Ebay

Gunslingergirl · #1 04-12-2007, 12:17 PM

I'm new to this whole Ebay thing. I was on the site yesterday and noticed that there are some hunting accessories and other products on there. That just struck me as odd, I'm not sure why.

I'm just wondering, do a lot of hunters buy hunting equipment or supplies off Ebay? Do you worry about the quality of what you buy?

Judging by some of the prices, it looks like I could pick up some things pretty cheap. I just wanted some feedback from people who might have bought hunting equipment from Ebay before I took the plunge.

Any information and/or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

GSG

GoodOlBoy · #2 04-12-2007, 01:04 PM

Be sure you know the item BEFORE you buy it. Just because it looks like a blah blah blah does not mean it is the same quality.

Thanks being said I have done alot of buisness with ebay over the years. Just watch out for the scam emails associated with site membership and you will be fine.

GoodOlBoy

Rocky Raab · #3 04-12-2007, 01:13 PM

Most transactions are fine. Always take a good look at the feedback comments before you bid on anything.

The big rule is the same as with anything else: if it starts to seem hinky, it probably is. That is especially true for an item that you bid on and the item is retracted from sale before the end of the auction, followed by a surreptitious email from the seller offering it again under some pretense. Ask Fabs how THAT scam works!

Most of the bonafide retail shops that offer items on eBay are legit. They may offer used stuff but ID it as such in the ad.

(I got a $250 golf driver just today. It is mildly used but I paid only $5 for it plus $13 UPS delivery. A steal even by eBay standards. On the flip side, I bid and won a fish finder last week, only to have the store/seller admit they no longer had one in stock. They offered another model as replacement, but I declined. They did make a prompt refund and I gave them a deserved neutral feedback rating.)

fabsroman · #4 04-13-2007, 02:03 AM

I bought a $1,000 bike frame for $650 and have put 500 miles on it so far with no problems.

Just bought a baby monitor from a guy and he shipped me the wrong one. Says that it is the new improved model at 900 mhz instead of 2.4 ghz and with the capability to use 2 cameras instead of the others capability to use 4 cameras. I'll be sending him an e-mail telling him that we don't want it.

As far as hunting equipment goes, I haven't bought anything off of ebay yet, but that is because I only recently started using ebay (i.e., started using it this past summer to buy bike parts and sell miscellaneous stuff from around the house). I have had a lot of good luck with it, and wouldn't hesitate to buy hunting equipment on ebay if I needed something that was offered. However, right now I just don't need anything more for hunting other than a farm.

tooldummy · #5 04-13-2007, 07:42 AM

I've bought some calls, a spotting scope, a Nikon rifle scope (pretty good deal from an E-bay store), and a lot of brass to reload with. I've sold several items too. I've never had any problems yet but like Goodoldboy says, watch out for the scam E-mails.

Gunslingergirl · #6 04-13-2007, 08:12 AM

Yeah, I've read a lot about the scam e-mails just on this forum alone. People seem pretty split on the question of Ebay, they either have great experiences and love it, or they have terrible experiences and hate it.

It also seems like kind of a weird place to buy hunting supplies. Guess I mostly think of Ebay for videos and clothes and stuff. As I've been looking I've discovered there are many more kinds of items available than I had thought. Who knew?

Thanks for the information guys. If you have any more advice for me, please share it.

GSG

Skinny Shooter · #7 04-13-2007, 08:19 AM

I could point you to a seller who will have some nice hand-wrought ironwork for sale next week if you want.

GoodOlBoy · #8 04-13-2007, 10:17 AM

sadly enough many of those "bad experiences" had nothing to do with ebay itself, but rather someone let their guard down and got scammed via email. Its kinda like blaming the gun for committing the robbery.

GoodOlBoy

fabsroman · #9 04-13-2007, 11:09 AM

GOB,

Ebay does have some issues with it, which they have been trying to make better. For instance, there was the 2nd chance offer scam. One of the first items I ever bid for on ebay was a set of carbon fiber bike wheels that retail for $2,000. I bid all the way to $1,150 before I stopped bidding. I cannot tell you how many e-mails I received from people offering me a second chance offer. Obviously, I was extremely leery about it since I received so many. Ebay has cured that with the use of hidden bidder ID's during an auction.

Now, they have the link in a question issue which they have not solved and which can cause a less than leery person, or a person with his guard down, to give the scammer an ebay login name and password.

The issues with ebay are defects that they know about. Kind of like a gun with a faulty safety design. The manufacturer should be held somewhat accountable for the death of a person when that safety malfunctions, along with the holder of the gun too for pointing the muzzle at somebody. Same can be said for some of the issues with ebay.

My bad experiences have generally been with people ending auctions early for no apparent reason. The very first item I bid on was a carbon fiber Colnago bike frame that retails for $4,400. It was at $2,000 hours before the end of the auction and I was going to bid $2,400 on it at the auction's close. The reserve had already been met, but the seller cancelled that auction. Next item I was bidding on was a set of Zipp 202 carbon fiber wheels that retail for $1,750. There was a Buy It Now price of $850 on them and a reserve of $499. I know the reserve price because I bid $500 when the bidding was at $50 and all of a sudden I was the winning bidder at $499. Surprise. I learned how the reserve price works very quickly. I put in another bid for $600 so that I wouldn't get over bid and I was the winning bidder with only an hour left in the auction and there was no action on the auction. The guy cancelled the auction after the reserve price was met. That really pissed me off. I reported it to ebay and they did nothing about it. So, I wasted my time bidding on the item.

Ebay has its faults, and the biggest one is that it is seller oriented because the sellers pay ebay's fees.