Yes, we shouldn't expect miracles but his descriptions LEAD you to believe that these are decent and possibly running boards, and from all the comments read so far, they're anything but.
Leave alone the fact that his ad SEEMS to suggest 3 motherboards in the auction, but it's only for 1 (look at Jeff's previous comment how he also thought he'd be getting 3, but got only 1). Now to me that says two things: 1) intentional wording to mislead, or 2) brain-dead humanoid who can't use his own native language properly and is not professional enough to have a proper ad. Pick your choice.
Also many of the comments suggest other problems: he's dodged all my questions when I asked anything about these items, including exact shipping (I gave zip code)!!!! He said something along the lines: "we'll know at the end of the auction". WTF??? WTTTTTTTTFFFFFFF?
?? "You" have the item at hand and "you" don't know the weight and packaging? "You" have sold dozens of these and STILL don't know the weight and packaging costs?
It'd be funny if I went to the gas-station and tried to get gas and it said: pay at the end, and I ask the clerk, well, how much will I pay for 10 liters, and he said: "I dunno, come back after you put it in". Would you accept this? He's just as liable if he's going to play by "ebay rules". Don't forget we all agreed to the eBay terms upon signing up.
Also other people have mentioned multiple times the fact that communication was extremely difficult with him.
To be honest:
I would buy the board(s) from him IF:
he was clear and honest about the terms of the deal and the board condition. How hard would it be when he's selling one at a time every few weeks to take 1-2 snapshots? But I still would, even with accurate word-descriptions, because I agree with Oli_hd: for $10 I don't expect miracles.
BUT there's this thing that certain people believe in: he might not give a damn about my money, and not respect it, but _I DO_. The arguments go like this: "So even if it's 1 cent that I'm paying somebody, you can't tell me not to respect it. In a professional trade in a fair market it is my right, and thus I demand it, to know exactly where my 1 cent goes. Why should I not? Who are you to tell me how much my 1 cent is worth? I worked hard and sweated for it. Just because you might have 100x the amount, doesn't make my 1 cent less valuable."
Now, if I'm told precisely (within in reason) and clearly where my money is going and I decide to buy but then I am unhappy with the product, well then it's my fault, since I knew ahead of time about its condition.
It's a basic principle in professional trading: respect the customer and his money. You do that, and you'll win his trust and loyalty. Don't and you'll lose him (depending how desperate he is, which is what this fool is counting on for sales, because he knows he's got something rare). If he did respect his customers I'm telling you right now: I would pay even $40-50 (as Oli_hd said), for a DAMAGED motherboard, if I knew what I was getting. He'd be making 4x to 5x the amount of money!!!!!!!!!! He really would! But...
unfortunately most businesses and "professionals", don't understand one bit of that (respect of customer and his money), yet because of volume or monopoly (this guy's case) they still make profit.
I hope all these people and companies go extinct.
Sorry for the rant, but it aggravates me when having to deal with morons like these on eBay and in real life. I believe part of the reason is when people are in tight economical positions (broke), or are plain scrouges (cheap), in which case every penny counts. But another part of the reason is that certain people (myself), are more picky and more meticulous, others (Oli_hd?) don't care so much about the little details. We're just different
Hopefully we won't die sooner because of stress, but get to live as long as Oli_hd and his bunch
