Ok, so I was following an item on e-bay that I thought might save me 5 or 600 dollars over the price of new. I need to get new wheels and tires for the Austin Healey. I plan to get Dayton 72 spoke chrome wire wheels. This is a non-original substitute because the car was only available with 60 spoke painted wire wheels. I like the look of the 72 spoke chrome, so that is what I will get. I saw this e-bay auction for a used set with only 10 thousand miles on them on e-bay and they came with a set of tires. I called the guy and found out that the low mileage set was 10 years old. In my mind, that reduced the value of the tires to just about zero, so I was really bidding on the wheels. Now here is the interesting part. I can get these wheels brand new for about $1300. I figured if Icould get this used set for $600 or so it would be a good savings.

The winning bid was $1200!!!

What person would buy at this price?

 

I've never bid on anything that expensive, but I have found the same thing happens on cheaper items as well. People wil drive the price up to the point where you could almost buy it at retail. Either people aren't thinking, or perhaps it is the owner (or a schill) bidding to drive the price up.

In your case, it is possible that another bidder didn't realized that the tires were worthless and thought the package was worth more than just the wheels.

 

I

 

bill,
occasionally you can find some good things.

about three weeks ago my 17 yr old driver clipped the passenger side mirror on my ml320. i was lucky that one was posted that night as a buy it now. so it worked out well.
i've gotten a bunch of high end sporting goods cheaply. you know the guys "oooh, this is new" then they sell it off when the next new thing comes along and I buy it as almost new.

mainstream stuff tends not to be as good on ebay but the more oddball, the better the deal can be. if you're in a hurry it probably won't work out well.

 

Bargains are a lot harder to find as people are using Ebay as a virtual store front. I look every so often for scale figure kits. More often than not, the minimum bid is the retail price on a figure that is currently in production. Still, I have used it to get things I needed at a good price, such as a taillight lens to replace the one that got broken on my previous car.

 

I agree bargains are harder to come by and I just can't keep up every few minutes to check on the price either. If there is a specialty item that is not available elsewhere, it might work out but with the internet, you pay what the item is usually worth as there are other people basically doing the same thing.

 

Don't forget shipping $$$$. Amazing how many people fall for that one.

I only buy from ebay stores with a long track record. I don't have enough time in my life to deal with a potential private party deal gone bad.

 

Good deals can be had on e-bay. you must know the value of what you purchase and bid accordingly. I should know, I purchased my '04 Siverstone on e-bay last year from a reputable dealer. Paid a lot less than I would have from a local, and only had to drive 2-1/2 hours to pick it up.

 

I've rebuilt about 95% of the motorcycle I crashed in CA with e-bay parts. About 75% savings overall, including some hard to find parts. I've purchased over 100 items on ebay and am largely satisfied. However, as others have said one needs to know what items are worth. Numerous times I've been to find the same items new at similar retail prices, but with a decent amount of work.

 

I've been able to find some offbeat items at substantial saving on e-bay. For example, I've been able to buy (brand new) a spare antenna for my XM-Roady and a spare antenna for my Garmin 2620 in addition to long out of print video games for my son. As previously stated, you have to watch the price, watch the freight charges and deal only with highly rated vendors.

I've done very well selling some items. I've sold an old, not working generator and a piano. The key here is to absolutely honest and reply to questions promptly. In the case of the generator, I believeb the item was not salable because it wasn't working. The buyer wanted it and later thanked me.

The piano went to a local young family who wanted to give piano lessons to their children. They were thrilled to get it.

I have a 100% rating as a buyer and as a seller.

In these cases, and a few other items that I've sold, e-bay worked very well in finding a buyer for me. Without e-bay I doubt that I would have been able to sell either.