Have you ever bought bike stuff on eBay.

[ghostpedal]

I recently bought, and just got delivered yesterday, a new white carbon bottle cage. It looks good, was exactly as advertised, and was a reasonable price. It was a "buy it now" item though. I think most people are honest and are out to unload stuff they do not need / want anymore. Now I am going to try to sell some bike stuff on Ebay, and I hope that goes well.

 

[mds2076]

So far so good with a Trek Y5, Shimano PDM650 pedals, and a thermal jacket. For older model stuff, or new old stock, Ebay is the only place you'll find it. The thing is to have your wits about you and know what stuff is worth before bidding...I've seen 100% variations in prices for the same model of bike. It really does pay not to buy the first bike of your wanted model when it appears, but see what a few of them go for first. I haven't forgiven myself for letting myself being outbid on a Trek YSL200 though
I would not buy a new bike off Ebay however...too much risk of it being a scam. Other new stuff, yes, such as clothing and accessories...the range available tends to be better than in a shop. One thing does seem to be improving and that's more US sellers seem to be prepared to sell overseas...perhaps my whinge elsewhere in the forums has had something to do with that?

 

[EL34]

I was all set to win a new, long sleeve Descente winter jersey, a real bargin at $31 yesterday. I'm down to one minute to go and hit refresh. "You have been outbid." I quickly type in a new bid and submit. "Sorry, the auction has ended." Damnit!!! I was sniped. Dude was prolly using some kind of program to place his bid in the last 60 seconds of the auction.

I can see how Ebay can become addicting. It's not just shopping. You get competitive about this stuff. I took it personally and became angry because someone swooped in and grabbed my jersey

 

[snyper0311]

I found an "old" set of Cinelli Intergrators at a steal of a price. I bought them from someone who got them and didn't like the drop in the stem. He had them on the bike for about a week. When they came in, they looked brand new. They even had the Cinelli "Calendar Girl" sticker on it. An extra bonus! I was looking for a replacement set after a hard fall that snapped the bar at the stem. I love them and they cost me a fraction of what I got my first pair at.

 

[fatbottomedgirl]

I live near my state's suplus property auction place, and they sell on ebay so I've bought an old 3 speed to fix up just for giggles

 

[lokstah]

Oh, plenty of stuff. A new 105 RD for my commuter; each of the 2 pairs of Speedplays I use (one used, one new); a Giro Eclipse a few years back; a Ritchey seatpost; a couple stems. Sold stuff too.

It takes a little confidence, a touch of know-how and a bit of caution, but Ebay can be a goldmine for great deals, and a nice place to off load things you don't need for a little cash.

 

[DiabloScott]

I built up a bike from almost all eBay parts. After finding my dream frame (3 years old but never assembled) for about 1/3 the price of the current year's version, I made up a spreadsheet of everything I needed/wanted - brakes, bars, saddle, crank, wheels - everything down to derailleur cables. In column A I had the name of the part, B=retail price, C=best price on line or in a catalogue, D= best price recently on eBay, E=got it price. So I was damn sure I didn't overpay for a single component including tax and shipping. Wound up getting the full bike for a little over half of what it would have been as a new package - and I got exactly what I wanted without any swapping out of parts. All new parts except for one "almost new" item.

 

[Shreklookalike]

Bought a barely used OCR-1 for about half price and have bought all my cycling jerseys, shorts and bibs on eBay at a fraction of the cost of new stuff.

 

[MountainPro]

i have bought a stem, forks, rear mech, gloves and i bidded on a bike was out bid as the price went higher than the bike costs new..a Bianchi Mega SL road bike.

i have never had a problem with cyclists selling stuff on ebay. I have been ripped off by people selling DVD PS2 games etc but if you pay by paypal you can always get a refund, i have enrolled in the certification programme with paypal and i am a verfied user. It is great.

 

[Dweezle]

I bought a brand new Kestrel Evoke frame. It was just as the seller described it, brand new still in the Kestrel factory packaging. Price on the Kestrel Website, $1,999. I paid $1,320 including shipping, buying it eBay.

In this case the seller turned out to be great. I've had some bad experiences buying clothing.

My technique for bidding is to first decide what my maximum bid will be, and then wait until the last possible second to place the bid. I was willing to pay $1,375 for this frame, and that's what I put in, with less than 5 seconds to go. Since the other highest bidder had apparently put in $1,290, I "won" the acution at $1,300.

 

[domaindomain]

I find it good for buying things that are hard to find in stock in my LBS - some stuff I never even new existed....

Just got a sigg bottle with a sigg cage (I never even knew Sigg made cages until now) and its mint!

Cheers

 

[trek-man]

Im an e-bay fiend my wife cracks the sh*ts at me everytime i go near it because i spend a fortune on there. Ive bought a heap of bike stuff from there towards a rebuild of an old frame. Im going full campag on this one and shopping around internationally you can score real bargains compared to here. Just watch the postage and the feedback score of the seller. Im waiting on some campag shifters/brakes at the moment coming over from England so the bikes going to be a real international unit when built along with the American and local stuff on it. Id rather buy from a LBS but thats not an option here. Nearest decent bike shops over 1000kms away.
cheers
Mick

 

[bikedock]

I run an ebay shop for cycling goods and highly recommend it but I am not biased at all take a look and let me know what you think!!!

 

[mds2076]

Well I finally got stung on Ebay . True, it was largely my fault not requesting better pics and asking more questions.
A Trek Y22 came up which I just had to have, especially being one of the few in large size of the later OCLV frame. True, the seller did say it was a "bit rough" but looked not too bad in the pics (watch out for black bikes with their pics taken in a darkened room!). So I won it, paying more than I should have, but you know how it can be when you've decided a bike is meant for you.
What a shock when I got it (well at least I did get it!). No1 thing was pedal sticking thru side of box. Turns out the person who packed it couldn't get the pedal off (definitely not a cyclist not knowing about left hand threads). The stem plate screws and front wheel skewer were simply thrown in the box....and the box had small holes, hence the little list of hardware items to find elsewhere before I could even ride it. But talk about a "bit rough"! Gouges in the handlebar where you wouldn't think possible; dents in the URT, worn shock bushings that go clunk when you lift the bike, worn pivot bushing, plastic caps in the ends of the handlebars that had been broken off long ago etc. At least the main part of the frame was actually not too bad with some paint scratched off, but being black on carbon it's not that obvious. Most important at least was the frame size was correct. The worst part was when I discovered the URT was chromoly and not alloy....I'd say the original URT had been broken and replaced with one off a Y1 or Y3. (Problem is the later alloy URT looks like the chromoly ones so I never suspected this). Bloody heavy for a carbon bike at about 1kg heavier than my all alIoy Y5. I worked out that the main carbon part of the frame had been replaced under warranty, so obviously the guy busted that too.
Seems like it had been used as a downhill bike; the seat post had been shortened by means of a tube cutter. The rear wheel had been beefed up too...about twice the number of spokes (and heavier). Why the odd pedals (one Redline, the other Shimano) and the two differing models of Gripshifter and brake lever I'll never know. Funny thing is it was fitted with slicks when I got it...not what you'd expect to find on a bike treated like that. Still, a good excuse to buy some new WTB VelociRaptors for it.
It was just sad to see that somone would treat a bike (esp a high end carbon one) this way, but I had no choice but to gradually rebuild it, given the seller was 1000's of miles away. I'm still in the process of doing this and I'm glad to say it's improving markedly for each thing I replace.
The guy I had bought this off had only sold one thing before (an outboard motor) and had positive feedback. By the time I received the Y22, he'd sold two other bikes...both with negative feedback.
So, the lesson is, ask for close up pics first.

 

[dgregory57]

My only cycling related stuff from eBay that I have received has been my computer. It has worked flawlessly. I have bought many other items in other categories, and have not been burned yet... I know it is coming some day.

In two cases I bought from a first time seller, and other than a little slow response from one, I have been OK. For anything worth a bit more, I do rely on good feedback.

I will be picking up a 10 speed this evening and this person has good feedback on several low end bikes. I am expecting to get a bike worth at least the $70 I paid for it.

Turns out he is a former LBS owner/operator, I will be picking the bike up at his former shop that I have passed on rides and wondered why they closed... Now I can ask

 

[anthropete]

The bike I ride now, a Giant TCR Elite road bike, I purchased on Ebay and it was practically brand new. I got a great deal. I have also bought a Gary Fisher mtn bike, shorts, 2 jerseys, shoes, and a cycling computer. I am a serious Ebay junkie. Also, I have sold both my mountain bike and my first road bike on Ebay and made back what I payed for them. Ebay rocks! (Just watch out for those zero feedback guys that are trying to sell something too good to be true)

Pete
http://www.viovio.com/anthropete

 

[artemidorus]

I've bought Dura-Ace shifters, Pro Race tyres, chain and handlebar.
No problems at all.

 

[kitk]

I bought a brand new TREK Madone 5.9 on eBay for $1500. What a deal. Delivery has been a bit slow. If fact its been six months since I paid and I'm still waiting. But man when it does get here, it'll be a sweet ride.

Really, I've picked up a few things here and there. I'll bid on some stuff that a LBS would have had to order. Sometimes I'll get it quicker by bidding. But I still try to go to my local LBSs as much as possible.

LOL, That's pretty funny! Too bad your humor seemed to go over some heads here though.

C'mon people, can't you see he's joking? He talks about the "bit slow" delivery, the naive optimism, and the "winking" smiley, and finally he says "really" to indicate the introduction of his actuall expereicnces.

 

[astroluc]

I found some great bargains on eBay but I was also amazed at how crazy bidding can get. I watched some items go for more (sometimes MUCH more) that you could buy them at an online/real store.

^^ Yeah, that.

 

[obxbes]

I've spent the last 4 months building a bike from new parts that I got on eBay. I think I ended up paying 50-60% of the new, retail price for the whole bike.

I'd be interested to hear your eBay experiences.

I bought a set of Look 247 pedals for $70 less than my LBS wanted. Bought them from a person in England and had them within a week.