What about cracks and chips on plastic radios? You rarely see those words used. It's more like "small hairline above dial"/ "tight stress line at bottom screw hole"/ "two small fleabites on top edge" = "this is a rare catalin/transistor radio and one small crack is not going to get me to part with for $150!"

Shipping: Fast and Free - "you want more than a cereal box wrapping this radio?" "Ante up some big bucks - I don't pack for a living, you now....."

You forgot the old gym socks "for extra padding".
John

Some hairlines are bigger than others!

"refinished"--three coats of GLOSS poly with runs, drips, and bubbles, perhaps a stray brush bristle too. most likely there are stains on the speaker grill cloth or the dial bezel b/c it was too much effort to remove them during the "restoration".

"new speaker grill cloth"--rubber backed furniture upholstry stapled to the baffle, but only using the wrong sized staples so they punch thru the baffle and destroy the wood in the front of the radio.

steve

Gym socks? Be thankful. I received a radio well packed with salvaged foam sheet littered with many used feminine sanitary pads. There should be a law....

Norman

The point is it's a "CRACK" or a "CHIP" however minor or major. Of course sellers don't want to write either of those words because it's poison for a plastic set, but it actually doesn't soften the blow.

"Worked the last time I plugged it in." Uh, about 1965, if I remember correctly. It hummed and smelled pretty bad so I never used it again.
John

"It may work I don't know we live out here in the country and there are no radio stations to test it."
And of course they're asking $500 or best offer.
"It came from my grandfather 's estate, and he took good care of everything. "

"From my personal collection. "

One of the most honest ones I've seen in a few ads is, "It seems to want to work."

Translation in my mind: "We tried it, it lights up, but we only got static."

I think I've even said it once or twice about radios I bought!

Thanks to all for the radio buyers guide . This should be put into Webster's dictionary. I always like the adds that say untested and I do not believe them, unless I see in the pictures an complete crappy cord that would shock someone when plugged in that has not been moved out of the radio since stored. I have brought several radios that had the cord cut and they were the problem ones to fix. Tom

just saw one on ebay today:

"one of a kind"== common as dirt.

steve

"Upcycled"...Gutted, painted hideously, and turned into a laundry hamper or fish tank holder.

Understood!

An example is a Plaskon '36 FADA tabletop radio I got years ago. I wrote about it here and when collectors read that it had many tiny hairline cracks (common on these), they practically told me it's worthless. Although I was surprised, I learned just how picky collectors can be with these plastic sets. I know it isn't "worthless", but it's worth just a percentage of one that's in excellent shape.