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Old 01-04-2018, 10:28 PM
BCOrchidGuy BCOrchidGuy is offline
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Default Buying Used Equipment?

Buyers beware, I just drove 1 1/4 hours to pick up a set of lights that were being sold on CANREEF. I told the seller I'd pay the full price if the lights work and was told they did but he'd check them in the evening. Two days (maybe three) I contacted the seller again, set up a time and was told "I'll check them this morning, give me 10 min notice before you get here". I contacted the seller that I was 15 min away, was told "I thought you'd give me notice so I can clean them up and check them, I'm not here, gone for food". We delayed the meet for a few min, I got there and asked if everything works, I was told "One of the White LEDs is out but it might just be a ground." I asked to see, turns out 5 White LED's were out on one light.

Buyers, make sure you check what you're buying top to bottom. I'm pretty sore about my wasted time.

D
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Old 01-05-2018, 01:42 PM
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Myka Myka is offline
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Yeah, this sort of thing sucks! Sometimes it's the other way around where you're the seller and you're trying to sell something good and people don't show up or offer you a bottom dollar, Etc. I rarely buy used equipment now, usually just if it's something I can't find at the LFS.
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Old 01-05-2018, 03:24 PM
Animal-Chin Animal-Chin is offline
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I've had both good and bad experiences but it is a gamble. I bought a vertex Alpha for a really good price and when I got home found the collection cup was broken. The seller was cool about it and gave me a contact at vertex who gave me instructions on how to fix it. A day later the thing was skimming like crazy!

Bout and external return pump that had never been used and just hung on to it as a back up, my external pump died and MAN was I glad I had this back up to save my bacon. Worked great and got an amazing deal on it.

I would never buy used pumps or powerheads that have seen water. I would never buy old LED lights either. The manufacturers say that LED bulbs last 50000 hours which is great but the drivers in the lights seem to have about a 3 year shelf life. I've had a bunch die, I've seen threads all over the internet about their Kessels, Maxpect, Radions,ect that have stopped working.

Fish tank equipment in general seems to have a pretty short shelf life. Most stuff is run all day every day and gets a lot of wear plus its in and or around salt water all the time.

Just my thoughts. I've been super happy with a few used things I've bought but not thrilled with a few too.
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Old 01-05-2018, 03:55 PM
Moogled Moogled is offline
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Buying used is always caveat emptor but it definitely sucks. I've been fortunate that I bought a couple of MP10's and a Radion G2 on the cheap about a year back. The MP10 were a bit on the used side but I've been using them for a year without issues now. Same with the Radion.

That seller you mentioned doesn't seem to acknowledge that you asked him a couple times over the course of 3 days to check the LED's and his excuse is that they worked when he put them into storage. That said, I was also surprised that he implied you showed up unannounced/with very little notice given that he never bothered to reply to you if the LED's were actually still working.

Certain stuff like return pumps, heaters, and ESPECIALLY ATO's I'm more than happy to buy brand new.
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Old 01-06-2018, 08:21 AM
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DKoKoMan DKoKoMan is offline
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I don’t think I would buy high end led’s used unless it was a smoking deal. Probably wouldn’t buy powerheads either as I don’t want anything loud and things do wear out from prior use.
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Old 01-07-2018, 05:06 AM
BCOrchidGuy BCOrchidGuy is offline
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The day before I bought some corals from a guy local, great experience, he gave me great choices and was more than generous.

I don't mind when people are honest, "hey there are a couple of loose connections but it should be easy to fix".

I seriously was choked though at the text exchange
10am ish text says he is going down to check on them, next day he says, come by anytime before 6, just give me 10 min notice, I'm headed down to check them. I text him a couple hours later saying I'm 15 min away and he says "I thought you'd give me time to check them and clean them up PLUS I've gone to get food so I'm not there".

Now he is rebutting saying I never told him when I was coming over and I didn't give him any notice or a chance to check the lights...

I would have taken the lights had he told me even en route that there was an issue but to wait until I got there... majorly upset
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Old 01-07-2018, 05:08 AM
BCOrchidGuy BCOrchidGuy is offline
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for the people who asked in PM.

I'm not interested in black listing the guy, I just want to make sure people are aware of the fact that this happens from time to time, it's the first time it's happened to me.
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Old 01-07-2018, 05:34 AM
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DKoKoMan DKoKoMan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BCOrchidGuy View Post
for the people who asked in PM.

I'm not interested in black listing the guy, I just want to make sure people are aware of the fact that this happens from time to time, it's the first time it's happened to me.
Ya it is always good to have a buyer beware attitude.
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Old 01-07-2018, 07:45 AM
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WarDog WarDog is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DKoKoMan View Post
Ya it is always good to have a buyer beware attitude.
I agree... it's time to move on. He said she said gets tiring after a while. Yawn.
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