E Bay buying

[Pittsburgh Biker]

There was a thread recently about buying online. I did buy my trike through ebay and gained valuable experience about using the site. First and foremost, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. Seller advertising a trike or bike way below legitimate price is usually a scam. There was a Can Am for sale. Seller claimed illness necessitating sale. When I asked where I could see it, it was elsewhere of course. Stories are extreme. I'm ill and can't get to it. I was transferred overseas.

If you find an item and it looks legitimate, ask the seller to fax a copy of the title. Then ask for a different photo. Make phone contact with them. Most extreme case the scam artist even set up a fake bank website as the escrow holder. E bay does not have an ebay escrow service. Neither does Yahoo or G mail. As this is getting long here is the end. I found a trike that was about two hours away from me. I called and drove to the seller. Rode the bike then went directly with the seller to a bricks and mortar bank to get the title. My picture is that trike. Hope this saves someone from agony.
:GL1800:

 

[pmar6004]

FREDG,

THANKS FOR THE EBAY BUYING TIPS...

Daydreamer

 

[Gorilla]

I've had more than 1000 transactions on e-bay. About 800 purchases and 200 sells. I've gotten bit maybe twice. I have misread the listing a couple of times so read carefully. I have purchased 3 bikes and have sold 7 bikes and 1 trike. sometimes I wished I had made more but overall I am a satisfied e-bay person. Whats great is you can get some good used stuff at a good price and it's delivered right to your house. I find most people are honest.

 

[ricle41]

Standard rule is, always use the same caution you would use buying anywhere, ask questions and COMMUNICATE! It's a really great resource, and buying or selling it can be profitable and easy if you use common sense.

I too have done a lot of selling and buying on ebay, and have been bit once, when I let my desire for the item override my common sense.

 

[Pittsburgh Biker]

We honest sellers and buyers are all in this together. Exchanging information on this site is good.

 

[Loner]

I'll agree that the vast majority of Ebay participants are honest. I'll also agree that you should read carefully before buying - sometimes it's what they don't say that you need to pay attention to.

Actually, I have a Nova VW trike on Ebay that I just posted a few hours ago (but this isn't meant to be an advertisement). I know I've always gone the extra mile (and sometimes llost some $$) trying to make sure my Craigslist and Ebay transactions, both buying and selling my 'stuff', were a winning situation for all.

 

[Gorilla]

I'll agree that the vast majority of Ebay participants are honest. I'll also agree that you should read carefully before buying - sometimes it's what they don't say that you need to pay attention to.

Actually, I have a Nova VW trike on Ebay that I just posted a few hours ago (but this isn't meant to be an advertisement). I know I've always gone the extra mile (and sometimes llost some $$) trying to make sure my Craigslist and Ebay transactions, both buying and selling my 'stuff', were a winning situation for all.

Loner why not in our advertising section.

 

[Loner]

I'm still trying to establish a 'buy-it-now' price that's fair. I'm holding a day or two to see if I getting active bidding, if not I'll set a bargain price a post it here.

 

[Big_Steve]

There was a thread recently about buying online. I did buy my trike through ebay and gained valuable experience about using the site. First and foremost, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. Seller advertising a trike or bike way below legitimate price is usually a scam. There was a Can Am for sale. Seller claimed illness necessitating sale. When I asked where I could see it, it was elsewhere of course. Stories are extreme. I'm ill and can't get to it. I was transferred overseas.

If you find an item and it looks legitimate, ask the seller to fax a copy of the title. Then ask for a different photo. Make phone contact with them. Most extreme case the scam artist even set up a fake bank website as the escrow holder. E bay does not have an ebay escrow service. Neither does Yahoo or G mail. As this is getting long here is the end. I found a trike that was about two hours away from me. I called and drove to the seller. Rode the bike then went directly with the seller to a bricks and mortar bank to get the title. My picture is that trike. Hope this saves someone from agony.
:GL1800:

Actually, eBay does have an escrow service, or at least one, and only one that they aprove of. The name can be found by going to eBay and searching help. That is the ONLY escrow service anyone should use with eBay. If a seller asks you to use any other, run for the hills. You wouldn't believe the professional quality that some of those bogus sites have in their web page.

While we're on the subject, Craigslist can be a hot bed for scammers too. A popular one is (similar to above) a beautiful bike well below market value. The seller is in a different state, but the bike is always "stored" at a bogus shipping company warehouse a couple of hours away from the town the ad is placed in. Shipping company won't release it, blah blah blah until you send Western Union funds to the seller. Hard to believe folks can fall for that, but the ads come and go, so they must be making some money on it.

Like Fred said, bottom line, if it's too good to be true, keep moving. A real good strategy is if you belong to several motorcycle forums, to ask a local member to run over and check it out before you bid or commit to buy. Of course, when you see a bike that's calling you, it's mighty tough to sit still and think with your head instead of your heart.

On that note, I'm wondering........ If a buyer gives an eBay seller a down payment via Paypal, and finds the bike is seriously misrepresented, can he get his deposit back?

 

[John Luciano]

Only scam I found ( and now I only buy Buy it NOW ) is the bidding . We bid on a trike that was at about $6,000 in bidding with 4 days left and no action . We bid $6,500 and almost 1 min. later it went to $7,000. still a good deal we went to $ 8,000 this went on till we got to $10,000 and all of a sudden it jumped to $13,000 we stopped the biding , day ended . 2 weeks later the same bike same picture was back on with a bid of $8,000. the old action scam. Some one maybe even the seller raises the bid .

 

[Comanche]

Once won an auction for a camera. Price was 5600. I sent the money from my bank account to his. Instead of a camera, I got some books and other crap. Not a camera. Took photos of what was delivered regular mail. Very friendly with the local police chief and although he still teases me, he had a detective contact the PD where the guy has his bank account. Before I got the shipment I was able through ebay to get his phone # and called him. He was schocked that I could reach out and touch him so easilly. Bottom line: He went to trial and was ordered to pay restitution. I got paid in full, but it took a year.

One year ago I bought my trike on ebay. $20,800. Could not have had a better deal. The seller even delivered the trike and put it in my garage.

Ask questions and get as much information about the item and seller that you can.