Just a note of caution on this ad.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11713&item=3014358855&rd=1

Its not immediately obvious that this is a non functional unit - until you scroll right down the botton and read the added comments.

Thanks Malcolm

Incredible!!!!

Raul

I wonder if the high bidder that placed a bid of $158.05 knew he was bidding on a non-functioning calculator???????

I bet somebody is going to be a little upset on this one...

Guess who is the sucker who put an ambit bid for this item? That extra information was placed after I bid on the item.
I have sent an e-mail to the seller asking that s/he withdraw the item from sale. I have also said that I will not be paying for it. Does anybody have any thoughts on whether I will be forced to pay in these circumstances.
BTW Thank you to those who e-mailed me to make me aware of this situation.

I believe you can cancel your bid since he later stated it is non-functional.

Just go to bid retraction.

- Mike

It's *possible* that the unit actually does work, but the seller doesn't know it, and doesn't know how to test it, or even what kind of batteries to buy for it. It was mentioned that the battery leaks, and the old NiCd is doubtless shot.

The seller seems to be an eBay professional, and is not knowledgeable about these. He gave very little technical information. Still, I wouldn't bid that much without assurance of quality.

Once, I canceled a bid, because the seller didn't answer my mails during several days...
This is worst: calcel your bid with no fear (IMHO)

Raul

Feel like I dodged a bullet.
I'm not the highest bidder but am the 2nd highest bidder,
who is basically therefore responsible for the current
bid price in a proxy bid system.

What's feeding the auction is the manuals and the box,
and the presumption the calculator is A-O-K.

HOWEVER, the seller has seriously mis-stated the
condition of his goods.

I submitted a bunch of questions to the guy
(what is lead inside, what is lead, is it pencil lead,
is it a sheet of lead)

He has not replied quickly. Perhaps he will reply someday.

YES, DEFINITELY the shifty-eyed, un-truthful, out-to-cheat-somebody type of seller.

He did try to explain the "lead" reference in one of his many addenda by saying he meant "leak."

You all will be pleased to know that after I wrote to the seller s/he released me fro my bid. After that I see now that s/he has cancelled the auction.

The seller obviously wasn't trying to get away with anything. He made corrections to the auction, based on questions probably asked of him.

NEVER assume a calculator works, unless it is stated as working. ASK questions.

I think the seller did the right thing in this case but I disagree that the auction page was OK...

If something is described only as a 'calculator' I would expect it to work like a calculator - not a collection of plastic and metal. An auction listing is part of a legal contract between the buyer and seller.

However I realise due to greed / stupidity / laziness / ignorance that people put up auctions without describing the item as it should be.

I think ebay should put some check boxes that MUST be completed when submitting an auction, the auction page would then have a section with the following info:

1) Picture is of the actual item for sale.

2) Seller has full knowledge of the item (i.e. seller can't hide behind the excuse of 'I was selling it for a friend / relative so did not realise it wasn't working...')

3) "The following works..." (followed by a text list of the things that do operate) or "The item is untested".

This does NOT stop someone lying BUT it would lead to less misleading sales and give the buyer a stronger legal position as the seller could be shown to have lied.

However it seems Ebay is similar to many other listed companies only looks after it's short term future. Sellers pay Ebay and the higher prices misleading items sometimes fetch add to Ebay's profits - so why should they care?