Anonymoose

So, I purchased a bike on ebay for the first time last week. This is the original ad:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/190565097004...#ht_500wt_1202

I'll begin with the shipping issues. The seller contacted me after I paid for the bike saying that he was supposed to have gotten a bike box to ship it in but wasn't going to be able to do so until Tuesday the 16th. I purchased the bike on the 11th. I told him that was fine as long as long as it was undamaged when I received it. I received the bike this morning (the 18th). My first warning sign was the condition from the outside of the box:



I opened it and it clearly was not a bike box but just a regular thinwalled cardboard box. The next thing I noticed was that the dropout had been allowed to rub on the rim and had paint damage down to the frame as seen here:



Things got worse when I took the bike out and inspected it. There is one area of significant paint damage about 1 inch square on the non driveside toptube near the headtube which was not mentioned in the auction:



There are several other nicks which I'd be willing to overlook had it not been for that area:




The wheels are also not true. Both the front and back rub on a brake pad at one spot in the rim. Nitpicky but the clips also broke on the pedals in transit. The ad mentioned that the tires were worn and would need to be replaced soon. One of the tires in fact has a gash all the way through the sidewall. The bike was described as being in excellent condition and lightly used. I would have described the frame as being in decent condition and highlighted the paint damage. I also would have mentioned the wheels being out of true. I feel the seller was deceptive in the auction. On my part I should have asked for more pictures and more of a description. I wrongly trusted the sellers description and the few pictures that were made available. I thought I was paying a fair price at $150 plus $50 shipping but now I would not have paid that had I been aware of the bikes full condition. I also feel though that I was courteous and patient with the shipping delay only to have something that was very poorly packaged and arrived with undisclosed damage and damage as a result of poor packing. I'd be open to keeping the bike possibly if I was refunded part of the cost (though I would not have bid on the bike at all had I known of the paint damage), at the very least the shipping cost. Any advice on how to proceed? I've never had a sour experience from ebay before and am kind of at a loss as to how to approach this.

khatfull

File a complaint with eBay, they'll likely side with you.

lostarchitect 

+1

Anonymoose

Should I contact the seller first or just go right to ebay?

repechage

First, decide if you want the bike. The easiest way for ebay to settle this is unwind the deal.

The scratches under the graphics, are probably from poor packing. The others look by use, especially the one near the shift lever, typical brake swing around and nick.

Go through the bike the rest of the way, is the derailleur hanger straight, does it index?
Review the images and description and the follow on questions if any and think about what is equitable.

I have had 3 bikes go sour, one was from Italy, so sending it back was daunting. I got rooked. The others were tolerable enough. One was not, but I was so busy, I could not deal with it in a timely manner, I had to let it go.

khatfull

Quite frankly, the pack job would be enough for me.

If you really feel the seller mislead you then go straight to eBay undo it, and try again.

delicious

That paint damage seems very trivial to me. I'd still describe the frame as in excellent condition, unless there's something we aren't seeing. Also, the shipping delay was only 2, 3 business days. That's completely standard. And a "bike box" is just standard cardboard.

I'd complain that it was poorly packed - it was - but keep in mind you still got a great deal. That bike would go for 3-400 in this market, easily.

BlueDevil63 

You always try and contact the seller first and try and work it out. Ebay pretty much insists you do that first and that you have evidence that you have tried to contact the seller. I have been very successful in getting sellers to give me partial refunds to cover undisclosed or shipping damage. If the seller won't give you satisfaction then file a claim with eBay. Just make sure and do it within your time limit. One issue is this seller's low feedback. They may or may not be motivated by a threat to file a claim. If not then by all means file one and you will likely get Ebay to side with you.

I sympathize with your unhappiness but frankly I have had much worse packing and damage. You have to be real careful with sellers with low feedback and those who don't have a record of successful bike sales. I also still think you got a pretty decent deal.

realestvin7

Other than poor packaging it looks great to me. It is an older Cannondale...

Anonymoose

Thanks for the tips guys. I will be contacting the seller. For future reference is a bike box not a box that is specifically designed to ship a bike, with something to hold components in place during shipping?

MetinUz

No, it's just a sturdy cardboard box. There is a lot of labor involved in packing a bike correctly, and many sellers charge $150 and up for shipping. When I see a low shipping charge like $50, I assume the seller is unaware and shipping damage should be expected.

realestvin7

I get bike boxes for free, but I do buy packing materials. I still only charge realistic shipping charges on Ebay. Ask anyone's who's received a bike from me.

liquefied

I'd say you still got a great deal. That's easily a $300 bike on craigslist even with the trivial paint damage. Expecting true wheels on a used bike is unrealistic.

bikingshearer 

Did the seller put braces in the dropouts? From te one photo, it looks like he may not have. If that's the case, check the dropouts and the alignment very carefully, as it is easy for the dropouts to get bent if not properly braced (which is easy to do but easy for a rookie to overlook).

If there is any question at all about alignment, get the deal undone. You cannot safely rebend aluminum.

Anonymoose

No, no braces. I will double check the drop outs, thanks.

mapleleafs-13 

This is really good advice, take it to a bike shop and get them to check alignment of everything on the fame to make sure it's not bent.

Also if u want to keep the bike after that figure out what the seller will have to dO to make u satisfied, in this case what amount of money back is enough to compensate u for the lack of description, then work towards that.

If it's that bad to u thenjust return it?

dnomel

If there's no serious damage to the frame it seems like a good deal to me. You could probably sell it for more than trying to get a refund if you don't want it. I just got one like that and my understanding of the serial number is that it's a 60cm with 126mm rear wheel spacing. Pretty cool frames imo.

mparker326

This was your first ebay bike purchase from someone who has a feedback rating of 8. You got a good deal. Let it go and learn from it. If you buy another bike on ebay, send the seller a link to Miamijim's packing instruction link on here.

Personally, I don't think it is as bad as you are saying.

wrk101

First, huge red flags on this seller. Has a feedback score TOTAL of 8, and only ONE single feedback on a sale (everything else is on purchases). And that one sale is a Disney costume, not exactly something to which you can assume this seller will know how to pack and ship a bike. So you really took a chance buying from this guy.

But against this risk, you paid a really low price for the bike. Part of that low price is for buying from a new seller/zero experience seller. So unless there is serious damage, I would just call it OK. That same bike sold by a more professional ebay seller would have gone for a lot more, and would not have had that low buy it now price.

Myself, I have bought from newbie sellers before, but on bikes from newbies, I will always pick it up. Sometimes this means some serious driving. But packing a bike to ship takes a lot of skill, and there is nothing in this listing that would make me believe this seller had any of that skill.

That box looks like one purchased at a mail box etc or similar type store. Bike shops have bicycle boxes, that are extremely heavy wall. Of course, bike box or not, its all about the packing, and poorly packed in a bike box can = major damage. A bicycle box is just an empty shell, that you insert a carefully packed bike into. Randy Jawa has some packing info on his site, and the Miamijim posting on bike packing is excellent.

You really got lucky the bike is not in worse shape.

+1 Some of those scrapes were already on the bike.

AZORCH

Just a side note about boxes: even bike boxes aren't immune to things stabbing through the sides of the corrugate. I usually ask for skewers to be removed (no sense in them stabbing the box OR the frame, right?) When I pack a bike, I use foam pipe insulation and I send the shipper a photo of a bike packed that way. I also ask for some foam or padding between the frame and the sidewalls of the box. Sometimes they comply, sometimes they don't - usually the seller is appreciative, not having any idea of the duress a bike in a box has to go through to get from point A to point B. (And then there are some who really don't give a s**t. That's just eBay.)

Here's one tip if you are on the other side of the equation and find you need to ship a bike. If you have an artist supply store close by, stop in and ask for one of the boxes that FoamCore is shipped in. These are two part boxes (i.e., with a sidewall lid that sturdily fits over the base box), they are rated to 180 pounds (because FoamCore is expensive and easily damaged material)... and they are just about the perfect size to ship a bike.

miamijim

Nit picking every little scratch on a 20 year old bike is a little overzealous on your part....be realisitic. We you really expecting zero scratches?

That being said, aside from the big scratch on the top tube....'no harm no foul'.....and that being said, based on the ad I wouldnt be expecting that scratch.

So ask yourslf, what are you looking for and what would you like from the seller? Are you willing to send the bike back if the seller says no or are you willing to deal with it if there's proper compensation? If your looking for compensation what are you looking for? In my opinion there was no shipping damage per say so your primary reason for compensation is the scratch so ask yourself, what do you want because of the scratch?

Ask yourself this, if you knew about the scratch before hand would you have bid on the bike regardless? I'm going to venture a guess and say yes, you would have bid the same amount regardless of the scratch being there.

Personaly, if I were the seller and you asked for more than 'X' amount I'd tell you to box it back up and send it back to me.

Fred Smedley

Ask for $25.00 back to cover touchup paint , a can of clear, sandpaper etc. A good lesson for those buying shipped bikes, ask specific questions about shipping and don't bid unless you are willing to accept the risk. To the OP , put a KNOWN properly dished wheelset in the stays and check or read this article on checking alignment https://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html Look for the the section on checking alignment with a string.

Beach Comber

Its been a while, but last dispute I opened with ebay, they were much more quicker to act if I already exhausted attempts with the seller.

That being said, I like Fred's suggestion. Ask for about $20 to cover damage during shipment. Otherwise, it still looks like a nice bike. Heck, there is a guy in North Jersey that would probably flip that for $499!

Anonymoose

Hardi har har...
I agree, as long as the dropouts are not out of alignment I think asking the seller to cover the cost of touch up paint is fair. Thanks for all the advice guys. I appreciate it and I learned something.

embankmentlb

At sale price of $150, I would consider it a good deal & move on with my life. A lot of effort spent to prove some lame point otherwise.