[Tuesday 2017-10-24 edit]
Saw this on Facebook. Did not buy. [/Tuesday 2017-10-24 edit]

*sigh
https://imgur.com/a/hldeI


I knew the name of this Mercari seller was familiar somehow. Now I recall that I've seen him selling on Facebook in the "Nintendo Trade and Collectors" group.

My eyesight is poor and I didn't try to look very closely at the pictures in the Mercari phone app. He sells lots of game stuff and described this Jungle Green N64 as "excellent condition." Because he accepts offers, I offered $5 less than his asking price of $65. I wanted to hurry up and buy something, and even $60 was more than I would typically pay without closer inspection or a matching controller and/or expansion pak. I thought he'd immediately accept the offer (or he should have disabled the option to make an offer at all).

His response said: "price is firm. It's a nice deck"

OK. So he doesn't want to take $5 off the price. He emphasizes that the condition is "nice." That's really all I needed to know. I was specifically looking for a clean system this time so I wouldn't need to spend a lot of time cleaning it before my brother and I add UltraHDMI. I immediately purchased it with $6 shipping and paid $71.

The package arrived. I noticed immediately that it was very dirty, cracked, scratched, chipped, and gouged all over. I recorded the unpacking, but I didn't take any good pictures of the exterior dirt before I started brushing it off.



The customer service number label on the back was pure white (how?).

(many of these pics were taken 1 or 2 weeks later)


Doesn't matter. We all know it's 1-800-255-3700, right?  

I turned it over to look at the bottom. One rubber foot was mangled and the other was missing.





I could also see that the metal mounting pieces were missing and one of the exterior screws was barely hanging on. Someone had clearly been inside this N64 and left some things out. Those missing bits still wouldn't be a big deal if the overall condition was as described.

Even the AV cord was filthy and had been chewed through.



He probably noticed that and wondered if an untested cord would work at all. There was an extra composite AV cord in the box (also filthy). I don't want those anyway since I was expecting to install UltraHDMI.

The power supply was dirty. Blades on the end tarnished. There's some white paint splashed on the end.



I don't really care about any of that if the price or description was right. I personally would have made some effort to brush the dirt off before selling to someone.

The Mercari seller had pressured me for a rating since the moment tracking showed "delivered." I regret the purchase, but some of the issues were slightly visible in his pictures, and I didn't even try to look at them closely. Without testing or disassembling the system, I went ahead and left a rating of "Good" (choices: Great, Good, Poor). I gave him the benefit of a doubt with that rating.

I didn't have time to test it or inspect the insides until a week or so later. My brother drove a long way to acquire a nicer looking system and we used that one instead.

So I finally went inside...



It was missing at least 1 internal screw. The EMI shielding was heavily corroded.





The jumper pak was completely mangled (!!!), gouged, heavily corroded, and missing another screw (even the screw post).





Two alignment pegs were broken.





The bottom shell had clearly been left open for a long period of time, so lots of dirt/dust accumulated in areas under the board where it normally would not accumulate.

I only bothered to photograph some of the chips and cracks like these:





Thankfully, the board didn't look awful underneath the EMI shields. I swapped the cartridge pins for a nicer looking piece and put everything in a nicer shell. Then I discovered that the Reset button didn't work. Even pressing hard and wiggling wouldn't trigger a reset. It would sometimes trigger a reset if I fluttered the Reset button rapidly for several seconds. So I took the whole thing apart again to check the Reset switch with a multimeter and compare with a proper system. The switch checked out. Suddenly, reset works correctly (???). Reassembled.

I am NOT picky about condition or cleanliness. I still would buy this N64 if the price was right. I've seen much worse insides in some systems that still worked.

I just don't understand why a seller would misrepresent something like this and not expect poor feedback. It seems that many people don't understand how the golden rule works. Treat other people the way you want to be treated. Is that so difficult?
 

Thats a shit deck if you ask me. 

I know you guys will clean it and make it nice, but I would have given that guy a "poor" rating. 

I would have given him a Poor rating as deserved. Are you covered under anything for money back? Is this some kind of 3rd party buying app?

rust in that jumper and on the sheilding. jeez thats trash. id return if thats an option on mercari

Condition is always subjective until proper descriptions and photos are in order. Although I've seen worse, this is not the best condition either.

I really want "It's a nice deck" to be a thing. lol Please someone meme-ify it.  

"Ay boi lemme see dat deck".
 

Yo I heard you like decks....

Mercari's safety net for buyers means the seller doesn't get paid until you indicate that the item was acceptable. That's why he was pushing for a rating as soon as tracking showed "delivered."

I limited my options by giving him a "Good" rating before I finished checking everything.

not to be a party pooper on the whole, hehe that sounds like dick parade but it is called a control deck.

Well, that was a rollercoaster. At first I was going to give him a pass, but as I kept scrolling, things kept getting worse! I wouldn't expect people to necessarily open their hardware and inspect it but cracked hardware and worn shoes should have tipped him off that not all might have been well.

Personally, I find this inexcusable. If this had been eBay, I'd contact for a full refund + return postage (which is easy to do through eBay.) But, I know this is Mercari. It sounds like it was shipped, though I thought Mercari was like an OfferUp/Craigslist competitor. I'm not sure what to do but I'd see what your options are for a return.

I suppose Nintendo finally stopped calling it "control deck" when Gamecube launched. I wonder if any other game console manufacturer ever used the "control deck" term.
 

The system is clear-green, so most of it was visible without opening. I think he was careful with the lighting on his Mercari pictures so it wasn't so obvious. Even before I opened it, there was lots of evidence it had been completely disassembled by someone before me. The metal mounting brackets at the bottom were gone and one of the exterior security screws was not threaded back in (barely hanging on).

 

That's a dumpster dive score and flip I'd almost swear a chucklehead on it.

If he posts the condition as "good", he shouldn't be talking up the condition to "excellent"-- I can agree with that. Though as soon as I read about how you didn't look at the pictures or ask more questions before making the purchase-- right there your post lost a lot of steam.

P.S. What you're describing with the reset switch could be caused by accumulated dust, shake it and the connection is restored.

looks great

Key word: "more." In other words, insisting that it was "nice" and "excellent" condition already answered the only important questions Ichinisan had and reassured him that it was just what he was looking for.

Put yourself in his shoes at that moment: Nothing stood out to you in the pictures and now you have the seller's personal assurances that it's in particularly good shape on a service that doesn't even release the funds if the buyer is not OK with the condition.

There's no way I would have been able to tell that was a crack over the controller port in the original image. If you asked me to describe the condition I see in that image I would have only mentioned the dirty vents/Nintendo logo.

Yes. My lack of dilligence is why I didn't rate him as "poor." My only complaint is that some people will blatantly misrepresent something to get a sale. Pretty sleazy.
 
Yeah. I did a lot more fiddling before I disassembled it and that didn't seem to help. The board was upside down while we had the meter probes on it. Working the reset button in that position could be why it started working.
 

Damn man that's kinda shady. Oh well you'll fix it up nice for sure. We live, we learn.

lol Deck move, man. No need to be a control deck about it. (I'm being factious)  

Actually, I was thinkin' about "deck" like a "deck of cards", "decadence", "decked-out" or a "patio deck" or somethin'. 

Deckity deck deck.  

 

Just blow in it. That will clean it.

Wow, so did it work?

Idk why you wouldn't just ask for a refund and return the item. If I buy something from a big box stores, and I'm not satisfied with my purchase, I take it back and get my money and then buy the product that I really want. I think it's so weird that ppl play these feedback games on eBay. It's your money. Get what you want from it and call it a day.

Also, for $60 do you realistically think you'll get an immaculate jungle green N64? At a certain point, do we need to be honest with ourselves and think that if we don't pay top price we shouldn't expect top quality? Should we ask ourselves, if this was in good condition, shouldn't the seller be asking more?

Not a big box store.

I've been paying less and getting more. This was $71 total.

I was in a rush and didn't check everything out as thoroughly as I should have. I would have moved on if I realized.

Definitely does not need to be "immaculate." Just decent.

 

Yes. Too ugly to use for the next UltraHDMI system, so I had to part it out. I usually pay less than $30 for a standard N64 in better condition.

It happens. Totally appreciate you taking the time and effort in sharing this experience.