Author Topic: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC  (Read 1393 times)

Black Tiger

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Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« on: November 04, 2006, 01:20:52 PM »
I found out the hard way that 16-bit refuses to mail anything by airmail. It's either Priority or EMS.

It's pretty much in one of his many paragraphs of auctions terms if you search deep enough and either interpret correctly or contact him before bidding, but I never took the time to make sure before placing a lowball bid that he absolutely would not ship by anything other than Priority/EMS.

I'm now paying $48 to ship my $49.99 Shuttle Grafx.

It's sucks more so for the seller, since the difference in price between an item + airmail shipping and the same item + Priority/EMS comes out of his own pocket, in the result of lower bids.
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Black Tiger

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2006, 09:39:55 PM »
The auction actually listed U.S. shipping as $15, so when I bid, I assumed it wouldn't be much more to Canada.

Now that I've finally received it, it turns out that postage was only $20.30, not the $48 I paid.

Also, here's the auction's description of condition:

"Without box or instructions. System is in Good condition with a few scratches.  Comes with pad (not the original, but a core grafx pad) and all hookups."

What I got is a dirty & worn Shuttle and pad (the A/V cables don't look too nice either).

Both look like they sat next to a mud puddle while someone splashed around in it and also have that kinda layer of dirty film something kept in a dirty area can develop over time.

The Shuttle in particular is worn all over with excessive wear in some spots, lots of scratches and some gouges. It's even pretty filthy on the inside of the "Back-Up" port. The transparent 'cockpit' screen isn't as transparent because of all the scratchy wear that's rendered it dull.

Something I had forgotten when I bid, is that he's also the same seller I once bought a Super Grafx from that also turned out to be filthy(inside & out) and worn. I bought from him instead of a japanese seller with a similarly priced SGX because I hoped I might have fewer potential problems.

I wound up eventually selling the system with a proper description of the condition for a lot less than I paid for it.

I also once got one rare PC Engine game from him with a pretty beat up manual and less than described condition overall, but accepted it at the time, since it was the first time I'd found the game on eBay in months. Again, I had forgotten about this too when I bid on the Shuttle.

At the very least, I'd be careful buying loose or non-new hardware from him and take any mention of minimal wear in general as being exponentially worse.
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esteban

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #2 on: December 01, 2006, 03:50:22 AM »
Crap. This is not good. He sent you junk. I would definitely tell him that the items were not as he described and tell him that  it needs to be resolved.

As for the shipping, I don't have a problem with his policy, per se, but if he only paid ~$20 then he's clearly exploiting the s/h costs.

This sucks.

He was one of the few sellers I actually trusted on ebay. I haven't purchased anything from him in ~6 months... but I've never had a bad transaction with him (and I have purchased *tons* of stuff from him over the past few years).

Was he expensive? Yes. Were his items and service exceptional? Yes.

Oh well. I hope you can get this resolved. I'll even write a damn letter to him if you think it would help :). I'm not kidding!

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Michael Helgeson

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #3 on: December 01, 2006, 05:37:39 AM »
Ehh 16-bit sent me  a pretty f*cked up copy of Martial Champion. It was not as he described,very heavy wear on manual,rust on staples,large deep scratches on disc. Kinda funny I see this thread now,me and a friend were talking about that seller the other day. I fyou paid by paypal,and can show what he paid for shipping,you can file for  apartial refund for the shipping on paypal. They should decide in your favor if he doesnt offer it himself. Just save the packing he used with the cost listed,as they will prob want pics.

GUTS

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #4 on: December 01, 2006, 06:05:47 AM »
That's why I never buy from those huge seller guys on ebay, they always lie about the condition of their stuff.  I've NEVER had a problem buying from private sellers, but nearly everything I've ever bought from somebody who runs a store on there or does it for a living was the wrong thing.

On a side note, always pay with paypal when you're dealing with these guys since you can get your money back if they f*ck you over.  I ordered a 6 button controller from one guy and he sent me a regular pc engine controller, so I emailed him like 10 times about it with no reply.  Then I filed a claim through paypal and what do you know, a day later he refunds my money and says "keep the controller".

Kakizaki

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #5 on: December 01, 2006, 08:12:35 AM »
Quote
That's why I never buy from those huge seller guys on ebay, they always lie about the condition of their stuff.  I've NEVER had a problem buying from private sellers, but nearly everything I've ever bought from somebody who runs a store on there or does it for a living was the wrong thing.


I've never had a problem dealing withe Japanese dealers that run a store. I seem to deal with the same small group, but still their descriptions have been beyond accurate, their service good and communication (broken English aside) prompt.

runinruder

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #6 on: December 01, 2006, 08:48:55 AM »
I rarely ever make purchases on eBay anymore, but DREAM STARS JAPAN is the first store I check when I do scout around there.  To this point I've only bought from them once, but it was a pretty major deal.  The transaction was completed quickly and  the stuff arrived exactly as described.  The guy is super-nice and very quick to respond to emails.
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esteban

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #7 on: December 01, 2006, 09:30:55 AM »
I rarely ever make purchases on eBay anymore, but DREAM STARS JAPAN is the first store I check when I do scout around there.  To this point I've only bought from them once, but it was a pretty major deal.  The transaction was completed quickly and  the stuff arrived exactly as described.  The guy is super-nice and very quick to respond to emails.
Yes, many of us have had good transactions with Dream Stars, though he used to have better prices :(.
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vestcoat

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #8 on: December 01, 2006, 09:37:07 AM »
Yes, many of us have had good transactions with Dream Stars, though he used to have better prices :(.

I'll second that.  Dream Stars is my favorite "premium" seller.
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Michael Helgeson

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #9 on: December 01, 2006, 10:20:59 AM »
Yea Toshi's Dreamstars never let me down,nor has The West Exit,Hit-Japan,and Japan-Games.
Asemasters was pretty good too,but Im not sure if he still sales.

16-Bit I feel is a hack with money,not as bad as Bullseye,but not that great either.

Black Tiger

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #10 on: December 01, 2006, 11:43:42 AM »
There are several japanese eBay sellers I've bought from several times with no problems and the items are usually better than described.

The problem is, I often forget what I buy from whom when I make a purchase from them once every 6 months or so. I'm pretty sure I got some other mixed bag stuff from 16-bit, but can only be sure of the 3 things I mentioned.

I don't normally make a big deal over single purchases, which is why I let the other things slide. But it took this for me to learn my lesson. Oh well.

I may file a PayPal or eBay report about the shipping gouging, but I still don't mind paying $50 for a Shuttle. But I would've liked the Shuttle described in the auction a whole lot more.


I rarely ever make purchases on eBay anymore, but DREAM STARS JAPAN is the first store I check when I do scout around there.  To this point I've only bought from them once, but it was a pretty major deal.  The transaction was completed quickly and  the stuff arrived exactly as described.  The guy is super-nice and very quick to respond to emails.
Yes, many of us have had good transactions with Dream Stars, though he used to have better prices :(.

Is Dream Stars really a guy? I always get my stuff wrapped in pink packaging with a cute little letter thanking me for my order with lots of cute cartoon stickers all over everything.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...
« Last Edit: December 01, 2006, 11:46:08 AM by Black_Tiger »
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nat

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #11 on: December 01, 2006, 12:27:58 PM »

Is Dream Stars really a guy? I always get my stuff wrapped in pink packaging with a cute little letter thanking me for my order with lots of cute cartoon stickers all over everything.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

So maybe he's gay? Nothing wrong with that...

But I will add another testimony to the fact that he (Dream Stars) is far and away the BEST of the big Japanese e-stores on eBay. I've bought tons of games from him over the past few years, though his prices can get a little high, the service and communication he provides are exceptional. The items are always better than described, too. More often than not I'm willing to throw down a few extra bucks so I can rest easier knowing my merchandise is in good hands and will arrive promptly. Highly recommended!

I saw someone here mention Bullseye back a few. This guy is a COMPLETE and total f*ckhead. I bought "Gate of Thunder" from him a couple years ago and he never sent it. I waited a month and a half. I sent countless e-mails. He never replied to a single one. Finally I filed a claim and the next day I got my money back. He left me negative feedback with the comment "PAYPAL LABEL MAKER SAYS NOT A VALID USA ADDRESS". WTF?!?! So write the damn label yourself! How can "Paypal label maker" know whether or not my address is valid, anyway? And it took you a month and a half to figure this out? To this day, that transaction remains my ONLY negative feedback on eBay since I joined in 2001. What a f*cking jackass.

Joe Redifer

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #12 on: December 01, 2006, 12:32:51 PM »
Black-Tiger you really need to let this guy know how he screwed up.  If not, he'll just assume that it is OK to keep doing it to everyone else.  Point him to this thread discussing his auctions and he'll see that many people are being warned about doing business with him.

Keranu

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #13 on: December 01, 2006, 01:12:22 PM »
Is Dream Stars really a guy? I always get my stuff wrapped in pink packaging with a cute little letter thanking me for my order with lots of cute cartoon stickers all over everything.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...
Man, this makes me want to buy a game from Dream Stars now :D .
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Kakizaki

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Re: Warning about eBay seller 16-bit/Mad-Gear LLC
« Reply #14 on: December 01, 2006, 03:20:26 PM »
Quote
I rarely ever make purchases on eBay anymore, but DREAM STARS JAPAN is the first store I check when I do scout around there.  To this point I've only bought from them once, but it was a pretty major deal.

This is really funny. I didn't name the sellers I was referring to, but one of them is indeed Dream Stars. I also have had great luck with him -- although he doesn't offer enough DC and Saturn titles for my tastes.