I contacted an ebay seller named "muswellhillbillyboy" (whose Ebay profile can be found at http://myworld.ebay.com/muswellhillbillyboy/ ) about a listing for a copy of The Who's "View From A Backstage Pass" ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=023 ). The listing describes the disc as "used" and "sealed", also stating that "All items are original unless specifically noted. We do not sell reissues or counterfeits. We do occasionally offer unreleased material which may be different from a factory issued CD or DVD, but these will be identified as 'fan club releases' in the ad."

I sent the following e-mail through Ebay's "Ask seller a question" feature:



I got this response, not though Ebay, but directly to my e-mail:



I sent a reply, the text of which I wish I'd saved, where I tried to tactfully explain that I'd never sold anything on Ebay before and had no idea what part of a listing was written by Ebay and what part by the seller, and that I'd also been burned before by an Ebay seller selling a "sealed" DVD that turned out to be counterfeit. I also pointed out that the word "new" appeared nowhere in the listing. Here's the answer I got:



According to Wikipedia:



What's French for "Take your bullshit CD-R and shove it up your ass?"

When listing, ebay gives you a box to check to indicate if the item is new or used. If you check USED and then list another item which may be new, the USED word will remain the same unless you reselect the word NEW by rechecking a box. In this case, the seller probably failed to select and check the box NEW when he listed the sealed item, therefore the word USED still appears. As for his comments, he is probably a bit quirky and his comments were probably supposed to be humorous. The item he is selling appears to be a bootleg so it's your choice to bid or not, but you should not respond with a mean or rude comment. It's simply unnecessary.

Technically speaking, this CD is probably a counterfeit, not a bootleg. I think a distinction does need to be made between the two. New, sealed and official copies of this set are $50 apiece (well, free with a $50 1-year subscription to the Who's official website) and this seller's unwillingness to provide any corroboration as to the condition or legality of what he or she is selling is a pretty good example of exactly what drives me nuts about CD collecting these days. I haven't YET responded with a mean or rude comment, but I am burned out on ordering CD's online and getting somehow screwed.

I stand corrected.

I agree with your comments. If you're burned out then take a break for a while. Go back when you're ready for the battle again. I know what you mean, and we all go through this stuff from time to time on ebay. It can be very frustrating dealing with sellers who play games with words and descriptions. The best advice to anyone is to not let desire for an item or price get in the way of common sense... but I think you know that already. There are good sellers on ebay but it's a matter of stumbling onto them by accident it seems. Anyway, good luck!

I just received an LP i ordered on ebay. The listing stated it was "VG+". i emailed the seller to confirm. Today it arrived. At BEST it might be "VG-"; it's closer to "Good+". Grr.

Would you believe this CD wound up going for $55.57 (plus $3 shipping)? The same set can be gotten by simply subscribing to the Who's website for $50. *sigh*

I just saw this and I agree with AMW wholeheartedly...... I'd do more than tell him to shove it. Sit back and think about it? Nahhhhhhhhhh. Jerks like that give us legitimate honest people a black eye and its the condescending folk out there that let 'em get away with it.