Klarinet Archive - Posting 000682.txt from 2002/11

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Ebay (was:Odd brands.)
Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 23:58:30 -0500

Wayne P Hill wrote,
>Most of the time what you will encounter is
> someone who is selling an instrument from
>their parent's estate or something of the like...

Um, that's where they *say* they got the instrument.

>Something else I ave found can help gain an insite
>into the quality of instrument would be to ask about
>the playing background of the previous owner...not
>neessarily the seller...but try to get a history of the
>instrument. If it was owned by Joe's great-grandfather
>who played in the London Symphony it might be worth
>buying even though they seller cannot give you TOO
>much information.

If I recognized the eBay handle of a dealer I know and trust, or someone from
the Klarinet list, I'd ask that question, but it's the *last* question I'd
ever ask of a stranger. Many pro dealers on eBay sell a huge variety of
miscellaneous merchandise that they scoop up from yard sales, estate sales,
auctions and other flea market dealers. Some of the largest-volume dealers
disguise themselves with screen name identities loaned by family and friends
for different categories of merch, so that each screen name seems to
specialize in a certain area of expertise. Some dealers work with shill
bidders. eBay is a good place for a knowledgable person such as Dee Flint or
Jim Lande to find a bargain, but as a long-time semi-pro cockroach (picker)
married to another, I can tell you from many insider conversations that eBay
is also notorious among flea marketers as a suckers' market, where a dealer
who's more clever than scrupulous can easily get rid of garbage to ignorant
people who pay way too much.

Even otherwise honest dealers routinely lie about provenance. If the dealer
doesn't know the provenance, or if the true provenance doesn't sound so good
("my cockroach picked it out of the dumpster at the close of the Harper's
Ferry flea market last Saturday"), then they just make something up. I'd
love to have a dollar for every time a flea market dealer has told me with a
straight face that this (worn-out, worthless old) saxophone used to be Bill
Clinton's, or, "I inherited this clarinet from my dear old grandfather who
played in the New York Philharmonic, and I hate to part with a family
treasure, but I need the money for this month's rent, which is past due, and
my mother's been sick, and" -- and it's just another cynical ploy.

My reaction to it is to smile vacantly, say "Um-hmm" in a friendly but
non-commital tone of voice to let him know I don't believe a word of the sob
story but I don't care about it, either, and won't hold it against him (or
her, of course) -- and then I buy, or not, on the basis of the evidence of my
own senses (which is why I've never bought a clarinet on eBay: I want to see
it, touch it and smell it). Unless you know and trust the dealer, believe
what *you* can observe about the instrument. Believe *your* research about
the brand name.

>When all is said and done though it is "Caveat Emptor" but
>sometimes the price is so good that you actually don't mind
>getting a lemon (and then you have a nice lamp base).

Yes. Except the last thing I want in my house is a clarinet lamp base. Tres
tacky.

Lelia

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