OLD VS NEW

[museslave]

The agonizing thing about buying a Mini on eBay is THE WAITING. When I couldn't afford a Mini, there was a glut of them. Like... 10 at any given moment. The moment I could afford one, there were one or two, neither of which were buyable. The hard thing to do when you finally have enough to get a Mini on eBay is to wait for the perfect intersection of the one that SOUNDS right, the one that LOOKS right, and the one where the seller is straightforward, friendly, and concise. I got too impatient when I bought mine... I bought it for a price that was excessive for that time, even though several of the knobs don't have the original silver thing in them. The seller was Polish, but living in America. The whole thing was uncomfortable, and it took him FOREVER to send it. It had one clunky key, and I could never tell if that was a shipping thing or something he concealed.
But, yeah... if you're going to buy a Mini on eBay, you've got to be patient. Wait until one comes along that looks in good condition, plays well, and has a seller that earns your trust. Ask 1 billion questions!

[Kevin Lightner]

I agree on the patience aspect, but it still doesn't mean one will get a good Mini.
For example, there's no telling how well the unit will be packed or whether it has problems the owner is not aware of *and* the potential owner knows to ask about.
Many problems develop through shipping too, so there's a friction point where the buyer gets a problem unit and the seller is truthfully saying it worked fine.

One of the big problems is that few Minis on Ebay truly work 100% correctly to begin with.
Then the new owner is angry or disappointed and has to wait (and pay) for a tech to hopefully resolve their issues.
With the fact that good techs are more scarce than Minis, the owner is only halfway through his battle and often out of additional funds.

[eric coleridge]

I bought my Mini last year, and it was completely opposite from Museslave's experience.

First, I found my seller on the Moog archive forum. He said that he had a '72 Mini, with all black switches, and was wondering what it was worth.

I e-mailed him maybe 6 months after he had originally posted--and also after many people had replied to him telling him the black switch thing might be a drawback to buyers (although, I liked the idea of all black switches). I made a pretty low offer, considering most every Mini I saw on e-bay was selling near $2000.

At this point I wasn't absolutely sure if he was for real or a scam artist-- but he sent me a picture, and we e-mailed back and forth for several months (I had already been looking for a Mini for well over a year-- what's a few more months). We decided on a reasonable price of $1200, considering his opinion that the Mini was in need of significant repair before it would be playable. I talked to him several times on the phone, and he even played the Mini for me once or twise (some keys/switches/knobs weren't working)

A few more months went by, then he decided he didn't want to sell it after all. A few more months went by, and after e-mailing him to check in again-- he relented, decided once more to sell it, and told me he'd include shipping charges in the 1200 as well.

I paid him via a 3rd party internet escrow service.

A few days later, I recieved a '72 Mini in remarkably good condition--but in need of a cleaning.

This was last year, and he still e-mails me from time to time to see how the Mini is doing. Very nice fellow.

[museslave]

I agree on the patience aspect, but it still doesn't mean one will get a good Mini.

No, there are no guarantees. Of course, you have so often seen the outcome of a lot of people's bad eBay experiences.
However, apart from my Minimoog experience (which really wasn't THAT bad, I've had FAR worse... my Opus III story, for example), most of my eBay keyboard purchases have been in very good condition and are almost always fully functional.
If you stick to well-written auctions with clear pictures and an experienced seller, your chances of getting a decent keyboard are quite good, according to my extensive eBay synth-buying experience.
Especially in the case of Minimoogs. Why? Because Minimoogs are popular, and with the exception of the dark decade we won't mention, they have always been popular. The days of "I found this Minimoog mouldering in my basement," are nearly gone... most sellers are musicians who have been using their Minimoog and treating it like the expensive device it is. If they're not, you can usually tell in the pictures. If you can't, you can usually tell by the seller or their text.
Still, I agree... there are no guarantees on eBay, but as a person who has been buying and selling synthesizers there for 8 years, I can attest to the success rate of using a little common sense and patience in examining auctions and buying.