Any advice on buying a bike on Ebay?

Triathlon Forum
1

OK, am I nuts? It just seems like if you know your size in a certain bike, there are some gret deals on Ebay.

Has anyone been burned badly before? Received a cracked frame or something like that?

I have a Cervelo P2K that I bought off of Ebay 2 1/2 years ago and she has been a great bike for me, Gotten me through 2 full seasons and 2 ironmans. I’v got my eye on a road bike and I am drawn towards the Trek 5900, or Madone SL. It seems like I could get one for about 2 G’s instread of paying 5 for a brand new one.

Should I go for it of just have Tom send me a new Cervelo R2.5?

2

I hope you don’t get bashed by the “LBS” guys on this site, because like it or not eBay is an unbelievably cost-effective way to buy a used or overstock bike. Just don’t bid on any bikes where the seller is overseas or wants you to pay an escrow service, or has zero feedback, etc.

There are 20 bikes on ebay any given day that are just hoaxes put out by some $hitheads in Uzbekistan trying to con people out of their money.

3

Thanks. There was a sweet bike from the UK that I was eyeing and then it mysteriously dissappeared…mmm.

4

I KNOW there are some scams there. I also KNOW that some very good deals can be found there. I’ve sold two bikes on eBay myself, and will probably sell another one there soon, and I’m one of those people that has a genuine interest in selling exactly what I’m advertising. Check the feedback scores, and don’t buy from someone with any recurrent issues, and that has a history of good feedback.

5

Yup that was most likely a scam. eBay is pretty good about taking them down, but only after a couple days & if you bid on the item, the seller will pummel you with emails asking you to buy the bike outside ebay.

I’ve bought two bikes on ebay & sold one, and bought nearly every bike component I own for sick discounts. In addition to lots of recent positive feedback, check for bikes being sold that include lots of photos & a description that matches the bike. Sounds silly, but I’ve seen Cerevelo P2s for sale that list the frame material as carbon fiber, and that say a 58cm frame size when the picture is obviously a much smaller bike. If you see glaring inconsistancies, stay away.

6

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/editorials/0000053.shtml
.

7

Be careful. Fraudulent sellers seems to love to put up high end bikes, especially Trek Madone’s and Cervelos. You can get a good bike for a good deal, but you will likely get burned if you try to score the deal of a lifetime.

8

article is all well and good Tom but you forget one major factor in all of this…not every bike shop it Bikesport and not every owner is Tom Demerly. What abou those shops who have close to what you need on hand in last years stock…looking to sell…not interested in swapping things out to make sure of fit…don’t care if it ‘really’ fits you or not, don’t know how to fit you correctly even if they cared. Who’s better off in that case…the one who did their homework and came up with a grand less for a used bike that fits as well as the one from the bike shop that is brand new? In some ways I totally agree with the article and in some ways I just have to say…yeah that’s Tom trying to get us to buy from him (or in a LBS in general) to save their livelihood…and while not a bad thing to want…again…not every shop has the customers interest at heart. What about the small town shop that doesn’t have everything in stock or doesn’t have the selection you do…wht does the athlete do then. They do exactly what Kathy did…and get the same result. Sometimes that false economy is hard to justify to everyone. Even if you’re point is very valid

9

Tom,

Your editorial was the kind of information I was looking for. I know lots of people have had good experiences buying used including myself, but more often than not itis probably “dumb luck” or " Now I’m used to this fit, even if its wrong"

thanks

10

Here’s another:

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/editorials/0000026.shtml
.

11

I think the bigger issue here is what the hell Mrs. Dr. Hepp will say about another toy…

Buy something new. I’ll send you some royalty $$$ from my new video game.

Hawk

12

Hawk,

The world is ruled by skinny white guys who can do 900’s!

She just looks at me with that look that says “do you know what I could do with 3 g’s” …ooh, I 'm gonna pay.

13

I use both Qbike and Ebay to track items and pricing.

However, I’d caution you about “eye-candy”. Determine what you want BEFORE the search begins. Otherwise you start buying stuff you don’t need and/or “stretch” what you really want.

With that in mind, FedEx should be here today with my new frame/fork!!!

14

Dr Hepp,

Just use a service such as www.escrow.com I did it when buying a bike online, it’s cost a little more but gives you complete peace of mind.

The basics,

  1. You agree on the item
  2. You send the money to www.escrow.com
  3. You get an agreed upon inspection period, 48 hrs is what I used
  4. If everthing is right you realease the money to the seller

I think it was around $125 for a $1,300 bike.

I don’t see how you could go wrong.

Jim

15

Tom, I also enjoyed the editorial. The question I have is what should we do with these high end used bikes when we buy a new bike? From the sound of this editorial a used bike is not good for much. In other sports that I have participated in there was a market for used products. Is there any shops that specializes in fitting people on used bikes? What do you do with your bikes when you get a new one?