is eBay an ok place to buy a new integrated receiver?

pglbook
pglbook Posts: 2,222
edited December 2018 in Electronics
I have decided to purchase and try out a new Yamaha integrated receiver and can get it brand new on eBay for $146 less than the current price on Amazon (or anywhere else). Is eBay a reliable place to purchase new electronic equipment? The eBay Seller is in the U.S., appears to be a legitimate online retail electronics store, has received excellent reviews (100% rating), and has a good return policy. Should I have any worries about purchasing via eBay rather than purchasing from Amazon? The receiver is currently $875 on Amazon (but my after tax price would be $945)and $799 on eBay (no tax, free shipping) so it is quite a big ($146) difference in price. I have seen tthe Amazon price go down to as low as $815 in the past month but, after tax is added, it would still be over $80 than what I could get it for on eBay. Thanks for any feedback on eBay.
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Comments

  • Hermitism
    Hermitism Posts: 4,261
    edited December 2018
    One thing to keep in mind when buying something new, if you purchase from someone that is not an authorized dealer, it almost always voids the warranty.

    edit: Not sure if this applies in your case. Just because they sell on eBay doesn't mean they are not an authorized dealer. Polk has an eBay store, for example.
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,638
    Check feedback, check other items listed and be wary of over seas or something feels over seas but is located in California (according to the listing).

    Otherwise I've never had any Ebay issues
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,437
    I'd ask via the eBay listing if they are in fact an authorized Yamaha dealer. If so keep the correspondence and go from there just in case of problems down the road you can use their words against them.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,541
    What is an integrated receiver?
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    I've had good luck on eBay. As mentioned before, authorized resellers are the way to go. Both of my Marantz pieces in the office were from an eBay authorized seller.

    I've had some good and bad luck with private sellers on eBay, but now Ebay has a pretty good return/refund policy if the item was damaged or defective. Key is to get it hooked up ASAP and check everything out.

    Good luck to you! :smile:
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
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  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,489
    Many of the legitimate online audio retailers like Onecall, World Wide Stereo, Adorama, and others operate in both the Ebay and Amazon marketplaces as well as operate their own direct sales websites. Both Ebay and Amazon serve as store fronts for many vendors. Only Amazon sells things directly as well. I tend to use Amazon more than Ebay because of free Prime shipping although I will compare prices on Ebay sometimes too. With any vendor, check with the manufacturer to see if the manufacturer's warranty is valid when their gear is purchased online. A seller on Ebay or Amazon may say they offer a warranty, but it may not be the manufacturer warranty.
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  • pglbook
    pglbook Posts: 2,222
    F1nut wrote: »
    What is an integrated receiver?
    sorry, of course I meant integrated amp.

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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,541
    Ok, I thought so, but then again thought maybe you meant an AVR.

    If the seller is an authorized dealer they will state so in the listing.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • pglbook
    pglbook Posts: 2,222
    Thanks for all of the responses. Good points about wanting to know if Seller is an authorized Yamaha dealer (for warranty purposes) and also about being wary of overseas Sellers. Seller appears to have a U.S. location and says item will ship from U.S. and feedback also suggests that. And I just e-mailed Seller asking if they are an authorized Yamaha dealer. Thanks again.
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  • delkal
    delkal Posts: 764
    I bought some Russian made tubes from Russia/Ukraine and some Mullard tubes from England on Ebay. Both were smooth transactions, great tubes cheap, and arrived within 2 weeks. The only thing that was a slight PITA is they all required signatures. Not that I blame them, I wouldn't send a package overseas with out a signature. But that meant 3 trips to the post office to sign for them after i wasn't home (and the USPS didn't leave a notice telling me once!)

    I would avoid anything but the cheapest/ not that critical part from China. Especially the "used" Audioquest cables for cheap. They are surely a knockoff.
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  • pglbook
    pglbook Posts: 2,222
    edited December 2018
    I just received the following response from the eBay Seller in reply to my questions if they are located in the U.S. and if they are an authorized Yamaha dealer. I think everything looks ok. any red flags?

    "we are located in USA, we buy out Yamaha items direct from yamaha

    Our 3 year Square Trade warranty contract for all our products sold though our Ebay account must be processed though our company, if you have any issues with the unit, it will need to be serviced with manufacture authorized repair center or manufacture it self, service will be paid by Square Trade, but it will be processed though our company. Customers do not have direct Square Trade warranty contract.
    The unit for sale is Brand New!
    This unit comes with free 3 years square trade warranty
    A Stock,
    Not Refurbished
    Never Used by anyone,
    Purchased through authorized dealer network
    all work done at manufacture authorized dealer network repair centers
    Square Trade pays for parts and labor.
    Customer must send the unit to us for inspection before claim is filed with Square Trade for warranty work.
    We will test the unit to confirm the issue for customer claim."

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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,541
    They are not an authorized dealer, but since they provide a Square Trade warranty you shouldn't have any concerns.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • FestYboy
    FestYboy Posts: 3,861
    That whole thing screams unauthorized seller to me...
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  • pglbook
    pglbook Posts: 2,222
    edited December 2018
    F1nut wrote: »
    They are not an authorized dealer, but since they provide a Square Trade warranty you shouldn't have any concerns.

    Thanks. That is good to know. What is Square Trade? I am not familiar with it.


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  • ZLTFUL
    ZLTFUL Posts: 5,648
    pglbook wrote: »
    F1nut wrote: »
    They are not an authorized dealer, but since they provide a Square Trade warranty you shouldn't have any concerns.

    Thanks. That is good to know. What is Square Trade? I am not familiar with it.

    Squaretrade is a third party warranty provider. In all honesty, my warranty experiences have been better than virtually any other direct warranty issues I have had.

    Costco uses them to provide their extended warranties.
    Think of Squaretrade as an insurance company for electronics.
    FestYboy wrote: »
    That whole thing screams unauthorized seller to me...

    Not an authorized seller for sure but there are sellers who do bulk buyouts of clearance or overstock items from manufacturers. That's what this sounds like to me.
    And even better than they offer a 3 year Squaretrade warranty for free as that is more than the factory warranty on most Yamaha gear.
    "Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."

    "Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
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  • pglbook
    pglbook Posts: 2,222
    edited December 2018
    Below the latest e-mail from Seller about the warranty. It turns out the warranty is not customer direct with Square Trade but via Seller. Does that make sense and is it legit and ok?


    "We don’t purchase square trade from ebay
    We have square trade contact warranty insurance for all our eBay sales
    This warranty is not customer direct with square trade but must go through our company
    No square trade documents provided to ebay buyer as contract is with our organization only for our ebay sales"
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,638
    Doesn't make any sense to me in my experience with how square trade works, ymmv
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,437
    I don't know sounds like grey market possibly.
    How the heck you to get service if said seller decides to pull up tent stakes ?
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  • ZLTFUL
    ZLTFUL Posts: 5,648
    That does sound a little fishy. Typically, the buyer registers themselves with Squaretrade and provides them with info from the seller.
    "Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."

    "Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
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  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,934
    If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
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  • SIHAB
    SIHAB Posts: 4,897
    Life is dangerous. B)
    Speakers: Polk Lsim, ATC SCM19 v2, NHT SuperzeroSpeaker Cables: DH Labs, Transparent, Wireworld, Canare, Monster: Beer budget, Bose ears
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  • gudnoyez
    gudnoyez Posts: 8,114
    edited December 2018
    If it was me I would buy from an authorized dealer only, are there Yamaha repair shops in your vicinity? That savings of $146 might not be worth the hassles should something go wrong.
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  • jeremymarcinko
    jeremymarcinko Posts: 3,785
    Definitely spend the extra if you can, just for piece of mind.

    Oh, Listen here mister. We got no way of understandin' this world. But we got as much sense of this bird flyin in the sky. Now there is a lot that bird don't know, but it don't change the fact that the world is happening to him all the same. What I am tryin to say is, is that the course of your life, well its changing, and you don't even see it- Forest Bondurant
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  • pglbook
    pglbook Posts: 2,222
    Thanks for all of the posts and advice. I agree that it did not sound right and passed on getting it from the eBay Seller. I will get it from Amazon when Amazon's price comes down closer to $800 (the price on Amazon fluctuates quite a bit); better to spend a little more and have peace of mind. Thanks again and happy holidays to all!
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  • verb
    verb Posts: 10,176
    pglbook wrote: »
    Thanks for all of the posts and advice. I agree that it did not sound right and passed on getting it from the eBay Seller. I will get it from Amazon when Amazon's price comes down closer to $800 (the price on Amazon fluctuates quite a bit); better to spend a little more and have peace of mind. Thanks again and happy holidays to all!

    Good call @pglbook - We can all rest easy now. Keep us posted once it arrives and you got that baby hooked up! :smile:
    Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
    Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
    Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
    Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
    Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
    Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD.
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