Buyer beware

Merf

Silver Member
Jan 7, 2007
3,620
1,361
Northern Illinois
Detector(s) used
Whites XLT
Minelab vanquish, Quest x10 pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have been shopping for a Delta 4000 for my son.
I strongly prefer the 1/4 inch headphone jack.
I called the sellers of the Technetics 4000s listed on E-Bay and it is a mixed bag.
Some come with only the 1/8" headphone jack and some come with 1/8 and 1/4 inch jacks.
None of the ads state the jack size. A best kept secret I guess.
I E- Mailed first texas to get some clarification on build dates but have not gotten a response yet.
Anybody looking for one with the 1/4 inch jack should check first.

Sellers Ardvark and Caribbeancpt only have the ones with the 1/8 inch jack.
 

Keppy

Gold Member
Nov 19, 2006
8,318
2,870
N.E. Ohio on lake Erie
Detector(s) used
** WHAT ONE I FEEL LIKE ON HUNTING DAY *****
Primary Interest:
Other
Well i found out that some of the detectors you get on ebay are not in good working order. And some are knock offs.......... I will not buy a detector off ebay any more .......I got taken there more than once ... I had to learn the hard way would not listen to what some told me........ I got a couple of real junkers from ebay.................... The pictures looked great and of course they were hardly used....... and they had good reasons why they were selling them ..............
 

OP
OP
Merf

Merf

Silver Member
Jan 7, 2007
3,620
1,361
Northern Illinois
Detector(s) used
Whites XLT
Minelab vanquish, Quest x10 pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I think you are right on Keppy----It is a hit or miss deal on E-Bay
 

Sandman

Gold Member
Aug 6, 2005
13,398
3,992
In Michigan now.
Detector(s) used
Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
It is the same for Craigs list. When you don't know where the sellers house is, beware.
 

Ronfrommichigan

Full Member
Jan 8, 2011
111
2
Oxford MI
Detector(s) used
All
Ebay is OK if you do your homework.If an item doesn't work and described wrong and even if the seller says no returns,Palpal in most cases(99.9) will enforce the seller to return your money and shipping charges.I have made good and bad deals and still in the plus column.Most times if a deal is too good to be true there is something wrong so beware even on the classifieds.
 

belliott

Jr. Member
Apr 1, 2011
20
0
NW Arkansas
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Delta 4000
I picked up my Delta 4000 and it has a 1/8th and 1/4 inch headphone jack. That may be the cause of the confusion. They have both.
 

mrs.oroblanco

Silver Member
Jan 2, 2008
4,356
427
Black Hills of South Dakota
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Lobo & Garrett Stinger
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
It depends on the sellers on Ebay - I don't buy anything of any kind on Ebay unless there is good - and alot - of feedback.

We sold the Minelab on Ebay - almost brand new, still with original box and all it came with. Got a decent price, and the buyer got a good deal.

Both happy. Win-Win


Beth


PS: We bought 2 sets of converter plugs (gold-plated) - and have never been sorry. We have the ones that go from 1/4 to 1/2 and the opposite,
1/2 to 1/4. A set for hubby, and a set for me.
 

Bart@Big Boys Hobbies

Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Jul 24, 2005
4,591
1,217
Moore Oklahoma
Detector(s) used
Call for your Treasurenet special discount! Be sure to mention Tnet when you call!
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
If you guys have a question about a machine call a dealer. We know our machines we sell. eBay sellers for the most part have 0 product knowledge. Plus you will get a better deal from us in most cases. I will help anyone with questions! Doesn't matter if you bought it from me or not. Just want to help! Thanks! Bart
 

desert dog

Hero Member
Oct 27, 2009
889
8
kingman az
Detector(s) used
new coinmaster
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
my delta 4000 has both 1/8th and 1/4 head phone jack :headbang: :thumbsup:
 

Keppy

Gold Member
Nov 19, 2006
8,318
2,870
N.E. Ohio on lake Erie
Detector(s) used
** WHAT ONE I FEEL LIKE ON HUNTING DAY *****
Primary Interest:
Other
I thought they had both also 1/4 & 1/8. ........... Fisher is not good at geting back to on emails .... a phone call works better.......
 

woof!

Bronze Member
Dec 12, 2010
1,185
413
ciudadano del universo, residente de El Paso TX
Detector(s) used
BS detector
Primary Interest:
Other
Products with the same name usually get revised over time for a number of reasons. Not just Teknetics, but any product. In most cases the revisions are minor things that a customer would never notice, or are improvements that a customer might notice. In the automobile industry they are big on planned obsolescence so they do stuff by model years. The metal detector industry is not driven by model year considerations, so identifying exactly what rev level is at isn't always easy. It's usually unimportant.

The only way to find out what you're about to buy from dealer stock is to ask the dealer, because that's the only person who knows.

This is a good opportunity to put in a plug for forum sponsors. For some dealers, both storefront and Internet, metal detectors are a sideline they don't know much about. Since they're not well informed, they probably don't know for sure what it is they actually have in that box, they can't discuss intelligently best choices for you or even for themselves, and that means they can't swing a deal that gives you the right machine at the best price. And if a problem arises after the sale, even if they want to resolve it they may be clueless how to do so.

Forum sponsors are businesspeople who take metal detectors seriously. They are knowledgeable, and they know how to package a deal that makes everyone happy. And because they have a public face, they're usually quick to resolve any after-sale problems that might occur. Nearly all of them (every last one as far as I know) has a storefront business where they deal with customers face to face, not just over the Internet.

There are only a few forum sponsors, but many local dealers. If you've got a local dealer who is knowledgeable about metal detectors, that local dealer is also familiar with local issues in metal detecting such as ground mineralization conditions and where you can and can't legally hunt. And that local dealer doesn't want you to be an unhappy customer, because either way you'll probably show up again and better happy than unhappy! If you can catch a local dealer during a time of day when things aren't too busy, he or she may even be able to unbox the machine and demo it for you, something that can't be done over the Internet.

If you're trying to buy a metal detector over the Internet (or even from a local dealer) who doesn't know metal detectors, you're probably doing yourself a disservice. If you've got a local dealer who knows his or her stuff, buy there. If you don't, it's hard to go wrong with a forum sponsor, they wouldn't be sponsors if they weren't serious about metal detectors.

--Dave J.
 

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