assess this carbon fork chip
 

I picked this fork up on ebay, kind of hastily. Guy said these are knicks that were touched up. Let me know how much my impulsiveness screwed me over...

if it just the clearcoat is chip then you are find , it hard to tell with the photos . if the fibers are showing or look like a crack then you have a problem .

seems like it was the clear coat and the guy was smart enough to have it sealed.

Also, it's not the worst place for a failure to happen... if that let go (and it would most likely fold rather than break), the tyre may just hit the opposite fork blade and slow you down pretty quick IMO, unlikely to cause a header.

But my feeling is given it's lower than halfway down the blade, even if it's slight structural damage it should hold up pretty well.

It's difficult to say. It could be simply a chip occurred and the guy wisely covered it with epoxy to seal out water, or the fork has a crack and he used the epoxy to hide the fact.

Slight damage could hold up pretty well? Depending on what slight means. I wouldn't ride on it, but that's just me. I would take it to an LBS and have them look at because pictures don't tell the whole story.

Actually, come to think of it, if that spot coincides with the end of the dropout plug, any delamination would certainly be cause for concern...

Here's what the guy said:

"No, it's nothing that deep. It just looks like the previous owner tried to touch up the paint before he sold it. I got it with a frame I bought recently and it was the same way, touch up paint on all the little nicks."

whats a dropout plug?

Looks like it was hitting/rubbing against something when being transported and got scratched up. Does not look structural to me.

I'd assume it's the metal fitting with the dropout on the end that's bonded into the carbon.

One more suggestion would be to use your ears.
I would use a disposable chopstick (like you get with take-out Chinese food) and firmly tap the area surrounding the blemish, listening carefully for abrupt changes in the tonal quality of the carbon between the damaged area and non damaged areas.

send the pics to Calfee,and see what they have to say

http://www.calfeedesign.com/repair/

thanks for all the helpful replies, appreciate it.