Finally won a bid on Ebay for an Optimus 8R, which I would like to add to my wee collection. Seller described the, 'tin is rusty'. I think a more accurate description would be, 'eaten through with rust and falling apart in your hands'! A shame because the stove is grubby but salvageable. The search continues as this one gets returned!
That’s a shame, case is too far gone for easy restoration. Seller didn’t help by not picturing the extent of the damage in the listing.
Yup, a shame. Not sure "let down" is quite the right phrase, sounds like everything is gonna work out as it should. Ebay's return policy, and least here in the States, is most excellent. Good luck in your search.
Aye, it's the deliberate attempt to mislead which is the annoying thing. There's another 8R on at the moment, seller describes it as 'original condition', yet you can clearly see amateur welding marks on the front!
Actually, that's a fair comment, Ebay themselves have been completely fair so far. What's equally frustrating though, this was the first time I've seen and handled an 8R and I really like it!
I saw that one, it was advertised as 'spares or repair' in both the title and description, but agree a photo of the rust damage would have been appropriate to avoid this situation. I like a challenge... but not at that price!
Ouch. Did the eBay seller not include pics of the rust holes? “Rust Free!” is not the same as free rust. I’d be interested in knowing what the seller specified as his “return policy” for that auction. Since you are sending it back, is it safe to assume that the seller is responsible for refunding your shipping charges both ways? A buyer is entitled to a refund of both the purchase price and the shipping charges in this situation, is my understanding.
The guts look good. Early fuel cap with a non-pentaform SRV. Nickel plated brass tank. I don't know what you paid for it. If it wasn't a mint, I keep the guts and look for an aluminum 99 case to re-home it. If it was rediculously expensive, I'd want my money back.
That’s partly why I asked about the return charges - oftentimes a buyer & seller can work on some sort of compromise, a partial refund. Keep the stove and look elsewhere for a serviceable case.
Hmm, an interesting ebay case. As a seller, it is sometimes hard to find the right words or to spot all the things that a buyer (particularly a collector) might see as important, especially if it is not your field of expertise. He showed some fairly general pictures of it and commented that the tin was rusty, it was also listed as spares or repairs. You had an opportunity to ask for more info, which you didn't take. I once bought a stove from a prolific seller, I don't recall all the details but it was implied at least that the stove was in good condition, there were no pictures of the underside. When I got it, there was a massive dent in the underside and I opened a not as described claim, wanting to return it. The seller replied that I could have asked for more pictures, I responded that I had relied on his words. Ebay found in my favour and I got my money back. I think your case is a bit more marginal, although there is more than an inkling that he might have been trying to not disclose how bad the rust was. The next question is do you try to negotiate a price reduction, given that it wil have cost the seller a tenner in wasted postage fees once the out and back postage becomes his liability? As a seller, I would be looking at the value of the item and maybe what it had cost me vs the cost of return postage, in deciding whether to require it to be returned. I think I would ask for it back in this case, but I might agree a part refund, which would be partly covered by not having to pay all the postal charges. He could whip it out of the tin and sell the bare stove and the crusty tin separately. Let us know how you get on.
Hi all, thanks for your responses. I believe that there may be some folk on this group who are highly capable of repairing the tin, however, it is well beyond my abilities. It only cost £43 plus £5 postage, so not a bank breaker, just disappointing to have a major issue hidden from the bidders. If anybody fancies it, let me know soon because it's going back in the post tomorrow. I believe there are still bargains to be had out there, and time is on my side, so, the search continues.
This is one drawback in buying from online auctions, unlike buying from flea markets car boot sales and antique/collectable shops, where you can handle and study the item in detail before purchasing. As sometimes in this case not enough photo's to show the extent of rust damage even though the item was sold as spares and repairs, this post is something we can all benefit from when purchasing, if in doubt or have queries we should all ways contact the seller and ask for more details or photos of the item of interest before we bid or purchase. On my reply to this post, is the right time to own up to a purchase i had back in may that i screwed up on big time, the fault was not with ebay or the seller but totally down to me hence the reason for not posting this earlier, as i was too p"""""d off with my self and embarrassed about at the time, i share this now as its the right time. Of recent i have been on the hunt for some of the stoves i have all ways admired and liked and wanted to own, one of them was Radius stoves other than a 43 which i adore but any really as i really like are the Swedish pattern stoves by Radius, back in May i scored a beautiful Radius 20 complete with its tin in all most mint condition and great condition throughout. When the stove arrived, it was in a cardboad box i opened the box and the stove was nicely wrapped up and surrounded by screwed up paper to protect it, when i opened up the tin all the parts of the stove was very nicely wrapped in paper, in my haste and excitement i did not pay much attention to check all the contents was there, being as i have other stoves i have recently scored i put the stove away to fettle and if needed and post in the reference gallery at a later date after the other project were complete. I then discarded the cardboard box and all the paper in the recycling bin and thought nothing of it, probably a week later whilst viewing a few Radius 20's in the reference gallery it dawned me that i could not remember noticing the wind shield, so i went a checked the stove properly which i should have done in the first place when it arrived, and noticed it did not contain a wind shield or spirit can. So i checked on my purchase history on ebay and looked at the pictures of the stove, and they showed the windshield and spirit can. So i then contacted the seller hoping that he or she had accidently not packed them in, i received a very nice response saying that the windshield and spirit can was wrapped up in paper and placed out of the tin in the cardboard box with the protective wrapping, as there was no room in the stove tin being as all the other parts had been wrapped up, so what i had done was to throw windshield and spirit can away with all the wrapping, by that time the recycling bin had been emptied, so the windshield and spirit can was lost. In this case the fault is down to me as i believe the seller to be honest and genuine about it, at the time i was so p""""d and upset about it, i contacted basecamp in hope they had a Radius windshield for sale but no luck, what i have decided now is to make one as close ass possible to the genuine Radius windshield, which is what i am doing now. This is all so a reminder so no one is daft enough as me,in not checking any purchases and doing a similar mistake
I had a early Patent 00 arrive, not sealed very good, the unique pot supports were missing, seller was no help. I had to fashion a set. I negotiated a partial refund recently as a lantern fount had stress cracks. Duane
@mr optimus Sorry to hear that, I know exactly what you mean about being frustrated with yourself, I get the same feeling whenever I break a pressure lamp glass. I can beat that though, when doing major bodywork on the MG years ago I ordered a large number of panels to weld in, which came wrapped in an enormous amount of cardboard and tape. I pulled everything out, scurried off the the garage with the goodies to begin welding, and left the packaging by the recycling bin for my father to sort out, that was his department. Later on he brought me a complete floorpan I had missed. Not small, maybe 3'6" by 15". About £100 worth at the time. Anyway, looking forward to seeing your Radius 20, don't get down about it, it's all now part of its evolving history. You may come across a windshield in time (although I'm still looking for one for mine).
How about fitting it in a aluminium mess tin as a temporary fix until you can source a replacement case . Optimus 99 base is 123 mm wide and a British aluminium mess tin the small one is 125 mm the large one can be the lid
