Buying a bike off Ebay: The Good, Bad and Ugly

[teigyr]

I don't have much to add except for I have purchased a bike from eBay and it was fine. I think you can get a feel for sellers and whether or not they are scammers.

I have friends who swear by esnipe (http://www.esnipe.com). I'm torn...it kind of seems like cheating but I will bet anything I've been outbid by people using this service.

[cherinyc]

I have friends who swear by esnipe (http://www.esnipe.com). I'm torn...it kind of seems like cheating but I will bet anything I've been outbid by people using this service.

Cheating Shmeating.... I want this bike. Can you tell I was a tantrum throwing child?

I signed up for esnipe. I am still a little baffled about how it works, but I think I get it enough to just sit back and wait now. I've got about 12 hours, so....

I wish I had known about all these techniques before I placed the first stupid bid - which of course raised interest. Darn it!

[short cut sally]

Hey Cheri, hows the bidding going?? Today is the day isn't it? (I've never bought a bike off ebay, lots and lots of biking stuff though..) And I do bid odd amounts. NEVER put in whole amounts, like $125.00. I'll put in 125.76, that change is usually what wins the bid sometimes. That's my theory, as it is Mimi's too. .

[bluebug32]

Cheating Shmeating.... I want this bike. Can you tell I was a tantrum throwing child?

I signed up for esnipe. I am still a little baffled about how it works, but I think I get it enough to just sit back and wait now. I've got about 12 hours, so....

I wish I had known about all these techniques before I placed the first stupid bid - which of course raised interest. Darn it!

I felt bad at first, but I've definitely won things through esnipe before. The rules of ebay have changed, so it's hard not to follow and use the tricks that everyone else does. I agree with bidding odd numbers too ($12.01, 8.59, etc.). It seems to work. And (this is always a shot in the dark), but have you contacted the buyer with an offer? Some people don't mind selling early if they know they will get the price they were looking for. Good luck!

[cherinyc]

Bidding is down to just over 2 hours now, and no action in a day. The # counter at the bottom is at 217 though - so people are watching it. The bid is at $519.11 with me highest. I had placed my ebay max bid at $5X5.00 (#'s have been disguised to protect the innocent) . Obviously it was a previous ebay sleuth, and not myself, who bid $510.11. My max bid is set at I also went into esnipe and gave a max bid of $5X9.74. (I don't want to give away my info - JIC)

If my max bid doesn't go up by $10 from the last person's bid - say they bid $5X3.11 and my max bid is $5X9.74 - will ebay take it? Or will it be bounced back as not high enough?

I did contact the seller asking him about where the buy it now price went. he said he didn't know, but would try and get it back on for me. He said if he couldn't get it back, I would just have to battle it out with the others. I took that as he was not willing to sell early. Besides, I thought ebay wouldn't let you stop early?

I think I will be outbid - thing is, that this bike - brand new at retail is on sale for ~$529.00. I'm not sure if people know that - but if they did their homework, maybe that will keep the bids where they are.

(fingers crossed)

[SouthernBelle]

In the event you have the high bid on ebay, won't esnipe then raise it?

[cherinyc]

In the event you have the high bid on ebay, won't esnipe then raise it?

No - you can't out bid yourself. esnipe goes in, acting as me, and with 6 sec to go - just puts in the high bid I gave them. Ebay acts as a proxy, only upping your bid enough to beat the last bid. It will see my highest bid, but won't apply it unless needed.

I was wondering the same thing - so I read up on that.

[mimitabby]

once ANYONE bids, the buy it now thing goes away. That's the rule.

I don't use Esnipe. I just decide before hand how high i'm willing to go and bid.

good luck, i hope you get the bike. Change your bid to 6xx.xx

[cherinyc]

Guess what? I won the bike - for less than the original Buy Now Price, and way under my max bid. Yippee!!!

Now..UPS Insurance or NO UPS Insurance...That is the question. Isn't there UPS Insurance built in anyway? And if the bike gets to me in anything but "New" condition - like the seller is promising....well, then it's their fault kinda, right?


I WON!!
Here she is. Think I will call her Lucy. or maybe Dragon.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ayphotohosting

[TxDoc]

Congrats on winning the bike!
I would suggest that you ask if they can ship using FedEx or DHL instead of UPS - much better service.
And yes, there is a 'built in' insurance but it's up to $100 - so if the bike is worth more than $100 then you have to pay for the extra insurance. I highly recommend that you do that - especially if you use UPS. I come from a recent bad experience where UPS damaged (irreparably) a carbon frame that was shipped to me. So I try not to do any business with them anymore...

[ridenread]

Definitely purchase insurance. It is not very expensive. Unfortuantely no matter how well it is packed, things do happen in transit. It is not the sellers fault if something happens once it leaves his hands if he packs properly. If you have the insurance for what the bike is worth, that is the only way you will get your money back if something does happen.

I sold on ebay for years,always packed things so carefully and securely and unfortunately sometimes things broke in transit. I always encouraged buyers to purchase the insurance so they would be covered.

Enjoy your new ride

[elk]

The UPS DHL Fed Ex race sems to be regional.....In Maine they told us UPS was by far the most reliable and safest...

In any case I would DEFINATELY buy insurance for a higher priced item.

and BTW...I just bought a new Bianchi on ebay with no problems....although you might want to have your LBS give it a once over....

[teigyr]

Yay!!! I am so glad it worked out for you

[Triskeliongirl]

Congrats on winning the auction! Such a pretty color too. I use esnipe too, and usually set it for 4 sec (once I was outbid at 6). I don't think its cheating, there are no rules against it, its a service like anything else you choose to pay for and use or not, everyone has the same opportunity.

Definitely purchase insurance and definitely go UPS over fedex ground (or fedex home delivery which is the same as fedex ground but for home deliveries). UPS allows you to really insure it for what it is worth, and then claim that as long as you set up the insurance correctly (but check w seller since it seems in auction he specified $100, tell him you want it insured for price you are paying him). Fedex ground (ground not express) lets you pay to insure it for whatever value you declare but then has a max allowed claim of $100 regardless of what you thought you were insuring it for. I know this cuz they 'lost' my husbands trek 5500 for a couple of weeks. Turned out an employee stole it and it was recovered, but only cuz we had a friend call a friend that works for them who researched it for us. UPS is safer cuz all workers are real full time employees w benefits, etc.. Fedex Ground (which is run differently from fedex express) uses contract drivers and other temporary workers so its harder to control theft. I will never use fedex ground again for anything worth >$100 or with sentimental value. They also ruined my husband's bike trip......... And then they had the nerve to charge us for the shipping (they removed the charge when we called, but that is the procedure, they charge you and you have to ask to have them credit your credit card).

Fedex Express is fine though, but very expensive for a large item like a bike. Never insure a bike for more than you will be able to document value though, that is just throwing money away.

[Aggie_Ama]

Congratulations!

One word of caution, if it looks a little more than one time used have the LBS check it out. Why? They are in College Station and the only true mountain bike trail I know of there is a sand pit. It might need a once over to make sure it is clean, maybe not just my husband ran into a lot of mechanicals over time from not realizing what that trail did to his bike. This is probably not going to be an issue but you know buyer beware.

It sure is a pretty bike you must be thrilled!