Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Mellotronists

We all know from past experience that:

1. Quite a few Mellotrons selling on eBay seem to disappear before
the
auction ends
2. From time to time a winning bidder pays for a Mellotron and loses
all his/her money to fraud
3. Lately on big ticket items, a number of fake front page hijacked
listings occur & seems to be a problem at eBay these days

If I was to list my Mellotron for sale (fat chance, btw)...I would:

1. Offer it for sale here first, giving a complete description & a
deadline to respond. Good hi-res digital pics say a lot...provide a
link to LOTS of close-up detailed pictures. Maybe eBay might get you
more money for your machine, but at least I'd offer a set-sale price
here first. I'd be tempted to go for area craigslist cities listings,
free musician buy/sell/trade gear forums & go that route before
dealing
with eBay's spendy listing fees.

2. Offer a contact name, address and phone number that matches one
that
can be found online in any people-finder directory. That may sound
like
divulging a bit of personal information, but this is the best way
IMHO
to let someone making a major purchase like a Mellotron know you are
who you say you are.

3. Offer to accept e-mails off-list when someone interested can call
you to hear the sounds of your Mellotron and the tapes note-by-note.

When entering a bid for a Mellotron on eBay, use the "ask the seller
a
question" function and request a phone number and a good time to call
for further info and sounds, etc. In the meantime, verify the number
is
valid, and matches the location item is for sale and all that. If
things don't synch, the deal is off. Don't place a bid! Simple as
that...all in the name of protecting yourself! If they don't
reply...well that means to me that they aren't serious about the
importance of your bid, or something is shady going on. After all,
it's
a serious decision and a major purchase, so a seller should be ready
to
field a lot of questions. The seller ought to put themselves in your
shoes to put it all into proper perspective...hopefully they
appreciate Mellotrons as much as we do.

Then...good luck with your offer and if you get one, you're happy
with it & it'll be your prized possession like mine is.