Spaceduck
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Buying a warranty for used gear (bought on ebay)
I just picked up a pair of used microphones on ebay, and I noticed a warranty is offered by SquareTrade.com The Warranty is $80 for a year of coverage (repairs covered up to $600), and the mics are probably 20 years old. They're valve mics, so I'm sure the tubes could go any time. My question is do you think it's a good idea? Do you folks generally buy the warranty when it's offered on ebay, and if so, have you had any experiences with making a claim? I googled "SquareTrade reviews" and the overwhelming majority of reviews were positive... meaning either they're a decent company, or they do a good job of padding their ratings 
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Dave Modisette
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Re:Buying a warranty for used gear (bought on ebay)
2009/08/05 18:55:01
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I never knew a warranty was available. I'd definitely make sure just what was covered in the warranty. Remember that a waranty is about generating a profit for the company that sells it and not protecting you. So look for the "gotchas."
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Spaceduck
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Re:Buying a warranty for used gear (bought on ebay)
2009/08/06 08:03:11
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Thanks for the input, Bod. This is new to me, too. Not too many listings have the warranty option, and I've never seen it on used musical equipment (usually it's offered on new hard drives, cellphones, etc). The cost is pretty steep compared to most extended warranties... I guess that's how they make their $$ The only 'gotcha' I can imagine is if they say they won't replace worn tubes (with Mullard NOS of course  ). But I hunted through their terms, and the closest match would be "tv repair" and in that case, yes they say they do cover vaccuum tube failure. Hmm, I'm leaning towards buying the warranty. I got burned on an ebay mic once before (tube died within a month, repair cost me $100).
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Ham N Egz
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Re:Buying a warranty for used gear (bought on ebay)
2009/08/06 15:09:15
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hmmm when I considered square trade and searched I saw a good bit of negative reviews ... interesting
Green Acres is the place to be I dont twitter, facebook, snapchat, instagram,linkedin,tumble,pinterest,flick, blah blah,lets have an old fashioned conversation!
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tls11823
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Re:Buying a warranty for used gear (bought on ebay)
2009/08/06 17:48:01
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I'm a happy SquareTrade customer. I bought a used computer on eBay a couple of years ago. I paid $325 for it, and decided to shell out for the SquareTrade warranty. I'm not sure, but I think it was something like $35. The computer went belly-up - amazingly about two weeks before the warranty expired.
I contacted SquareTrade and explained what happened. They asked me to fax them an affidavit affirming that the computer failed on its own, that it wasn't dropped damaged in some way. I sent them the fax. Within a few hours I got an email stating that they had approved a reimbursement and that I could keep the computer to do with as I pleased. About two or three days later the full $325 had been deposited in my PayPal account.
I took the computer to a local repair shop, and they fixed it for $115. So I had a fully-functional computer plus $210 in my pocket.
When I bought a used Xbox 360 a week or so later, I didn't hesitate for a second before buying a SquareTrade warranty.
I'm in no way affiliated with the company, other than being a satisfied customer. In my experience, they deliver exactly what they promise.
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Rbh
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Re:Buying a warranty for used gear (bought on ebay)
2009/08/06 19:46:06
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I would doubt that there would be any warranty of a user serviceable part. The mic itself may be covered but I would look into it a little closer about the tubes being warrantied.
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Slugbaby
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Re:Buying a warranty for used gear (bought on ebay)
2009/08/07 04:02:10
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I'd be a little wary of spending $80 on insurance for a $600 limit. That seems too high a percentage... If it's for a business (owning a working studio) maybe worth it.
Then again, what mics did you buy that would be expensive enough to warrant that?
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Spaceduck
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Re:Buying a warranty for used gear (bought on ebay)
2009/08/07 05:43:36
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Hey everyone, thanks for your ideas m.man - Yeah I did come across a few negative reviews on nextag.com. But the interesting thing is SquareTrade responded to each negative review (no matter how rude it was) in a friendly & helpful way, adding something like "please email us, and we'll work it out." I also checked their rating at the Better Business Bureau... they're rated A+ I'm pretty convinced they're on the level (although I've often been wrong about assumptions like that) tls WOW, that's an encouraging experience. Thanks for sharing that! That was one of my big questions actually... if they can't repair it, would they do the old auto insurance scam (declare it's "totaled", take it away and give me $50 bucks)? Your story has put my fears to rest.  Congrats on making out like a bandit! Rbh Bingo, I did find a clause about not replacing user serviceable parts. So is a tube considered "user serviceable"? Here's where I might get into trouble because on some mics it is, but on other mics (like my last bad experience) the tube is soldered onto the board & must be replaced by a skilled technician, then the bias adjusted, etc. Somehow I doubt SquareTrade is aware of all this, so just to be safe I shot them an email asking what their policy is. Thanks for the heads up. Sluggo I agree, it's sort of steep. These are Groovetubes "Model One" mics... the original from back in the 80s. The problem is GT sold out to Fender this year, and Fender doesn't do GT service & repairs. And since I don't know one end of a soldering iron from the other, I could be really screwed if something goes wrong!
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