I am teaching myself to service flutes and piccolos. I got the Burkhart Phelan book 2nd edition. It's Great. Anyhow, I bid on a Yamaha YPC-32 in Ebay and paid $247.50 for it. It looked great from the pics. Maybe the head joint could use a little polish and a repad, that's it. WRONG!!!! When I got it the silver plating on the head joint was pitted and blistered off and the plastic body had a spot on it that was melted. It's like metallic smelling sand paper against your lip.
The write up went like this:
"I don't know anything about instruments. It works and it looks good."
It's about like a used car salesman saying the car runs and the body looks good. When you get it, it's rusted out. I LIT into her and demanded a full refund. I told her she knew the picc was in "GRAVE" condition. If I had seen a closeup pic I never would have placed a bid.
I'm filing a dispute with paypal now.
Soooo, E-bayers beware!!!!!! Get closeup pictures. Bad pitting can only look like a little tarnish from a not so close picture.
Mattyacht
Burned on Ebay
Moderators: Classitar, pied_piper, Phineas
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fluteguy18
- Posts: 2311
- Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2006 3:11 pm
I have been very lucky up to this point with ebay. I havent been 'bitten' yet.... so luckily my piccolo came in fantastic condition.... [although I was very meticulous about checking the sellers background.... 1000+ reviews and 100% positive feedback... so I felt pretty safe].
I will definately keep your expieriance in mind next time.
May I ask who the seller was? [just to keep an eye out next time I go looking for a bargain].
I will definately keep your expieriance in mind next time.
May I ask who the seller was? [just to keep an eye out next time I go looking for a bargain].
burner on E-bay
Her name is seekandfind777
She has sold 1300 some odd items sold with 100% positive feedback too!!!
I have gotten a brand new gemeinhardt 4P piccolo that is SWEEEEET for
$369.00. I do agree with you there are good deals on E-bay.
What kind of picc did you find there?
Mattyacht
She has sold 1300 some odd items sold with 100% positive feedback too!!!
I have gotten a brand new gemeinhardt 4P piccolo that is SWEEEEET for
$369.00. I do agree with you there are good deals on E-bay.
What kind of picc did you find there?
Mattyacht
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fluteguy18
- Posts: 2311
- Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2006 3:11 pm
I found my Yamaha YPC-62 there [which is now my primary picc]. I tried multiple yamaha piccs at a convention, and I liked them all, so I felt pretty safe about purchasing the one I saw being sold by Matthew's Musik on ebay [a licensed dealer in Holland]. A few other reasons I felt safe going with them was because they offered a 7 day trial period, and a 1 year warranty in addition to the manufacturer's warranty. So, because there was the trial period, I felt reassured that if I didnt like it [and fortunately it ended up being the best one I had ever tried from Yamaha], I could return it with a full refund. Although... I was rather anxious having the picc shipped in from europe.... a lot of potential for the picc to crack.... but luckily it didnt.
I also read the majority of their feedback, and everyone had left wonderful reviews. So, luckily for me, things worked out well.
I also read the majority of their feedback, and everyone had left wonderful reviews. So, luckily for me, things worked out well.
Happy with inexpensive ebay purchase
I'm very happy with the flute I bought on ebay. It's a student model (Armstrong 104) that had a few dings in the headjoint and needed some minor adjustments. I got it for $56; the grand total of $70 included about $15 for shipping. Then I spent $50 getting it adjusted, the dents removed, screws tightened, pins unbent, corks adjusted, pads reseated, etc. I thought that was a darn good deal. (I've probably spent almost as much money on a stand and music as I have on the flute!)
I hadn't played in years, so a friend loaned me a couple of flutes to try: a student model Gemeinhardt and a conservatory Gemeinhardt (both pretty old). However, the Gemmies I tried were lots harder to play than the Armstrong. The lower register is really easy to play on my flute, and the pitch seems better than that of the Gemmies, too. I must admit I was surprised, because the old flute I had (30+ years ago) was a solid silver Gemeinhardt; I remember thinking it had a rich lower register and wasn't difficult to play at all. I had a teacher back then that thought it played nicely in tune with itself as well.)
Anyway, I may outgrow Armstrong, but I'm happy with it for now!
I hadn't played in years, so a friend loaned me a couple of flutes to try: a student model Gemeinhardt and a conservatory Gemeinhardt (both pretty old). However, the Gemmies I tried were lots harder to play than the Armstrong. The lower register is really easy to play on my flute, and the pitch seems better than that of the Gemmies, too. I must admit I was surprised, because the old flute I had (30+ years ago) was a solid silver Gemeinhardt; I remember thinking it had a rich lower register and wasn't difficult to play at all. I had a teacher back then that thought it played nicely in tune with itself as well.)
Anyway, I may outgrow Armstrong, but I'm happy with it for now!
Experiences on eBay
Hey, I can relate totally to what happened. I had one awful and two fantastic experience with piccolo buying on eBay. The first (awful) one was from a seller named "fastsale123". I bought what they called a "professional" model piccolo (for $100US or something like that). It turned out to be, of course, a cheap plastic Chinese piece of junk. What a $#%(*&$) nightmare it was to get my money back. I had to file complaints with eBay AND PayPal, the seller was so horrible and rude. I finally won, of course.
On the other hand, I had also tried another of the plastic Chinese junk piccolos (Venus) from a seller named musicalwheel. Even though the piccolo was awful, when I contacted the seller, not only did he tell me to send it back and he'd refund the money immediately (which he did), but he also sent me, for my trouble, two plastic stands, one for flute and for piccolo (the folding kind). Absolutely fantastic. If you're looking for cheap band instruments, he's the way to go..
Lastly, and most recent, I bid on and won a Bundy (plastic of course) piccolo, for which I paid $80 US. Bundy makes almost everyone cringe, including myself, for it reminds me of the cheap clarinets and saxophones that kids used in band throughout my grade-school/high school years. HOWEVER, believe it or not, this piccolo is AMAZING! Perfect intonation. Easy response. Unfortunately the seller of this instrument was also a huge PITA but in the end, I got a great instrument for next to nothing.
So...it can go either way. You take your chances. But I do not bid on anything without thoroughly researching not only what I'm bidding on but also reading every feedback comment on the seller that's on the site.
Just my $.02 worth.
On the other hand, I had also tried another of the plastic Chinese junk piccolos (Venus) from a seller named musicalwheel. Even though the piccolo was awful, when I contacted the seller, not only did he tell me to send it back and he'd refund the money immediately (which he did), but he also sent me, for my trouble, two plastic stands, one for flute and for piccolo (the folding kind). Absolutely fantastic. If you're looking for cheap band instruments, he's the way to go..
Lastly, and most recent, I bid on and won a Bundy (plastic of course) piccolo, for which I paid $80 US. Bundy makes almost everyone cringe, including myself, for it reminds me of the cheap clarinets and saxophones that kids used in band throughout my grade-school/high school years. HOWEVER, believe it or not, this piccolo is AMAZING! Perfect intonation. Easy response. Unfortunately the seller of this instrument was also a huge PITA but in the end, I got a great instrument for next to nothing.
So...it can go either way. You take your chances. But I do not bid on anything without thoroughly researching not only what I'm bidding on but also reading every feedback comment on the seller that's on the site.
Just my $.02 worth.
Last edited by andy957 on Fri Jul 13, 2007 9:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
Andy
Just because someone is selling something for cheap, does not mean they are crooks. People know what they are selling, and know that not everyone is going to like their stuff. I have had good experiences buying cheap Ebay instruments. However, I would never buy from a person that is obviously trying to pass off a fraud. A prefessional instrument for $100? That would have been a red light right off the bat!
stoeckle
You have a good attitude that most people should have about buy used flutes on Ebay. When I buy instruments, I always expect to have work done on them, and also add this on the total cost.
I recently got beat on a Computer though. I bought a G3/400mhz iMac for $25 dollars. I had to put 512megs of ram, and a new battery for $100, and buy OSX10.4 for another $130. I am in this computer for $255, and I could have bought the whole computer for $150. Oh well, the computer works great but it was expensive.
This is an example how if you are not careful you can get beat!
Phineas
Just because someone is selling something for cheap, does not mean they are crooks. People know what they are selling, and know that not everyone is going to like their stuff. I have had good experiences buying cheap Ebay instruments. However, I would never buy from a person that is obviously trying to pass off a fraud. A prefessional instrument for $100? That would have been a red light right off the bat!
stoeckle
You have a good attitude that most people should have about buy used flutes on Ebay. When I buy instruments, I always expect to have work done on them, and also add this on the total cost.
I recently got beat on a Computer though. I bought a G3/400mhz iMac for $25 dollars. I had to put 512megs of ram, and a new battery for $100, and buy OSX10.4 for another $130. I am in this computer for $255, and I could have bought the whole computer for $150. Oh well, the computer works great but it was expensive.
This is an example how if you are not careful you can get beat!
Phineas