Dick Seacup Posted October 4, 2008 Posted October 4, 2008 My take: It's an H-140, not an H-150, so the market value is slightly lower to start with. Next you have a poorly done nut that wasn't disclosed. Then you have a repaired headstock crack. Whether or not the crack is a pro job and stable or not, that takes a serious bite out of market value as well. If it were all original, what you paid would probably have been a "good" price. Nothing spectacular for either you or the seller, but fair. What's the cost of a nut job? Say, $50? What is the effect of the headstock repair? About a 25-35% drop in value, maybe more depending on how bad the repair is? So, you're holding a guitar that realistically has a market value somewhere around (($700*.75)-$50)=$475, again depending on the quality and stability of that repair. You've told him you want $200 back, which would bring your cost down to $500, which is still a little over what it might be worth with full disclosure. If it were me, I would write him a nice email laying all of that out and end it with something like, "So, you have the opportunity to 'keep it sold' by refunding me the difference between what it is worth based on full disclosure of the damage and repairs, or you can refund me my money in full and try and sell it again. I feel I am being eminently fair, given the circumstances, and want to see this deal work out for both of us. I appreciate your counter-offer, but I think you would agree that it would be foolish to take it when the auction was written in a clearly misleading fashion. I am willing to keep the guitar, but not if it means I eat $100." Might work. Worst case you file negative feedback and Paypal screws him out of his money. That's the lever.
SouthpawGuy Posted October 4, 2008 Posted October 4, 2008 Slider ... sorry to hear about this development. Ask him how much negative feedback on his ebay account is worth to him. Tell him how loudly you are going to complain, and that his non disclosure of a damaged instrument will work wonders for his ebay rating. After all you paid for, and were expecting, an undamaged guitar. Just my 2 cents.
slider313 Posted October 4, 2008 Author Posted October 4, 2008 I think I'm going to return it for a full refund. The thing is I feel the seller should pick up the cost of the return shipping. I'll be without a guitar and out $40. for the return cost. Well here it is after I set it up with the white pickups. Time to put it back to the way it came to me. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/b376/slider313/140w.jpg[/img]
slider313 Posted October 4, 2008 Author Posted October 4, 2008 I like the guitar,repaired headstock and all. I gave it one more shot and asked for $150 back which would make my cost $550 excluding shipping; I thought that was more than fair. He wouldn't go for it, so back it goes. It's too bad because it sounds real nice with the Fat Diane pickups and the wood grain shows through the finish on the back of the body. Oh well.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/b376/slider313/140bk.jpg[/img]
High Flying Bird Posted October 4, 2008 Posted October 4, 2008 This is too bad. Be sure to give a good detailed report on this guy on the bay. Matter of fact I wouldn't mind you getting warmed up here. Who is this dude?
slider313 Posted October 4, 2008 Author Posted October 4, 2008 His name is Brian Goff and he goes by Bizzare Guitars on the bay. He's selling some expensive pieces, so claming he knew nothing about the repaired headstock is highly unlikely. I guess he was hoping whoever bought it wouldn't notice. In his favor though, he agreed to refund the full price and issue a return through the carrier so I don't have to pay return shipping. I wonder if he will disclose the crack repair when he relists it?
brentrocks Posted October 4, 2008 Posted October 4, 2008 good for you to stand your ground...i would like to punch thar bizzare guitar dude in the nose for trying to pass a repair off as un-repaied....what a jerk!!!
brentrocks Posted October 4, 2008 Posted October 4, 2008 it is so obvious that the serial number was masked when the back of the head was re-painted....he had to know
slider313 Posted October 5, 2008 Author Posted October 5, 2008 Anyone dealing in that many guitars; he currently has 154 on ebay, knows what to look for when buying and selling. To tell me he didn't notice the new nut or had no idea it had a repaired headstock is total bullshit. As for the serial number, I've seen a few hot guitars with questionable looking numbers.
yoslate Posted October 5, 2008 Posted October 5, 2008 Sorry to hear about all of this, Mike. Hope the return trip goes well. Live and learn...mostly live.... Good luck with the resolution!
squawken Posted October 5, 2008 Posted October 5, 2008 I can sympathize with you Slider. I had that beautiful white 157 in my hands, and despite the flaws I considered keeping it. But it went back after I had cleaned it up, new strings pictures taken. Uggh. Strangely enough, it hasn't showed back up on e-bay. Well, we can continue our search together for our white whales.
JohnCovach Posted October 5, 2008 Posted October 5, 2008 Anyone dealing in that many guitars; he currently has 154 on ebay, knows what to look for when buying and selling. To tell me he didn't notice the new nut or had no idea it had a repaired headstock is total bullshit. As for the serial number, I've seen a few hot guitars with questionable looking numbers. You'd think he would have known, but it did take a while for you to find the repair, as you mention. I wonder how much time a guy like that spends with each guitar he flips? Probably not much. If I liked the guitar and had it all fixed up, I'm not sure I'd send it back over the difference between $100 and $150. But you gotta do what you think is right.
slider313 Posted October 5, 2008 Author Posted October 5, 2008 It took me some time to find it but I don't buy and sell as a source of income. I'm sure when he bought the guitar he pointed out all its flaws and offered the lowest price possible for what it was. Then difference may be $50 but I see it as a $500 guitar so I would still be paying too much.
big bob Posted October 5, 2008 Posted October 5, 2008 Keep the faith, you'll find that white whale some day Ahab.
shook494 Posted October 5, 2008 Posted October 5, 2008 I feel bad for all of you guys looking for these white demons > I'm going to keep those in mind for you guys when I'm looking around town. Maybe one or two will pop up for you somewhere? The bay has become a very scary and expensive place to play.
brentrocks Posted October 5, 2008 Posted October 5, 2008 i'm close to hooking up w/ a white heritage....we are in the negotiation stage...local guy, he knows my dad....may work out to my advantage????
y2kc Posted October 5, 2008 Posted October 5, 2008 Holy crap it is amazing how things float around the mid-west. I saw that h-140 many months ago here in the chicago area at guitar center. The guitar was hanging high up and after hearing what they wanted for it, did not look at it. At that time I was not told of the repair. Two weeks later I called them and for some reason the salesman told me it had been repaired. Someone then here at the hoc was looking at it also and I reported the news about the head repair. This time I should have put two and two together and known it was the same guitar. In Brian Goff's defence, he has treated me well in the past. Sorry I didn't think, y2kc
brentrocks Posted October 5, 2008 Posted October 5, 2008 WHAT IS TOO BAD IS THAT THE GUY LIED TO SLIDER!!!
Jim W Posted October 6, 2008 Posted October 6, 2008 I've dealt with Brian at Bizarre before; and was very happy with the deal. FWIW, I would venture that he didn't know. I don't think he's a dishonest dealer; he may have just not done enough research before selling it. In any event, to bad it didn't work out for you this time, better luck going forward. Just my .02
slider313 Posted October 9, 2008 Author Posted October 9, 2008 Well.........here's the latest from Brian Goff at Bizzare-Guitars. I returned the 140 after speaking on the phone with him. Sent it UPS ground. They left it at his front door. I emailed him after it was delivered, saying I saw it was delivered, and asked when I could expect him to credit my paypal account. His response was," It must be at the neighbors house, I'll go check" !!! This guy is a real piece of work !!!! I'm sure he gets guitars delivered all the time and all the carriers in the area know him, where he lives and what he's shipping and receiving.
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