Bad eBay Luck

So I've just had a string of bad luck with eBay oddpets for the past couple weeks. Every time one arrives, I'll pull the tab or try to restart it only for nothing to happen. I put in new batteries. It beeps but nothing shows up on the screen. The buttons respond for a couple seconds (which I know because they beep), and then nothing. On a couple of these, there was powder where the batteries go, so I’m assuming it’s some kind of corrosion. Wiping that with an alcohol wipe and drying it off before putting in the batteries didn’t help. The same thing would just happen.

One oddpet arrived and seemed okay but it would restart itself if I pressed A too hard, pressed A + C, or that one time I dropped it. I figured this was because the buttons were arranged vertically on either side of the screen instead of horizontally under it, and that I was accidentally pressing the reset button too.

My Umino Tamagotchi had a very faded screen picture, and would work for a few minutes until everything faded and was replaced with the "batteries are dead" notification. The batteries I put in it were brand new straight out of the package.

So I was wondering if anyone had any advice about the main issue I've had where the oddpet beeps, batteries respond, and it turns off after a few seconds, and what they did about it. The pet this happened with was the Dinopet and the Tsukuda Jurapet. I'm at the end of my rope and after my newest purchases arrive, I'm not going to buy virtual pets on eBay anymore. As for my Umino, I want to try doing some surgery on it to see if that helps, so if anyone has advice for that I'd appreciate it too.

Thanks in advance!

Unfortunately, this really just sounds like a case of bad luck.  I'm not sure on how to fix it myself, but I think watching some videos on gameboy restoration may help a bit? The video linked below in particular has a guy fixing a gameboy even after cleaning corrosion with the thing still not powering on, and he did some soldering to different parts of the circuit board? I know its not the same as a VPet but it could possibly help out a little.  I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck streak though! I wouldn't give up on eBay though, just make sure to message the seller/check their description to see about the status of the VPet first.  

Oh! I just remembered, dusting the circuit boards may help as well. Just make sure to use material that won't scratch anything important!

Thanks so much! I've got my fingers crossed for the MGA Godzilla that I've got coming in the mail. 

For the umino, try bending the contacts to see if this creates a better connection with the batteries. With the pets that turn on and then off again, I wonder if it's a problem with the capacitors?

Eggiweg said:

For the umino, try bending the contacts to see if this creates a better connection with the batteries. With the pets that turn on and then off again, I wonder if it's a problem with the capacitors?

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OK, I'll try that. I've never done this kind of thing with my vpets before so I'll have to look some of this stuff up. Looking into the battery stuff makes sense though.