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Great Set.
When you don’t need something huge.
Overview
I bought this a few years ago for bedroom use. I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been used more than a few times. It’s basically as-new.
Importantly, there are external audio and video inputs so you can connect to the video source of your choice; cable box, DVD player, anything that outputs standard composite video or cable/RF (like a cable box). You can also, of course, receive over-the-air broadcasts with the included antenna.
Picture is absolutely razor sharp, clear, and fully color-saturated.
Item at auction
Aiwa 13-inch color television, complete with remote.
Payment/Shipping
1• Pickup only, from Upper-West Side of Manhattan. PayPal within 2 days of auction closing or, upon pickup, cash (no change more than $1). You will sign a receipt indicating you have received the item/merchandise as-described.
2• [Not relevant to this auction.]
3• [Not relevant to this auction.]
4• [Not relevant to this auction.]
5• [Not relevant to this auction.]
Important Final Notes...
Please read. There’s something relevant to you.
A lot of people are still confused by the nature of bidding, and what “maximum bid” really means. It doesn’t mean you will pay the maximum, it means you’re willing to pay “up to” that amount if someone else is bidding against you.
1. holding back your true maximum bid
There is now quite a lot of “automatic bidding” where a third-party system will shoot up the bid price for someone in the last few tenths-of-a-second to win the auction. Most people don’t enter their actual “maximum bid” price until near end-of-auction, and so lose to the robot. I’ve lost auctions this way, and items have ending up selling to someone else for less than I was willing to pay. Hello, you’re losing to a robot! I therefore respectfully and humbly suggest you not “reserve your final bid” for the last few seconds, because you’re going to lose the auction. Instead, just offer exactly what you’re willing to pay; no more, no less. Either you’ll win or you won’t but at least you won’t be out-bid by a stinkin’ robot.
I guarantee if the item you’re watching is of any value at all, you’re not going to out-smart anyone by waiting till the last few seconds to bid!
2. the Reserve
Some of my items have a reserve price. That is, a price below which I will not agree to sell the item(s). You might reasonably wonder – I have wondered – “Well, what’s the point of that?” (Initially listing at a below-acceptable price.) The time-honored answer is “human nature.” It’s helpful to get people interested in the auction when the possibility exists the price might be right for them. Traditional auction houses list and start auctions at below-market as standard practice for just this reason.
People ask “Please tell me your reserve. I don’t want to watch the auction if it’s out of my range.” I understand, but this makes little sense: if people bid rationally, they wouldn’t (as per above) wait until the last 5 seconds to enter their maximum bid! If you want to find out whether-or-not the reserve exceeds your budget, just put in your maximum bid. If this doesn’t meet the reserve, you’ve lost nothing. If it exceeds the reserve, you’re in business. It’s that simple.
Therefore, please do not ask me what the reserve is. Bid your budget (no more, no less), and you can answer the question (“Is the reserve above my limit?”) yourself.
3. post-auction support: know what you’re buying!
Many of the items I sell are “technical,” reflecting my areas of expertise and interest. I try and be as helpful/informative I can in the item description. Please appreciate: I spent many years selling my services and expertise, and purchasing from me does not entitle you to freely pick my brain, or receive any follow-up assistance whatsoever. I’m a nice and generous guy and would like to help – I’m a helpful geek at heart – but personal and professional responsibilities mean I have very little free time.
eBay isn’t the appropriate source to purchase anything for which you’ll need hand-holding (And, ultimately, other Internet/mail-order channels really aren’t any better.)
Therefore, I warrant and represent everything I sell is “as-described.” You must assume all responsibilities for getting it to work, appropriateness for particular uses, compatibility, etc. My description may note something like “...should be easy for someone with basic skills...” and such an assessment is honestly made. However, you are responsible for evaluating whether you have such skills, and this responsibility does not shift to me if you (discover you) lack them.
As I note elsewhere, if you’re uncomfortable with this (or me), please don’t bid!
4. technical details
“The devil in the details.” This means, in short, one curses the devil when discovering there are such things as “French-threading” and “Italian-threading” which are – of course – incompatible. Similarly, there at least ten different forms of RAM, each of which has at least a dozen variants; hundreds of different kinds. Is what’s being auctioned perfect for you? I cannot know. If a detail is critical to you, please research it yourself!
Usually, additional (generally complete) information about the item at auction is available directly from the manufacturer’s website or elsewhere on the Web, and such complete details cannot reasonably be presented in an auction description. True there aren’t any “bad” questions, but there are frequently questions asked which the prospective bidder could research/answer just as easily as I. (Where I come from, this is known as being lazy.) If there’s important or critical information relevant to you that isn’t specifically addressed in the description, please don’t ask me. Google and Wikipedia are great resources. If you can’t be bothered to find the answer for yourself, I’ll happily settle for fifty cents less from another, better-motivated bidder.
Please, don’t be scared to ask a reasonable question! Just don’t insult me with it because you’re too lazy to do a Google search yourself.
5. what does “as-is” mean?
Everything I sell is “as-is.” When I read someone else’s description and see that term, I think “That means it doesn’t work.” This is NOT the way I use the term; Everything I sell WORKS GREAT unless I specifically note otherwise. I use the term is to protect myself with buyers who, however, well-intentioned and honest, may be ham-fisted or accidentally destructive. Some time ago, I sold a set of hard drives. Fully-tested, worked great here. Buyer gets them... Dead. All of them. What did the person do?!? I’ll never know. But it took a lot of time, energy, and money to straighten it out. Not a great experience for me, given my razor-thin “profit” on this stuff to begin with. Hardly fair.
If you request, I will “prove” items fully-working before they leave me by, if practical, video-recording their demonstrated operation, including in the video frame a “code word” you give me proving the demonstration was done after you win the auction. It’s a pain, but I’ll do it. Then we know that, though you were unsuccessful trying to jimmy that new CPU in your car or microwave oven, the item (or system) came to you working perfectly.
6. what does “refurbished” mean?
One of the more-thoughtful questions asked of me concerned the difference between “used” and “refurbished.” Everything “refurbished” is also “used.” (If it were never used, it would not need to be refurbished it would be new.) Refurbished indicates something is either confirmed to adhere to, or restored to some standard. This is clear with, say, a diesel engine where there are specifications and tolerances. (After a bunch of miles, replace the piston rings, whatever else... Bingo, “refurbished” for another hundred-thousand miles.) For many other things, it’s less clear-cut. A computer system might not “work” because of some software problem (thanks, Redmond!), but the hardware might be just fine. Is a computer chip “used” because it’s run in a system? Is a monitor “used” if someone’s looked at it?
Businesses sell “shop-worn” or “demo” items as new all the time! Dishonest, I say. There was a bit of a scandal a few years ago when a certain large computer manufacturer used some parts in new/outgoing computers which came from returned systems. They asserted, not unreasonably, that these parts were essentially indistinguishable from “new.” Perhaps. But new is new, everything else is used.
“Refurbished,” to me, means: “Subject to the terms of my professional insight and description, which indicate any/all compromises versus new, this item performs and operates substantially like a new one.” But it’s not new. If something is too far from new to be compared as such, I’ll consider it “used,” which means, essentially, “Works fine, but it ain’t new.” If someone’s not fully-qualified to ascertain precisely how far off an item is from new, they should simply say “used.”
7. feedback
Once you receive your item(s), please leave feedback promptly. Feedback is a form of eBay currency, so please don’t make me chase you for that, either. If you’re considering anything less than “enthusiastically positive,” I ask the following of you:
a) Please carefully re-read the auction description, including these accompanying notes (particularly those below). Are you being fair and reasonable? Should “I guess I didn’t read the description carefully enough” really be my problem, or is it really your issue?
b) If you believe there really is an issue – and it should fairly-and-reasonably be my issue to resolve – by all means contact me. We’ll work it out. Everybody makes mistakes, and we need to “own” them as appropriate!
8. crazy / cranky / unethical
Most eBay people – by far – are honest and sane; great. However, some small percentage are, as in the rest of the world, nuts. (Or possibly sane, but unreasonable and/or dishonest.) Are you one of these people? Find yourself arguing a lot? Frequently feel entitled to more than you get? Just generally angry at yourself or the world? PLEASE DON’T BID!!! The $1 more you’ll bid over the next person – who is honest and ethical – aren’t worth it to me by a long shot. I’d like to maintain my 100% positive feedback, and have neither time nor patience to deal with anyone incapable of an objective perspective. I don’t wish to “resolve” problems, I wish to avoid them in the first place.
I have had 2 negative experiences. I take them personally. I spent time and energy “dealing” with them as a matter of ethical principal. Be honest, ethical, and fair as I strive to be. Do not make me “deal” with you!
Don’t waste my time and I won’t waste yours. I take eBay seriously, and hope you do. Your bid a binding contract. Bidders with little/negative feedback will be bounced.
Again, if you have ANY concerns about me or the nature of this auction, I urge you simply NOT TO BID!
Thank you.
I have been asked if my notes might be used by others. In the interests of making the world a better place (something we should all strive to do) my answer is “yes” so long as you include the following attribution: “Used with prior permission of Jonathan S. Jacobs, NY. All rights reserved.”
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