Ebay Experiences

Hearing Aids
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If you don’t have the cost of a brick and mortar office that involves high rent and the cost of receptionist and equipments, then you can still make money even though you charge less. Plus I think that the pricing charged by Oticon in non-USA locations like Korea and over in Europe may be significantly lower than in the USA as well, which adds to the difference.

Even for a brick and mortar HCP who also sells on eBay, his brick and mortar practice is already an on-going thing that generates its own revenue, and the eBay income is supplemental on top of that so the HCP may be able to add a bigger discount via the eBay route because they wouldn’t have to administer some of the in-office services like doing the hearing test and REM and fitting appointments, all of which takes time.

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This has been a very interesting topic. As usual, there has been some topic drift, but that has been interesting as well. As to eBay, like most everything else, there is good, and bad. I have had some very good eBay experiences, and some not so good ones. One must exercise due diligence when buying off eBay. Even then, there are those who seek to take advantage. Almost everyone I know who has bought, or sold, on eBay has at least one horror story. I have bought 2 sets of aids, and several accessories there, and all have been what they were purported to be except for one remote mic that was advertised to be Roger, but, in fact, wasn’t. Often, brand new items can be had for really low prices. One must shop for a while first, though. I have noticed that lately, prices for, and availability of Roger Select have changed a lot. Used selects can now be had for less than $300, and there are a lot offered for sale. Some of the older accessories seem to have disappeared, probably due to declining prices. I have been fortunate, of late, to have been accepted into the VA healthcare system, and have gotten my last 2 sets of aids for free from them. Of course they aren’t really free. We all pay taxes to support the VA system.

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63

My experiences with eBay have been mostly excellent. Sometimes, people sell HAs without understanding what they are selling, so it may take a couple rounds of asking questions to know what one is purchasing. But that is rare.

I’ve gotten years of service from what I have purchased, and with the repair options on eBay (I’ve used one eBay repair vendor who is uniformly excellent at repairing HAs I’ve bought from various places), I am very satisfied.

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64

I’ve only bought a NoahLink Wireless in the hearing department, but I recently bought a used Nintendo WiiU Deluxe as you can legally transfer a game you’ve bought from the Wii U to play on your PC via the CEMU emulator (like ripping music from a CD you own to play on your phone). And years ago, I bought a used clip-on belt radiation detector that would have been quite expensive to buy brand new. All were great purchases by sellers who really delivered.

Some things you can look out for. What sort of seller background info is provided? For the radiation detector, the seller was clearly a very knowledgeable person with a separate website with lots of documentation about the items he sold and even provided a downloadable copy of the manual for the device I bought, IIRC. For the NoahLink Wireless, Don here on the forum had previously bought from the same guy and had a great experience - so find someone who’s bought from the same person, if possible. And on the Wii U, the seller was a top-rated eBay seller who’d been selling for a number of years. The seller had something like 1,500+ positive votes from buyers, 1 neutral, and 0 negative. The device was in great shape, beautifully and carefully packaged.

So, you can help out other future buyers just as with Amazon products by leaving an honest review and especially praising the sellers who really deliver the goods.

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65

I’d like to add some additional information to my earlier post here.

My current set of HAs (M90-R) are now 3 years old. I bought them from a South Korean seller through eBay for $2,200 in June 2019. I knew there would be no warranty. They arrived safely in less than 5 days and were sealed and brand new. I programmed them using Target to my most recent audiogram.

I then went to a friendly audiologist who was willing to conduct REM programming on them for a reasonable fee of $250. After 7+ years of previously used HAs with no REM I was quite impressed with the additional hearing I was able to experience after the REM enhancements/improvements to what the Target software came up with on a “first fit” basis. I would certainly recommend everyone get REM programming done one way or another.

After 22 months of usage the right side HA contracted the dreaded “crackling” syndrome. This is a common fault that can occur apparently, although I had never experienced it with any previous aids. To repair it required sending the aid to Phonak who “service” the aid and fix this issue. In April 2021 this was $320.

Just this past week the left side HA also started “crackling”. I’ve now sent that aid in for fixing by Phonak. The current fee, as of June 2022, is still $320. With luck all will go well.

So, in review, I paid $2,200 + $250 + $320 + $320 for these aids that are 3 years and 5 week old. A total of $3,090. My point is that what audiologist charge is not entirely unreasonable. If you assume that the REM programming and subsequent repairs I paid for were all covered under an initial audiology clinic’s front end charge - their “bundled” price. Of course, not everyone will have their HAs break during warranty. Not saying I agree with the “bundling” approach - I think a better approach is to separate selling the aid itself from the services provided by audiologists.

In my case, going forward, I will probably go the Costco route.

I hope my experiences cited above helps others to make informed decisions about how they wish to proceed.

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66

Is this a receiver issue or the actual HA?

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67

Yeah, if it were a receiver issue that caused the crackling, it could have been easily resolved with a new receiver from eBay for much, much less than $320 repair cost. I’ve bought Oticon receivers for $20 for a pair (shipping included) from eBay before, and just replaced it myself. Usually, receivers go bad way before hearing aids would go bad.

I would go the Costco route as well if I want Phonak based models in the form of the rebranded KSxx series. But if you want brands not available through Costco (like Oticon), then going to Costco is not an option, but would have been a great option if available.

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It’s an HA issue. Like a microphone that has cracks in it. Swapping out receivers makes no difference. Believe I’ve tried.

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I hope it may be helpful to some others on this forum if I describe my recent good experience in buying new More 1 hearing aids from an online retailer.

I have no financial interest or connection with this seller, who is located in Germany (I’m in the U.S.).

I’m a senior and have always been especially cautious about buying through eBay. As others in this thread have commented, there are many varieties of sellers on eBay, and there’s sometimes undeniable risk when making eBay purchases. As a result, until my purchase or the More 1 HAs, all my eBay purchases have been very modestly priced.

However, I privately contacted another member of this forum (Musicianhttps://forum.hearingtracker.com/t/ebay-experiences/68165/50) who had very good experience with this seller. It was in part because of the information he shared with me that I decided to make the purchase. As a result, I saved more than half of the current price for new More 1 HAs from local Oticon retailers.

The seller (listed on eBay as Discounthearingshop) is located in Germany: this is a family-run business. The seller with whom I’ve been in contact for several months and numerous emails is Denis. I understand he has had professional training in audiology. In advance of my purchase, I sent him a copy of my recent audiogram from a local audiologist. The new More 1 HAs that he shipped to me were programmed for me much, much better than the HAs I had purchased locally – and this was after five lengthy in-person fittings at the local audiologist’s office.

Denis has been extraordinarily good to deal with, spending a considerable amount of time answering my questions, both before and after my purchase. He has been consistently patient, helpful, very prompt, and generous. The express trans-Atlantic shipment arrived very fast, in about 3 days, everything in new and sealed packages (except of course the HAs which had been pre-programmed for me). I have never dealt with any seller or business that has been as helpful and conscientious.

I don’t disagree with others about the pros and cons of purchasing through eBay. But in this instance, I feel fortunate in having found an online seller who is caring, knowledgeable, very conscientious, and offers detailed support.

For others who are interested in DIY programming, Denis has also been willing to offer me helpful pointers in using the Genie 2 software so I’ve been able gradually to improve his original settings myself.

I’m delighted that I’ve taken the DIY route! No more expensive local appointments with an audiologist, no more waiting times for adjustments, no more travel time. DIY is admittedly not a desirable route for many people, but it works great for me.

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70

Hello who know this seller is fake or. ?

https://www.ebay.de/itm/115510049223?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=707-127634-2357-0&ssspo=0Cdd_HpJRH6&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=FYfDHt7KQFq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY