Walmart Mandolins on Clearance!

[MikeEdgerton]

Wow, it looks like I could double, maybe triple my money on eBay!

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw...ete=1&_fosrp=1

[belbein]

I'll be curious what you find when you open it up to harvest the neck. Please keep us updated.

[Gary Leonard]

Thanks to this thread, this ad has appeared on my browser start page:



It boggles the mind that somewhere, someone is paying for this advertising, some ad company is making money off it, and Microsoft is making money off the billboard it rents to the ad company. All in hopes that I click that ad and buy that 30$ mandolin, which apparently has been out of stock days before the ad appeared.

[pops1]

Well they sent my mandolin to the wrong address 4.5 hours away and delivered it. I got the email, but couldn't find the mandolin. Finally contacted Walmart and they tried to contact the sender with no success. Walmart refunded my money so guess this was more on the up & up than most thought.

[kegcrowe]

so guess this was more on the up & up than most thought.

mine arrived last week, but (tax season!) I have yet to open the box.

[belbein]

So let's see : not a Walmart product; out of stock for days before it was ordered; Walmart couldn't contact the shipper... I was ***SO*** wrong.

[MikeEdgerton]

He got his money back right? Quite the scam don't you think?

[belbein]

I don't think you understand how scams work. The scamster didn't care if he got his money from you or from WalMart: he just wanted the money. And money he got. Anyone who thinks this was a victim-free crime, or that nobody lost money, doesn't know economics. The money that WalMart lost comes out of all of our pockets in terms of higher prices, higher insurance rates and less trust in internet sales.

[Simon DS]

Walmart is the greatest!
I can't wait till christmas.
By that time these mandolins are going to be cheaper than firewood.

[pops1]

Something tells me Walmart will have a way to recoup it's money.

[vetus scotia]

I am confused. Was Mike receiving his mandolin as ordered part of the scam? Was UPS in on it, and just reported delivery to an address so that pops1 would think there was a mandolin? Or does this scam involve actual mandolins being advertised and shipped. If so, it is too sophisticated for me to grasp. In fact, if there is a scam that involves real mandolins actually being delivered, then I have been a victim many, many times. The KM-950 I ordered online and received today could just be a scam too!

[belbein]

Max Ehrmann, 1927: "Go placidly amid the noise and the haste and rememeber what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly. And listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, for they too have their story."

Me: Out.

[JPS]

Goodness.

[MikeEdgerton]

I don't think you understand how scams work. The scamster didn't care if he got his money from you or from WalMart: he just wanted the money. And money he got. Anyone who thinks this was a victim-free crime, or that nobody lost money, doesn't know economics. The money that WalMart lost comes out of all of our pockets in terms of higher prices, higher insurance rates and less trust in internet sales.

Yes, I do. So, they had 5 on a closeout deal. I paid my money, I got one. Others got them as well. Thus far one person didn't get theirs because it was shipped to the wrong address and Wal-Mart gave them their money back as it was, again, a close out item. It's not me that doesn't understand this process. The item shows up as an ad not because someone is scamming but because that's the way the Internet ad systems works. I do have the mandolin, I'm looking at it right now. He only listed 5 on Wal-Mart's platform. If it was a scam don't you think he'd be looking for more than 5? That's 150.00 bucks that Wal-Mart can probably claw back from him. You're an attorney, think this through. There isn't a boogy man behind every curtain.

[Timbofood]

My granddaughter has a saying:
“I’m not paranoid, just rationally worried!”

Just sounds like a very limited number as you say Mike. Gee, are we maybe getting a bit overzealous as far as scams go?
Since I’m not buying, I’m not worried though.

[pops1]

I received notification from my credit card company days ago the money has been refunded.

[Clinton Johnson]

So I was recently thinking on ordering a cheap mando for kids to learn on and remembered something about a Walmart clearance on the cafe and see that the sale is way past over with lol. So I was looking at this thing pictured in the link. Would that be as good as a rogue per say? Thoughts on this would be appreciated
http://allcamarket.com/products/a-ty...gle%20Shopping

[Jim Garber]

I love the description:

Beginner, Unisex, Professional Performance, Home-schooling capable acoustic-electric 8-string mandolin

[Bill McCall]

And free shipping! How could I refuse?

We shall see what we shall see��

[michaelpthompson]

If this IS made by Rogue, or the same people, don't dismiss it out of hand. I have a Rogue myself, and it's jangly, but works for Irish sessions where I play. I paid $39 for it, including a gig bag and two instruction books. I had it set up by a professional luthier ($100 and well worth it), and he was astounded at the price. Didn't know how they could even obtain the materials for that kind of money. But with a good setup, it's a passable instrument. Excellent for travel and gigs and such.

[belbein]

I have a no-name mandolin that I bought for about that price, but used. It's so cheap that the peghead name is stenciled on. With my set up (thanks to Ron Meldrum), it sounds pretty damn good ... for camping, beach, office. But I did have the "opportunity" to fix the neck once, when the instrument fell over on carpet and the neck popped off. It seems that the single drywall screw holding the neck on had fallen out. Apparently glue was too expensive that day. My reactino to this instrument was to the marketing, not to the instrument. I'm looing forward to our moderator's report on what he finds when he takes it apart to harvest the neck.

[Jeff Mando]

Hard to believe a drywall screw would fail -- they are fairly robust!

[belbein]

Jeff: I have used drywall screws for damn near everything I do where I'm relying primarily on the glue joint and just need to pull the pieces together. And I've done this since I built my boat. They're miracle devices, but fragile as heck. They break and sheer off, not to mention getting easily stripped. TO ME the surprising thing was that whoever built this POS in SE Asia had drywall screws to use at all.

[MikeEdgerton]

Dry wall screws are pretty brittle, I agree. Deck screws are similar and more robust.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Apparently you can play them left handed and fingerpick behind the bridge!

Just as bad: I just saw a beginners' guitar book in a bookstore with a picture of someone wearing fingerpicks - backwards, covering the nails.