the whole batch. My first two 10gbe cards were $26 each
> I think, and they still work 2-3 years later.
>
> There's a junk shop (as I've called them for years) here in Sunnyvale that
> I've shopped at on and off for at least 10 years. They've always had a very
> clear "NO RETURNS EVERYTHING AS-IS" policy posted throughout the store and
> on their receipts. And it used to be a regular occasion that I'd go in to
> look for cables or something and there'd be a customer screaming at the
> tech that they weren't honoring their NO RETURNS EVERYTHING AS-IS policy by
> giving her money back.
>
> In the last year or two they've gone a bit more "kinder and gentler" and
> offer 30 day exchange, and warranties on some PCs, but based on the clearly
> posted policy I knew that anything I bought there was a gamble at my own
> risk. Just like most swap meet/flea market booths, and on some level, any
> online marketplace (whether eBay, Craigslist, Amazon Marketplace, etc).
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 8:46 AM, Phil Stracchino
<phils at caerllewys.net>wrote:
>
>> On 02/10/14 11:33, Robert Novak wrote:
>>> And think about the poor sods bidding on
>>>
>>
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-iPhone-5-16GB-White-Sprint-Smartphone-With-Flap
py-Bird-Installed-/271397942408?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item3f3093f488.
>> ..
>>> (url gives you the gist except for the six figure price it's
>>> approaching) ... is it a scam? No. Is it stupid? Yes. But that's not the
>>> seller's fault. :)
>>
>> The amazing thing is that people are still bidding on it.  The crazy
>> bidding frenzies on eBay are one reason I avoid it.  Most of the time,
>> if the item is available *at all* through some regular retail channel
>> retail, it's cheaper to just go buy it retail.
>>
>>
>> --
>>  Phil Stracchino
>>  Babylon Communications
>>  phils at caerllewys.net
>>  phil at co.ordinate.org
>>  Landline: 603.293.8485
>> _______________________________________________
>> rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
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