Nelson - blow me down you are right - I retract that and will amend my post. I have searched and searched Ebay Ts&Cs and it is not listed as a fee....I'm sure it used to be but not any more... apologies However there is a section on "Reclaiming Best Offer Fees" ??? So if they don't charge ( they state Best Offer is free quite clearly ) why have a process for reclaiming the fees??? Confused
All very well to say support local suppliers , but when I can get something , from the UK , on my door step for 1/2 what I would pay here in NZ , and in a similar time frame ( no shit I got Capri axle bearings from Burton power UK faster than the local parts supermarket could get me a sump gasket from Auckland ) at less than 1/2 price ( inc freight ).... why bother even leaving the house H
I have to say that I'd not buy or sell a car/bike on eBay. I just don't trust it. A guy at work buys and sells cars all the time and regularly gets his fingers burnt (both ways) and he still doesn't seem to learn. I just don't get it. That said I do use it for small stuff, like consumables, and I've had only one problem ever.
I totally agree. Ebay may be full of trade sales rather than private auctions, but the vast majority of them are well set up, fast, and cheaper than the shops. You do have to have some common sense about you though, cos there are a few idiots on there. I ordered some small bits for my Guzzi from the local dealers last month, they still haven't rung me; meanwhile I ordered the same bits on ebay, they were cheaper and they arrived within 48 hours. No contest. I've bought and sold loads of bikes on ebay with very little in the way of problems. You get the odd tyre kicker, but you'd get them selling privately too. At the end of the day there's a massive audience on ebay; if you can't sell your bike there it's probably your fault.
I agree, I've bought and sold bikes through eBay. I've never had anybody try to rip me off, just the timewasters that feed on the anonimity of the internet. I had one the other day who came in with an offer which I refused. He then started to jump up quite quickly in £250 increments. I spotted him for a timewaster from the off. I played along with him for a bit as he kept increasing his offers, all the while he's never seen the bike or spoken to me on the phone. I let him go on for a while until he had basically offered me the asking price, to which I agreed. Then he asked if I would deliver it a hundred miles for him as he had sold all of his bike gear last year. Again I played along and agreed. I've never heard from him since. Oh, and his 1st mail was "What the lowest you'll take mate?" I still have the deposit from a guy who says he's coming next week. and have spoken to a couple of decent people on the phone who are interested if it falls through. All through eBay. Oh and the offer of more p/x's than I can shake a stick at, but it's mainly from people who want rid of their sh**e
I still have a £600 deposit from a guy (honest but a bit foolish) who paid it as deposit about 4 years ago on a bike of mine. He had phoned me before auction end and asked if he could put a non-returnable deposit on it and would I wait a month for the balance as he was awaiting an inheritance from his mothers estate. I didn't like the idea but when he offered £600 (and he was the only bidder) I couldn't refuse. Predictably 1 month turned into 2, 3 and finally 4 months - I finally got fed up and sent him an email and text saying that if he didn't cough up the balance (£4200) in exactly two weeks time the deal was off and I was keeping the deposit. He didn't , I kept the money and have not heard from him since - he never even answered my various emails and texts. There are some odd people about...
I've bought sold loads of stuff on Ebay,had a few twats ,(in fact I had -1 feedback after my first listing:geezer bought our 27ft long Hobby caravan,didn't turn up for it...then gave me negative feedback because he'd found his driveway was too short,and it was my fault...hohum). It's a great way to get worldwide exposure for pennies,and if it's a big-buck item the deal nearly always gets done off ebay/end the listing early/item no longer available. Proper buyers will almost always come and view or send you a deposit,if they don't they're not really interested,probably got half an eye on Eastenders and scratching their bollocks.Oh yeah,and anyone who uses text spelling in an email gets their bids removed... I once had a young lad send me £15,000 plus the dreaded for a used truck I was selling...he'd not viewed it,I told him £200 would secure it and money back if he didn't like it when he came to see it,but he transferred the full amount regardless...Jeesus....
Oh by the way I didn't exactly 'make' on the deal as by the time the original 'buyer' had disappeared it was winter and the best price I could get was £4100... so with his £600 deposit I was £100 short of the original £4800 asking price... I did get to use the bike for 5 more months though and maybe £4.8k was too much...:biggrin:
I've spotted a new buisness idea here. Just keep collecting deposits but never sell anything..................This time next year Rodney, we'll be millionaires !
Well the selling on ebay so far.I have had in historic order-one chancer with a pitifull offer.One real 'enthusiastic' time waster.One 'self styled expert' who decided the bike didn't have all the correct parts.Tritons don't have correct parts,they are all different.This was followed by the predictable 'what will you take for cash mate'.Then we had the out of the blue offer 'I will send a courier with £6000,will you accept' to which a no answer was sent.Within minutes another mail from the guy asking me 'what's your best price then mate'.I told him to make an offer through ebay.He replied in capital letters 'I will consider it'.I therefore marked him down as a moron/arsehole.I have told the latest chancer to place his offer via ebay as it the highest so far and he could get the bike.I think I shall do this for any subsequent stupid offers. .
These are a selection of mails reveived through eBay on my bike. All 100% genuine :biggrin: Which is currently at about £6000 on eBay. I've never heard from this bloke in my life. I'm sure i would have remembered him if he 'nearly' bought my bike. I though it was just me, but other people seem to be having the same experiences. It's only this thread that's keeping me sane.
It does make me wonder if I am on a different planet to a lot of these people.I to am glad it is not just me that gets these strange people and their even stranger negotiation/bartering skills. I am thinking that I will pull my ad tomorrow,wait till we have a new workshop built in the garden,put my old Triton in there and rebuild it with all the goodies I have collected. Since being put on new medication my life has been transformed over the last week and it is the first time in over 3 years that I can see some form of future.The only fly in the ointment at the moment is high cost of the meds and I am being reviewed over next few months to see if I am getting the fullest benefit from them.Pity I wasn't given them 2 years ago.
I sold my Son's 125 on ebay, auction with a realistic starting price of IIRC £650 (I can't stand auctions with a low start but a 'reserve', don't see the point and wouldn't bother bidding on anything with a reserve), it eventually sold to somebody 10 miles away for £740, he collected it and was well pleased - job jobbed. But during the sale I got the usual 'interesting' offers, the best of which was would I deliver it to Newcastle (200 miles away) for the all-in price of £300? WTF...
