NOS transistor scam on eBay

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Kranz
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Post by Kranz »

just wanted to give a heads up of a scam on eBay.

A guy who runs a component shop in Devon, UK, was selling bags of 400 NOS germaniums,.. some sold for over £600.
If you bought these, or know who bought these, PLEASE check them with a professional transistor tester that can detect internal shorts and bi-polar leakage (not a cheap tester off eBay), as one buyer has reported 41% were duds.
Anyone who did buy these can still talk to ebay (who are currently investigating) via the chat at
https://www.ebay.com/help/contact_us?id=4128&st=10

Please share this info - thanks :) Kranz
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luix
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Post by luix »

It seems that '60s germanium transistors production was infinite!

Glass case transistors was the first ones that disappeared, leaving space to metal case ones, how is still possible to find them in such great quantity?? Where do they come from??
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uncleboko
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Post by uncleboko »

Perhaps he was putting jam on his scones before the cream!!!
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deltafred
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Post by deltafred »

uncleboko wrote: ↑18 Jun 2022, 11:32 Perhaps he was putting jam on his scones before the cream!!!
I'm not sure that many people outside the UK will get that. :D
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Post by Ice-9 »

deltafred wrote: ↑18 Jun 2022, 13:25
uncleboko wrote: ↑18 Jun 2022, 11:32 Perhaps he was putting jam on his scones before the cream!!!
I'm not sure that many people outside the UK will get that. :D
Jam, cream, scones and Devon... Aye I get it.
It's fairly straight forward, if you want to start it , press start. You can work out the rest of the controls for yourself !

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mozz
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Post by mozz »

Any links to the auctions?
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modman
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Post by modman »

Kranz wrote: ↑17 Jun 2022, 14:48 just wanted to give a heads up of a scam on eBay.

A guy who runs a component shop in Devon, UK, was selling bags of 400 NOS germaniums,.. some sold for over £600.
If you bought these, or know who bought these, PLEASE check them with a professional transistor tester that can detect internal shorts and bi-polar leakage (not a cheap tester off eBay), as one buyer has reported 41% were duds.
Anyone who did buy these can still talk to ebay (who are currently investigating) via the chat at
https://www.ebay.com/help/contact_us?id=4128&st=10

Please share this info - thanks :) Kranz
Share what info? There is none.
If you had a first had experience of the scam, this would be the place to post your proof. If information was posted on another forum, please share a link.
Right now this is just hearsay which honestly is helping no one.
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Post by Jarno »

I did buy a number of germanium transistors off a ebay vendor in Germany (minifux1). Not too expensive, but most were really low gain, they do seem to be the real deal though. Also bought germanium diodes from the same shop, also ok.
But don't expect to buy germanium transistors with "prime Hfe" for little money, vendors also know what to look out for, and likely also have transistor testers.
"It crackles....., but that's ok"
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Post by Kranz »

Jarno - Yeah, Minifux1 is a good seller, I've been buying from him for years, typically for around £2 for 10x ACxxx's/xxxK's, tho now £3-4 for 10x avg,.. and of course now there are loads of people selling single transistors for £2-10 each !! - buyer beware !

Modman - I've been on eBay since day 1, so not my first rodeo. Posted this more as a warning, or as I said, a "heads-up", in case anyone knows someone who bought them, they really should test them with a professional tester, not a cheapy off eBay as they just don't cut it.

The guy works in an electronic components shop so it's unlikely he's clueless,.. and of course may have deliberately mixed in a load of duds then hidden behind a fained ignorance/ubtested (scammers do that)

Generally I wouldn't buy components off eBay, but for some NOS and then test, test, test - I'd hate to be the guy who splashed out £670,..
- these were the suspicious listings,..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JOBLOT-BUNDL ... 7675.l2557

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JOBLOT-BUNDL ... 7675.l2557

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JOBLOT-BUNDL ... 7675.l2557

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JOBLOT-BUNDL ... 7675.l2557

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JOBLOT-BUNDL ... 7675.l2557
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Post by Jarno »

That many transistors, chucked in a bag like that, is definitely fishy, wouldn't even consider an ebay listing like that.
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Post by Kranz »

BTW - his shop is here
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.54790 ... 384!8i8192
MARC NALL (ebay seller name - phildixon003)
149 Bitton Park Road
Teignmouth, Devon, TQ14 9DQ
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Post by cspar »

So a guy that works on cellphones and laptops has a large bag of mixed germanium transistors walk in the door.

He rough sorts them visually and then posts them on ebay loosely explaining the situation and he doesn't say they are good or tested.

The bidding starts at 99 pence.

The pictured source bag honestly looks like a junk drawer bucket full of leaky and low gain ones that have been sorted out to me.

Looking at the listings I see diodes and Sziklai pairs. I personally don't see a scam.

Looking at the sold prices I see delusional bidders thinking that they'll all be perfect for Fuzz Faces and bidding too high.

Such is ebay. Buyer beware.

But since the subject is scams, IMHO any ebay vendor that sells tubes that "test good" which you can't see because because there is a drop down selection menu and then sends you a rusty bottle or a cracked base is scaming you.

A tube has to pass a visual test before socketing in a tester, that's part of the test in every tube tester manual.
"Just because the forgoing circuits have produced results there is no reason experimenting won't lead to added results." L. E. Darling, in his article containing the earliest published vacuum tube synthesizer circuit, Popular Science Jan 1920
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Post by mozz »

I don't see it as a scam. I don't see them as fake either. Just NOS. He does not say they are tested, what they can be used for, or much of anything. The bidders are the problem. He may have come across a few thousand and sorted them himself, who knows. AC128 was a junk garbage transistor way back then. Somebody may have been using them to build a project back then and these were the sorted lower gain leftovers.
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Post by Lithium_Grim »

I do not see a scam here, just stupid people/bidders that can't read (it states "Lot is sold as is" in large font). Greedy people who think they deserve the luck of getting something for almost nothing and then forget to stop bidding on uncertainty.
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