I look around Ebay for many things I need for my kit, as I'm sure many of you folks do as well.
There are many things that I would never buy - TNF clothing for example.
Currently I've been interested in a new tent, specifically a BD Lighthouse. There are many sellers of Black Diamond / Bibler products. Some have many products by these companies. Where do they get it? They don't seem to be retailers that are selling overstock, although there are many retialers who due sell on Ebay.
I've seen 'new' Lighthouse tents selling for $250 when the cheapest retailer I can find is at $370. How can this be? I ask the sellers all the questions and they say they are new and first quality. One Shots are selling for $180 when they retail for $300.
How can this be? What am I missing here? If I've learned anything about Ebay, it is buyer beware. Having said that, it's hard to dismiss these 'deals'.
Your comments would be appreciated. Help me to not make a mistake.
Thanks, Rick

I've bought lots of stuff on ebay - the most expensive thing probably a Buffet R13 Professional clarinet. Do your homework, and be prepared to defend yourself if what you receive is not exactly as advertised. Read carefully, and ask the seller questions if you are not sure. Lots of stuff on ebay can come from stores going out of business, dumping stock, or individuals..

I've *twice* had a problem in many years. Once was a piece of gear that arrived broken.
I mailed the seller, he was very cooperative and offered to refund the whole thing and pay for
postage back. I instead offered that I'd keep it for parts, and we came to a deal on what that
was worth, with him paypaling me the difference. it was no trouble at all.

The other time was for a computer. What was advertised as a UltraSparc 200 arrived as a
140, not worth near as much at the time. I mailed the seller, got no response, and carefully
read the ebay dispute resolution - that I had to try to work it out for 30 days. Which I did,
getting absolutely no reply. At day 30, I sent one last note, with my cell phone number, saying that in one hour I was sending the mess to ebay dispute resolution unless he called
me up, and I was willing to keep the 140 for $50. My phone rang in 20 minutes, and I got
a refund cheque from him 3 days later.

My point is to remember, the ebay dispute resolution mechanism is quite powerful, and
bot ebay and paypal provide reasonable buyer protection (read it!) to protect you against
someone shiping you crap..

I see it too.

A long time ago I bought my Garmin eMap from an eBay seller. It was new in an unopened box when I got it but it did not work. I wrote the eBay seller and they told me to send it back and it might take 2-3 months for them to get it replaced or repaired. That didn't sound so good so I called Garmin. They fixed it for free and sent it back within a week.

So, the product was good, the seller not so good.

Now I ask them a bunch of detailed questions and if they don't answer, I don't buy. Also, read their ratings comments, not just the number of percent positive.

I've done good on eBay and really don't have any complaints. I always got what I expected. The eMap was new, so I can't really blame the seller for it not working.

Kindest Regards,

Bill

Rick, I have wondered this myself. I bought a brand new Optimus stove still in the box for far less than retail a while back. I had some problems with it, but nothing related to the sale itself, just the stove design.

There is supposedly a lot of counterfeit TNF gear out there. Chinese knockoffs. I suspect some of what you see is stuff retailers have bought and can't sell, so they sell it off to non-retailers at a discount. My guess is the manufacturers don't like this because it puts downward pressure on prices, so the retailers keep this "gray market" fairly quiet.

In my case, I often sell gear that I have gotten as an REI employee on super special discounts direct from manufacturers. There are certain set-in-stone rules for such deals:

We have to use the gear at least once and be willing to write a review if asked (though I've only written a review a couple of times in 7 years).

The gear must be for ME, not someone else.

I must keep the item for at least a year.

And I can not sell any thing for more than I paid.

This is where a lot of gear I offer up for sale at big discounts comes from. If I get a pack that I don't like so much, or if I get a newer piece of gear that I like even better, I'll often sell off gear at ther prodeal price minus a bit more for reasonable use. Buyers are usually getting a very lightly used piece of gear for very cheap.

If someone is selling LOTS of gear from the same company, they may work for a retailer and are selling gear they purchased, then didn't care for. Or they may be abusing the prodeal program. REI actually monitors REI gear sold on EBAY. If they see a pattern from specific sellers, they'll investigate to see if this is an REI employee abusing the program. If so, the seller can be fired

Many retailers are willing to accept very slim profit margins when selling on Ebay. The overhead is low on Ebay sales, and it augments the higher profits they make in their retail stores. They know that while many buyers are comfortable buying on Ebay, many others will want to see, touch and feel the actual product in their stores before buying -- and they're charging a premium for that service and the added costs incurred for it.

Also, beware of shipping and handling costs -- many Ebayers charge much more than the actual shipping costs to further augment their profits (shipping and handling are not subject to Ebay fees). If a tent is selling for $100 below retail but you're paying $70 for shipping, you're really not getting much of a discount.

Finally, if it looks to good to be true, it probably is. As has been suggested, read not just a seller's rating in the feedback section, but the comments. My rule is to stay away from anybody with more than one or two negative comments. Better safe than sorry.

Most mfgs. dictate the minimum price their products can be sold at and/or what markets their acoounts can sell in. If in doubt ask the mfg. if an ebay store or sale is legit and if not the mfg will not allow their goods to be distrbuted those folks.

Thanks for the great info. I really didn't know about that and I can see where it's a great deal for you and the folks that get to purchase the items you're selling, as well as the manufacturer and retailer as they get the benefit of feedback from a experienced base.

Bill

Rick,

Don't overlook the fact that the material on e-Bay may have been ripped off from some other hiker so the bargain prices are easy to give.

I asked a guy a couple years ago how he got a new SD Solomente tent when they were not out for sale anywhere that I could find. He said it was a display model.

Not bp related, I bought a used chainsaw this winter from a guy in FL who said the saw was only used one season. He must have worked with it on his job, some wear evident on places on the saw, but it looked cleaner then other saws being offered. Read between the lines or ask the seller. After I was the "lucky" winner and received the saw I took the bar in to get in squared and hammered and the saw shop said it was unsafe and showed me a big crack on the tip of the saw and said it could break off and throw the chain. A new bar added around $70 to the price of the saw. I wasn't too upset, a new saw was hundreds more then what I had in the saw. Plus it was 25 years newer than my old one.:)

I have yet to buy anything on e-bay for BP gear. When I was in the market for trekking poles, I put a few bids on higher end Leki poles (all used), and the winners of all the bids were paying the price new ones were costing.

After seeing that a few times I don't look much on e-bay for gear.


Tom

My wife is an ebay seller. Not for bp gear but women's clothing. She buys stuff direct from the manufacturer when they have "stock clearing sales" at deep discounts. She is a power seller with 100% positive feedback, she includes shipping in the price. She works her butt off for the high praise she gets and often eats the costs of things just to please customers. There is no way she would do this if it wasn't fun for her as she doesn't make a ton of money for all the work she puts in.

Imteresting experiences and perspective that you folks have. Thanks.

I asked a second set of questions and have yet to receive a response <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

I just noticed that you are in Canada. I would recheck the item description to be sure they ship outside the US. Many Ebay sellers will not since they do not want to deal with the customs paperwork. It is possible you are not receiving a response because they do not want to bother with international shipping.

Buying on eBay requires knowledge and patience. If you don't know the product you're bidding on and what it's worth, you can get ripped off. There are many compulsive bidders, when they bid an item above what you want to pay for it, it's time to just let it go.

I only bid by what's called sniping. I wait until the last 10 seconds before bidding. I prefer to do it in person, but if the auction closes at an inconvenient time I use an online bidding tool. Don't always win the item, but I never bid more than I want to pay and I never get sucked into a bidding war.

Yes Indeed, thank you for thinking of that.

The first question I always ask, and was the first I asked in this case, will you ship to Canada?

When the answer is yes, which it was in this case, then I ask a few more questions, which are the ones that have not been answered.

This is my approach as well. In some cases I don't have the self control to avoid a bidding war. Sniping insures I don't fall into this trap.

The chainsaw I bid on, I thought, what is the highest I would pay, what is it worth to me? I put one bid in and as I watched it the next couple days you could see a couple people "feeling" out the price then you get an email or two from Ebay about you are about to get out bid. I wonder if that is just a friendly reminder or an attempt to get you panicked a little to raise your bid. I won by just a couple dollars was all on a several hundred dollar item. I was starting to wonder the day before if I should have went so high when I saw other identical items coming up for bid, but after looking at the photos of the saws coming up, they looked like they had more use from the discoloration of the paint and no mention of how old they were.

Anyone know if you can withdraw your max bid or does that hurt your rating?

It's best not to withdraw a bid. It's not fair to the seller or those who have already bid on an item. According to eBay rules, you're only supposed to do it if you entered the wrong amount. And you're supposed to do it right away.

That said, this gets abused fairly often and eBay won't discipline someone for a first offense.

On the other hand though. I had asked a guy a question about how far it was to a certain town as my brother lived there and I was wanting to know how far everyone involved would have to drive to pick up a big item. The next time I looked, the seller had raised his price. A few days later, he lowered it again. I didn't think that was right, plus, he was up front on his discription that a expensive part was needed, but his minimum was what Blue Book was for the item in good working order. Buyer beware.

No rules against raising and lowering your price.

An item is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Actually, it's worth what the 2nd highest bidder is willing to pay for it.

So long as a seller accurately describes the condition of an item, I don't have a problem with their price. If I don't like it, I don't bid. If nobody likes it, he doesn't sell it.

“I've seen 'new' Lighthouse tents selling for $250 when the cheapest retailer I can find is at $370.”

$250! What? Where? I don’t care about the starting bid, but I’m curious about the final bid.

-Barry

Do an advanced search on completed auctions. There have been several sold through "Buy It Now" in as many weeks. They lasted hours before being purchased.

I would have purchased one, but the seller would not ship to Canada. I don't know what the issues are with not shipping to Canada - my money is green, just like yours.

Curiouser and curiouser.

I was the successful bidder on a Lighthouse. The seller answered all my questions to my satisfaction. Starting bid was $249.99 and this was the winning bid.

I paid using PayPal. When reviewing the transaction details, it came to my attention that the Ebay seller and the eventual supplier are two different organizations in two different states. I would suspect that the Ebay profile information is either not truthful or inaccurate.

I'll let you know the final results when the tent arrives.

Rick, If you have any problems, contact both eBay and PayPal (which eBay owns). You can get your money back if the tent doesn't show up.

Btw, if I remember right, your money is all kinds of colors. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />