when eBay listings include VintageSynth reviews

[chimney chop]

always bugs me when I see Vintagesynth reviews in total in eBay auctions.

mostly because I have to dig through and find the scant item description buried among them.

bug anyone else?

[yorgatron]

and craigslist.

usually without any specific description of the one in the ad, accompanied by the stock photo.

[StepLogik]

I've never understood why people feel compelled to include review text or wholesale copy of the manufacturer's product description in their ads The only information that actually matters is the price, item condition, terms of sale, etc. People either know what they are looking for or if they are browsing they can Google the product details.

[Walter Ego]

In my limited experience selling on eBay, I usually write as full a description of the item as I can, including features, detailed description of the condition, etc. Usually I know something enough about the item that I can write plenty off the top of my head. I DO use some info from the VSE page, if there is an entry for it. But never the review. I write explicitly: "this is from vintagesynth.com" then copy the specs from the VSE entry. It's not always perfect, but it's a convenient resource. I only ever use the Specs list though, and usually at the end of the description.

In that way, the VSE actually has a lot of pull, basically as the authority on vintage synths. If there's bad info on the VSE site, it will trickle down. For good or ill, people look to this site as authoritative.

It was a really good idea to remove the suggested prices, because people used them authoritatively as well. There's no way to keep up with the rapidly changing markets.

[Kenneth]

When selling a piece of gear, I usually just provide a link to the VSE column or SOS or whatever, just in case they want to know more. No point in wasting the time of those who already know what they're looking at.

On a side note: I find many of the reviews posted here on VSE to be astonishingly amateur and uninformative. There ought to be some kind of filter established to keep some of the more biased contributors at bay.

[chimney chop]

On a side note: I find many of the reviews posted here on VSE to be astonishingly amateur and uninformative. There ought to be some kind of filter established to keep some of the more biased contributors at bay.

agree.

example: Access Virus TI review...

"Arguably the pinnacle of DSP-based digital synthesis at the moment. It could easily be written off as a Virus C with added supersaw, but the many improvements suggest revolution, not evolution!"

[meatballfulton]

Reviews of newer instruments lack the benefit of hindsight.

[Aaron2]

Reviews of newer instruments lack the benefit of hindsight.

True, and the flipside is, instruments that were somewhat exciting in the '90s and 2000s have ridiculously gushy reviews on VSE that no one could possibly take seriously today. Presumably, many of these reviews were written at or about the time the products were released. They may have been valid at the time, but now, in hindsight, they aren't nearly as exciting now as then. Unfortunately, these reviews have simply never been updated.

[chimney chop]

Reviews of newer instruments lack the benefit of hindsight.

True, and the flipside is, instruments that were somewhat exciting in the '90s and 2000s have ridiculously gushy reviews on VSE that no one could possibly take seriously today.

exclamation points in gear reviews really get under my skin and especially in opening sentences.
comes off as juvenile/cloying.
see the vintagesynth Alesis Ion review. gotta be the same writer as the TI review.
blah, blah, blah....I'm getting on my own nerves.

[Aaron2]

exclamation points in gear reviews really get under my skin and especially in opening sentences. comes off as juvenile/cloying.

Agreed. Or silly hyperbole like this:

In Unison mode, with all six oscillators, this baby gets fat, rich, creamy and wild making it an excellent stand-in for Moog-like sounds.

"[C]reamy and wild"? Really?

[chimney chop]

In Unison mode, with all six oscillators, this baby gets fat, rich, creamy and wild making it an excellent stand-in for Moog-like sounds.

ha! not to mention the way it's worded the Six-Trak isn't a good stand-in for Moog sounds, but rather a good stand-in for synths that bear a resemblance to Moogs; a good copy of a copy.

all complaining aside, I love vintagesynth and it's no wonder it's oft quoted the internet over.

[Aaron2]

all complaining aside, I love vintagesynth and it's no wonder it's oft quoted the internet over.

Yes, of course. It's a terrific resource for synth geeks the world over!

[kuroichi]

I often assume the person selling doesn't really know much about the item. I think the majority of equipment on eBay is just being flipped for profit nowadays.

[chimney chop]

I often assume the person selling doesn't really know much about the item. I think the majority of equipment on eBay is just being flipped for profit nowadays.

which is an indication that perhaps they don't know whether the gear is fully functional or not.

[Jabberwalky]

Most of the reviews were written by the guy that pays the bill for this forum.