Anybody bought your bike on Ebay?

[Juiceflight]

Just wondering if your experience was positive or negative. I bought a new carbon frame bike, but never having owned carbon before I still have a bit of fear in the back of my mind about frame failure. The bike was certainly new, but you just never know.....

[RoadRaven]

Not from EBay as we are in the Southern Hemisphere.
But from TradeMe - the New Zealand version of EBay - yes.
We have bought alot of bikes/bikeframes/bike components from TradeMe

Our guide is the feedback the seller has had.
We always look for loads of positive feedback before we commit money.
Almost always goods have arrived as described.

We have only had two let-downs... one was a Zip Disc which had a slight ding in it - but that may have happened in the shipping.
The other was a timetrial suit which was more worn than the seller suggested.

[smilingcat]

bought one slightly used bike an Orbea. Size wasn't a small so that was bummer. sold it a year later with correct size information in the listing.

bought three other frames and two complete groupos off e-bay and been happy. First groupo was bought off Craigs List and I was happy too. I went and saw the item. Sold one of the bike on e-bay.

Used items on e-bay can be iffy. Some people's slightly used is really used to you.

Most of the items I bought were listed as new or had less than 15 miles or used for demo in the parking lot.

but like RR says check the feedback. lots of negative don't buy. ask questions. and see what other things this person bought and sold.

Oh you better know how much the item really goes for. Sometimes people bid them up to full retail. So if you are not careful, its not a bargain

smilingcat

[bounceswoosh]

A friend of mine bought his Yeti on EBay and is very happy with it. I bought my paintball gun on EBay and am very happy with it -- in fact, it was so clean and unmarked that I wonder if it's ever been used!

I agree that I would be worried about frame wear on any used bike, EBay or no, although I think I would be more worried about mountain bikes than road. My first mountain bike was run over, and then the vehicle backed up over the bike. The bike frame appeared to be straight (it was bent and then bent back on the way back), but I would never trust that thing on a trail. The insurance company made me give them the bike, and ever since I've worried that they might have decided to recoup their pay-out by selling the bike even though it was deemed totalled. The only sign anything had happened was very subtle paint folding / cracking near the suspension pivot; fortunately I had a neighbor at the time who was a ridiculously knowledgeable bike mechanic, and he was able to get the claims adjuster to see the problem. I think if it hadn't been for my neighbor, the adjuster would not have perceived the damage or understood the risk.

One thought, although it may not be practical -- this same neighbor, who sadly isn't my neighbor anymore, told me that you can x-ray frames for damage. Now, how one would go about getting those x-rays done, not to mention reading them accurately -- that I don't know about.

[Mr. SR500]

I've bought one bike on ebay, but proceed with caution. My deal was great, but be careful.

[redrhodie]

I bought BF a 1960s Coppi on Ebay for Xmas. I showed it to him before making the purchase, he loved it, we knew it would fit, so I made the bid and won. We knew it would need a lot of upgrades, so weren't so concerned about anything but the frame.

In the pic, the frame looked red. It was a huge suprise when we opened the box and out came this beautiful orange. So, know your monitor may not show the true color. If he had his heart set on a red bike, it would have been a bummer, but he was really happy with the color. It's really pretty.

The big disappointment was that the fork was bent, despite having been well packed with lots of styrofoam and a fork protector. Luckily, our LBS had a jig, and the bike is steel, so it straightened right out, good as new. I don't know what we would have done if it didn't work out, but since the issue happened in shipping, I would have asked the seller file a claim with the shipper.

All in all, it was a good experience. The bike was obviously never ridden. It's 40 years old, and doesn't have a spot of rust and all the decals are perfect. We put a bunch of new stuff on it, and it rides like a dream.

Would I do it again...maybe, but it would have to be a really good deal on something not very expensive. I'd really have to trust my instinct about the seller, and weigh whether the risk of getting something not quite what I expect is worth it.

[leendat]

Looking to buy a bike. I found this one on ebay. I 5 2 tall and was wondering if this is a decent bike to bid for as a first time bike buyer. I just recently got into the sport of riding and wold really like to find a bike, as I am borrowing a bike right now that is way too big. Any advice as to what I should be looking for? I went and got sized for a bike as was told a good fit would be approx; 48 - 52 cm the more I look around the more confused I am getting!!! please help

[bounceswoosh]

Looking to buy a bike. I found this one on ebay. I 5 2 tall and was wondering if this is a decent bike to bid for as a first time bike buyer. I just recently got into the sport of riding and wold really like to find a bike, as I am borrowing a bike right now that is way too big. Any advice as to what I should be looking for? I went and got sized for a bike as was told a good fit would be approx; 48 - 52 cm the more I look around the more confused I am getting!!! please help

I think it's going to depend on the particulars of the frame. For comparison's sake, I just bought a new road bike and it's a 50cm, although I'm told it fits more like a 49cm, and I'm 5'5".

I don't think you linked to the ebay item you are interested in ...

[Mr. Bloom]

Juice, I may be repeating some other responses (it's late...), but I am a BIG ebay fan. The red mercedes you see in my avatar was found on ebay, but I visited it with an inspector before I bought it.

My personal experience is that anything you buy on ebay should be done through PayPal for protection against fraud and/or misrepresentation.

BUT, read the description VERY carefully and send messages to the seller to documents any issues you have questions about. It's been my experience that a "no response" from a seller is a major red flag.

[Southside Sally]

I bought my Blue on eBay and have absolutely LOVED it! I have been buying and selling on eBay for over 10 years and am entirely comfortable with it. In fact, I am considering another bike on there.

[smilingcat]

I bought my Blue on eBay and have absolutely LOVED it! I have been buying and selling on eBay for over 10 years and am entirely comfortable with it. In fact, I am considering another bike on there.

Please let me know the look & feel of e-bay today in comparison to what it was even 6 month ago. they've been tweaking it a lot during the last 6 month so and it has become terribly unfriendly to small sellers and to buyers too.

1. As a seller, you can no longer leave a negative feedback to the buyer.
2. Paypal will automatically refund the money to the buyer if the buyer claims broken, not delivered etc. In one instance, they accessed a personal bank account and withdrew the money from a bank account to refund a fradulant buyer. Refund not from paypal account but from a personal bank account not directly tied to paypal nor to e-bay. I have been told that there are several well known fradulant buyers who use upwards of dozen aliases. Their MO is to buy, pay, leave a glowing feedback, rack about $2,000 or more then claim three month down the road that they never received an item.
3. buyer are encouraged to leave a negative feedback.
4. if you are not a power seller and do not offer free shipping your item will not come up in a search.
5. They are planning to force everyone to use paypal only. It already has happened in Asutralia (lawsuits filed against e-bay in Austrarlia). Same has happened or will be happening in UK.
6. Paypal now has the descretion to hold your money for 3 weeks before allowing you to access YOUR money.
7. Their revised business plan calls for turning e-bay into wal mart of internet commerce.

Anyway, I just would like to get your experience on e-bay for buying and selling.

thanks
smilingcat