I am thinking of purchasing a bike on eBay, and was just wondering the 'twitcher’s experiences with it…the good, bad & ugly…
Please comment…
Bought a Griffen triton on ebay recently. Had no problems. Did check the sellers history closely before the purchase.
Would suggest research the seller and make sure you know the bike or frameset you are considering. Do your homework on the brand and make sure the frameset is the right size. As you know there are sometimes subtle differences in sizing and fit criteria between manufacturers.
fal7 in Houston
I have bought and sold bikes, frames, and parts. Just be careful and KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BUYING.
I’ve purchased all my current bikes on ebay (I just realized that - kinda scarey). In a couple cases, something has been wrong with the bike that wasn’t relayed to me. On my road bike, the rear derailleur hanger had been smashed, and had a helicoil put in. I didn’t know until I bent the hanger again, and had to put a frame saver in it. I bought a track bike a while ago, and while riding on the velodrome, noticed the headset was loose. So I rode a couple more laps, and took it home to work on it. Put it on my workstand, and the front fork fell apart! The crown and legs dropped right off the steerer tube.
Two other bikes I bought because 1, the bike was too small for someone, and 2, the guy was on a team that was sponsored by a different bike company and had to get rid of the offending bike. Unbelievable deals and unbelievable bikes in both cases. I’ve also bought from guys with too much stuff, and gotten great deals (a pair of zipp 340s with tires and cassette for 200).
I bought my Bianchi new on ebay and have been very happy with it. I’ve bought a sold a few things on e-bay and only had one problem. Some one was the high bidder and never finished the purchase but everything else has been good. I just figure that if it looks to good to be true, it probably is.
Bought a closeout QR Kilo with no problems last year. Smooth transaction, it was as advertised. Turned out to not fit and I wrecked it, but the ebay transaction was fine. Be wary buying from people with little or no feedback, use escrow if possible.
One of the bikes I was looking at pretty hard was from a seller with little feedback & it seemed, as one post described, too good to be true (or is this, as another described, a “good deal”)…
Strider, how do you go about using escrow?
Look under the services link on the eBay home page, it describes it pretty well. If I’m dealing with someone with little feedback on a big ticket item, I’d ask if they’d accept escrow if I paid the fees. Some sellers will, some don’t want the hassle, but ALL of the scammers will refuse.
I bought my bike on ebay and am very happy with it. Don’t forget to figure packing/shipping in to the cost. If its in your area you’re in good shape. Here in HI we get screwed on the shipping of almost everything…kj
i’ve bought two bikes on ebay. both were less than half of retail price. one was new, one was slightly used. for the first one, i used an escrow service and the seller(who had no feedback) and i split the cost. for the second one, the seller had tons of positive feedback.
both paypal and ebay have buyer protection. be sure you know what you’re getting, ask any questions you have before the auction ends, ask for more pics if you aren’t satisfied with the ones provided, etc.
good luck.
BUYERS BEWARE!
After your suggestions, I emailed the seller to consider escrowing the bike (I had previously not known about that service on ebay)…I never heard back from him/her & today, when checking for the listing again, the bike has been taken off of auction…this was obviously a scam.
A few things I noticed about the listing that you may want to be aware of in the future (because when searching again, I came up with another similar bike being sold by a “different” user). In both instances: The seller was a “newbie” (less than 30 days) with 0 feedback. The auction was a “private auction,” i.e. bidders’ names were not disclosed The seller claimed to be in Canada, but the shipping location of the item was from London The seller requested to email him for “Buy It Now” price, which, on one of the auctions, was the only way to purchase the bike (it claimed that any bids would be canceled), but no “Buy It Now” option was listed on auction. (In my experience with ebay, this requires banking and/or email verification…I can’t quite remember which)
I hope this helps anyone considering purchasing a bike on ebay…
I can assure you it would be safe to buy THIS bike on Ebay. 
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7149343540&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1
I am not sure seller looks a little sketchy. Just kidding.
I bought an Aegis Trident for about $2500 two years ago and it was perfect. The owner was the manager of Tri-Speed in Virgina so I had assurance that it was legit. But during my search and bidding process I saw numerous fraudulent auctions based in Canada on high end bikes with bogus pictures. In fact at one point I saw an auction pop up with pictures from the auction I was bidding on and sent a note to the seller that I had turned him in as a fraud and he promptly pulled the auction.
Michael
Hey! Can you do that? Pimpin’ on the Main forum?
I just listed a bike on ebay myself.
I find these threads very interesting. I just posted my mountain bike on ebay. It is the first thing that I have ever listed, so I am a newbie. I think that I should have just gone with the WantAds. My concern is that I want to sell the bike and get a decent price, but I also want to make sure that the person who buys it is going to be happy. So what do you do to be sure that the person who buys the bike is not disappointed? You tell them the condition of the bike to the best of your knowledge, and explain any problems that you are aware of, but what about what you don’t know?
I am selling the bike because I just don’t like the way it rides. For the right person, I think that it will be an awesome, very reasonably priced ride.(Let’s face it, they haven’t changed the bike much in three years.) Once it, and a few other things in the basement, is gone, then I hope to buy either a 'cross bike(see yesterday’s thread) or maybe I’ll just get a Jamis Dakota XC and hopefully never buy another bike.
The reality of ebay is that depending on your motivation and personality, what you consider to be a great deal might be a rip-off for someone else. The fact that there are thousands of scumbags out there trying to rip people off just makes it harder for everyone.
Good luck with your auction.
I agree about one man’s trash being another man’s treasure. I have bought stuff that was clearly lied about in the description. I’ve also sold a couple things where the buyer didn’t feel the item was in as good condition as I described. The bottom line is try to be honest, even about details you think might not be important.
Isn’t west chester where the really rich people live?
I was in the Phila, area not so long ago and I was impressed by the quaint beayty of the town. I stayed at a beautiful hotel. Seemed like there could be some nice riding out there, but traffic could be an issue.
I’ve found that when buying on Ebay I like to ask questions of the seller that only someone that actually has the item will be able to answer. I also like to add in some stupid questions, for example: Is that the titanium P3? This isnt perfect, but will help highlight some of the scams real quick.
I bought my first tri-bike on eBay. A small red Yaqui. I was the only bidder. I guess not a lot of demand for a 46 frame.
The seller was brand new to eBay, so before I bid I peppered him with a ton of questions. We spoke on the phone a few times before I bid. Since he was from the Philadelphia area, I asked him if he’d be willing to do the transaction in person somewhere between NY and Philly.
We met at the Wendys off of exit 7 of the NJ turnpike. He trhrew in an extra set of training wheels for $150. I paid his gas and tolls which was a lot cheaper then paying for having the bike taken apart, and shipped to me.
The bike has served me well for two seasons, but I just bought a new tribike this year. When I get around to it, I’ll be putting the old bike back on eBay.
As other posters have stated, you have to know your seller.