My observations about online auction sites versus standard retailers with
respect to shortwave.

E-bay is the ultimate economist's example of a supply-demand economy,
thus for most items with reasonable demand better prices on E-bay will
NOT be found than you might find elsewhere, simply because more people
who want the product can bid on it.

Good
----

- Ebay has good deals for foreign versions of domestic-marketed products:

For example, the Degen 1103 is the Chinese market version of the
Kaito 1103. You can get a decent markdown on it by buying from the
chinese seller. The same goes for the Tecsun PL-200/550 with the
domestic versions of the Eton E100/E10.

- Ebay has decent deals for parts

Often E-bay can be a decent place to find hard-to-get parts. On the
other hand, these are often pulled from radios which are then listed as
complete units.

Bad
---

- Many sellers gouge on shipping and offer poor return polices in
comparison to standard retailers

It is very common for a seller to charge exhorbitant prices on
shipping. It is quite likely when someone says "Buyer pays actual
shipping" that the buyer will pay for a premium shipping service and
receive the cheapest shipping possible. It is also not uncommon to see
$10 items go for an equal amount in shipping or worse.

An example is a seller charging $40 shipping for a seemingly good
deal on a Sony ICF-SW7600GR, with the markup making it equal in price to
a retailer like Universal Radio, but with a much more limited guarantee

Another b.s. thing is sellers charging $5 for "insurance," when most
shipping companies in fact include insurance of $100 minimum.

- Items can be easily misrepresented, with little recourse.

Many sellers add the disclaimer "as-is", which means you could
receive a turd in a box and have little way to get your money back.

- Ebay favors sellers

Ebay seems to ignore all but the most blatent examples of
misrepresentation and shill bidding. In most cases, shady sellers will
get a slap on the wrist.

- Ebay feedback is of little use.

A seller might have +10000 positive feedback, but when they are all
"A+++++++++++++" can you really take them seriously? Buyers are expected
to leave exaggerated feedback by many sellers, or they will receive
mediocre or negative feedback in return. Thus you are unlikely to hear
than an item took 6 weeks to arrive when it should have taken two.


E-bay to standard English translations
--------------------------------------

"AS-IS" - Has serious problems but sort of works

"UNTESTED" - Sold to the seller in liquidation at scrap prices and
obviously not working, but never "tested" by the seller so he can
honestly say untested. Alternatively, blatently known to not be working.

"BUYER PAYS ACTUAL SHIPPING" - Buyer pays actual shipping price for
priority mail, but receives slowest ground method possible.
Alternatively, buyer pays actual shipping cost, plus $2 per mile for the
seller to drive the item to the post office.

"NO RETURNS ALL SALES FINAL" - The seller will be out of the country by
the time you receive the item and realize something is wrong.

"Item works as-pictured" - The clock, as shown in the picture, works on
this radio, but who knows if the rest does (probably has some problem).

"Item works as-pictured" (2) - Usually seen with an item with a blank
screen in the picture, it means the item is probably dead, "as
pictured," but the stand on the back works nicely.

"Like New" or "As-new" - 10 years old, but the case has been wiped down
with wet-naps or degreaser

"Immaculate" - see "like new," but here the seller is trying to confuse
people with glorious sounding words. Immaculate means perfect, without
blemish, but seldom is such a claim about an auction-item true.

"New in box" - Generally works, NEWly put back in the box after someone
else returned it.

"we pack items carefully" etc. - Item will be crammed into the smallest
box possible, with the thinest layer of padding possible.

"NO PAYPAL" - We've had so many charge-back's through Paypal, they won't
do business with us anymore.

"Item not exactly as pictured" - Item MUCH WORSE than pictured.

"VERY RARE" - Only 100 000 units were made, due to low demand.

"You won't find one of ____ in this condition anywhere else" - A blatent
lie. SOMEONE has one in better condition somewhere. This statement is
simply a useless platitude to boost bids.