A very vital piece of music equipment recently died on me, and I have to replace it. For any musicians that care, it’s a Korg TR - Rack, and the shop said it needs a new board which will cost $1,000
Seeing that they can be bought used for about $500, that would be pointless. I’ve seen a few on Ebay, but honestly, that’s a lot of money and I’m trusting Ebay less and less these days. I’ve done little transactions on Ebay, but nothing of this magnitude. Any advice as to make any possible transaction as safely as possible?
And of course if anyone knows where I can find one, I’m all ears.
Well, I’ve done a lot of buying on eBay and have never been ripped off.
Check feedback. Make sure you read the comments, don’t just look at the score. Click on the item numbers in the feedback listings to see if any of his recent auctions were of a similar value. Make sure you pay special attention to feedback notes from buyers, since that’s what you are. If all his other auctions have been for cheap crap and he’s selling a $500 item all-of-a-sudden, be wary.
Ask the seller questions. Stuff that only someone with passing knowledge of the equipment would know. Ask specific details about any damage or wear, etc. Make sure the auction has good pictures of the item. If it’s used, they should be original pictures of the specific item, not a ripped off product-shot from Amazon.
Use PayPal. PayPal is owned by eBay now and offers buyer protection.
Finally, trust your gut feeling. If an auction seems suspicious or strange, don’t bid.
When dealing with eBay, remember that you aren’t really dealing with eBay, you are really dealing with the individual sellers. Because of that, you can’t really “order” anything off eBay, instead you bid on auctions offered by individuals. eBay will step in occasionally if things go wrong, but don’t count on it.
Congrats on Subtech’s signing. Sorry to hear about your blown synth.
I’ve never been burned on Ebay, but I’ve only ever bought expensive stuff through pedigreed vendors. Looking at the listings, I’d avoid the top-most $500 guy (looks bogus). If you can wait 6 days, ask some questions of the Long Beach seller (price starts at $100), you’ll probably be able to snag it for less than $500. Besides, that guy’s got the PayPal Protection feature, plus a pretty good rating.
I don’t know shit about this kind of sound equipment (I hope you’re talking about the Korg Trinity), but my buddy does. He says Ebay’s the only major place to get this stuff used. Major warning: if you’re planning on scavenging parts from your dead box, they might not be compatible with the newer one. Apparently, the Trinity has at least two mainboard versions. Hope that helps.
.
Last year I bought a Rickenbacker 4001 bass on eBay. Lemme tells ya, I was seriously nervous about wiring that kind of money. The seller had a 100% positive rating and e-mailed me all throughout the shipping process.