Road Cycling - Post Your Ebay Shopping Tips

Help those of us who stumble through online buying make better bike choices, anyone that has good advice or cautions, your insight is appreciated! :)

Only buy from people with at least 10 sales, 100% positive, (check whether they are sales and not buys), and only from those who are 'PayPal Verified'. If they are verified, you can get your money back if you don't get it or if you get scheistered.

I agree, ONLY use PayPal, and always look through the sellers closed auctions too see what types of things they sell and the feedback they have given and left for others. I always send an email with direct questions like confirming what the auction is for so i have something as sort of proof.

go slow, be careful, and be very sure what you
bid on. This has worked for me for almost 50 buys without any major hassles.
Be sure to leave feedback (hopefully positive) when the
sale is completed and you have your new stuff.
It really does help.
oh yeah, CAVEAT EMPTOR.
Marty

[/QUOTE]Be sure to leave feedback (hopefully positive) when the
sale is completed and you have your new stuff.
[QUOTE]

What about when dealing with sellers that never post feedback themselves for their buyers? I guess they're tooooo busy to be bothered with that petty stuff.

I agree with the above. Pre-bid communication is very important. Confirm total shipping, handling, and insurance costs and anything that may be unclear in the auction description. Assume nothing!

Secondly, don't assume that because it's on Ebay that it's going to be cheaper. I have found a few times that buying new from Nashbar or other online retailers was actually cheaper than Ebay. If you're careful though, there's no better 24/7 cycling "parking lot sale"! :)

I bought skewers from someone and it took 4 months for
him to leave feedback. I left mine 15 minutes after receiving the skewers.
I can't worry about sellers who don't leave feedback I find they are few and far between.

Set a price your going to pay. Don't get caught up in a bidding war. "Don't show him/her your going to out bid them. Set your price and stay with it. I try to use buy it now option as much as possible.

I, too, stumble around whenever I use Ebay, which is not often. Thanks for the tips!

Thanks for the interesting post. :)

:D good stuff

Research the seller! Look at his feedback and especially his neg fb if any. How he responds to it is very important. I look for straight facts. It's almost impossible to please everyone but there should be an attempt at straightening things up. Check back to see if the item is something he just bought and is reselling for some reason. I was looking at a set of golf clubs last year that he described as 9 of 10 condition but I checked his feedback and found that he had just bought the clubs a couple of months before and was dissapointed in the condition of them and they were then described as 8 of 10.
Check some of the bidders as well. It is usually not to hard to spot someone who is bidding on their own items from other accounts.

Just take your time to do the full research and don't jump on a auction that you just discovered and is about to end unless you are willing to take your chances.

http://www.paypalsucks.com/

Check out the seller outside of ebay. Many sellers are bike shops (or other stores) with web pages and a Better Business Bureau history. If the purchase is major, email and get a phone number. This way you can become a person to the seller vice a number.

Dave

Check the description carefully and READ THE WHOLE THING INCLUDING SHIPPING AND PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS. Other sellers don't tell you the shipping cost up front and once item is bought, they'll tell you the shipping cost and it can be outrageous. Other sellers will post a flat rate shipping charge even if actual shipping is only half - REMEMBER THAT WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR BID, YOU HAVE AGREED TO ALL THE TERMS & CONDITIONS THE SELLER HAS DESCRIBED. If things are not clear after reading all this, ask questions before you bid. ****FEEDBACKS **** I have sold several items with ebay and as a seller i have done my best to put services as my top priority. I always post feedbacks after payment is received. But has changed the way feedbacks are posted now. Honestly now, I only post the buyers feedback when my feedback is posted. Why? [/B]In all my feedback postings, i only get 50% back of the total feedbacks i have posted.Is that fair? I'll let you be the judge. Sellers will post a buyers feedback after payment is received. Others only post feedback after the buyer has posted their feedback. FEEDBACKS are important to a buyer or seller. It gives credibility to either party. If you are the buyer, leave feedback to the seller if you are satisfied with the item you bought and service was excellent-fast shipping. [B]AVOID BUYING FROM A SELLER WITH A MIN. OF 4 NEGATIVE FEEDBACKS AND NEWBIES, BE A LITTLE PATIENT. Ebay is one good alterenative to retail stores. Prices are usually below what retail stores are offering. Enjoy ebay and be cautious. HAPPY BIDDING.

Understand that there are 4 levels of truth.
- the truth
- the whole truth
- nothing but the truth
These are 3 DIFFERENT cases.
And finally
- subjective truth. (mostly were problems occur)
ASK QUESTIONS DON'T ASUME. Do your homework!!!

And if you're buying an EXPENSIVE item, it's worth reading feedback closely to make sure the seller's account has been active recently, and that at least some of the seller's prior sales have also been for big items. Scammers aren't that common, but one of the more common types is the guy who builds a good reputation with $1 and $2 items, and then runs a scam on a $2000 item...

Good luck!

-chris

All of the above is very good advice. Once you've decided to actually bid on an item, I find that waiting for the last possible second to place your bid usually is a winning strategy.

Ebay recommends "proxy bidding", but I find that this just raises the price unnecessarily.

Example:
A widget is currently selling for $1.00, you're willing to pay $25, auction lasts 5 days. If you enter the price today, the new bid price will be $1.25, with your hidden maximum $25. However, others have plenty of time to come in and place higher priced bids, eventually forcing you out. Better to watch this item and enter your bid at the last second, leaving no room for anyone else to counter bid. "Auction sniping" is the technical term.

I have a lot of ideas, tips, etc. Here are 2:

1. Ask questions via e-mail and see what kind of gut feeling you get from a response (if you get a response). This past week, I've asked 4 different sellers questions about bike stuff and only 2 responded...and one of those auctions is no lnger valid. I'm assuming someone offered a straight buy and the guy jumped at it...stupid if you ask me as I was prepared to bid (an amount he'll never know).

2. The best one by far is to wait to the last few minutes and "snipe" the auction.

PJ

emailing the seller in advance is great advice!

use a credit card through paypal...paypal wants you to use a checking account, but a credit card will protect you much better than paypal and it just takes one phone call to say you did not recieve the item and they will take care of it.

and reading and fully understanding what you're buying is very important and asking questions that are not covered in the discription. I once bought a cinelli stem and a TTT handlebar, the handlebar was shown clamped onto the stem, when I got them, the stem did not fit the handlebar. I did not think to ask if the stem and the handlebar fit together.

waiting till the last minute is a two edged sword. there are many that wait til the last minute (or seconds), you must be at a fast connection to do this. it is easy to get caught up trying to win the bid and the bids could be coming in fast at this point.

Decide the max you are willing to pay. I try to put in only one bid, so whatever my max is, that's my bid. that way those that wait till that very last second only bid up the price, but I still win and don't pay more than what I decided in advance. it seems like people like to bid in 2 or 5 dollar increments. And remember if there are two or more bids at the same dollar amount, the first one wins. :p

There are other ways to snipe without being at your computer and using a fast connection...but if I told all of you I'd never win another auction.

This technique hasn't failed me yet.

PJBAZ