> Epay has messed the definitions up into a useless mess. > > I'd expect a vendor not selling on such to actually test the items. > Whether they are warranted is a separate issue. > > On ebay they've screwed over sellers to the point that it's all but > wasting time to list there unless you sell either really new stock, or > list as parts, junk only. > > Any attempt to describe the item as refurbished will mean most buyer > will claim a problem, Ebay will refund them and screw you.
Not sure what you mean here. Refurbished means that a seller has brought an item to the original operating specs and that the item will operate as it should. This is also eBay's meaning of refurbished. So I am not sure why you think they "screwed" it up. The problem on eBay is that a seller will pull something out of a box that has been sitting on a shelf in the warehouse, at most hit it with some compressed air to get rid of dust, describe it as "refurbished" and list it for an exorbitant price. Whether it works or functions as intended is of no concern to them. With some electronics you can get away with this - simple add-on boards from the IBM PC era for example. Most of the time they will work and if it doesn't well prices or so jacked up that one non-refunded/completed sale will turn enough profit to cover the original S&H (which is usually the sellers actual real loss) on ten returns and still return a profit. With PSUs, whole systems, stuff with batteries this practice is more likely not to work. Of course my personal favorites are the seller refurbished items that "worked the last time used but no guarantees and are sold as is". LOL. Makeup your mind is it refurbished or is it junk? -Ali
