Spares or Repair 'Etiquette'

RFW

As an auctioneer I used to handle a lot of seconds/returns. For electrical items it's a good idea to go for ones with cosmetic faults, a return with a scratch on the outside is more likely to be working than one with no visible faults.
As far as the OP goes, for "spares and repair" I would expect all the constituent parts to be there but not working, unless it's mentioned in the description.
If you know what you're doing, buying, repairing and reselling such items can be a good business. That said, a lot of returns that end up on Ebay have often been handled several times, often by people who couldn't repair them.

forgotmyname

Stoke wrote: »

Regarding going for a refund? No. I don't see the point really. I have the item now and there's too much effort involved returning it. I might as well proceed with fixing it (I already have done).

Personally, if I was to list something spares/repair, I might be tempted to say "I had an attempt at fixing this but was unable to". There are experts out there who will know better than me at the item I am selling, just as I am probably more skilled at fixing/repairing the item I have purchased. There's no shame in admitting it, so perhaps it's more about convincing people they're getting a 'non-touched' spares item.

Anyway, good to see healthy debate is alive and well

But the person buying it from you maybe less skilled than you and think you knew it couldn't be fixed.

I know someone that brings me stuff when they cannot fix it. They run their own business in this profession.

Sometimes you try fixing something and it just doesnt work, then suddenly you have a brainwave one day and the fix pops into your head. Happened to me recently. Had a circuitboard in a box for about a year and then it suddenly hit me. Did i check....

Couple of £ for a few parts and its fixed.

Browntoa

I always read spares or repair as "spares only" and repair as a bonus. I work out my Max bids on the value 60% of resale value of individual spare parts as it allows for broken parts of no resale value

Rosemary7391

I think this probably depends on the category. Woodwind instruments is where I occasionally look/buy, and you know if it's a sensible make/model you'll be able to fix or use most of it as spares unless it's been run over by a lorry or something equally daft. Something like that will be obvious on the photos! It's usually harder figuring out what precisely it is (what pitch in particular).