Found a couple of sellers on eBay who sell generic versions of the Yamaha YFL-221. They're cheap, obviously. At face value this seems too good to be trusted. But I have to admit that there are many members who have bought these flutes and are very happy with them. In fact, there are only a couple of people who aren't happy with each seller's flutes. Check out the following info and links, I'd like an opinion on this, please:

1. CIBAILI CFL-221S

12 month warranty is optional for $AUD 40.00.

Many positive comments, including:

A++ Perfect!!!! I've played for 26 yrs, flute's quality & tone is impressive!!!

I asked this member to expand on their feedback, and they got back to me with this:

I felt the flute I received from them would be a great flute for beginners. It was in exceptional shape and exactly what I needed. It has good tone and very structurally sound and plays well. I would have no doubts recommending it for someone just starting out.

Only negative/neutral feedback:

Flute was faulty. Ceebails want $79 to service it after 2 months. Very Rude man.

nice looking flute, but the parts did not fit well, rather disappointed.
Reply by ceebails: Should have emailed first. A touch of vaseline fixed the problem. Never mind!

This seller also has a model called the Sterling silver-plated SFL-221S

2. Flutes by leo9870_0

10 day money-back guarantee. No warranty.

Many positive comments, including:

good value flute, the third I've bought from this seller for my students

Only negative/neutral feedback:

It's ok only for playing, is not for a proper learning lesson.

I had to let it repair when it arrived. It's no yamaha!
Reply by leo9870_0: It is clearly stated that it is a generic flute.no engravings.please read!!

I asked this member to expand on their feedback, and they got back to me with this:

Well, maybe I didn't fully understood but it's absolutely no yamaha quality!
more like 'made in Korea', so the flute is made from a very light material. It wasn't well assembled; the keys stood too far open or too close. The pieces didn't fit like it should... Maybe the flight shaked it a little bit... I had to let it repair and I sold the flute again.
Don't buy it if you're looking for quality!

Hi Candymann,

I would stick to the simple rule "don't buy if you can't try"... :-)

Zevang

don't buy from people on Ebay with that kind of negative feedback

A little bit of Vaseline is VERY bad for a flute- it will eventually form a film on the pads and cause really premature wear.

I suspect that some of these 'Customer Comments' with glowing praise and talk about buying the flutes for students are actually 1)a good friend of the seller or 2)the seller himself, with a different email address.

The reason that I suspect this is because the other feedback does not match- the dissatisfied customers are NOT easily given money back or a different flute without problems.

I second Patrick's most excellent advice: do not buy a flute on eBay from someone with that kind of feedback
From what I've seen, the Power Sellers seem to be the absolute worst ones for response to negative feedback- they flip out! (Instead of trying to solve your problem.)

For a good used Yamaha student model, try Kara (a poster here) or Nancy Shinn of www.flutestar.com . Either of these gals will sell you a quality Yamaha for a very good price, and it will be overhauled to play really well. Best of all, you aren't likely to have problems- but these gals will try to solve them if they do happen.

<Added>

By the way, the feedback on eBay is really only supposed to do with paying your money and getting the product described in the auction in a timely and professional manner. Feedback also gives us a glimpse of what happens with a specific seller when a problem arises.

My opinion is that most people buying these flutes send their feedback in right away after recieving (promptly) the very same flute pictured and described in the auction. They usually have NOT taken it to a flute teacher, or tried to play it themselves. It is usually a few days or weeks too late when the buyer cottons on to the fact that this is a cheap toy- not a real flute.

Good job looking at the feedback from dissatisfied customers- there's your answer.

"1st of all I think YFL221 actualy had an engraiving"

Of course. These flutes are supposed copies of the YFL221: they're not made by Yamaha.

Thanks everyone for the posts thus far.

What I have always wondered is what these junk companies did before e-bay.

It is always worth reviewing a sellers feedback before buying on ebay. Most instrument resellers on ebay take feedback very seriously and prefer a problem to be raised by email when they can be resolved privately, demonstrate effective customer service etc. I had a Euphonium delivered with a deformed bell - the replacement arrived 24 hours later.

There are frequent fraud attempts to "sell" high value professional branded instruments by sellers with little or no feedback. A few technical questions and a request to collect the instrument usually rumbles these very quickly.

I also find it amusing to read some of the myths posted on this site - for instance about vaseline etc. Boosey & Hawkes (the best known UK flute maker) supplied vaseline with their flutes. Although there were times when the engineering skills to produce a perfect air tight joint without lubricant did not exist. Now they do but dont expect to find them in all flutes.

It is fashionable to spend a lot of money on expensive instruments for students in the belief that they will then learn to become a better player. Usually, its not that simple ...