i - I know this thread is somewhat old but I happened to stumble on this thread and I wanted to answer questions that have been asked in this thread. First off, I used to "work" for LCM - and yes, it is Jonas Aronson. Out of my privacy and protection, many details regarding me in specific will be left out. His wife is named Gaile (to avoid censor since her name is spellt with a y) and he purposely uses his wife's name in all postal and electronic communications because he doesn't want people knowing it's him and he claims people are "nicer " if they think they're speaking with a woman. He also goes by the name Cooper. He often uses many monikers and aliases.
Two - Yes he lives in a fancy community in Florida in his wife's late ex husband's house. (The FL address someone posted in this thread at Las Brisas was correct.) He lives nowhere else. His house is literally consumed by his business - he had no space in his garage whatsoever nor in his own house to live in because it was absolutely stuffed to the brim with instruments and parts out the wazoo. I'm not joking when I say his business was severely hurting his marriage. He has several storage units rented out in which he keeps the rest of the instruments he can't store at their house. So his products were never protected from humidity and they were constantly lopsidedly stacked and not properly packed. It was all thrown together in a pathetic heap in each unit. His garage was worse.
Yes he absolutely bought people's instruments and parts off ebay for very low and would upsell everything by at least 300 % on his listings. He stripped many drums and other instruments to sell off in packages - We used powerdrills and it wasn't uncommon for wood to become brittle and crack from being loosened when screws were being taken out. He strives to be a monopoly on eBay as much as possible and will buy people out in order to resell. He has consistently overcharged for shipping and can be very nasty in PM communications.
As far as I know, LeeCountyMusic, TheOldDrumShop, TheDrumPartsCounter and p00der2 are the main accounts he has on eBay. All three are the same person but he attempts to look like 3 different sellers to avoid fees from eBay / Auctiva and boost business from people avoiding one account of his only to buy from his other ones unknowingly. He also keeps his business hidden from the govt regulations using his storage units so he doesn't have to get a proper storefront and pay extra. Each ebay / auctiva account follows the same format regarding pictures and listing descriptions. He also sells guitars, amps, cymbals, etc, so beware.
Working with him was horrific - He is an extremely volatile man and there were many days where his temper would boil over - He would either start yelling, slam doors, or belittle me / talk down to me or attempt to get into subjects that were frankly none of his business. His behaviour was a big factor in me ditching his operation. I felt really terrible for his wife because she is actually extremely nice, kind and friendly, unlike her husband. He also wanted things carried outside in dead heat outside in specific ways where I would be utterly exhausted after heaving huge equipment around - if things weren't exactly as he wanted, he would get really livid and I would have to do everything over again. The amount of disrespect was terrible.
I also ditched because his operation is completely under the table - he avoids taxes in any fashion he can do so including paying me under the table despite making 100k through just one eBay account in less than 6 months. I really wasn't comfortable with this sort of deception because I prefer honest work and paying in like I'm supposed to. Seeing someone intake so much money and not pay in proper really wrecked me in the ethics department personally.
Out of personal experience and seeing some of the deceptions he's pulled on people especially international customers, I highly suggest avoiding all of his businesses and suggest shopping with someone else. He's not really honest, he's volatile and is manipulative. Someone else deserves your business. If you question his listings, he will block you outright.
Thankfully I don't "work" for him anymore and I've since moved to a job where it's honest, well paid and my boss respects me. So do yourselves a favour and don't give him your money.
Ps - He drives a newer white Toyota SUV and his wife drives a newer Mustang. Not a Hummer, but close. ( and fyi - He also watches all the instrument forums to note any bad reviews about him and will make dummy accounts to better his rep when it's lacking in certain circles.) And YES, he bid shills on his own listings to make sure the end buyer pays more and doesn't get an item for really cheap!
