Elliot
Gandalf the Vintage Yellow
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2016
- Messages
- 939
Attention: no PRS content just a story about me bugging an ebay guitar snake. mods delete if this isn't aloud.
Gent on ebay has a cloud guitar (thanks Sergio) listed with a c shape guitar on the same listing for 4500 smackers.
see the listing here https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yellow-Prince-Cloud-Guitar-super-RARE-Model-C-guitar/122892646997
I'm a bit put-out because his price is outrageous and the routing on the cloud guitar is pretty bad. Also the bridge is sitting crooked in the bridge route. No strap pegs anywhere to speak of. Swirl on the cloud is wrong. I don't really want it, but I cant help myself
I basically tell the guy something like "I know the cloud is a fake or Chinese made, by association I'll assume the C shape is a fake also. Given that it's a fake, how much do you want for the cloud?" I didn't mention how I know it's a fake/cheaply made but I said "it's fake" about 5 times.
I'm not in the market for a cloud guitar, my wife explicitly told me "NO" after she saw me browsing them the other day. But I was poking around and listings like this kind of set me off.
He replies something like "I am outraged that you would insult my intelligence and my merchandise, this guitar was custom made by a good builder in the US. Don't belittle me into selling you my item. Keep it moving
"
I probably should have just left him alone.
I reply back "Looking at the pics, there are clear problems with the craftsmanship that very few luthiers or manufacturers would let slide off the line. I can also see the history of what you've charged for them, as low as 1000, and one even for less than 800. Also the fact that you have sold so many... Once again, anyone willing to pay over 2k on ebay would spot this.
Congrats for making such a killing selling these so far. Unfortunately, I'm definitely not willing to pay what others have been paying.
Not bad for a hobbyist. If you're the one making them, good work. Or a buddy of yours makes them, nice work.
If you ARE buying from china and jacking up the price to US buyers, that's a shitty thing to do."
Now I am about 98% sure these guitars are fake and this guy knows it. 2% chance he has no idea or he really believes they are nice guitars. Or worse he paid something close to his asking price for them and I would honestly feel pretty bad for breaking the news. Fortunately, it gets juicy.
he replies something like "All the models I sold before were Chinese made. The ones I sold for that price (800-1000). At the time, Prince had just passed away and the prices were very inflated. This cloud I have for sale is not Chinese. It's much better quality. My cloud guitar has this, this, and this, blah, blah, blah. It's totally legit. The C-shape is also perfect and well-made, blah, blah, blah."
he sends another message hastily "also, they cant even make the C-shape in China. When I was talking to the guys in China, for my other guitar purchases, they told me they couldn't make the C-shape because it's too complicated. Even posting a picture of it on my auction is a risk because they will try to copy it"
Well that's all I needed to know.
Too Long; Didnt Read : Guy tells me that his outrageously priced c-shape and cloud guitars aren't Chinese made fakes. However, he used to buy and sell Chinese-made fakes at inflated prices just after Prince died. Also, Chinese builders cant make the C-shape guitars. He knows because he tried to ask them for one. But these ones definitely are not Chinese fakes.
Edit: I shouldn’t say I was totally uninterested but It was clear very immediately that this guy wasn’t going to get anywhere near a price that would pique my interest. Around 200.
Gent on ebay has a cloud guitar (thanks Sergio) listed with a c shape guitar on the same listing for 4500 smackers.
see the listing here https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yellow-Prince-Cloud-Guitar-super-RARE-Model-C-guitar/122892646997
I'm a bit put-out because his price is outrageous and the routing on the cloud guitar is pretty bad. Also the bridge is sitting crooked in the bridge route. No strap pegs anywhere to speak of. Swirl on the cloud is wrong. I don't really want it, but I cant help myself
I basically tell the guy something like "I know the cloud is a fake or Chinese made, by association I'll assume the C shape is a fake also. Given that it's a fake, how much do you want for the cloud?" I didn't mention how I know it's a fake/cheaply made but I said "it's fake" about 5 times.
I'm not in the market for a cloud guitar, my wife explicitly told me "NO" after she saw me browsing them the other day. But I was poking around and listings like this kind of set me off.
He replies something like "I am outraged that you would insult my intelligence and my merchandise, this guitar was custom made by a good builder in the US. Don't belittle me into selling you my item. Keep it moving
"I probably should have just left him alone.
I reply back "Looking at the pics, there are clear problems with the craftsmanship that very few luthiers or manufacturers would let slide off the line. I can also see the history of what you've charged for them, as low as 1000, and one even for less than 800. Also the fact that you have sold so many... Once again, anyone willing to pay over 2k on ebay would spot this.
Congrats for making such a killing selling these so far. Unfortunately, I'm definitely not willing to pay what others have been paying.
Not bad for a hobbyist. If you're the one making them, good work. Or a buddy of yours makes them, nice work.
If you ARE buying from china and jacking up the price to US buyers, that's a shitty thing to do."
Now I am about 98% sure these guitars are fake and this guy knows it. 2% chance he has no idea or he really believes they are nice guitars. Or worse he paid something close to his asking price for them and I would honestly feel pretty bad for breaking the news. Fortunately, it gets juicy.
he replies something like "All the models I sold before were Chinese made. The ones I sold for that price (800-1000). At the time, Prince had just passed away and the prices were very inflated. This cloud I have for sale is not Chinese. It's much better quality. My cloud guitar has this, this, and this, blah, blah, blah. It's totally legit. The C-shape is also perfect and well-made, blah, blah, blah."
he sends another message hastily "also, they cant even make the C-shape in China. When I was talking to the guys in China, for my other guitar purchases, they told me they couldn't make the C-shape because it's too complicated. Even posting a picture of it on my auction is a risk because they will try to copy it"
Well that's all I needed to know.
Too Long; Didnt Read : Guy tells me that his outrageously priced c-shape and cloud guitars aren't Chinese made fakes. However, he used to buy and sell Chinese-made fakes at inflated prices just after Prince died. Also, Chinese builders cant make the C-shape guitars. He knows because he tried to ask them for one. But these ones definitely are not Chinese fakes.
Edit: I shouldn’t say I was totally uninterested but It was clear very immediately that this guy wasn’t going to get anywhere near a price that would pique my interest. Around 200.
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