{"id":35247,"date":"2012-12-13T11:09:31","date_gmt":"2012-12-13T19:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=35247"},"modified":"2025-09-13T10:05:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:05:26","slug":"does-this-sound-too-good-to-be-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2012\/does-this-sound-too-good-to-be-true\/","title":{"rendered":"Does This Sound Too Good To Be True?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. What if I told you that someone on eBay is selling an Orpheo bass saxophone<\/a> for the Buy It Now price of $1,300. Would that sound too good to be true? What about if that bass saxophone appeared to start at the low, low price of $5.00. Would that sound even more amazingly too good to be true?<\/p>\n

Well it appears<\/em> that eBay dealer HANKIESANDMORE<\/a>, is selling what they claim to be a new<\/em>, Orpheo bass saxophone in a no reserve auction. Bidding started at about the price of a Grande espresso drink at Starbucks.<\/p>\n

\"bass<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: HANKIESANDMORE<\/h3>\n

This is how the eBay dealer describes this deal:<\/p>\n

Features:<\/p>\n

Clear brass lacquer finish<\/p>\n

Low Bb key and High F# key<\/p>\n

Two necks<\/p>\n

Two year warranty<\/p>\n

Deluxe, lightweight case with wheels and 2 year warranty<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sounds good, right? Well not so fast. There are also these instructions you need to follow:<\/p>\n

\"eBay<\/a><\/p>\n

Terms of sale? Mmm… \"\"<\/a>  What do they mean by that? Oh, and what the hell is a “real offer”? \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I have a confession to make. Yesterday I saw this same ad on eBay. Unfortunately I didn’t save the auction in my Watch List, so I can’t tell you for sure that today’s dealer name is the same. (The email address is.) However, yesterday’s auction is no longer even appearing on eBay. Today’s listing is brand new.<\/p>\n

That said, yesterday (Dec. 12)  I sent an email to the seller because I was curious about a bass saxophone that I could maybe get for $6.00. (Plus free shipping.) So this is what I wrote to the seller:<\/p>\n

Hello.<\/p>\n

You have an Orpheo bass saxophone for sale. What exactly are your terms of sale?<\/p>\n

Also, could you tell me what kind of “New” condition this instrument is please? (According to eBay’s meaning of “New”.) Since you’re not a music store, I’m assuming the sax must have been sold to at least once. I’m just wondering what kind of packaging material is still with the horn, since these particular bass saxophones are quite fragile, and shipping can lead to damage.<\/p>\n

Thank you for any information you can share.<\/p>\n

Regards,<\/p>\n

Helen<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And this is the reply I got:<\/p>\n

Hi ,<\/p>\n

Thank you for showing interest in our item on ebay.The buy it now price of this item is 1,300.00 usd, shipping and insurance included.We offer 30 days to return it against full refund if by any reason you are not satisfied with it .In order to buy it you will need to provide us your ebay username, name and full shipping address!<\/p>\n

You will get an ebay invoice (instructions how to pay). Item will be removed from ebay to avoid other offers.Your reply will be very apreciated !<\/p>\n

Thank you,<\/p>\n

P Dwight<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I said, a little later in the day the auction was gone from eBay, and doesn’t appear in the Sold or Completed listings. Very strange. Furthermore, if you search for Orpheo bass saxophone in completed listings, you’ll find this same horn in an auction that ended December 9, but the link to the past auction doesn’t follow through<\/del>. Strike that. Apparently eBay removed the auction between the time I started writing this article and now.<\/p>\n

This is all very confusing, and somewhat suspicious to my mind. Besides, notice how the seller completely ignored my question about the “New” status of the instrument. If you look at today’s auction, the horn is again being described as “New”.<\/p>\n

As far a warranty goes, I’m curious about this supposed 2 year term that comes with the horn. Since you’re not buying from a dealer, I’m not seeing how it’s possible to have any warranty whatsoever.<\/p>\n

These Jinyin-made, American-style bass saxophones, are notoriously weak in construction. They do not have a good reputation. Even packaged properly, they are prone to shipping damage. I can’t imagine what kind of damage this instrument would suffer when it’s shipped without proper protection.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure what’s up with this dealer, with this auction, and with this horn in general. Is there really an Orpheo bass? Can you really buy it for $1,300? The cheapest I’ve seen a Jinyin bass in the past was the Canex for $2,000<\/a>. However, even its price had jumped to $3,000 in 2009, and is likely higher now.<\/p>\n

At present the auction for this Orpheo bass is set to run until December 18<\/a>. There are currently 2 bids on the horn, with the high bid being $6.50. Let’s see what happens as the auction progresses.<\/p>\n

Just remember that old adage: If something sounds too good to be true, it likely is. Is it really possible to get any kind of saxophone\u2014let alone a bass\u2014for the price of a premium cup of coffee?<\/p>\n

\n
…this is just my blog<\/em>. <\/span> My \u201creal\u201d <\/b> website is<\/span> www.bassic-sax.info.<\/a> If you\u2019re looking for <\/span> sax info<\/strong>,<\/span> you should check it out too.<\/span>There\u2019s lots<\/em> there! <\/span><\/div>\n
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If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. What if I told you that someone on eBay is selling an Orpheo bass …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[828,209,619,660,183,644,218,198],"class_list":["post-35247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bass-saxophone","tag-asian-made-bass-saxes","tag-asian-made-saxophones","tag-bass-saxophone","tag-ebay","tag-new-horns","tag-photos","tag-stencil-horn","tag-stencil-saxophone"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t