Discussion about EBAY(please respond)
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,100
Likes: 12
From: Frederick Maryland
Overall, Ebay has been a great place. I've bought and sold several cars over Ebay, and while restoring a car (not a Vette), Ebay was nearly indispensable for finding very hard to come by parts and original accessories. Not only finding parts, it's been great to sell off my old parts off the car to help offset the costs. In fact, selling old parts paid for my wife's and my vacation trip to Florida this past summer.
The bad part about Ebay is yes...you can get screwed if not careful, but that's everywhere in life. When selling a car, someone hacked into my Ebay account, ended the auction early and relisted my car NINE times at different "Buy It Now" amounts. I caught it and Ebay quickly took care of things and made sure I didn't get charged or have to absorb any losses. I did have to change my password (twice), but no real damage.
The bad part about Ebay is yes...you can get screwed if not careful, but that's everywhere in life. When selling a car, someone hacked into my Ebay account, ended the auction early and relisted my car NINE times at different "Buy It Now" amounts. I caught it and Ebay quickly took care of things and made sure I didn't get charged or have to absorb any losses. I did have to change my password (twice), but no real damage.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 443
Likes: 0
From: Rexton New Brunswick
EBay
I have had tremendous luck with Ebay. In the maritimes there arent many resources for C3 parts at a reasonable price. I basically rebuilt my car through ebay or links I discovered while browsing there. Now if my new Hooker sidepipe headers would just arrive, I'd be happy.
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,991
Likes: 3
From: Piscataway NJ
I have had good luck on ebay. But I have noticed a decline in the amount of items listed over the past year. "Corvette Parts". Use to be around 10,000 + now average around 4,000. I also noticed mostly new items which is not a bad thing.I also link the BJ auction to the rise in some of the cars and parts. Just an example I bought a Tilt Tele column for 100.00 in 2004 which was a lot to me. But now they bring 800.00 to 1k. It sure cuts down on restoration time finding parts.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 3,593
Likes: 103
From: Southern Indiana
Whats most popular will always get criticized the most.
You just have to watch the people, there are slime ***** on there like
Bruce Alvarez
2416 Bluffton Dr W
Jacksonville FL 32224
1-904-307-9962
Who will rip you off.
You just have to watch the people, there are slime ***** on there like
Bruce Alvarez
2416 Bluffton Dr W
Jacksonville FL 32224
1-904-307-9962
Who will rip you off.
Safety Car
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 4,176
Likes: 7
From: Jennings LA
I have been doing buisness on e-bay for over five years bought and sold many items. it is nothing more than a worldwide classified. there is great exposure if you are trying to sell an item. ebay just like the world has its share of scumbags it is not just an e-bay problem. buyer beware and look at the feedback and you should be fine 
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 2,209
Likes: 12
From: Montgomery Alabama
Cruise-In VII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '06
I have bought several cars and car parts on eBay.
1. 1962 GMC Truck
2. 1994 Q45
3. 1982 Corvette
4. 1973 Corvette (the guy I bought it from bought it off of ebay)
5. at least $10,000 worth of parts bought
6. at least $5,000 worth of parts sold
So far, so good.
I agree, you have to know what you are buying, before you start bidding. You can pay more on eBay.
1. 1962 GMC Truck
2. 1994 Q45
3. 1982 Corvette
4. 1973 Corvette (the guy I bought it from bought it off of ebay)
5. at least $10,000 worth of parts bought
6. at least $5,000 worth of parts sold
So far, so good.
I agree, you have to know what you are buying, before you start bidding. You can pay more on eBay.
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CF JASOC Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 8,040
Likes: 34
From: Downtown Annapolis, MD. The Future is where we all have to live. Let's not screw it up.
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,382
Likes: 2,605
From: Burning Jet-A
I use ebay for many things, and the Corvette Parts end of the hobby, as well as meeting people, (Like Stan) come from ebay. Its a great way to greet and meet 68'ers.
On the other hand it almost scares me to talk about ebay, because I have found so many neat things, I really can't believe that I have some of them. The competition for some things has really gotten stiffer the last couple years. I would rather the smart folks stay away and let me take all the risks....
The "NEW" ebay motors was a disaster for a while however...I'm glad its gone...
On the other hand it almost scares me to talk about ebay, because I have found so many neat things, I really can't believe that I have some of them. The competition for some things has really gotten stiffer the last couple years. I would rather the smart folks stay away and let me take all the risks....
The "NEW" ebay motors was a disaster for a while however...I'm glad its gone...
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 10,674
Likes: 122
From: Millington Illinois
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
I have over 700 transactions on E-bay. About 1/2 sales and 1/2 purchases. My rating is 99%. I was sold not as advertised items 4 times and each time I did the right thing and tried to resolve it with the seller. After not getting it resolved I did what you should do and left negative feedback. Then the seller returned the favor. In 3 cases then they contacted me trying to get me to withdraw my feedback and they would do the same. That will not happen. I will take the 4 negatives rather than give them the ability to clear their negatives if they were dishonest even though it cost me one as well. Now I list my nicer items here on the forum in the parts for sale section. I would rather deal with others on here than pay e-bay and paypal. This has worked fairly well but it usually takes more time and I probably don't get what I could on E-bay for a lot of my items.
Racer
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 437
Likes: 0
From: Key West Fl
I've had nothing but good experiences on eBay. Like others have said you just need to be careful, look at the feedback. The competition has gotten harder over the years. But you can still find some good deals out there.
Racer
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 320
Likes: 0
I do a good deal of both buying and sellling on ebay. Shopping on ebay is like shopping anywhere else, you have to have to be careful. I review the feedback of every seller I anticipate doing business with, I look at what they have sold in the past, and what other buyers are saying about them. I also email the seller and ask questions that they should know if the own the item. A little caution can make the ebay experience a good one.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,924
Likes: 6
In February 2008, I will have been on ebay for 10 years. In the early days, (and ebay was still a fledgling webite as well) it was easy for people to get duped and taken. Nowadays it's very secure and people are very well protected.
I just checked and I have over 4000 positive feedbacks and a rating of 2665. 3 negs from the early days which were retalitory. And amazingly all from sellers where I was the buyer.
I sell more than buy these days, & have been a power seller (not currently)
If I could quit my real job, I could live via ebay. It's just the wife who's not on board with that.
So to answer the question. Yes, I understand why ebay has it's nay-sayers. But it's the first place I look for stuff I'm looking for.
I just checked and I have over 4000 positive feedbacks and a rating of 2665. 3 negs from the early days which were retalitory. And amazingly all from sellers where I was the buyer.
I sell more than buy these days, & have been a power seller (not currently)
If I could quit my real job, I could live via ebay. It's just the wife who's not on board with that.
So to answer the question. Yes, I understand why ebay has it's nay-sayers. But it's the first place I look for stuff I'm looking for.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 3,268
Likes: 2
From: Minnesota in the summer, Las Vegas in the winter
I have made over 200 transactions ob ebay; most of them for car parts. Very few problems. Some sellers are a little slow but most of them are fast and thorough.
Advanced
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 81
Likes: 0
From: St. Peters MO
I love ebay. I sell stuff that other people want and then have money in my paypal account to get whatever I think I need. I did most of my Christmas shopping online this year and found exactly what I needed. I didn't have to leave my house and saved some money at the same time.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,319
Likes: 0
From: Stamford Ct
I have been on ebay for nearly 9 years and have bought and sold cars and parts primarily and have had many good experiences. I have friends who purchased cars sight unseen on ebay and have had disasterous results, as would be anytime you would take the sellers word for condition without examining it for yourself
Pro
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 515
Likes: 66
From: Grosse Pte. Mich.
Ebay as a service is great. What's not to love.
What stinks about it are the scam artists who take advantage of people.
When looking for a Vette, I looked at a car that was listed on Ebay.
Through an Ebay store actually.
It was about 75 miles away, so I wasted a Saturday going to look at it.
It read something like this: '72 Roadster, good driver, fresh paint.
It had a "Buy It Now" of $19,500. Sounds good eh? The guy on the phone made it sound really great.
What I found was a horror. 20 foot paint at best. The electrical system
had issues. No instrumentation operation at all. No wiper operation.
A blower you couldn't turn off. Mechanically, even worse. The car was unfit to be on the road... the brakes were shot. Who knows what condition the frame & birdcage were in. I didn't check that far.
I was livid that I had driven all the way out to see it. This guy tells me he'll stop the auction early for 19k. I'm thinking this guy ought to be arrested.
The scariest part of all of this... There was a lot of bidding activity
between 16k and low 18 something. Fortunately, it did not meet it's reserve. Let the buyer beware.
What stinks about it are the scam artists who take advantage of people.
When looking for a Vette, I looked at a car that was listed on Ebay.
Through an Ebay store actually.
It was about 75 miles away, so I wasted a Saturday going to look at it.
It read something like this: '72 Roadster, good driver, fresh paint.
It had a "Buy It Now" of $19,500. Sounds good eh? The guy on the phone made it sound really great.
What I found was a horror. 20 foot paint at best. The electrical system
had issues. No instrumentation operation at all. No wiper operation.
A blower you couldn't turn off. Mechanically, even worse. The car was unfit to be on the road... the brakes were shot. Who knows what condition the frame & birdcage were in. I didn't check that far.
I was livid that I had driven all the way out to see it. This guy tells me he'll stop the auction early for 19k. I'm thinking this guy ought to be arrested.
The scariest part of all of this... There was a lot of bidding activity
between 16k and low 18 something. Fortunately, it did not meet it's reserve. Let the buyer beware.