Raz
Well-known member
Hello, anyone out there ever buy through this auction site, and can Canadians get in on the deals...lots of EBMM's up for sale at relly good prices...
- Thread starter Raz
- Start date
OrangeChannel
Well-known member
Link please.
PurpleSport
Well-known member
Good basic site concept, but seriously flawed execution
I've tried to buy on it a couple times...it's like eBay in some ways, but with stricter, sillier, and more complicated rules.
It's also not very user friendly in a basic site functionality sense, IMHO...the search feature stinks, and if you try to contact a seller, you have to communicate exclusively thru the site - they don't want to risk you cutting a deal offsite at all, apparently. I saw a limited edition Axis Sport on there I wanted more info about, and it was a major pain in the ass trying to reach the seller to ask and follow up on the most basic of questions.
I also bid on an Axis that was really low priced once ($500!), and it just upped the amount of time the auction went on rather than ending it on schedule shortly thereafter like on eBay - it seems they put more time on the clock on each time a bid is made, and I seem to remember there's some silly formula on how they do that too. Turns out that price they gave was a real lowball to get people in on the bidding, and there was no indication it was a reserve price until after I bid.
I get the impression that a lot of the items on there are from dealers, mostly Guitar Center (I think they own/run the site, which is definitely more seller-oriented). I've seen guitars at the GC here in Manhattan wind up on there a few days after I tried them out in the store, sometimes selling for far less than the tag price - I saw a used Morse they had on the floor at $900 go for $700, and I just about kicked myself...
Regarding the Canada thing - it's probably all dependent on the seller. GC will probably ship up there with no probs, but a mom and pop shop might not. If you see something you're interested in, if it doesn't say in the listing where they'll send to or not, you should try that crappy mail thing of theirs to reach the seller and get the scoop. Again, the site is so unfriendly and shrouded in secrecy that it doesn't tell you who the seller is, so it's tough to tell if it's GC or Joe Bob Redneck aside from the grammatical errors and amount of details they provide...the only way to find out is to ask.
OC....it's www.instrumentexchange.com. If anyone has any luck with this site, be sure to clue us in on what you did. Interesting stuff does show up on there, but I found it such an aggravation to use I don't even bother with it anymore. Whoever came up with the format should be tarred and feathered, if ya ask me...
Raz said:
I've tried to buy on it a couple times...it's like eBay in some ways, but with stricter, sillier, and more complicated rules.
It's also not very user friendly in a basic site functionality sense, IMHO...the search feature stinks, and if you try to contact a seller, you have to communicate exclusively thru the site - they don't want to risk you cutting a deal offsite at all, apparently. I saw a limited edition Axis Sport on there I wanted more info about, and it was a major pain in the ass trying to reach the seller to ask and follow up on the most basic of questions.
I also bid on an Axis that was really low priced once ($500!), and it just upped the amount of time the auction went on rather than ending it on schedule shortly thereafter like on eBay - it seems they put more time on the clock on each time a bid is made, and I seem to remember there's some silly formula on how they do that too. Turns out that price they gave was a real lowball to get people in on the bidding, and there was no indication it was a reserve price until after I bid.
I get the impression that a lot of the items on there are from dealers, mostly Guitar Center (I think they own/run the site, which is definitely more seller-oriented). I've seen guitars at the GC here in Manhattan wind up on there a few days after I tried them out in the store, sometimes selling for far less than the tag price - I saw a used Morse they had on the floor at $900 go for $700, and I just about kicked myself...
Regarding the Canada thing - it's probably all dependent on the seller. GC will probably ship up there with no probs, but a mom and pop shop might not. If you see something you're interested in, if it doesn't say in the listing where they'll send to or not, you should try that crappy mail thing of theirs to reach the seller and get the scoop. Again, the site is so unfriendly and shrouded in secrecy that it doesn't tell you who the seller is, so it's tough to tell if it's GC or Joe Bob Redneck aside from the grammatical errors and amount of details they provide...the only way to find out is to ask.
OC....it's www.instrumentexchange.com. If anyone has any luck with this site, be sure to clue us in on what you did. Interesting stuff does show up on there, but I found it such an aggravation to use I don't even bother with it anymore. Whoever came up with the format should be tarred and feathered, if ya ask me...
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OrangeChannel
Well-known member
O this thing? I've seen IE auctions on Ebay. They're usually over priced and not in that great of condition.
Raz
Well-known member
Thanks PurpleSport, a most impressive answer...dang that's too bad cause there appears to be a few nice guitars...in fact I saw a 2003 Albert Lee with a BUY-IT-NOW price of 800 US!
http://www.instrumentexchange.com/bid-form.asp?list_id=733321&pid=41&catid=131&scatid=496&status=1
Double Dang...only US customers allowed...man you guys get all of the neat stuff...alls we get is HealthCare!
http://www.instrumentexchange.com/bid-form.asp?list_id=733321&pid=41&catid=131&scatid=496&status=1
Double Dang...only US customers allowed...man you guys get all of the neat stuff...alls we get is HealthCare!
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PurpleSport
Well-known member
Raz said:
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news about the site, Raz....I wish it was decent, 'cause an alternative to eBay is desperately needed out there. All the other auction sites pretty much are mom and pop places trying to unload cheap import crap, and that's rather depressing.
On the other hand, speaking of the AL in that link you gave me, I refer you back to the much maligned eBay for this one....almost the exact same guitar with a trem, but more used, thus cheaper!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2384&item=3754870606&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
The seller appears to only want to ship to the US as well, but I've sold stuff to Canucks on eBay if they wrote me and asked nicely if I could make an exception (it's really not that hard anyway - our two respective postal services seem to work together well). Even more ironic is that it's originally from Matt Umanov's shop here in NYC, but it's apparently made it's way out in the sticks of Mississippi!
beware.....Instrument Exchange is really a Guitar Center business. They have gone through a ton of eBay IDs becuase they keep getting negative feedback.
All they do is post people's consignment goods or for sale ads as their own. Half the time they can't deliver because the real seller sold it or backs out.
All they do is post people's consignment goods or for sale ads as their own. Half the time they can't deliver because the real seller sold it or backs out.
KungFu Grip
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2003
- Messages
- 377
AVH said:
Indeed. They say right in their auctions that "instrument shown may differ from instrument offered" and "we except no responsibilty if you don't receive the instrument after payment."
Keep FAR away.
Raz
Well-known member
Well then why don't we start some kind of buy and sell here. I'm sure you guys wouldn't mind parting with some of you're EBMM's...afterall, it would keep the guitars in the family, for people who really appreciate these guitars. Truthfully, I've been on Ebay alot, looking for a second American made guitar, and dang they're so confusing...the only obvious and trustworthy company is Ernie Ball. The only reason I am buying my Wolfgang is because it is similar to the Axis, its American made, I'm getting it for a really good price and its getting shipped from Canada...
KungFu Grip said:
When I saw this thread, I thought in my head, isn't Instrument Exchange owned by Guitar Center? I did some research and couldn't find anything to back up my gut feeling. But it seems I'm not alone.
Anyone know - definitively - if GC owns Instrument Exchange?
Raz
Well-known member
My first opinion was that it seemed ligit, I mean they have that 48 hour inspection return-no questions asked policy and they all have to use the same shipping service, thus controlling shipping costs. One thing that ebay sucks for is the shipping, people charge double what it actually costs...
PurpleSport
Well-known member
hendmik said:
It might be a limited liability company/partnership offshoot kind of thing....some companies will do this to get their feet wet with online ventures (a lot of times, a webgeek approaches a company and sez "hey, I've got an idea you guys might wanna check out - if ya like it, let's be partners!"). If the venture fails, the main company can spin it off without too much damage their primary business entity; they then write it off as a business loss, and/or blame the failure on the partner(s) involved.
Now get a load of this...the site itself is registered to someone who also runs a site called "GolfClubExchange.com", which I've checked out in the past when I looked into this. Nearly similiar formatted site in look, feel, and operation. Still a pretty crappy excuse for a way to do auctions, if ya ask me.
Moral of this story: one should never mix golf, guitars, and web technology!
<LOL>
dwf1004
Well-known member
Well, after all of the naysaying, a bright spot: if everything works out for that buyer, then he just got himself a new ASS over there for $460.
guitarcenter.com has a link to them on their website, so that would mean...jack. No one at my homebase GC could give me an answer (would you believe that I am blessed with a GC that has some actual knowledgable folk here? I can get some purty good deals as well, if need be. Oh, stop lickin' yer lips, I'm not gonna do it! LOL!), so the search is on, I guess...
guitarcenter.com has a link to them on their website, so that would mean...jack. No one at my homebase GC could give me an answer (would you believe that I am blessed with a GC that has some actual knowledgable folk here? I can get some purty good deals as well, if need be. Oh, stop lickin' yer lips, I'm not gonna do it! LOL!), so the search is on, I guess...
koogie2k
Well-known member
Yeah...my local GC has some good guys in there. I never had a problem. But, I only deal with one person so they know what I like and what not. Most of the other peeps in there leave me alone knowing I will leave the minute I find out my bro is not working. Just the way it is......
PurpleSport
Well-known member
dwf1004 said:
What's funny is their website sez the auction's over when you first look at the search page, but it's actually still up with another day and a half to go on eBay! (Regarding the skills of the webmaster, to quote the almightyJonguitarz, "What an asshat!"
)Ironically, this looks the same guitar I tried bidding on months ago...the dealer must finally be getting the message (I think it's from the GC in LA or one of their salesguys, judging from the user ID on eBay)...
Even funnier is that the current high bidder listed on the InstrumentExchange site is the same guy here in NYC who'd come along after I put in my bids, and he'd put in a bunch more and still never reach their high reserve price. And the current high bidder on the eBay side is from....Poland!
(BTW, the GC crew here in Manhattan are good too....they're not all asshats! Then again, I'm on their VIP list too....
)
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