what can reasonably be expected of a seller?

There is nothing wrong with you asking that the item be tested before shipping. The buyer needs to know if it works as it should. In my dealings with people online, if they ask questions like yours, I simply take out my phone, make a short demo video and send it to them. If they refuse to verify that it works, I would move on to the next one. Both parties need to be comfortable in the transaction.

I recently saw an ad for a Theta transport with a batch of LD's."....powers on. Drawer opens and closes. Laser has not been tested". What does that tell us?


And all the ads that say (paraphrased): "Trust me, it works, but no returns due to age". 


There are lots of ads everywhere , where it seems obvious the seller is lying because you can catch it. And there are lots of dishonest sellers, to be sure, that are good at not getting caught because they know how to work the system. 


Then there are sellers who are basically not trying to be dishonest, but have different or lesser ethics. Such as not taking responsibility for their shipper or packaging. 


The only "solution" as I see it, is to be ethical myself as a buyer, and expect the seller to  want to be the same. Then it's easy to know what questions to ask, and if they don't want to step up...well, then there is "as is" prices. 

from my experience, with a few exceptions (i.e. a goodwill store or a widow selling her late husband's gear) the "untested" label is code for the equipment being faulty in some way. any seller who's too busy to test equipment before sale logically should be too busy to list it for sale or to field offers.

There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.  Also is falls in the buyer to do their due diligence.  When I sell. I always make sure the unit works as advertised, period.  I specifically encourage buyers to come personally, listen to the unit, past and take it. That way, no complaints. 

I am not a store, and therefore I really don’t want to be treated like one.  Returns are not something I want to deal with.  Some think that they can buy it just to evaluate the sound and if they don’t like it, return it. Nope!!!

i make absolutely certain it works well first. 

But that’s me. 

I had a buyer of my Mark Levinson ML3 amp (that I regret selling) come by, listen to the amp for about an hour, pay for it, only to tell me later that the person he sold it to told him one channel didn’t work. I didn’t know my buyer was a flipper.  I told him to bring it back and I would connect it, and test it.  If it didn’t work, I told him that was on him because it worked well when he picked it up.  The new buyer could have shorted the output failing the amp.  I don’t know.

The unit failed six months before, was repaired and also upgraded professionally, both of which was listed clearly in the add.  I was using the amp for months after repair also.  I only sold it because I had too much equipment around.

it worked better than new.  

I didnt know my buyer was a flipper and that He sold it to . someone in Singapore.  

The guy actually wanted me to take back the amp that they broke which was working great when he picked it up.

also shipping it to Singapore could have damaged it.  I dint know how he packed and shipped it.

if it was local I could have diagnosed the problem and repaired it. I’m sure they shorted the output and fried some output drivers and maybe some pre drivers of which I had many spares. 

Anyway, I don’t like dealing with flippers for anything.  

When i sell, it works period.  And I will always allow the buyer to come listen personally.  

Life is is too short for non sense, and karma is real. It’s just not worth it to me.

enjoy