Is anyone else sick of sellers who don't show pics?

[jpdylon]

I am shocked and pissed off about how many ebay and CL sellers have sets listed that SAY they work, but won't post a picture of a screenshot?



How hard is it to turn the set on and take a picture? Almost all digi cams I've used have an auto shutter that takes a full picture and not between the retrace. Works for me every time. I get even more agrivated when I ask the seller politely if they can send me a pic of the set in operation and they get angry and say something like: "Blelieve me it works fine", or "everything is working." Only for me to go and find sound and no raster, or a dead set with only the tubes lit.

Yes it could be an easy fix, but its the honesty and sleezy sellers like that who just irritate me to no end.

Rant over

[Sandy G]

Yeah, even a screen shot w/snow-in the 3 places on this planet where you can't get at least SOME kind of reception-would be better than nothin'...

[ojTHEd]

I'm sick of them, too!
No one should be selling the retarded! They're people, not commodities.

[opt80]

Ok someone pick a better word than "retarded"

Thanks

Alan

[jpdylon]

**title edited per Alan's request**

How come it doesn't show on the fourms,only here?

[madpioneer]

originally posted by opt80 Ok someone pick a better word than "retarded"

It's called "lazy". I am just in it for the money. Don't bother me with irrelevant details, you want it or not!? Just give me some f'&%kn money and I'll send it to you in a cardboard box with toilet paper around it, it should make it no problem.
Just the sorry state of greedy non-caring scumbags that seem to all but rule the bay and other places these days. Not just sets but on anything, stereo, TV's, electronics in general. A$$holes abound they want your money not to provide any service or reputation or return customers just money.

I asked simply about a CD about last year if it was a CDR or factory and the seller bout tore my head off with an all out 'bitch' session about how they only put this out in so and so year and limited and I should know that, I was an idiot and all kinds of crap. I e-mailed back and just as rude and reported him to the bay wind up shutting him down. Just total d*cks these days.

These people have no remorse, care, or respect, I say then don't f*&%kn sell on CL or bay or anywhere else you sack of sh%t!!!! But these types seem to unfortunatley find what us cool people are looking for, damnit!

[BillEpstein]

My own pet peeve are the legions of pictures that are so dark they show nothing. Cheap digital cameras (like mine) have notoriosly weak flash. I've taken my share of dark fotos so I got a couple of $5 reflector lamps with clamp-ons. No big deal.

[kx250rider]

I agree with the frustration, but the other side of the story is also frustrating. I most always show a photo of the picture when I sell on eBay, but it's an invitation for VERY STUPID and annoying questons... Such as "What's that band across the screen??? (common when taking a photo, and is not there in real life), and "Why is that picture so dim and with poor color?", "Is that blotch a spot in the phosphor?", (all of these are camera artifacts), and "when did you take that photo; I never saw that commercial, so did you take that picture when the set was new in '62???" There have been TVs I wanted to sell on eBay for which I took dozens and dozens of screen shots... It's darn near impossible to get a "GOOD" shot of a TV screen.

So yes, for US it's good to see a photo of the TV picture as lookers/buyers, but for the seller, it's a headache from square one!

Charles

[dr.ido]

I've found it nearly impossible to get a decent screenshot of any TV with my camera (Kodak DC4800). In the past I've filled a memory cardf attempting to get a usable picture that isn't blurred, too dark, washed out, not full screen. Even the better attempts look bad after resizing.

So far, I've only sold sets as pick up only and show them working when the buyer comes to collect it. If they aren't happy with what they see they don't have to take it (it hasn't happened yet).

How do you guys take such great screenshots?

[jpdylon]

The kodax dx-7630 I have has a variable shutter speed. If you don't want a blury screengrab, set the shutter speed at 1/60. That way it always grabs a complete scan and doesn't have a bar in the pic. If you have an easy-share kodak camera, all you have to do is set the camera to SCN, then choose the "In Motion" option, which will automatically set the shutter to 1/60.

If its set faster, you get the bar, or only half a screen. If you set slower, the screenshot just comes out overexposed and blurry. I find the best screenshots are taken while the set is the only light source in the room. Trying to do it with any other light just makes it turn out wrong.

The screenshot was taken before I edited this to provide a screenshot

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by jpdylon

I am shocked and pissed off about how many ebay and CL sellers have sets listed that SAY they work, but won't post a picture of a screenshot?

I get even more agrivated when I ask the seller politely if they can send me a pic of the set in operation and they get angry and say something like: "Blelieve me it works fine", or "everything is working."

If the seller gets angry when you ask a polite question or make a polite request for a picture of a TV being sold on ebay, Craigslist, etc. I wouldn't get so upset as you and several others here seem to (from what I've seen in this thread). We cannot control other people's behavior. If you get an angry response to a polite question or request, think nothing of it and go about your business; that is exactly how I would handle a situation such as you found yourself in. Some people just have bad tempers they never learned to control, or it is just their nature, for whatever reason, to fly off the handle when things don't go exactly their way. Those who do this when asked a simple question may have mental problems as well.

The last possibility is that the seller may be (at the time)/have been in a bad humor when he/she wrote the reply to your request or question. There is no excuse for that (when a person is in a bad mood is one of the worst times to fire off a response to a message on a public message board [or to send an email for that matter], as the person is likely to say things he/she cannot possibly mean when he/she is angry), but unfortunately there is no accounting for or changing other folks' behavior; we can only control our own, as I mentioned above.

BTW: I know nothing about psychology; I am only writing here from personal experience, having dealt with such people as you mention on other message boards I frequent and in real life as well. Getting angry yourself doesn't help matters one bit--it only gets the other person more upset than he/she was to begin with, and doesn't do you any good either.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by jpdylon

The kodax dx-7630 I have has a variable shutter speed. If you don't want a blury screengrab, set the shutter speed at 1/60. That way it always grabs a complete scan and doesn't have a bar in the pic. If you have an easy-share kodak camera, all you have to do is set the camera to SCN, then choose the "In Motion" option, which will automatically set the shutter to 1/60.

If its set faster, you get the bar, or only half a screen. If you set slower, the screenshot just comes out overexposed and blurry. I find the best screenshots are taken while the set is the only light source in the room. Trying to do it with any other light just makes it turn out wrong.

I have a Radio Shack "Flatfoto" digital camera with a very tiny flash (the camera itself is about an inch thin and the size of a credit card) and no adjustments for shutter speed and/or aperture; it is all automatic, set by a system RS calls "Autobrite". However, for the life of me I cannot see any kind of sensor anywhere on the camera to operate it, unless it's behind the lens. The camera takes fairly good pictures, but I do get overexposed pictures when trying to photograph an image from a TV screen (I have one photo I took several years ago with the TV on and showing a picture, with at least one other light on in the apartment; the photo came out very badly). The reason may well be that I have other lights on in my apartment when I am taking the pictures. Perhaps I should take your advice and turn off all other lights from now on when I snap photos off my TV set's screen. These fully-automatic cameras apparently are easily "fooled" into setting the shutter speed much too slow when there is too much light on the subject. Another consequence of having the shutter speed so slow is that any movement of the camera will blur the photo. Unfortunately, with my Radio Shack Flatfoto digital camera, there is no tripod socket on the underside of the camera so I cannot use a tripod with it. I have another digital camera, a Polaroid model 620, that does have a tripod socket, but no flash. The Polaroid camera goes through a set of batteries in a hurry, which is another reason I don't use it anymore; that and the fact that my computer no longer recognizes the camera when the latter is connected to the computer by way of an USB port. It recognizes the RS camera just fine, though. Oh well. The RS camera is better anyway because of the automatic settings, the built-in flash, and the rechargeable lithium batteries, which are charged from the computer when the camera is connected to the USB port.

BTW, the RS Flatfoto camera is great for people who want a digital camera, but cannot afford $300+ for a high-end camera such as Nikon, Canon, etc. or who do not want to be bothered with setting shutter speed, aperture and so on. The Flatfoto is available at any Radio Shack store and online at radioshack.com. I paid roughly $50 for mine, but that model has been discontinued. In its place is a newer model that has an LCD preview screen in place of the viewfinder. The newer model is slightly more expensive, but not that much more. If my present Flatfoto were defective or if I were in the market for a new one, the FF with the LCD would be my first choice. However, I've had very good results with the Flatfoto camera I have now, so I'll stay with it for the time being (read as long as it works so well). It's small, but the pictures it takes are great; not as good as a more expensive camera with adjustable settings, but good enough for everyday snapshooting.