Buying bikes & parts off Ebay

[mds2076]

All the bikes and parts thereof I could possibly want are on Ebay...and they
go for good prices too.
Problem is about 19 out of 20 ads are from sellers who will not ship
outside of the US. I would have thought a bike or it's parts
are not terribly difficult to package and post.
A good example was a set of Acera shifters...he would rather readvertise
after no one bid than send to Australia. I eventually got what I wanted
locally though cost more.
I would be enlightened if there's any US only Ebay sellers here
who could give a reason as to why they won't send to Australia.
Trying the "ask the seller a question" approach doesn't even get an
acknowledgement......well the internet's anonymity does breed
bad manners.

 

[Daremo]

Isn't there an EBay Australia?

I know there is a UK version of it ............ maybe search a little more? Or go directly to the UK site and see if people are posting there.

I basically built my bike off of EBay .... and continue to upgrade and sell my old parts on it. Have for years ..........

 

[mds2076]

Yes there's an Aussie version of Ebay but it is extremely limited. Unlike the US, the UK Ebay sellers are ok about sending overseas which is good but I think I will be waiting a very long time for what I want on either of those Ebays.

Isn't there an EBay Australia?

I know there is a UK version of it ............ maybe search a little more? Or go directly to the UK site and see if people are posting there.

I basically built my bike off of EBay .... and continue to upgrade and sell my old parts on it. Have for years ..........

 

[Daremo]

If you make the effort and contact the seller and provide THEM with the different international rates and shippers, maybe they might open up to shipping outside the US. I had a guy from Canada do that on one of my auctions a few years ago, and it worked out fine.

And he bought tires from me ........... so it was a big item shipped.

Worth a shot, certainly can't hurt to ask.

 

[jhodder]

I'm in the US and sell parts on eBay. The previous poster nailed it. I list my auctions as US-only because I have not idea what the post would cost to send a part overseas and I don't want to spend the energy researching it. I also figure that, for most parts auctions on eBay, the added cost for overseas shipping would offset the savings from buying on eBay in the first place.

I would recommend emailing the seller with your estimate on the shipping price (and offer to pay the difference if it ends up costing more). If you did this to me, I would have no problem shipping overseas.

 

[meehs]

If you make the effort and contact the seller and provide THEM with the different international rates and shippers, maybe they might open up to shipping outside the US. I had a guy from Canada do that on one of my auctions a few years ago, and it worked out fine.

And he bought tires from me ........... so it was a big item shipped.

Worth a shot, certainly can't hurt to ask.

I've sold quite a bit of bike stuff on eBay and I've always done the "Will ship within the continental USA only" option. The reason being that I can find out the most it would possibly cost me to ship the item within the USA and use that amout as a fixed amount added to the high bid amount. It's usually at most only a couple of bucks higher than the actual amount. If it's more than that I'll just throw a few bucks in with the item I'm shipping to make-up the difference.This avoids all the hassle of having to take the item to the shipper to determine the cost, come back and tell the buyer what their total is, including shipping, waiting to receive the payment and then going back to the shipper to actually ship the item. It's just too much of a pain in the ass to go through all of that effort to sell an item in my opinion. And you also aviod having the buyer coming back and saying "that sounds like an awful lot for shipping" because they know up-front what the exact shipping amount will be. If they think it's too much then they don't have to bid.

I've always done it this way and have never had a problem selling an item. And I have 100% positive feedback after 50+ eBay transactions. So when I get an e-mail from someone asking if I'll ship overseas (and I do answer them), I say no. I just don't want to deal with the extra hassle. So (please understand, no offense intended) why should I go through the extra hassle when I've always been able to sell my items without shipping overseas?

 

[mds2076]

I can see your point of view and yeah there's probably some buyers that would get you to go to the effort of finding out the international shipping cost and then not bid. Those buyers are the sort of people who have no idea of what it does cost to send outside the US and freak out when the cost is a lot higher than they expected.
However, I as a foreign buyer are well aware of the issues and expect to pay for a high shipping cost. I have no problem at all paying extra just to cover the inconvenience to the seller. What does bother me is when the seller doesn't even acknowledge your email. That's just plain rude and so far there's been three sellers like that.
Here's a perfect example: Ebay item 3696532282
This seller did not even acknowledge two emails from me and one from a friend!! This seller is not even doing the shipping himself anyway...the bike shop is doing it. This is the second time this bike has been advertised; if he'd sell to Australia he probably would have sold it first time round. I've bought other non bike stuff from the US before and I know what to expect for shipping costs. I'm not the penny pinching type that complains if I have to pay 1 cent more for shipping than I expect.
I wouldn't care if it was $50 more than whatever the international shipping rate. I guess it comes down to how do I convince the seller I'm a genuine bidder ?
If a seller really doesn't want to sell outside the US I respect that, but not even to acknowledge my email doesn't make me think much of the seller.
Now look at this seller at Ebay item 3696324928. What a refreshing change in attitude! Apart from a well written ad, he will go out of his way to help international bidders....this guy is a credit to Ebay. (The frame is too small and I'm not looking for that specific model which is why I'm not bidding on it)

I've sold quite a bit of bike stuff on eBay and I've always done the "Will ship within the continental USA only" option. The reason being that I can find out the most it would possibly cost me to ship the item within the USA and use that amout as a fixed amount added to the high bid amount. It's usually at most only a couple of bucks higher than the actual amount. If it's more than that I'll just throw a few bucks in with the item I'm shipping to make-up the difference.This avoids all the hassle of having to take the item to the shipper to determine the cost, come back and tell the buyer what their total is, including shipping, waiting to receive the payment and then going back to the shipper to actually ship the item. It's just too much of a pain in the ass to go through all of that effort to sell an item in my opinion. And you also aviod having the buyer coming back and saying "that sounds like an awful lot for shipping" because they know up-front what the exact shipping amount will be. If they think it's too much then they don't have to bid.

I've always done it this way and have never had a problem selling an item. And I have 100% positive feedback after 50+ eBay transactions. So when I get an e-mail from someone asking if I'll ship overseas (and I do answer them), I say no. I just don't want to deal with the extra hassle. So (please understand, no offense intended) why should I go through the extra hassle when I've always been able to sell my items without shipping overseas?

 

[JohnO]

This doesn't help you any, but...

International sales can be a pain, especially with small ticket items like bike parts, because:

1. Shipping is higher, and often time consuming to determine

2. Payment can be difficult to deal with (paypal helps, but it has its own problems) In the US, it is illegal to send or receive cash in the mail, too.

3. A high percentage of scam buyers come from outside the USA. Bogus payment, or the old 'I send you a big worthless cashier's check, and you refund the difference' game.

In all fairness to our friends in Oz, most scams come from Indonesia or former Soviet bloc nations, but a lot of sellers find dealing with overseas sales to be too time consuming and too fraught with problems. Some, but perhaps not all, sellers who don't sell internationally have done so because they had trouble with international deals. When the profit margin is small, as it is on a lot of bike parts, having to spend an hour or two dealing with a sale means you're now losing money on the deal.

 

[ejglows]

I was just suspended after asking a seller to send things overseas (Japan) because they found that my current phone number and my Credit card phone number do not match. Next time I just wont ask questions and people wont inquiry about my personal information.

Feedback was 100% positive and now I need a new account. Beware ebay.

e

 

[gooders]

I just bought a frame and a chainset for great prices off ebay in the US and they're winging their way to me in the UK. One other thing you need to think about is VAT and duty. The cost added onto the frame is 4.7% duty and 17.5% VAT.....that's over 22% extra. And these costs are calculated onto pf shipping which is ~$150 + for a bike, so those great prices may not turn out so great once you add it all up..... thankfully in my case it did.

Also when I see something I would like to bid that says ships to US only I email the seller telling them that I'm seriously interested and would they consider shipping to UK and request the cost of shipping. Some say no due to the extra hastle factor but alot say yes. Just give it a try.

 

[planetclearance]

We sell a ton of high end cycling stuff on ebay (id: BicycleChemistry) and we put ship to US only in our auctions. We do have a section where we say to email us for international shipping rates. I can't speak for all sellers but the reason we list like this is that alot of people see the shipping price an assume it is the same no matter if it is to California or Japan. This way they need to email us for a rate quote before they can bid so they will know exactly what they are going to pay. It seems to work pretty good and we actually get lots of business from Australia, we have shipped 4 things there in the past week! It does seem odd that some sellers don't take the time to go to www.usps.com to look up a rate if it would mean a good sale.

-Travis
Bicycle Chemistry LLC
[email protected]

 

[sparknote_s]

If you are planning on buying anything from ebay, please see my thread titled "Help me buy a bike!" http://www.cyclingforums.com/t174841.html

Thanks

 

[mds2076]

Well I've now got my "ships to US only" bike on its way to Australia
I solved the problem simply by using a contact of some guys in the car club I belong to, who runs a container between Long Beach and Sydney.
I explained to the seller that was a genuine buyer and that I'd probably win the auction (Aussies aren't used to the luxury of low bike prices that US residents have so I knew the US bidders would have given up before I did).
Funnily enough, once I'd actually won the auction the seller did offer to find out the shipping cost to Australia and wasn't at all bothered by the fact I was outside the US.
However, I decided to keep with the container option as one thing I'd overlooked was a A$95 quarantine inspection cost (2nd hand bike riding over foreign dirt); with the container this cost is spread over all the things in it and works out cheaper for me.
I can see that some sellers have been put off selling internationally from problems with non genuine buyers and some people who think the shipping cost quoted is for a flat rate anywhere in the world (the trouble with the internet now is people with an incredibly low IQ can use it).
Anyway I'm about to end up with a 2000 Trek Y5 for around A$800 all up, including the shipping. A bit cheaper than $3000 when they were new here.

 

[MountainPro]

I'm in the US and sell parts on eBay. I list my auctions as US-only because I have not idea what the post would cost to send a part overseas and I don't want to spend the energy researching it.

Its not as if people from other countries have an inbuilt knowldge of international shipping rate, WE ALL have to research these inorder to get the best deal.
I have bought a lot of bike stuff from Ebay UK. In my experience US sellers are very reluctant to sell thier goods internationally. Everything i have sold, i have offered to international bidders. I dont see the problem since the buyer pays the postage. Its going to cost if you want to ship from the UK to Aus but if they are willing to pay postage costs then i dont see the problem.

I have sold items to Hawaii, Japan, Aus/NZ, Sweden, Germany and loads more and really have a great time interacting with my buyers.

My advice, check out ebay.co.uk and you will find most people will ship to Aus.

Also, the UK has the best and most reliable postal system in the world.

 

[gclark8]

Aust buyers, Perth in particular, the Quokka is a good place to sell bike stuff. I have a heap of MTB bits there atm. http://www.quokka.com.au

 

[KMKS]

Another issue with the US ebay is that many of the sellers are actually companies, not individuals just selling some spares. This means that they have to worry about foreign sales and import/export taxes. They can usually get a good price shipping in the states, so they don't want to go to the extra hassle.