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Author
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Topic: ebay Buyers Beware
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Bradford A Moore
Master Film Handler
Posts: 272
From: Provincetown, Ma
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted May 22, 2016 08:22 AM
As I recently posted a review of Scars Of Dracula, and the problem it has, that was caused by a lab error, and makes the film difficult to watch. I wrote dondondonnie a seller in England about the problem, and if I could get a refund.
He replied that he couldn't because he had listed it as no returns. I think that is quite common place these days to do so, and I could understand if the film had normal projector ware, which can be more expected with a old film. But with a film that was printed faulty, and should have been returned long ago to Derann for a replacement in the first place, I think he should have been more willing to help. All he could say is that he sympathized with situation, which is very easy to say, when he has my $120 dollars, and I'm stuck with a faulty print.
I didn't want to give him negative feedback, for fear that he would damage my 100 percent feedback on ebay, so I'm now stuck in a rock in a hard place, and he is all the richer.
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Andrew Woodcock
Film God
Posts: 7477
From: Manchester Uk
Registered: Aug 2012
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posted May 22, 2016 08:39 AM
The lab defective prints, sometimes quite common due to the relatively high volume of Derann prints printed in their hey days, were sold originally as "white box" specials.
They were generally offered for a maximum price of around half of what an A1 perfect reel of film of the same title would be sold for.(often much less in extreme cases of a particular fault).
These brand new odd reels of film very often featured on their 2nd hand lists to facilitate fast sales of these kind of prints.
People happily accepted these prints including their many different types of flaws rather than do without a print altogether. They always seemed to sell well back then and even more so for prints with a lesser flaw than lab marks or extreme negative marks.
Prints that had slight colour grading issues used to sell really quickly as I recall.
If this print is described with all of its faults fully highlighted, well that's fair enough to sell on to a new owner at a cut down price in my book.
However, if the faults are far more severe than described, are not mentioned in the sale at all, or the price isn't in keeping with the quality of the print, then of course, this type of explanation given out here, becomes unacceptable.
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"C'mon Baggy..Get with the beat"
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John Armer
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 139
From: Lancaster, UK
Registered: Jan 2015
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posted May 22, 2016 12:00 PM
I sympathise, but we are all, effectively, taking a gamble when we purchase a 30+ year old print like this.
Think of it if you were a seller, selling something you weren't able to test. You offered it at a price, you stated that it was untested and there was to be no returns. Someone takes you up on the offer price knowing all of this. How would you feel if they then said there was a problem with it and raised it with eBay? Caveat Emptor.
I have bought prints that are untested and turn out to be faded or have green scratches but that's the nature of our hobby, 30 years after the prints were made. I have also been very lucky and got unfaded full features for £10 each too. As I said before, it's a gamble and it's all the nicer when you get (occasionally) that mint print, or when you visit Classic Home Cinema and Phil's just got in the Derann 600ft cut down of THE FOG that you've been looking for and you get it before he's had chance to put it on his lists - as happened to me a couple of weeks ago.
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