2nd hand Soft toys for babies

BOUGHT A SECOND HAND SOFT TOY?

Is it for a young baby?

When your child is very young everything is supposed to be sterilised and clean as babies will always put everything in their mouths.

Having had 3 children myself I understand how important it is to a parent to make sure that everything a child puts into its mouth is clean. Because of this you may have been put off buying soft toys for a young child second hand as some of them are not machine washable.

TO MAKE SURE AN ITEM IS CLEAN AND GERM FREE

Wash it according to the label - usually just sponge clean. (Milton or Dettol solution on a sponge is a good idea)

When drysimply place it into a freezer bag and place it in your freezer for 24 hours.

This will kill anything that may be on the item and then can leave you worry free. Your baby will be able to chew on it all they like.

Babies are expensive little bundles - so if this means you consider 2nd hand because you now know you can clean them then GREAT.

' FAKE ' GOLD BARS / BULLIONS

There are recent Gold bars/bullions fake items are on sale in ebay, painted in gold plated color, some of those who doesn't know what is .999 purity assume simply imprinted on the fake bar as real gold. Recent incidents revealed metal bars are imprinted and are circulated in ebay, the buyer reveals after sometime or never.

Please be aware of this and don't be fooled by the fake items. Make sure you crosscheck on the very same day or within the 45 / 90 day period in ebay /paypal. else you will lose your money.

Good luck. SAFE BIDS and Healthy EBUYERS

Picking an Eskrima Kali Arnis Training Stick

A common question often posed by new and experienced Filipino Martial Artists alike: What is palasan or basiko or labsika or kamagong or bahi or Molave sticks? So before I commence on the usage of each stick, I will just give a brief laymans term on each of the words I just used: Palasan: Is a type of rattan. Basiko: Is a type of rattan. Labsika: Is a type of rattan. Kamagong: Is a fruit tree found only in the Philippines, the wood of which is extremely dense and hard, and famous for its dark color. And like many other very hard woods is sometimes called 'Ironwood'. Bahi: Is the wood from a Coconut tree trunk or the Anahaw palm.Molave: Is a type of hardwood found in the Philippines. So here is some information to assist you when it comes to the difficult decision of picking the right stick for you.To find a stick that lasts can often be down to the individual stick rather than the type of stick. As a rule the palasans I stock are stronger because they still have their skins and often have more nodes, whereas the basikos are semi skinned and often have less nodes which can make them weaker. But it is not always the case. If you get a good dense feeling basiko of any thickness it can outlast every stick in your bag. I prefer the basikos myself because they are varied and you can find a stick for all purposes, light for more contact, dense to last longer, thick, thin or heavy. There is a stick for every occasion and person. I have 2 sticks purely for solo, 2 purely for double stick drills, 1 for espada 'y' daga (Stick

Roary 100% Cheaper AT...........

Roary the racing car

Clothing, toys, books are all 100% cheaper in Woolworths

Big Chris 14.99

Walkin sleep suit 12.00

Racing car pyjamas 10.00

Do i really need to go on.......

Take a look for yourself

Just log onto the woolworths site

Save you pounds instead of lining the pockets of dis-honest sellers

Speaker brands to avoid - usually "White Van" types!

Ever wondered where the amazingly cheap sets of huge hifi speakers on eBay actually some from? Well, read on and take note, as there are many brands that are well worth avoiding...

Everyone by now must have heard of the "White Van Speaker Scam"; it goes on all over the world, and involves members of the public being approached by dodgy indivuduals, usually in a rented white van, who claim that they've somehow got their hands on some allegedly high-end (but in reality, rubbish)hifi speakers that they are willing to sell for a suspiciously low price. (Search "White Van Speakers" on Wikipedia for more details on this).

The problem is that, although they claim these speakers are worth several thousand pounds, the reality is that the scamsters are flogging them for 200 or so and still turning a profit! The speakers are usually knocked out in massive quantities in Chinese factories and can be bought in bulk for about 40 a set. The quality is reflected in this price - they are shoddily built using dirt-cheap, badly-madecomponents.

Very often the unwitting buyer/mug gets home and sets his speakers up, only to find that they either don't work, or if they do they sound utterly awful. Hence they frequently end up on eBay as people try to get shot of them and recover the money they wasted on lousy speakers!

The following "brand names" are commonlyfound on these speakers:

Audiofile
Acoustic Monitor (or Acoustic Studio Monitor)
Acoustic Response, Acoustic Image, Acoustic Lab Technology
AST (Advanced Sound Technologies)
Denmark
Dogg Digital, Digital Dogg Audio
Dahlton
Digital Research
DiVinci
Dynalab
Digital Pro Audio, Pro Audio, Digital Audio, Digital Audio Professional Speaker Systems, Digital Audio Skyline Digital Research
Epiphany Audio
Elite Audio
Genesis Media Labs
Grafdale
Hauffman
Kirsch
Omni Audio
Matrix Audio
Proline Acoustics
Protecsound
Pro Dynamics
Paradyme
PSD
Theater Innovations
Theater (sometimes Theatre) Research

These brands really are best left alone no matter how much of a bargain they may appear.

Instead, spendyour hard-earned hi-fi fundon some second-hand speakers from a reputable manufacturer. The 5-foot-tall speakers with hordes of big drive units for 150 may look impressive; the truth is that, in terms of sound quality, an unassuming pair of bookshelf speakers from a proper manufacturer will wipe the floor with the big cheap ones.

This chap has some more useful info on these dodgy speakers.(eBay review page - click link to view)

how to test that old valve amp you found in the attic

Heres how to test that old valve amp you found in the attic. Why, just find the nearest mains socket and plug it in! See the lights come on therefore it works! Its obvious isn't it? - but not so obvious is in the second it takes you to do that you have probably destroyed the amp. Yes, really. And yet people keep on doing this. Look around the listings - so often you find somebody saying the amp has been tested and the power comes on but to quote ' have no means of testing it further'.

Why you should not plug these things in:

First reason; compared to this day's standards in wiring - old valve amps are dangerous. They have voltages running around inside them that can kill you. A lot of them are not earthed. You don't know what the history of the amp is and why it ended-up where it is - there might be parts missing or parts damaged or a mouse might have got inside and chewed-up a few wires or dislodged a component or two.... you simply don't know.

Second reason: I am not trying to trick anyone, you can cause serious damage to an amp simply by plugging it into the mains. If you don't have the correct speakers to connect to it, and all impedence settings match, then you will very quickly burn-up the output transformer and do damage to the valves. The valves can sometimes be replaced but you will find it next to impossible to locate the correct transformer as a spare part. Modern generic replacements that don't perform quite as well are still very costly.

Third reason: potential buyers don't like it, so you will get less bids than if you had resisted the temptation to power-up.

If you have found what looks to you like an interesting item then my advice is this. Go and check the internet to see if there is any information on it first. As a starting point you can look on the advanced search option of ebay to find out if similar items have been sold here, (just type in your keywords and click on the box which is marked 'search completed listings only' - this will tell you if an amp like yours has sold recently and the price it achieved). If the amp looks like it will be worthwhile listing then find a local repair shop and take it along to get checked over by a qualified technician first. Most music/instrument shops can put you in touch with somebody who does repairs. The repair man will be able to tell you if the amp is working or needs some attention. Get a quote. Then you can either go ahead and get it repaired, or simply list the item on ebay stating what needs to be done and the likely cost of the repair. Being honest will get you a lot more bids, even if you say 'there is a problem with the item'. In the end everybody is happy and you save that vintage piece of amplifier gear from almost certain destruction.

remember- don't plug it in!

Feedback Scam

I write this in exasperation at certain people who seem to delight in spoiling 100% feedback for reasons only known to themselves.

Scenario: I sell two identical items within hours of each other from my ebay store to persons who are brand new to ebay and joined the day of the bid obviously Zero feedback. The items are Buy It Now items and therefore it is clearly shown by eBay that a Paypal account is required to purchase the items. My description also indicates that items will not be despatched until the payment has been received and shown in the account.

No payment is indicated as having been received by paypal for either item and as per normal I send off my first reminder - nothing heard for aweek I then send a further reminder and wham 1 negative feedback stating I had received a cheque and cashed it - Damn Lies. I respond and again abusive/ libelliousfeedback left. a week later another one again stating that they had paid by cheque sent in the post and given negative feedback because of the Royal Mail Strike - more lies.

After receiving the first negative feedback and responding I sent an email to ebay saying that this was a set up for the fake bidders delight having now received the second negative this has served to confirm my fears. Ebay was asked to help over 10 days ago and to date have not responded and have done nothing other than forward emails to each other, I find the way that this has occurrred to be unsavoury and unfair, these people should not be allowed to make unfounded accusations and lies and as we pay a lot of money over the years to use ebay then they should assist in removing these people who take their delight in offending others.

There are many honest and hard working people who use ebay and yes we all started out with zero feedback and I am grateful for those sellers who allowed me to make a purchase which after all allowed me to build up a feedback, I COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND WHY WHENI READ THE DESCRIPTION OF AN ITEM THAT PEOPLE WERE ACTUALLY SAYING 'NO BUYERS WITHZERO FEEDBACK' however, after what has happened to meI now know why,I very sadly have now set my profile tonot allow bidding to those withzero feedback.

The 2 bidders had hotmail addresses, and I have dealt with people with hotmail addresses with no problems but Ihave heard that anyone can set up a hotmail address at any time. SELLERS PLEASE BEWARE