As of today, he's got 28 auctions running, most for 'Rare' or 'Vintage' Sony portable electronics. I'm tempted by a couple of them, but something smells a bit fishy. He's only got 20 feedback, only 1 of which is as a seller, he's only been a member since the middle of last year, and there's a pretty shouty "PLEASE NOTE I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY RETURNS OR REFUNDS FOR ANY REASON", which probably goes against eBay / PayPal rules as well as looking like he's selling dodgy stuff.

Plus, as in auction number 220958172108, he uses the word "Feathers" instead of 'features', which I'm sure I've seen somewhere before...

Not trying to slag the guy off, just wanted to check he was legit before I think about bidding!

Oh, yes I saw it too. Strange. Their auctions are so close to artin179's ones, that in fact are an exact copy, and even the looking of the photos is so close.

User "armitag1311" is located at Birminghan but "artin179" is in London.

Maybe "artin" has moved to Birminghan now and changed is username.. or something strange is happening. :-P

Strange how he fails to mention that for the 220958172108 that the headphones supplied in that auction are not the original supplied and would also need the adapter (no mention of the adapter in his description or in the photos). Also the main feature (or "feather") of the WM-701C is Dolby C, no mention of that either.

Also auction 220958174223 is clearly a WM-F702 from the photos, but the description is an exact copy and paste of auction 220958172108.

There are a few auctions that appear to be missing the remote controls too.

I've sent him a message about one item but heard nothing back yet...

Hi guys, I just joined this forum as I have recently unearthed all my old tapes from storage and have been searching for a hi-spec Walkman to utilise them.

eBay is the main place of course and like many of you I spotted all 'armitag's  listings - searching for completed listings to gauge prices it's perfectly obvious that a load of virtually identical Walkman's sold earlier this month under the user name 'artin179' with the exact same wording and picture style.  That seller was a business seller (who are legally obliged under eBay and distance selling rules to *accept* returns for any reason).

[EDIT] Just spoke to eBay about this seller and they are looking into it but will of course say no more to me.  I am also wrong about retruns - apparantly this only applies to business sellers listing 'buy it now's' - it does not apply to auctions but they are looking at changing this poicy.

Completed listings:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/csc/i.html?_nkw=walkman+dd&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=&_sacat=See-All-Categories&_okw=walkman+dd&_oexkw=&_adv=1&LH_Complete=1&_udlo=&_udhi=&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sadis=200&_fpos=Postcode&LH_SALE_CURRENCY=0&_sop=12&_dmd=1&_ipg=50

He had sold loads previously:

http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=artin179&&_trksid=p4340.l2560&iid=220947676877&sspagename=VIP:feedback&ftab=FeedbackAsSeller

So like all of you I am very suspicious - either someone nicking his listings or him re-selling under a different name for some reason.

I had a reply to a message I sent and was confirmed all were in perfect working order.  I have replied asking specifically about the above name change and if the 'clicking wheel' issue exists with any of them.

I contacted "artin179" to ask about this - I got the reply:

"Hi Pete 
thanks for the message,,,don't worry at all!! "armitag1311" is my 
wife ebay ID and all 28 items are from my sony collections. 
you can bid on 
if you interested for some items. 
Best Wishes"

...maybe it's a sneaky way to try and sell things on a non-business eBay account, but it seems all the items are legit.

I'm interested in the WM-DD33, "armitag1311" has replied to my question stating that it works perfectly and doesn't have the clicking gear problem. If I win it, we'll see...

Well, I was outbid on a few of his listings.  Did anyone here win any?  Be intererested to know if all the DD's were perfect (main gear crack free) as he said they were.

I've been outbid on his stuff too - seems that somehow his semi-illiterate descriptions and incomplete items (no remote controls?) don't prevent people paying over the odds for his items! Good luck to him, I guess...

I specifically asked him four days before the listings ended whether four particular DD models (listed them to him by item number) were main gear crack free.  Got no reply.  Maybe we were better off missing out - his generalisation of 'full working order' and 'NO RETURNS' were a worry for sure...if he had that many tidy looking Walkmans he must know them inside out...

Hi. Completely new here. This forum has been a wealth of info. 

I received the WM-DDIII from "armitag1311" today and am listening to great tapes I made 25 years ago. Oh the memories :-) Very quick postage to Sweden.

Is it main gear crack free? It plays fine but there is a slight click every second that I hear  with ear on the unit or hold against my palm. So I guess not.

I had a WM-DDIII when they came out (must have bit the dust) but was inspired to get one again. I actually have a WM-509 that I bought new but the gum stick battery needs replacing I think as it has leaked inside. The external AA battery holder is somewhere.

Is there a replacement for the Ni-Cd 1.2V 600mAh (NC-6WM) battery I can buy?

Hello and welcome to the forum.

You mean something like one of these?

http://www.smallbattery.compan....uk/sbc_rb103244.htm

Btw this is for a NiMH not a NiCD cell battery, the former has more capacity than the latter and also less memory effect too. See the rest of the page for equivalent part numbers.

Thanks Plop. Bunked most of my science lessons so a question:

From the Small Battery Co.

Type: NiMH 'Gumstick'. Voltage: 1.2 V. Capacity: 1350 mAh.

So the 1350mAh is not a prob and in fact desirable?

Whoops! Just Googled and it will give 2x battery time by the looks of things.

Will the original wall charger work? Output = DC1.2V --250mA

Sorry for the basic questions ;-)

1350mAh will give more than double the runtime over your 600mAh batteries. Actually if you search for other manufacturers there are even higher capacities available

The original charger should be acceptable, obviously at more than double the capacity it will take a bit longer to charge.

artin179 is back ;-/

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/arti...;_trksid=p4340.l2562

Buyer beware as always - mostly good feedback but:

http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=artin179&iid=220968066745&de=off&items=25&which=neutral&interval=180&_trkparms=neutral_180

Buyer run away, more like!

Longjohns56, if your DDIII is clicking, it's not in "excellent condition" or "full working order" or whatever else he usually writes in his auctions - you're perfectly entitled to pull him up on this and either leave less-than-positive feedback or ask for a partial refund.

This is exactly what concerns me about his auctions: he seems to be very competent at cleaning and polishing vintage electronics, and uses minimal descriptions to hide the fact that they don't work properly and are sometimes badly repaired!

I agree - I bid on a few of his listings and may go for one next week although with all this exposure he will get inflated bids again probably!  However, as above if items are not as described in my experience eBay will fall on the side of the buyer for sure and if the seller does not want to help will force things by granting a partial refund.

  Did you see the insane bidding on his DD33 - £235!?!  Madness - hope it doesn't have a clicky wheel for whoever paid that...

I would not recommend buying from either of them.  The items are misrepresented.  He purposely does not show you what he doesn't what you to see.  Also, he has a bad attitude when it comes to working out problems.

Wish I saw this before winning and paying for three of his auctions, Just hope they work and hopefully no crap repair work, or missing screws was done, like said above.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221001838692?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221001838882?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221001830647?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Just looked at his feedback, he has a recent negative for selling a failed repaired attempt item, this guy doesn't seem nice , look at the feedback he left for this buyer, I hope the buyer knows he can have eBay remove Positive bad comment feedback.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=zilla7727&ftab=AllFeedback

As long as he didn't try to repair anything I'm sure you'll be fine.

I would say only buy from him if you're getting something nice to look at (from far) or occasionally use (maybe?), but as a collector I wouldn't buy from him again.

Just an example: He actually filled in missing black paint with a marker!!!

This isn't a detail that shows up on small low-res ebay pics, but when you're holding it in your hand it just looks bad... and don't even get me started on what's under the hood.

I suspect all the positive feedback is from people who aren't necessarily collectors and don't really know what a perfect condition version looks like (or works like).  So they think all the crappy fixes are actually part of the original unit.  Sometimes, it's just cool to own a walkman (know what I mean?) heh

Even if you take a shot at it hoping paypal/ebay is gonna be on your side it's not gonna necessarily work in your favour considering you have to pay for return shipping with tracking.  Unless you live in the UK that ain't gonna be cheap.

So, personally I say be safe rather than sorry.

However, in your particular case I really hope you lucked out and got some mint product

I hope they are mint, or at least very close to being mint, as this is for part of mine collection to finsh some parts of it off, but also do repair them and very picky about how work done on them and hate crap work. Hope they didn't need any work, or he didn't bother, as rather do the work myseft, as you get some people that will do a professional job and take the time and use right specs parts and know what they are doing and those that will do the work just to sell it, or worst don't know what they are doing, or how to solder and damage the traces and is complete crap to my standards, or unrepairable, to what would have been a good unit otherwise.

He will get a honest direct feedback etheir way it goes, depending on condition on how they come and function, as I don't hold back, if it's crap? It crap!! and no partial refund or refund, going to keep me from warning other potential buyers!

Yeah, I've seen your work on this site and it's pretty good.

You would not have liked the soldering job he did on mine... yikes!

BTW I like your work on this particular unit:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Vintage...32619#ht_2230wt_1180

I think we were both bidding on it when it was originally being sold.

Good luck on the sale though!

Dude's a tool.

Just notice this

The one I just won

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221001830647?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

And one that sold back in march

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220968082159

I also look at the neutral feedbacks.

"Obviously defective item returned for (eventual) refund. Not good"

http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=artin179&iid=220968082159&de=off&items=25&which=neutral&interval=365&_trkparms=neutral_365

This doesn't look good, wonder what the original problem was with it, hoping just a belt?

Did I forget to mention that he reuses a lot of his photos.

Not sure if he's lazy or just being deceptive... but you don't always get what's pictured.

It's really a shame too, because occasionally he has some good stuff listed.  I just don't want to take a risk on his stuff anymore.  Wasted too much of my time and money.  

Just did get the walkmans from him, must say was impressive, packing was top notch, everything individually wrapped in bubble wrap, took a while just to get it out of the box and walkman came in great to mint condition not a single scratch or screw missing did try the f701 and works great, pinch roller are good and look clean inside. Have to try the other two later.

Hi guys, as a curiosity could anyone say how does one get to own such an impressive collection ? All top of the range, mint, complete, etc. ? Where do you get these from ? This is something I cannot find an answer to. Did he buy them when they were launched ? Yeah sure... 

I bought a unit from armitag1311 sometime ago, wich he listed as in perfectly working order. However, when I got it it was far from working (had all kinds of operational faults going on). I contacted the seller and was promised a new unit if I sent the first one back. I did, but then the seller claimed it never got back to him. I've sent lots of things with the mail service I use, and it all got where it should. Unfortunately, I didn't got any tracking number for the unit I sent back. Stupid of me, but still. I wouldn't buy from armitag1311 again. 

Well now looks like a large part of our community has purchased from this seller ( I purchased back in early 2010 when he was Artin179 out of London).   I have always been amazed at prices he gets for his auctions.  I got a stunning WM-EX7 in rare green all accessories worked great as described.   Few months after that bought a boxed WM-EX501 in green.   All arrived fine except that box was labeled SILVER. He did refund me right away 15% of purchase price which I had not paid high amount like most of his auctions go.  I think as time has gone on he may be doing more repairs not  to good quality and becoming less honest.  But on my part have not had any major problems just the misrepresentation or LACK of truth.. Omission box did not match player.  As a seller I would have disclosed that and any problems as it only haunts you later as a seller.  I have 549 100% feedback on eBay very hard these days to stay at 100% as a seller as eBay in past year makes the seller a hostage to buyer.  EVILBAY anymore but no where else to go with even close exposure.   

   Anymore I probably wont consider buying primarily because his auctions draw lot of bidding and prices to above value IMO.

I'm monitoring this thread carefully.  I too am impressed by this seller, his auctions command a lot of respect and he appears to be doing a roaring trade.  For what it's worth I can't see many reasons to advise caution beyond that of the basic measures buyers really should be taking.

Hello,

It was me that returned a Sony cassette that I had bought from Artin179 some months ago. When it arrived I checked it and the condition was not very good generally but the main problem was speed instability. I examined it more closely and there was a groove in the pinch roller and the head was corroded. I returned it and the refund took over a week because 'he had no funds in his paypal account' which was hard to believe. I bought 2 other items at the same time; a Sony cd personal that was complete and fine and a WMd6C that when it arrived was actually a WMD6 but it works well, was boxed, clean and nice enough that I did not complain.

His initial response was that he would 'fix' the Sony cassette but his written English was so poor and his excuses so lame that I did not trust him and went for the refund. Selling poor quality items deserves less that excellent feedback, so that is what he got.

I have seen some great items listed by him as Armitag and Artin and am baffled where he gets the stuff from... I suspect he has contacts in Eastern Europe and they send the stuff to the UK because the prices are highest here but I would not buy from him again.

Nick

I have commented earlier on my dealings with this seller.  

STRONG WARNING TO MEMBERS.... just noticed on a finalized auction and a current auction (D150) that he clearly states in auction the following which for me as a buyer means nothing but TROUBLE and would NOT buy from this seller.

D150

Sorry, I do not accept any returns or refunds for any reason

Another auction

NO RETURNS OR NEGATIVE FEEDBACK

SOLD AS IS

As AO said I have been very impressed with his auctions he takes good photos, his players are usually in very good condition with all accessories and he states in excellent working condition.  I have been amazed at the prices his items pull consistently especially on his earlier seller name Artin179 which I had purchased from and had some trouble but he worked it out but that was nearly 2 years ago.

Yet I am sure AO will agree to see the statements No neg. feedback and no returns or refunds for ANY REASON...... this is not a trusted seller.  Many members here are sellers on ebay and am sure like AO and myself I stand 100% behind what I sell and if some problem happened even one out of my or buyers control I will refund price for returned item.  Again with these new comments on his auctions I urge caution buying from such a seller.   

We have to to remember that many prolific sellers have a 'no returns' policy and if I was honest this really puts the onus on the buyer to treat the purchase with the appropriate respect/caution. 

That said, I do wonder where he gets his stuff from.

I think he does what I do, buys them in lots, fixes them and then resells them, but then why the AS-IS, it just ends up scaring so many people away. He does need to check his items out better. But the difference is? Do collect them also, so look at detail, even if it is just to sell. Most sellers don't, they just see if it works, then goes on the bay.  

He does pack well and make sure the item is clean, but a couple minor issues I had, is he does like to use that marker alot to cover scratches, even if they are very small and unnoticable in the first place, the marker just makes it look worst, but easy to clean off. The other issue was 4-5 months back bought a D6c from him and had a broken record level pot I bought from him. He was just lucky I didn't say anything, as I had a spare pot and was in a hurry, so didn't bother to return it, just fixed it, as needed a few d6c in a hurry at that time for a studio in my area. But know it wasn't from shipping damage as was packed bullet proof.

Would buy again? If I see something I want, or one of my customers, then more likely. For the most part they come as describe, clean, good to great condition and reasonable prices they go for. Just a couple of walkmans that had a issue, but then again never said anything and moved on. But dealt with some bad sellers, alot worst.

By the way folks another aka of his is "artur079" on ebay where again he offers immaculate and dubious products as usual...