Quote:
Originally posted by Richard D
She WISHES she could tell the bidders whether it works or not...
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This seems to happen a lot on eBay, and it can be annoying. With vintage radios, either the line cord has "mysteriously" been cut, or they don't have the "proper batteries" to test it with.
Given the circumstances, though, it's understandable, and especially in the case of AC-powered receivers, probably a good thing that they are not indiscrimminately powered up for testing. It seems that the vast majority of items being sold on eBay are "brokered", that is, the seller is simply distributing the item from wherever they purchased it (estate sale, garage sale, second-hand store), to a willing buyer. Chances are, they have no idea about the item's history.
The three conditionals that apply in a case like this are (listed in ascending order of impact on the value of the item):
[list=1][*]The item definitely does not work[*]It is unknown whether the item works or not[*]The item definitely works[/list=1]
What I think happens in a lot of the cases is that the seller actually
does, at least preliminarily, attempt to ascertain whether the item works (to find out if it falls into the highest value category), and in the cases where it
doesn't, will cut the cord, claim to not have the right batteries, or otherwise plead ignorance as to the working condition. This allows them to describe the item as at least
potentially working, making it more valuable than one that is
known to be non-functional.
Having said all of that, in the case of an AC-powered vintage radio or TV, it's probably for the best that an uninformed seller
not plug the thing in to see if it works. I'm sure that a number of vintage gear has been seriously damaged in just this fashion.
Paula