Buying on e-bay.

I'm wondering what experience our loyal readers have had w/ e-bay purchases. I am a total e-bay novice and I am particularly interested in how to not get ripped off beyond reading the feedback.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Well you need to be careful. Feedback is one way. And check the description carefully. If shipping is not posted find out what it is before you buy.
Always ask questions if you are in doubt.

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I too am new to Ebay, about two months now. I have purchased four items in that time. Two of them were misrepresented. One was listed as New in box and was actually used. The other was a USB cable listed as three feet and was actually one foot. Both of those sellers were listed with hundreds of feedbacks with only two or three negatives. Seemed honest enough,

I still could use the USB cable so I kept it. The other was a Hign end water filter it was not new as described. I got a partial refund, less all the fees for Paypal, the auction, etc. Paypal was no help. The seller was not herad from after that and has a few negatives that seem just like mine. His responses are like "this guy is crazy, I did everything to resolve". But he is ignoring me. If I give him negative feedback, of course he will say I am the worst buyer ever.

It seems that all you have to do is be honest most of the time and you can slide on a few here and there.

Be Weary, PayPal offers no guarantees, Security is an illusion, Buyer Beware....

C'rider

__________________
I don't fear death,
I only fear dying without having lived.

A few things I've learned to watch out for...

Don't buy used MTB gear on ebay - it is almost always worn out. Gets a lot more abuse than road gear. I learned that one the hard way.

If it is a relatively inexpensive item, like tires, cables, even seats, check the LBS or online retailers for their price first. Why run the risk of ebay if you don't save anything?

Do they show a photo they took of the item, or is it a stock photo from the manufacturer? If they don't have a home-taken photo of the item, they may not have the item.

Avoid international purchases. Not worth the risk - high percentage of scams in international sales these days. Especially if the seller specifies Western Union for payment - one you send the money, there is no recourse.

Check feedback in detail - are the positives for selling cycling related items, or purchases of small, inexpensive items?

Do they sound like they know what the item is? If they don't, they may misrepresent the item out of inexperience, or they may be running a scam and not have the item at all.

Cycling related items are not immune from scams - someone tried to sell my MTB on ebay last summer, got the photo from my website.

I buy a lot on ebay but I don't buy from just anyone. As was previously suggested I check online shops first and quite often find just as good of a deal with less risk. I typically don't buy used on ebay because even a picture of the actual item can hide wear or damage. I usually buy new items and mostly from shops not individuals. If you see a shop selling a bunch of the same item then you know they have a high inventory that they're trying to get rid of and the risk is fairly low. Most shops aren't going to try and rip you off because they want repeat business. I also buy a lot from the same sellers. When you see items being sold by individuals you have to use common sense and ask yourself why would this person be selling this item? For instance why on earth would an individual be selling a brand new never ridden set of $400 wheels? He spent that much money on them and never put them on his bike? I doubt it. They're either used, damaged, stolen, or none existent. If it sounds strange then something is probably up. By using common sense and sticking mostly with shops or individuals I have used before (buying only inexpensive items at first) I can honestly say that I have not been disappointed yet.

Matt

I would agree with all of the above replies. Use common sense, don't rush to buy out of excitement. Check the feedback. I have been fairly lucky. I bought my bike used 3 years ago, a TREK 2300 for $400. It was everything I expected. I also recently bought a used set of Kreitlet Rollers (3" dyno-Lyte) and am happy. So good things can happen, but : Buyer Beware.
Jeff

One other thing to consider when buying 'new' items from an ebay merchant is to verify from the manufacturer that it will be covered by the manufacturers warranty. For example, Polar will not warranty their heart rate monitors if they are purchased on ebay, warranty card or not. Read Polar notice to internet shoppers.

I think you can get a lot of great deals on ebay if you are careful, I've had only good experiences. But if you are purchasing high dollar items, better do a lot of homework first.

and sometimes the price is not all that good. I bought a new shimano dura ace RD on ebay it was 2.00 cheeper on a dealers webpage but shipping was cheeper with the ebay seller. but a lot of times I found the same thing as cheep or cheeper off of ebay.

Hey folks,

Thanks for all the feedback and advice. Fortunately, I haven't got the $ together yet so my drooling is still somewhat controlled. But those Litespeeds and Colnagos do look very tempting.