Dirty Crappy Ebay Holding Rants

January 4, 2006 4:16 PM

CleanShiny Filter. I won something on Ebay and its state of general cleanliness was woefully misrepresented.

Its dingy! Its scuffed! It's even mildy corroded in places and it smells funny, too. Serves me right for being overly optimistic about a sellers' assertion that the objet only has "little dings and scratches". Regardless, rather than start a flame war in our feedback areas, I prefer to attempt to just try to spiffy it up myself (you know, what the seller might have done). So, mefites:

- what is the very best way to clean hard plastic? I don't want to use something too harsh that might fade it.

- how can I remove scuffs from its surface? It looks like some of the scuffs might be wax crayon or grease pencil.

- what's the most effective way to remove alkaline corrosion ick from battery chambers, and will they still work afterwards?

- its telescoping antenna is stuck in the "down" position. how can I unstick it without breaking it?

and furthermore: meh.

posted by missmobtown to Grab Bag (11 answers total)

What is it? A radio? What value?
posted by fire&wings at 4:20 PM on January 4, 2006

can I ensure from that last bullet that you aren't talking about a BOB?
posted by kcm at 4:20 PM on January 4, 2006

for the last, try squirting some WD40 around, and working it in with a rag. then gently pry up on the antenna.
posted by devilsbrigade at 4:42 PM on January 4, 2006

WD40 will work on the will work on the grease pencil/wax, too.

For the plastic, start with dish soap in warm water. When that doesn't work, use a stronger household cleaner, such as Formula 409 or a mixture of ammonia and water. You can test the cleaners on a hidden area if you're afraid they'll harm the plastic; I doubt they'd cause a problem.

Of course, don't use anything that's even mildly abrasive, like 'magic sponge' or soft scrub.
posted by wryly at 4:56 PM on January 4, 2006

Did you e-mail the seller and ask for a refund? You should be able to return it.
posted by k8t at 6:43 PM on January 4, 2006

You might want to attack the alkaline corrosion with a toothbrush and a tiny bit of baking soda and warm water.

Wear eye protection from the spray from the toothbrush and dispose of afterwards. Depending upon the level of corrosion, it may not work even when clean.
posted by unixrat at 7:47 PM on January 4, 2006

wtf is it? Can you at least tell us what it's made out of?
posted by delmoi at 8:57 PM on January 4, 2006

C'mon, people. CLEARLY it's one of those RF-controlled vibrators. The grease pencil is... um... y'know. That's cool, missmobtown, you don't gotta confirm or deny. -wink wink-
posted by incessant at 10:47 PM on January 4, 2006

Ebay has a policy where you're entitled to a refund if it's significantly misrepresented. Although you'll be referred to Paypal if you paid via that route.
posted by antifuse at 1:44 AM on January 5, 2006

I found the auction in question pretty easily (and it's actually pretty awesome). I notice that you have not yet left feedback. Personally, I'd leave neutral feedback at best.

Out of respect for missmobtown, I'm purposely not linking to the auction. Anyone else who really wants to find it could with very little effort.
posted by Plutor at 6:01 AM on January 5, 2006

Response by poster: OK, OK, its a Weltron 1000 FM radio 8-track player from the 70s. Its old, sure, but it shouldn't be that cruddy for pete's sake! It was going to be a present for my 70's-obsessed s.o., but...eh. Maybe I'll email the seller and tell him what I think for starters.

I paid via PayPal. My faith in the system is wavers at best.
posted by missmobtown at 8:50 AM on January 5, 2006