Sellers and "Ambiguity" or "Integrity" of "item as described" descriptions on eBay


Hello all:

I posted this on a thread about speakers and fraud and eBay, but I thought it might merit its own topic:

I have a situation at the moment where I bought a subwoofer on ebay. The seller described that the subwoofer was "In perfect working condition and sounds great. It has some cosmetic wear" but neglected to mention that it was missing a cable that is not an off-the-shelf item, is unique to the system and without which the subwoofer - by the manufacturer’s own statement, does not perform "In perfect working condition". The manufacturer no longer makes the sub or the cable.

It also had a small tear in the surround, which I was not as concerned about, as I am able to repair it, but the fact of the matter is that tear was not mentioned in the listing and only shows up in his photo if you blow it up 200% and then only if you know to look for it. There is an anomaly in the image that is near the tear in the surround that suggests that someone was trying to retouch it out but did not know what they were doing and not only did a sloppy job, but missed the spot.

I am disputing the transaction. Would you consider the description fraudulent? If so, to what degree? Or am I to blame for not reading the fine print? Thank you to all beforehand for your responses.

So far, I’ve gotten one response: from mr_m273 posts05-20-2017 2:12pm
Yes. I would think so. Just for the missing cable alone. I’m quite sure this guy knew that sub needed the cable in question.
128x128unreceivedogma
I agree 'dogma. They should give you a RMA and refund. Then you could purchase a 'complete' kit. :-)
I don’t buy/bid-on an item unless there are detailed photos showing all angles, and don’t assume any accessories come with it unless explicitly stated or shown in the photos. 

Unfortunately there are many listings, both here and on eBay, with profoundly bad photos.  I’m not sure how someone expects to sell a pair of speakers when there’s only one small photo, taken from far away, in poor lighting with the grill still attached (which, while as extreme example, is something I’ve seen). 

If if you’re asking someone to part with their money you should be willing to post photos showing all angles/sides of a product, and in the case of speakers and subwoofers remove the grills and show closeups of the drivers/surrounds.