What is the biggest chance you took on a box?

[static2000g]

What is the biggest chance you took on a box? I mean maybe you bought a box from EBAY with very little description and the seller provided no details? Or maybe you bought a box from a new seller with no experience of maybe you drove a great distance for a box? Or maybe you went to a “suspect” neighborhood to do an exchange for a box? lol

I have a few

1. Bought a Sharp 8989 for 60 bucks. The seller never acknowledged whether it worked or not. But when I got it – every single function worked as it should. Though it was a little beat-up.
2. Got the same deal on a JVC 636 from the same kind of seller, however bad results. It won’t power up.
3. Drove an hour for a 40 dollar MacDonald box. Dude didn’t send the best photos so I was kind of worried, but the box looks great and everything works.

Just thought it would be a cool convo

 

[blu_fuz]

Bought 2 sight unseen JVC RC-M71 boomboxes for $600 off craigslist. What showed up were to piles of ****. Had to tear them both apart to build one decent one then just to sell it and make my money back....



My most recent riskay purchase was a Vela Discolite UNTESTED.

 

[static2000g]

Bought 2 sight unseen JVC RC-M71 boomboxes for $600 off craigslist. What showed up were to piles of shiat. Had to tear them both apart to build one decent one then just to sell it and make my money back....



My most recent riskay purchase was a Vela Discolite UNTESTED.

I would have done the same Blu......I have a Rising SCR 2015 I bought for 2015 thats a dud (paid 200). It was one of those boxes that will sit over priced on EBAY for weeks/monhts. I finally inboxed the dude an offer and he took it. I don't work on the boxes (other than body work) so when I strike out - I REALLY strike out.

 

[blu_fuz]

In this collecting game, its sick, but we all have to take chances that they show up in some kind of condition that can be repaired by ourselves. It is scary to play with our money like this, but I make out on the better side of things more than I lose. This hobby has to support itself by buying/selling/trading/parting boomboxes, or I wouldn't have any.


Its like gambling and calculated the same. I won't buy into anything I can't get myself out of, another reason not to pay full blown retail on any box.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

I have 3 as well:

#1
Traded a super rare Toshiba RT-SM9990 to a member for an Intersound J1 from Germany. Sight unseen. Radio's involved plus shipping cost = big money. J1 showed up not producing sound, but I have since gotten it fixed. (***Read Bottom for reason why radio didn't work)

#2
Drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco to pick up a Realistic SCR-8 from a member I had never met. All turned out well, radio was as described. 700 mile round trip.

#3
Lived in Japan for a short time, bought radio off of Yahoo Japan before I knew I needed a Bank of Japan account to pay for it (or an auction house like Jouce). Thankfully I was able to stumble through communications with the seller using Google Translate and mailed him cash (Yen). Deal went down perfectly after that and got my Victor RC-838.

***Regarding the J1, after trying unsuccessfully to repair the J1 and thinking I had been burned in the deal, it turns out that the amp board in the J1 is mounted horizontally and had sagged over time (25+ years) and as it sagged and bent, the amp chip broke, possibly while in shipment. Once the amp chip was replaced, everything has worked fine. In the end, I don;t believe I was intentionally ripped off, just one of those vintage boombox issues.

 

[Cpl-Chronic]

I have 3 as well:

#1
Traded a super rare Toshiba RT-SM9990 to a member for an Intersound J1 from Germany. Sight unseen. Radio's involved plus shipping cost = big money. J1 showed up not producing sound, but I have since gotten it fixed. (***Read Bottom for reason why radio didn't work)

#2
Drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco to pick up a Realistic SCR-8 from a member I had never met. All turned out well, radio was as described. 700 mile round trip.

#3
Lived in Japan for a short time, bought radio off of Yahoo Japan before I knew I needed a Bank of Japan account to pay for it (or an auction house like Jouce). Thankfully I was able to stumble through communications with the seller using Google Translate and mailed him cash (Yen). Deal went down perfectly after that and got my Victor RC-838.

***Regarding the J1, after trying unsuccessfully to repair the J1 and thinking I had been burned in the deal, it turns out that the amp board in the J1 is mounted horizontally and had sagged over time (25+ years) and as it sagged and bent, the amp chip broke, possibly while in shipment. Once the amp chip was replaced, everything has worked fine. In the end, I don;t believe I was intentionally ripped off, just one of those vintage boombox issues.

HOLY CRAP!!! You drove 700 miles for an SCR-8???

My biggest risk-taking deal was a trade + 1500US PayPal funds when I sold my M90 Mothership to Big Jerzy in Hawaii. He shipped his old M90 which was fully working but cosmetically a bit beat up, for 1000 US PayPal funds....then, once that deal was sealed & we were both happy, I shipped my MOD Disco Mothership 90 to him for 2500 US PayPal, shipped.

The M90 I received in the trade is now the DISCO KING GIDORAH:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZTwad_-EdE



ALL went smooth but the professional packing & UPS shipping cost a fortune & either radio could have been dropped in transit & busted if things didn't go as planned. It was a huge risk & a real PITA to arrange but the rewards speak for themselves, despite the 'naysayers' who thought my MODs wouldn't sell for much.....

Part of the incentive to do the deal was to prove the purists wrong about the value of my hard work.....

 

[static2000g]

I have 3 as well:

#1
Traded a super rare Toshiba RT-SM9990 to a member for an Intersound J1 from Germany. Sight unseen. Radio's involved plus shipping cost = big money. J1 showed up not producing sound, but I have since gotten it fixed. (***Read Bottom for reason why radio didn't work)

#2
Drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco to pick up a Realistic SCR-8 from a member I had never met. All turned out well, radio was as described. 700 mile round trip.

#3
Lived in Japan for a short time, bought radio off of Yahoo Japan before I knew I needed a Bank of Japan account to pay for it (or an auction house like Jouce). Thankfully I was able to stumble through communications with the seller using Google Translate and mailed him cash (Yen). Deal went down perfectly after that and got my Victor RC-838.

***Regarding the J1, after trying unsuccessfully to repair the J1 and thinking I had been burned in the deal, it turns out that the amp board in the J1 is mounted horizontally and had sagged over time (25+ years) and as it sagged and bent, the amp chip broke, possibly while in shipment. Once the amp chip was replaced, everything has worked fine. In the end, I don;t believe I was intentionally ripped off, just one of those vintage boombox issues.

[SIZE=16pt]That 700 mile trip was truly a risk. At first I had the same reaction as Cpl-Chronic…like “you drove how many miles for what??” lol But I’ve come to learn that many collectors have personal and various reasons why they collect and want certain boxes over others. I guess this is where the term “My personal Holy Grail” comes from. There are folks who will fly to the moon for a M-90 and others who won’t cross the street for an m-90. lolol[/SIZE]

 

[mmcodomino]

Nice thread!
My biggest gamble was an untested Toshiba S90 in Japan that had horrible pictures in the listing.
What showed up was the mintiest box I have and it was fully working - risk paid off.

One of my first deals was a GF-777 from Chine for 600€+ incl shipping. It arrived completely busted and barely working at all...yay!

And then there was my BB40...only got it after pushing a lot of buttons and asking people for quite a few favors. Didn't have much money involved though and it really paid off in the end.

 

[Ken]

Sent $400.00 plus shipping I think it was to China for a Conion C-126, sight unseen.

Arrived with the transformer rattling around inside. Tuner wheel broken, power board shattered, etc.

:nugget:

 

[SLO]

Man almost every time I've bought from EBay its risky business.

Sometimes the pictures look horrible, but in person the box looks GREAT, and other times the pics make a box look good online, and then you get it and its super dirty and smells like a carton of smokesNo offense to you smokers out there, but that's what happened with me on my Magnavox D8443 from Ebay. No big loss at least, just had to scrub her down really good.

Then there's the worry and stress deep in the pit of your stomach just hoping the seller packs it with lots of love. Its great to buy from other members here because we all love our boxes to death, and its reassuring to know that they will do everything in their power with packaging to prevent shipping damage during transit.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

HOLY CRAP!!! You drove 700 miles for an SCR-8???

My biggest risk-taking deal was a trade + 1500US PayPal funds when I sold my M90 Mothership to Big Jerzy in Hawaii. He shipped his old M90 which was fully working but cosmetically a bit beat up, for 1000 US PayPal funds....then, once that deal was sealed & we were both happy, I shipped my MOD Disco Mothership 90 to him for 2500 US PayPal, shipped.

The M90 I received in the trade is now the DISCO KING GIDORAH:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZTwad_-EdE



ALL went smooth but the professional packing & UPS shipping cost a fortune & either radio could have been dropped in transit & busted if things didn't go as planned. It was a huge risk & a real PITA to arrange but the rewards speak for themselves, despite the 'naysayers' who thought my MODs wouldn't sell for much.....

Part of the incentive to do the deal was to prove the purists wrong about the value of my hard work.....

Shipping these radio's is a risky business. So many of the original crew that started this site and S2G always preached "Pick Them Up Whenever Possible" and that's why I drove so far for my "Pristine" SCR-8. And as you know, even paying good money and having it packed at a UPS store doesn't 100% guarantee a safe delivery. It seems they would rather pay the claim then deliver the package. We've all seen the UPS / Fedex guy throw big screens over the fence. The scary part is, You pack it well or pay, it gets trashed the buyer is pissed you're stuck in the middle of a mess and when you're talking about the kind of money your M90 went for....that's a serious problem.

There is a thread on this site of a radio showing up that had a FORKLIFT PUNCTURE straight through the radio! How the hell do you pack for that?

I stress out every time I ship a radio and every time one is in transit to me. But it's the nature of the beast. But every time a deal goes good, that is the best feeling of all

[SIZE=16pt]That 700 mile trip was truly a risk. At first I had the same reaction as Cpl-Chronic…like “you drove how many miles for what??” lol But I’ve come to learn that many collectors have personal and various reasons why they collect and want certain boxes over others. I guess this is where the term “My personal Holy Grail” comes from. There are folks who will fly to the moon for a M-90 and others who won’t cross the street for an m-90. lolol[/SIZE]

Yeah, that SC-8 was a childhood dream box and I over did it a bit, but like you said, "Personal Grail". TW, that was Los Angeles to an Francisco and back in one day!

Thankfully we read more about the successes than the failures!

 

[static2000g]

Speaking of "risk".......I just bidded via EBAY on a Sharp 8585 with this Description-

"Sharp GF-8585 ghettoblaster jam box. Selling as-is for parts. I have not tested it. Missing the AC cord and Tuner knob. Otherwise its in good condition. See pics."

 

[Sazeus]

I bid $300 on and won a Victor M-90 on yahoo.jp with no photo. It turned up 2 months later mint with OG door decal, but missing the volume knob. Redbenjoe sorted me out a knob. It could use a re-cap now, but was a sweet deal.

 

[blu_fuz]

^ daaaaaaaaang!

 

[Ken]

 

[Sazeus]

The decals a bit tatty, someone had stuck cellotape over it and it took off some of the colour when I peeled it off.

I also got an M-70 with the description only saying "operation unconfirmed" for $30. Was fully working and pretty nice condition.

 

[static2000g]

The decals a bit tatty, someone had stuck cellotape over it and it took off some of the colour when I peeled it off.

I also got an M-70 with the description only saying "operation unconfirmed" for $30. Was fully working and pretty nice condition.

30???????? This was on YahooJP still?

 

[Sazeus]

30???????? This was on YahooJP still?

Yah, that's before commission, bank fees & shipping. They take the shine off it a little.

 

[Gluecifer]

I had a similar thing with a Perdisco TRK-8600 off yahoo. Bad photos that made it look super rough and what looked like a crack down it's side of the case, but I bought it for about $16 (+shipping of course..) and took the risk thinking I might be able to fix her up.

When I got it I saw what I thought was the crack was actually the point of sale tag still on her... and the condition was, well, you can see for yourself.


It's not the biggest chance I've taken though, I ended up having to spend about 1500 in total to get one good quality CFS-99...(my third one off yahoo.jp). I think my biggest risk was a big box I bought from a rocker in Russia through Facebook; it took 11 weeks to get here. I'd written it off.. but it was well worth the wait and effort and Anton as a total rocker.



Rock On.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

I had a similar thing with a Perdisco TRK-8600 off yahoo. Bad photos that made it look super rough and what looked like a crack down it's side of the case, but I bought it for about $16 (+shipping of course..) and took the risk thinking I might be able to fix her up.

When I got it I saw what I thought was the crack was actually the point of sale tag still on her... and the condition was, well, you can see for yourself.

perdisco1.JPG
It's not the biggest chance I've taken though, I ended up having to spend about 1500 in total to get one good quality CFS-99...(my third one off yahoo.jp). I think my biggest risk was a big box I bought from a rocker in Russia through Facebook; it took 11 weeks to get here. I'd written it off.. but it was well worth the wait and effort and Anton as a total rocker.



Rock On.