Home General Asylum

General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

[ Follow Ups ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ General Asylum ]
[ Alert Moderator ]

The following is the response by Mr. Cooper to inquiries by another Inmate and myself ...

Unfortunately, I do not have ethannnn's listing to post, because as one of the commenters noted eBay has removed it.

However, I can tell you that it differed materially from the one on
Audiogon, in that the eBay ad did not state that the unit was used, or
in mint condition. It stated simply that it was only two weeks old and had not been put into the seller's system because of a change of
circumstances.

Regardless of what some of the commenters may believe, a description
like that, or one of the many others that I encounter which describe
products as "new," "only a few weeks old," or the like, misleads many
bidders into believing that the unit is warranted by McIntosh.

Regular eBay traders may realize that McIntosh's warranties do not transfer, but new bidders often do not. Original McIntosh purchasers understand that their warranties terminate upon resale, because they have the warranty in hand when they purchase the unit (or before purchase, if they request the dealer to show it to them). Second hand purchasers have no such opportunity.

Why not allow McIntosh warranties to transfer? First, McIntosh dealers are required to undergo extensive training and qualification before being allowed to sell McIntosh products. McIntosh products are both complex and expensive, and to allow anyone who wanted to to sell them with McIntosh's warranty behind them would expose both the second hand buyer and McIntosh to unacceptable risks. Many internet sellers, including but by no means limited to eBay sellers, flatly misrepresent their goods. Look at the number of ads that feature stock product photos copied (illegally) from the manufacturers' websites, and ask yourself why is this seller using a new product photo instead of one that depicts the actual unit being sold?

Ethannnn's purported concerns about his freedom to do what he wants are just a cover for his recognition that a purchaser is quite properly going to discount the price of his amps if it becomes known that the warranty does not transfer.

Finally, the eBay Vero program is not structured merely to prevent
counterfeits: It is intended to permit manufacturers to intervene when any of their legal intellectual property rights are jeopardized. In Ethannnn's case, his refusal to disclose that his amps were not covered by McIntosh's manufacturer warranty was a material misrepresentation by omission, and a violation of section 43(a) of the federal Lanham Trademark Act.

Despite the fact that neither the law nor the Vero rules require any
advance warning prior to cutoff, Ethannnn was given a fair opportunity
to correct the ad, and it was only when he made it abundantly clear, as can be seen from his reply messages, that he preferred to continue his violation that I acted under the Vero program to prevent bidders from potential harm.

For information, the vast majority of sellers I notify do willingly and rapidly correct their ads to avoid misleading their bidders.

Again, thank you for your inquiry.

Wayne Cooper


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  Kimber Kable  

Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
You can not post to an archived thread.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]