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Post by Ragtop on Jan 9, 2024 4:51:59 GMT -5
I used to be a big eBayer back in the early days. But then it seemed to become a stronghold for pimps and thieves and scammers. I likened it to the Mos Eisley cantina in Star Wars. Haven't been there for 10 years now.
But I've been unable to find a particular Martin guitar that I'd like to have (again!), so I had a look on eBay just now; sure enough, there is one there. Looks good, and the price is really good. The seller has 121 "positive" feedbacks. No red flags in sight.
Still, I'm leery. Maybe I'll contact the seller with a few questions to try and get a read on him.
Anybody still eBaying? Any problems?
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Post by jazzguy on Jan 9, 2024 5:12:33 GMT -5
No problems if you're reaaonably careful. I've been registered since the beginning, about 25 yrs w out issue.
The only blip was a cellphone screen protector that got lost in the mail but that's usps' fault.
Frankly I do a large percentage of my shopping there, from shoes to tools.
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Post by Rick Knight on Jan 9, 2024 8:13:29 GMT -5
I haven't made a major purchase on ebay in quite a while; but still use it for smaller things like books, CDs, etc.
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Post by Larry Madsen on Jan 9, 2024 8:33:27 GMT -5
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Post by Mike the marksman on Jan 9, 2024 8:37:14 GMT -5
Not a bunch, maybe once/twice a year for vinyl records, but I've been buying stuff on there since I was a teenager, never had a problem.
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Post by bluzcat on Jan 9, 2024 9:16:41 GMT -5
I still use it, and even still sell from time to time, but mostly smaller items worth less than $500. I bought guitars and amps on EBay back in the day, but nothing like that in a long time. They do seem to lean more protective of the buyer these days.
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Post by Leftee on Jan 9, 2024 10:14:29 GMT -5
I started out my online selling/buying on eBay maybe 20 years ago. I was quite active for @5 years. Then I had a couple bad experiences as a seller and I stopped. I didn’t get burned, but it took every bit of 90 days to get each issue resolved.
These days I buy maybe 1 or 2 things a year on eBay. Usually inexpensive tools or gear. I did buy a guitar a couple years ago. The seller was Musicians Friend though.
I think their resolution process now is much better than what I experienced. I’d probably ask the seller some questions and go from there.
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Post by orrk01 on Jan 9, 2024 10:31:02 GMT -5
I only buy on eBay because I refuse to become an Amazon Prime member. My experience with Amazon is that they punish non-Prime members with extra-slow shipping, which annoys me. Anything I'm tempted to buy on Amazon can usually be found on eBay for the same price. That said, I only buy relatively inexpensive items. I wouldn't spring for anything nearly as expensive as a Martin guitar.
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Post by jazzguy on Jan 9, 2024 11:30:36 GMT -5
Did you at least contact the seller before leaving a negative? I only did once in 25 yrs because the seller ignored repeated questions about non shipping damage |
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matryx81
Wholenote
I think I know the reason but I can't spell it.
Posts: 771
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Post by matryx81 on Jan 9, 2024 11:34:20 GMT -5
I haven't made a major purchase on ebay in quite a while; but still use it for smaller things like books, CDs, etc. Count me in this camp too. |
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Post by Larry Madsen on Jan 9, 2024 11:36:44 GMT -5
Did you at least contact the seller before leaving a negative? I only did once in 25 yrs because the seller ignored repeated questions about non shipping damage Of course, I did. |
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Post by Taildragger on Jan 9, 2024 11:52:23 GMT -5
Every so often I still buy something on there. Art stuff, most recently: some drafting templates, a Stanley #400 Framing Vise and a Beugler Pinstriping Tool with a bunch of heads (that I got for a great price). Used to buy lots of vintage car parts and automotive tools on there. Out of several hundred purchases, I only got burned a bit once and I was able to get a partial refund from the seller without having to go to "official" remediation. I felt that the item description misrepresented what was being sold and it was too large and cumbersome to bother with return shipping. Early on, I found that it was important to ask very specific questions about aspects of the item that were not described or pictured. If I got no reply or some questions went unanswered, I didn't bid. It's very important to know the value of what you're looking at, set a limit on what you're willing to pay and than not exceed that limit. Some people get caught up in the excitement of last-minute bidding frenzy at the close of the auction and wind up paying way too much.
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Post by rdr on Jan 9, 2024 12:02:01 GMT -5
I haven't bought or sold anything on Ebay for awhile. Seller costs were high, although the audience is larger.
I have dealt mainly with Reverb, and if I intend to buy something from Sweetwater, sell to them (no seller fees).
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Post by jazzguy on Jan 9, 2024 12:19:53 GMT -5
I haven't bought or sold anything on Ebay for awhile. Seller costs were high, although the audience is larger. I have dealt mainly with Reverb, and if I intend to buy something from Sweetwater, sell to them (no seller fees). Reverb had lower fees in the beginning but higher than eBay now |
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Post by bluzcat on Jan 9, 2024 13:55:23 GMT -5
My last amp sale was through Sweetwater’s Gear Exchange. It went well.
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Post by Ragtop on Jan 9, 2024 14:30:24 GMT -5
My last amp sale was through Sweetwater’s Gear Exchange. It went well. I haven't bought anything yet from Sweetwater Gear Exchange, but I've look around there. Seems to be a well-run site with decent gear. |
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Post by ninworks on Jan 9, 2024 16:03:43 GMT -5
I still buy and sell things on Ebay sometimes. I work on a lot of old dirt bikes and ATV's and sometimes replacement parts are unavailable from the manufacturers. Ebay is a good source for that stuff. I still sell non musical things on there. I don't do it often but if I have a need I don't hesitate.
As for Sweetwater's gear Exchange, I haven't bought anything from there. The prices seem to be higher than everywhere else. I have tried to sell things there numerous times but nothing I have ever listed was sold or had much interest.
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Post by Mfitz804 on Jan 9, 2024 18:27:31 GMT -5
I have been actively buying and selling on eBay for 28 years and have only had a handful of minor issues that didn’t really wind up being any issue at all.
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Post by Mfitz804 on Jan 9, 2024 18:28:11 GMT -5
I haven't bought or sold anything on Ebay for awhile. Seller costs were high, although the audience is larger. I have dealt mainly with Reverb, and if I intend to buy something from Sweetwater, sell to them (no seller fees). Reverb had lower fees in the beginning but higher than eBay now Ebay has been adjusting like that, someone comes along offering lower fees, eBay beats them. |
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argo
Wholenote
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Post by argo on Jan 9, 2024 19:54:46 GMT -5
I check in every few weeks looking for a Wurlitzer guitar like I had in the early 70s.
And a friend just told me Facebook has a marketplace site for people selling gear.
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Post by reverendrob on Jan 10, 2024 2:23:02 GMT -5
I still get some stuff there, and get burned occasionally. About the same burn rate as Amazon, it is what it is.
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Post by Ragtop on Jan 10, 2024 6:00:08 GMT -5
I check in every few weeks looking for a Wurlitzer guitar like I had in the early 70s. And a friend just told me Facebook has a marketplace site for people selling gear. They do, argo. But I had forgotten about it. Will check it out today. As I recall, their "search" feature doesn't get very specific. You have to wade through a bunch of clutter while looking for what you want. But it's worth a shot. |
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Post by reverendrob on Jan 10, 2024 9:11:26 GMT -5
I check in every few weeks looking for a Wurlitzer guitar like I had in the early 70s. And a friend just told me Facebook has a marketplace site for people selling gear. They do, argo. But I had forgotten about it. Will check it out today. As I recall, their "search" feature doesn't get very specific. You have to wade through a bunch of clutter while looking for what you want. But it's worth a shot. FB marketplace if it's not local (and even sometimes when it is) is a scammer paradise. |
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Tequila Rob
Wholenote
Posts: 683
Formerly Known As: Guitar Fool
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Post by Tequila Rob on Jan 10, 2024 9:51:33 GMT -5
I still buy..usually just nickel and dime stuff....strings, parts, etc.....I have a few saved sellers that I trust...The Stratosphere for one....
one of the things I can't figure is all of the ebay sellers from Japan. They'll list the same guitar 3 times at 3 different prices....Wtf is up with that?
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Post by Leftee on Jan 10, 2024 10:20:01 GMT -5
Re: Japan guitar sellers
I think we had that discussion in the guitar forum. I don't remember where I saw this.
There are sellers in Japan that will list guitars they don't own. Often these guitars are owned/listed by shops in Japan - at a lower price. If you buy a guitar from them, they *then* purchase it and ship it to you. It's something very scammy along those lines.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Jan 10, 2024 11:09:39 GMT -5
Very good for some things, not great for others.
Last things I bought: big jug of expensive face wash (sensitive skin, so I use the fancy stuff), some factory parts for my car, a used POD, some CDs, and a set of Starrett calipers to replace my Brown & Sharpe set that gave up the ghost. I've also done things like buy shoes or jeans... find something you like and when you want another, check eBay and you might find it brand new for half the price from anywhere else from a reputable seller.
Fees are high on eBay compared to places like Reverb, so some stuff has disappeared. It seems to be best for places that sell high volume, best suited for places that can sort and list things quickly to deal with the lower margin, or have bought things at a really good price. Probably not as good for big, sexy products as it is for mundane things.
One thing I had trouble with was finding a copy of an out of print CD for a reasonable price. eBay was always over a hundred bucks... at a co-worker's suggestion I checked discogs, and I found it for around $20, and there were several copies for sale. Not sure what was going on there. (CD was Hiromi's Sonicbloom Time Control)
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Post by ninworks on Jan 11, 2024 5:12:04 GMT -5
I have bought a few things on Facebook Marketplace. I have tried to sell some things on there but never got much activity. I think most of the people who even looked at it must have been selling the same thing either there or somewhere else and wanted to see how it was going for someone else. I see that a lot on Reverb.
The one thing I will give Ebay props for is getting the scammers under control. At least for what I sell on there. It used to be horrible like Craigslist but they reigned it in. I haven't had a scammer on Ebay for years now when I'm selling something. Almost everything I sell on Reverb gets at least one scammer's response and it pisses me off. They need to get a handle on that. Anytime I list something for sale on there and get a response within the first few hours it is ALWAYS a scammer. I get a message stating that someone's father, uncle, cousin, sister, or some family member is interested and they want me to send pictures of the item to some email address off site. I used to report them to Reverb and they would block them but they just sign up under a new account and keep going. I stopped reporting them because it doesn't make any difference. I'm looking for another option than Reverb. I'm not going to tolerate that male bovine excrement. I haven't had any scammers on Sweetwater's Gear Exchange but nothing I list ever sells there either so they're worthless to me.
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Post by Ragtop on Jan 11, 2024 7:04:55 GMT -5
I listed a nice Martin dread case on Reverb a couple of months ago and got hit up by three scammers in the first 30 minutes. You would think that Reverb would figure out how to take control of this. They were easy to spot and I reported all three.
Eventually the case sold to a good guy who was a pleasure to do business with.
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Post by bluzcat on Jan 11, 2024 9:11:39 GMT -5
I moved two inexpensive acoustics and an uke on FB marketplace recently without issue. I had a couple of higher priced amps that wouldn’t budge. One sold on Sweetwater and one eventually sold to a friend.
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Post by LTB on Jan 11, 2024 9:47:55 GMT -5
My wife and I by some small things there. Only think I had problem with was something ordered for my car that came from China…it was a piece of garbage and didn’t feel like the hassle of returning to China as it took a month to get here, I just chalked it up to “Tuition for my education”.
There was a co-worker who tried to sell something around 2012 and someone sent him an email about the item he was selling and when he clicked on it they apparently hacked his Ebay seller link and locked him out.
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