Personally reconditioned?

[kennyk]

Lately I'm seeing a few auctions of retro items that say personally reconditioned, usually there is no explanation of how they "reconditioned" it; it might be that they just wiped the dust off of it. I have actually seen some game systems listed as new, but the description will say otherwise. I once messaged the seller of an N64, he said that he takes professional care to make sure the system looks and acts like it should, which is why the price is higher than normally. It seemed like a very generic response.

 

When I think of reconditioned, I usually think of Yurkie's awesome colecovisions that he fixes up, or maybe a screen or casing replacement. I did buy system a long while ago where the seller had reflowed the soldering (although i dont really know what that means). Does anyone else notice this, or have any opinion on this? Should there be a rule on what qualifies as reconditioned?

 

[oldjd]

Assuming your talking about Ebay,I totally agree.But theres no practical way to enforce it

Certainly not with Ebay,and while once along time ago,people could be taken at thier word,that is

no longer the case

I think that some sellers are to stupid to know the difference,but I think a larger amount of them,are just using it as a sales tool.And then it will be compounded by selling with the dreaded "Although I have

done this and that and polished the rat turds inside,It is sold as is"!

Best solution,I could offer is look at thier feedback,see if they are selling similar items on a long term basis,or as you mentioned buy from someone like Todd,who has the reputation

[krypton85]

Anytime I list something as reconditioned, I state exactly what I did to it. Whether it be a capacitor replacement, or an entire overhaul. I hate it when people don't say what's refurbished. I have known people (friends) that if the item works properly, they'll just say they refurbished it. Usually all that would entail was a cleaning.

[Defender II]

What is worse, saying something is reconditiond or selling an item after pealing back labels and opening them up without disclosing it to the buyer?

 

I hate it when I receive a game cartridge and find the label has been pealed back and then replaced or find broken pins or glued cases or painted cases without the seller disclosing it in the sale. Even when you ask for pictures it seems they shoot it just right so you can't see the damage until you receive it. How about the items that are moldy, rusty, or smell of smoke, which you can't see in pictures. Some people who smoke don't always know that everything around them smells like smoke too, or they don't care. After huricanes and floods it seems people think it is OK to collect moldy and rusty items and sell them without notifying the buyer. I remember reading Ax's complaint about some controllers with brittle cords and rust. Another one is the seller saying something is fully functional and then they ship the item without a key part that makes it function.

 

As buyers, how many questions are we supposed to ask before we buy something from someone? When it is a really expensive cart I ask if it has been opened or if any of the pins are broken, but it is getting so common for even common carts to be opened by someone for curiosity sake that I may have to start asking about everything. Even though I hate doing it, I have resorted to asking every seller to package items so they aren't damaged, because so many of them don't know or don't care. It is just too much of a hassle to deal with broken items that never should have been broken in shipping. As if we don't already know, heavy packages can get put on top of fragile ones and they get tossed and dropped during shipping, so I wish they'd please package accordingly.

[toptenmaterial]

When I sell an item that has been cleaned, inside and out, that is exactly what I put. For example: "I cleaned the connectors with alcohol, put canned air to it, cleaned the screen to make sure there weren't scratches...."

 

Refurb implies some sort, I don't know... really getting in there mechanicly.