Terms and Conditions
for Mike Boessen's Radio Attic

General.  I DO NOT SHIP INTERNATIONALLY!  Prices shown do not include shipping and handling costs. Also, please feel free to contact me with questions or if you would like additional pictures.

Sales and Payment.  I will sell to the earliest email received stating the intent to buy. Your email stating you intend to buy constitutes a sale. I will reply with an email requesting the ship to address and payment preference. I will accept personal checks and PayPal. I prefer PayPal. PayPal will ship right away. Personal checks require a waiting time (until it clears my bank, approx 5-10 days) before shipping. For local pickup, payment must be made in cash or prepaid as described above. Payment must be received in full within ten (10) days of the sale.

Guarantee.  All radios, if restored and stated as working, are guaranteed to work for 90 days after receipt. If the radio fails in that time span please contact me and we will work together to solve the problem or if necessary ship it back for repair. I will either repair and return it or refund the purchase price, whichever I decide is the best course of action. A buyer shall not attempt a repair without contacting me first. Failure to contact me will void the warranty! Shipping expense both ways is the buyer's responsibility, unless I determine that the failure is a restoration error on my part. For larger sets, it is usually more prudent to try to find a mutually agreeable local restorer, if possible, to evaluate/repair a set, as shipping a 30 pound radio several times is risky and expensive. Upon receipt, it is the customer's responsibility to inspect the package immediately and notify the shipper promptly if damage is apparent, as I cannot be held responsible for inordinately rough handling by the carrier. Take photos of damaged packaging. Be sure to take several photos as you unpack a radio to verify damage. On one thing you can rest assured. I am a meticulously honest person and will give every benefit of doubt to the customer.

Shipping.  The customer pays shipping and insurance costs. I have shipped many radios with great success. I use heavy duty boxes (often double boxed), large bubble wrap, Styrofoam peanuts and in some cases, cloth wraps and foam rubber. I will do my best to protect your purchase from the rough handling of the shipping company gorillas. I will try to find the best shipping price, but prefer FedEx Home Delivery. The service used is the buyer's decision, and must include insurance. Special packaging/crating can be arranged at customer request, for an additional fee. Upon receipt, the customer should inspect the package immediately and notify the shipper promptly if damage is apparent.

Summary.  I have been restoring radios for several years, but have dedicated a lot more time to it since retiring in October 2017. I do this out of love for these classic electronics. I will do my very best to make you happy with your purchase.
 

How I restore my radios

I have been an electronics technician for over 40 years. I hold a Federal Communications Commission radiotelephone service license. I perform all of the work, so you only have one person to deal with if problems occur. Problems rarely occur because of the procedures I use in restoration. With few exceptions, I replace all wax/paper and filter capacitors with new modern ones. Resistors and tubes are also checked and replaced if out of spec. This is followed with proper tuneup and alignment so all stations appear on the dial as near as possible to where they should be. Speakers are re-coned if needed. I strive to make the radio inside look as good as possible within the framework of radio value. Stripping and refinishing the metal chassis is extremely expensive and time consuming and I usually do not do it. If a customer wants this service, I will provide it at a fairly significant increase in cost. I take pictures of the restored electronics and am happy to provide them.

As for cabinetry, I usually refinish the cabinets. When I do, I use proper sealers and tinted nitrocellulose lacquer, same as was done originally. I will re-veneer cabinets if the original veneer is too damaged to restore. I do my best to estimate the color of the original finish and match it as best I can. (The buyer should understand that it is not possible to know exactly what the color of an 80 year old radio was at time of manufacture. ) I do my best to get accurate color rendering of my sale photos, but the customer should be aware that the appearance of color varies quite a bit with the type of lighting. I will never use polyurethane or other modern finishes. This kind of attention to detail will cause my prices to be a bit higher, but you get what you pay for. These days a lot of people try to pass off dings, scratches, and deteriorated finish as "character." I call it "damage" and I want my radios to look as near to new as possible, within the constraints of the value of the radio. I'm honestly doing this because I want to save as many of these amazing pieces of American history as I can, so they can bring enjoyment to their new owners just as they did for their original purchasers (and also to keep myself out of the bars).
 

Aux cable input

I do not install Auxiliary Input jacks as part of a restoration. Some people want their sets to be absolutely original. I will install an aux input at buyer's request, for an additional charge, which will vary. This is a fairly easy procedure for some sets and very difficult for others. If you have several sets, I believe it is much more prudent to purchase one of the many RF transmitters available on the market that can broadcast to any number of sets you have.


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