Large Ebay purchase?

[Lumber_Jack]

Anyone ever make a large purchase on eBay. There seems like some really great deals from reputable sellers, but I still have anxiety. I'm looking at a bicycle that will run $1500-1800.

Just looking for experiences, good or bad.

[dats82]

I have never made a purchase that large on ebay.  I think my highest is about $500, but if I am not mistaken, if you use paypal, between ebay and paypal, you are basically insured on your purchase.  If you get stiffed, I'm almost positive your money is refunded.  Look into it further, but I am reasonably confident that is the case.

 

My wife made an ill advised smaller purchase from some seller in China or some crap, and she never received her item.  It took a couple of weeks, but she did get a full refund from ebay.

[monkeylizard]

I trust ebay's seller rating system. If they have lots of reviews, marked as a "Top Seller" or whatever, there are recent positive reviews, then I say go for it. Odds are those are being done by a business anyway and they really need those positive reviews to keep going.

 

If the seller is local to you, you can contact them to see the merchandise and do the deal face-to-face outside of ebay. My dad has done a few car deals like that where the seller removed the listing and considered it "sold" to my dad with the agreement that if dad didn't buy it, he'd pay the relisting fee. So far he hasn't had to pay that since most sellers on ebay are reputable.

 

I've picked up several small electronics parts from sellers in China and Hong Kong without issue. It takes about an extra week for ChinaPost to get it over here, but well worth it since it's just about the only place to find some discontinued parts.

Edited May 22, 2013 by monkeylizard

[Trekbike]

I agree with the advice above regarding using Paypal and going off the seller's rating and reviewing any negative feedback they may have.   Does this appear to be an individual or a true re-seller?

 

Is your main concern just getting the product period or the product not being in the condition represented? I'm guessing the later since sellers usually can't get by with stiffing people otherwise they get shut down by Ebay.   If it's a large re-seller then their knowledge of the product will be limited since they are just moving the product through.   They most likely won't be aware of small issues that might be present on a higher end bicycle.   There can be derailleur issues or a cracked frame that aren't obvious.  In that case the seller may not necessarily be trying to rip you off, they just didn't know about the problem.   If their return policy looks solid, then that might make me feel better.   

 

It's just me but it would have to be a very sweet deal before I would buy a bicycle that wasn't close enough to see in person.  Just not worth the risk IMO so I prefer Craigslist or a LBS bulletin board.  

[TheBeej418]

I made a $2400 purchase and paid through PayPal. The worst happened and I didn't get what I was expecting. A PayPal dispute ensued which wasn't bad except for the fact it takes about two months. I submitted my information for review and won. What I bought shipped via freight and I had to ship it all back at my expense ($200) which sucked. Once tracking info showed received, I received a full $2400 refund from PayPal.

 

As far as a bicycle, it will be a little more cut and dry as to what you're getting. I sold a $1500 Specialized full suspension bike without issue. Just know what your looking at, communicate with the seller directly if possible and enjoy the new bike!

[cannoncocker]

I have made more than one E-bay purchase exceeding $1,500.00. All three were fast and without problems. My E-Bay transactions are paid by my Master Card via Pay Pal,in this manner I have double protection.

[mav]

I bought a $4,000 moisture balance off ebay.  I have had several large purchases on ebay (paid with Paypal) with no problems.  One of our salesmen bought his truck off ebay.

[Guest TankerHC]

I have sold a lot of high end antiques on ebay without an issue. I have also sold a lot of other things, used to go to Flea Markets and buy cheap hunting camo and it would sell within minutes on a BIN. But I have bought a $4500 motorcycle off of a seller on Ebay motors in another state, paid without even looking at it (Took the risk because it was something I wanted) and drove up and it was there and exactly as described. Also purchased an car part that cost over $500 about 2 years ago from a seller in California who had the part when I couldnt get it from anywhere else. This seller has an Ebay store and claims to have a warehouse full of brand new parts for about any vehicle (I think they said over 100,000 parts). Part came in, brand new in the box, for a 35 year old car and worked perfectly, this after the dealers said they dont make the part anymore and the only place I would find it is in a junkyard.

 

I have bought and sold a lot on ebay over the years but have just about stopped altogether, not because of the buyers and sellers but because the fees are ridiculous now. They have basically killed their original seller base and unless someone wants to pay their ridiculous fees it isnt worth selling on there but you can still find some good deals. Lots of Ebay stores with a bunch of new items and lots and lots of Chinese made junk shipped from Taiwan. 

[TrickyNicky]

I used to work at a store that specialized in high end (read: $5,000+) acoustic guitars. We were power sellers on eBay and I can say with a good degree if certainty that eBay generally takes the buyers word as gold. If you have an issue, between PayPal and eBay you'll be covered.

One caveat to this is if the seller lists a statement selling the item as is or needs work. Then things can be a bit trickier but if your buying an item listed as new then you should be good.

[JReedEsq]

I have sold a few bikes for $2,000-$3,000 on Ebay.  If I remember correctly I think I bought one for $1,700 or $1,800 on their probably 10 years ago.  I've never had any problems.  As others have said.  If you deal with someone who has high seller ratings, being well-informed about what you are looking at is more of an issue than misrepresentation etc..  

Edited May 22, 2013 by JReedEsq

[jgradyc]

I've bought two bikes for about $1,500 each. The bikes were dealer closeouts or demos and they were great. A bike shop wants to protect their feedback rating, so you should be okay dealing with them.

 

I bought a old bike from an individual and it was cobbled together with junk parts. I don't think I'd buy a bicycle from an individual sight unseen again because a lot of people really don't know anything about bicycles so it could be junk and they might not even know it.

 

I bought a set of bike wheels from a guy who advertised the wrong size because he was ignorant of bicycle wheel sizes. He measured them with a tape measure and sold them as 16 inch wheels when they were 20 x 1.75!!  :rant: I decided to eat that loss because shipping was too much to return them.

 

I've also bought two cars and an RV off eBay for $5,000, $6,250, and $18,700 respectively. They all turned out to be okay, but they were all from dealers. In the case of the cars, I drove to the sellers location and drove them before bidding.

Edited May 22, 2013 by jgradyc

[RobertNashville]

I purchased a motorcycle through eBay for around $4K.

 

I didn't have a problem at all but as has been said, the seller had great ratings and I used PayPal for the protection they offer...the transfer went off without a hitch; the only problem was that he lived in Chicago which meant I had to enter communist territory. ;)

 

I sold my 2004 350Z through eBay as well and that was a $16K transaction; again...no problems.

 

It's pretty much like anything else, whether you are buying or selling look at the person's ratings and other sales/buys...if you get a "funny feeling" then back off.

[Lumber_Jack]

Thanks for all the input.

As to some questions. Both bikes I'm looking at are from bike shops selling demos or used inventory. Both are well over 50% saving off MSRP. Now, bidding may close the gap to a point where I'm no longer interested but that hasn't happened yet. Both sellers have over 1,000 ratings one is 100% the other has over 3,000 ratings and a 99.8%

I feel confident in the product just wanted to see what y'all thought.