Hey Guys,

I have been looking at bike frames and component groups and stuff like that on ebay, and I was wondering how reliable most of the sellers. Have any of you ever meen cheated or scammed? I dont want to spend $700 on a frame on there just to not even have it come.

Thanks,
Jake

Spend time researching the seller's feedback, looking for red flags like "item not as described", "poorly packed" or "slow shipping". For a purchase of this amount, the seller should be willing to answer your questions completely. They should also be willing to email additional photos. It is always a leap of faith to buy online, so try to get as much information from the seller as possible before you give them money.

You can get hosed unintentionally by sellers that just don't know how to describe things. Look for alot of positive feedback on bikes and bikes stuff, and discount feedback on widgets,and Barbie paraphernalia.

Try to keep in mind that a lot of the people who sell on EBay do it for a living. Those are easy to spot with a ton of positive feedback. They are usually very customer service related and their business thrives on positives. There are some scammers out there, so you have to be careful. Just don't go for deals that are too good to be true.

I've bought a bunch of stuff from EBay and have never had a bad experience.

Buying bike components on ebay is pretty straight forward. Trust your eyes. If the guy says the derailuer only has 200 miles on it and it looks like it's been through world war 3 pass it up. As for bike frames, get the persons phone number and ask direct questions. If the bike is accurately discribed the seller will be open and helpful. If it's a high buck frame ask if you can pay using ebay's escrow service and that way if the frame is damaged or not as descibed you can back out but you must pay shipping charges.

Just be sure to check out the seller. Saying ebay is reliable or not means nothing. It's all about who you're buying from. Also, it's best to keep a budget in mind when trying to buy bike stuff. I've seen bike goods go for much more than they're worth just from people bidding.

I have a powder coated 48cm P2k ending on ebay today and you can be rest assured that this is a nice frame (Man that was a shameless plug...lol)

Drayko is right on prices on ebay. I see bike components everyday that sell on ebay for more then you what you could buy the same part for at one of the web based bike sale houses. You have to remember ebay is no different then a newspaper's wantads 20 years ago. It's just a avenue for a seller to get rid unwanted goods.

ebay has buyer protection up to $1,000, so if the bike doesn't come, buy another one.

Check the sellers feedback, most good sellers have at least 99% positive feedback. Also you should consider how much feedback a seller has, if you are spending a lot of money you should deal with established sellers only.

Ebay's and Paypal's buyer protection is very hard to collect from.

Just a little info on Ebay's buyer protection plan that is handled through Paypal. I bought a Giant TCR-1 frame on ebay that was listed as in new condition. When I got the frame it was full of scatches and paint chips.
I contacted the seller and told him I'm sending the frame back to him and the fact that he listed the frame as in new condition I would be filing a complaint with ebay if I didn't receive a refund. He was not interested in refunding my money so I took photos of the frame and shipped it back to the seller. I filed a claim with Paypal, faxed and e-mail photos of the frame and had a full refund in 25 days.

Buy through Paypal, but use a credit card as the source of funding. If a problem develops, you can complain to Paypal and the credit card company.

Also, examine their grammar. Often, disreputable people can't spell or use proper English.

In addition, if the person has excellent feedback in significant number, he or she usually doesn't want to jeopardize that.