Buying on Ebay

[Jamtastic3]

Ok, I don't know if there is already topics on this so sorry if there is but I'm wondering how much you should trust in buyers when buying items from Ebay, in particular moving heads or scans.

 

I say this as I am wanting to buy either 2 or 4 moving lights where the budget is less than that if I were to buy them brand new. I have seen such things as 2 Martin mac250's for £500 and 4 CP miniscan HPEs for £1500 which all look appealing but then again, they are second hand and when described as being hardly used or in super condition, is this actually true? And do you think you get a fair deal in general?

 

I was just wondering what people thought about it, and if you think I would be making a wrong move buying moving heads or scans from Ebay.

 

thanks

[paulears]

If it's too cheap to be true, it probably isn't.

 

Make sure you really read the blurb. I bought a Yamaha digital mixer, ex Kate Bushes studio. DMC-1000 is the beast. Amazing thing, but bought from some real shysters. The description was totally accurate, but what it didn't say was that the mixer only has 3 line level analogue inputs - everything else is digital. Trouble is, it's a Yamaha special type of protocol that you can't get anymore. So, for two years, it's sat unused.

 

The people I bought it from took 2 months to deliver it, charged me £70 for the priviledge (I noticed that carriage wasn't specified, but assumed that it would be about £25). When it turned up, it had two broken knobs (that again, can't be sourced)

 

So, the faders move, all the pots light up and look amazing, and it is as much use as a Mac 500 with an analogue 2ch preset desk.

 

I didn't bother to look at the sellers feedback, so I don't blame Ebay, I blame me.

 

Since then, I never bid without really looking at what has been said, and doing some research, checking feedback and always paying with Paypal.

 

Since then, nothing but decent deals.

 

Paul

[Panzerman]

A pair of Mac250s for £500? On E-bay? Hmmm, maybe as a starting bid.

Things like Macs tend to attract lots of attention and bids, in my experience.

That said, I know a chap who got a pair for £900, I think. They were oooooooold though! ** laughs out loud **. He has a tame Mac-geek who stripped and re-built them, so they were in perfect working order by the time they went out to work, but I have no clue what they were like when he got them initially.

It took him a long time to find and win any, though he was in no rush, so it wasn't a problem. Wanna bet that if you need some for a job in 8 weeks time, there won't be any at a sensible price for 9 weeks?

Like anything on E-bay, you could end up with a dog, or a stunning deal. Look at the seller's feedback, and the sources of that feedback, not just the number.

[Guest lightnix]

Sound advice there from paulears and panzerman. Personally, I wouldn't get into buying that kind of kit or spending that kind of money on Ebay unless I was an experienced user. OK, I found a nice little car on Ebay last year ;) but had the opportunity to go and check it out before commiting as it was only ten miles away. Despite the provenance, paperwork and HPI check it could have still have been a lemon and is not totally perfect (is any ten year old motor?), but a major service revealed no serious flaws for a car of that age, it's more than good enough and I think it might have been a case of beginner's luck.

 

For moving lights, I would really want to go and check them out before bidding if possible. If a company was offering them I would want to see them working, give them a bit of a thrashing and have a look inside. If it was a private seller I would want to see proof of legitimate ownership in the form of an invoice from the previous owner / seller and if one was not available, I would check out the claimed previous owner, get the serial numbers and run them by the manufacturer. I'd also factor in the cost of a complete overhaul, either by a competent technician or approved service agent.

 

Ebay has it's uses and is improving all the time, but it's not the answer to everything. Where there is a strong market for a particular kind of item, prices will rise way above and beyond the starting bid, especially in the dying moments of an auction, as the last minute bidders and snipers come out of the woodwork. They may even rise beyond the "accepted market value" (whatever that is). There are a couple of things I'm looking for at the moment and after a number of failed bids and suspect items, I'm seriously looking at buying new - it will be less grief and I'll have better redress if they don't work.

[Mush]

Know exactly what your buying, what it should look and perform like.

 

Rather than what you think your buying, there was a couple of big scans on recently, described as ex-install, never toured in mint condition , just overhauled...

 

That will be why the manufacturers logo that should be prominently displayed on the belly of the unit had been sprayed matt black along with the rest of the thing. If the mint condition bit was, obvious from the photies, not accurate ,what else in description was economical with the actualite.

 

Perhaps nothing, but at the price they were worth if the real thing , be worth taking a long drive and picking them up. Cost of replacing one lamp is less than the fuel and B&B to cash and carry.

[Whizzzy]

Hi

 

This is my first post so hello to everyone. ;)

 

I recently purchased a pair of Robe moving heads on Ebay and in short wish I really hadn’t become involved. Described as five months old with minimal use, when they arrived I discovered they had been manufactured two years ago. From the LED readout it was clear that the units had more than their fair share of use besides being full of crap from being flown in a smokey club. On closer inspection it transpired that the wrong lamps were fitted and to cap it all one of the units was damaged in transit due to the way it had been packed.

 

After that followed six weeks of phone calls, faxes and e-mails in claiming insurance compensation. It took me two days to replace the damaged arm and completely clean and service the units and only at the point of threatening to leave the seller negative feedback that he finally gave some contribution towards the wrong lamps fitted.

 

If I cost out my time for repairing and servicing the units, the cost of the wrong lamps and all of the phone calls it no longer looks the deal it once did. With the benefit of hindsight I should have tried to return the heads back to the seller and get my money back but again that may not have been so easy.

 

So take the excellent advice of the posts earlier in the thread, try to test drive the heads and check out everything before becoming involved or at the very least go and collect them in person before parting with your money. That way if they turn out to be a pup and incorrectly described at least you walk away from the deal – in theory. Just how you would handle such circumstances face to face could be a little more difficult.

 

Quite frankly next time I am in the market for some expensive kit I will be looking towards the likes of AC lighting or one of the other reputable companies.

 

Also just recently I have been reading some horror stories about a certain payment / transaction company used on Ebay. Read here. Have a read of the UK forum. Like most things in life you only get to hear about the bad news and I am sure there are may people out there who have made purchases and been completely satisfied but forewarned is forearmed. It’s been said so many time before - If it looks to good to be true – it usually is. Let the buyer beware!

 

Good Luck

[slim_mcslim]

I think its very much as the current EGG commercials on tv are:-

 

"if you don't look after your money, who else will"

 

in general, there is nothing wrong with buying on ebay, I believe only 30% of technical items are on there for genuine reasons, the rest are somebody trying to shift dodgy or knackered units, and if you feel that you are parting with a large pile of cash, then go and collect from the buyer, if they don't wanna do that, then they are probably dodgy and you have saved yourself hassle, if when you get there its a sack of used ####, then don't buy... yes a bid in an auction is a legal comittment to buy, but only if the auction description is valid and describes any visible or known faults....

 

paul...

[weatherhead]

I have bought quite a few things on ebay, and yes I have had a few problems, but these only resulted from "gambles" (stuff bought for about 0.1% of market price!) and really you can't expect miracles.

 

I have found, however that you can get really good stuff at a good price if you're careful. I don't think I would consider buying moving heads off ebay, but for some items which you can't find in the shops anymore, it's amazing.

 

For example, stuff like a yamaha MU-10 module that is rather useful in conjunction with an old laptop for live MIDI synthing which you won't find in the shops anymore, but I picked up for 50 quid, and a delta 66 audio interface sealed in box for 90 english stirling!

 

In short, if you check out the item description and don't expect the impossible, ebay is a brilliant tool for those on a tight budget. I think the feedback system helps to eliminate dodgy users, I wouldn't buy somet expensive from someone who had say a f/b score of 1, ** laughs out loud **. But I think most people try to be genuine in their descriptions etc, because of the feedback thing. Even if they were just trying to shift knackered gear, they might be inclined to say so, because they may in the future want to shift some more knackered gear...

[Just Some Bloke]

I agree entirely with the idea of only paying by PayPal.

 

I found a digital multitrack recorder/mixer on EBay a year ago, which I won for about £350. At the time this was a good price for the unit, but not so low as to be silly. The buyer claimed to come from London and I live in Kent so I thought I'd collect it myself.

 

The buyer then said he lived in Spain and asked me to transfer the money into his Spanish account whereupon he would send the desk. It never showed up. I eventually got £110 back from EBay (the most they will ever pay) and lost the rest.

 

Don't fall into the same trap as I did and don't feel that, even if you win the bidding, you are forced to buy. If you smell a rat shout "rat!!" very loudly!

[Dave]

I've bought and sold quite a lot of kit (but no movers) on ebay, including internationally, and haven't had any major problems, and only a few minor ones. There are occasional bargains to be had for buyers and I've generally been very pleased (sometimes amazed) at the prices I've got when selling stuff.

 

I would say that the majority of ebay buyers and sellers are decent honest people. But no matter which end of a transaction you're on, it makes sense to take an appropriate level of care at all stages.

 

My biggest gripe has been inaccurate descriptions, but you get this in any maketplace. I recently got some speakers which were described being in "mint condition, just like they've come out of their boxes", but one of them had a big deep scratch on the back. :D

 

I don't think that there's always malicious intent behind things like this, it's just that some people are ignorant/stupid/less fussy that me.

 

When selling, please bear in mind that there are risks involved in accepting pretty much every form of payment (including cash), and the wise seller needs to be aware of these and take steps to reduce them to an acceptable level.

 

One additional point with PayPal, when buying, is to make sure that your payment is funded by a credit card, not from a PayPal balance or bank account/debit card. That way, your credit card company is also liable if things go wrong and you have a greater chance of getting your money back if things go wrong.

 

Moving lights are obviously quite specialised items that need lots of TLC, and I would be cautious about buying any second-hand ones without checking them out very carefully beforehand.

[toby]

I think with allot of stuff liek that, you need to have trust, for example I was on gumtree.com on the freebie section and there was someone wanting to gt rid of a 4:1 surround sound kit, I was like mine, so I trailed across london to pick em up, and on to work, got home to pissed to be bothered to test em, in the mornign tried, work like a charm, so yeh as someone said just be wary of the persons feedback, and if poss chek them out before u buy them

[Darkfold]

When paying by paypal, keep a balance of zero in your paypal account and set it so that you end up paying from a credit card via paypal. I discovered that my credit card would then cover me for 'theft' where the item did not arrive, but paypal would not. Check with your company first...

[benge]

When paying by paypal, keep a balance of zero in your paypal account and set it so that you end up paying from a credit card via paypal. I discovered that my credit card would then cover me for 'theft' where the item did not arrive, but paypal would not. Check with your company first...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

:huh: oooo..... wot a good idea

[weatherhead]

woooo, just sniped a set of SM PR8's :huh:

 

Yeh, always pay by credit card, or get someone else to pay with their credit card and give them the money in my case ** laughs out loud **.

 

Having said that, I've bought a couple of things on cheque only and not had a problem.... I don't think I'd have the guts to buy a mover off ebay, especially not without a picture... then again I would never have enough money to anyway

[jamienip]

I attempted to buy a CD off eBay, it cost me £16, and never turned up, If I had bothered to follow it up witheBay, and claim the money, I would have received a grand sum of £1, as they charge a £15 admin fee for the privilige of claiming. Be afraid, very afraid.