buying stuff off of ebay

[The_dew_man]

how many of you have bought a 3 or 4 wheeler or a vehicle off of ebay with out looking at it up close in person. i found a pickup i would like to have but it's about 600 miles away. the person said its in good shape (got some pics) and he would drive it anywhere. i would hate to get it and something break on it right away because if he knew something was wrong with it and sold it because he didnt want to fix it. i dont know its all about taking a chance.

thanks

[250rAL]

Well, you're gonna have to go get it; if you don't like the looks of it when you get there, just back out. You'll probably get a bad feedback but at least you won't be out the money and you can reply to the feedback and say it was misrepresented.

[TimSr]

Unless the seller has a long history of good feedback, I wouldnt even bid, unless you can see and drive the vehicle first. Your bid is an agreement to purchase, not and agreement for the seller to hold it while you decide, so I strongly suggest you do not bid at all if there are doubts. The only way you have the right to back out is if its grossly misrepresented.

[VABCH350X]

I've bought a couple bikes on eBay, one was a Suzuki ALT 50, that arrived disassembled, with none of the parts to re-assemble the bike with it. I went around and around with the guy, and he never sent the parts, so all I could do was leave him Neg feedback. I also bought an old honda streetbike that had been sitting for years. I bought it to restore, and knew I would have to work on it. There were no surprises with that one. I reccommend, as TimSr suggested, checking it out in person before hand, unless it is such a low price that you are willing to absorb the loss if it turns out to be a piece of garbage.

['86X]

Be careful unless you are experienced with eBay. You can GENERALLY get a feel for how a person is by their feedback. If they have excellent feedback and everything sounds legit, go for it. Otherwise, I'd shy away. I don't know how much $ you're talking about, though.

[The_dew_man]

well this person doesnt have any feedback. i will just have to keeping looking in the papers for a pickup. here is the pickup
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=13487&item=24 36983423

[250rAL]

Making one trip to look at it and then another to bring it home if you won would be a total of 2400 miles. That's a lot of driving!

[Howdy]

The only way I would buy something like that is if you used a escrow service. Even then I would be a little leary. Unless you have money to burn, walk away. I am sure you can find something closer.
Just my 2 cents.
Howdy

['86X]

Definately walk away if they have no feedback. I didn't even look at the truck and I know that no feedback = a stab in the dark if it will work out or not.

[Dynofox]

I bought my old tri z off e-bay, it wasn't as nice as it looked in the pics. The forks and rear shock were blown and all the plastics were painted. I still got a good deal on it though. Would I buy something like that again off e-bay? All depends on the deal and if the guy has good feed back.

[thefox]

Only get it if the deal would still be good ahter you have to put a little work into it. I bought a dirt bike off ebay that was supposedly rebuilt by the owner before the guy that was selling it, it just needed the coil hooked up. Well it turned out that the coil was from a lawn mower :? and someone did try to rebuild it but they got as far as removing the gaskets, rings and bending the valves before they put it back together and spray painted it. I bought it for cheap and I like fixing stuff so it was worth it but that was because I also sold it on ebay when I was done for more then I thought I could get for it. The truck looks good and the guy seems to know what he is talking about just it is a lot of money to bet with. Good luck on the decision.

-Andrew

['86X]

thefox-- I agree that it is a lot of $$ to gamble on. Dynofox-- your Tri-Z may have worked out but how much $ was involved?? I'll bet it was a lot less than $4,500!!

[Dynofox]

86X, LOL, yah I only had $900 into it shipped to my house.

['86X]

Dynofox, .................yeah. I'd say you got a good deal! I used to have an 85 yellow and black Tri-Z. Kinda wouldn't mind having it back!