I ended up giving my wife my Thomson elite seatpost and was looking on ebay to replace it. I noticed someone selling the Masterpiece for a really good price. I then noticed that they were from Thialand. The Thomson's are made in the US so how would someone from overseas sell them at such a low price? Could they be counterfits? I will email Thomson later today but I am sure they will say to buy from a recommended dealer and not off ebay. I guess I will wait for Performance to issue one of their 20% off coupons.

I would be suspicious of a counterfeit.

Warranty is also an issue even if the item is legit.

I am very hesitant about buying things off of ebay (especially from other countries). When I used to race motorcycles all of the aftermarket blemished exhausts would end up on ebay being sold as new. You would get them and mounting would be slightly off, there would be minor leaks, ect... This is something people noticed on forums where a lot of people would buy off ebay and have a problem while those who paid MSRP from a local dealer or the manufacturer had no problems.

It's a shame but a lot of stuff on ebay is sold as new when it is refurbished, blemished or even counterfeit.

I've bought and sold Thomson stuff at 1/2 of retail and it was fine. Just buy from people who use really good pictures and that you get a good 'vibe' off of and you should be fine.

Another rule of thumb could be mechanical complexity, the more complex it is and the more exactly it needs to function, the more cautious you need to be.

Seatposts and stems somehow don't seem that complex but I guess that fatigue is an issue.

I would buy posts and stems off ebay almost only to experiment with fit. If I wanted new, I'd try to find some online dealer with a lesser price.

There's always the issue of an ebay seller's ratings, though. When someone has sold like 5000 items and has a 99% "product as described" feedback rate, it is rather confidence inspiring.

If you do buy something, just withhold feedback at first and if there is a problem with the product, tell the seller you'll given them a bad review if they don't resolve it. With a lot of sellers, that may be compelling.

thomson parts can be found for cheaper on amazon than ebay.

I have an elite myself and it seems to work pretty well, masterpiece is just 40 grams lighter for a lot more money?