Who uses Ebay?

[damonrpayne]

Hello all,

I want to sell my mint RC-35 and use the $$$ to get an RC-7. Has anyone done business on Ebay lately? Is it a good way to get a decent price?

[garymd]

Yes, but so is this forum. Try to sell here first stating your asking price, then if nobody wants it, try ebay. You may get a sale here which would be easier and safer. Maybe someone would even be willing to do a partial trade although that may be unlikely given the circumstances.

[Fish]

Gary is right,but in answer to your ? I think ebay is ok,just make em' play by your rules.

[Deang]

I would sell on eBay, but I'm not ever buying anything off of it again.

Try www.audiogon.com instead. A tight audio community.

[neo33]

Run into some bad sellers, Deano?

[nicholtl]

same here...had some bad experiences buying car audio speakers from ebay. got a friend who also scams on it too. i wouldn't trust it ever again.

[Jabez Scratch]

I've never used Ebay. I have a friend who has gotten some really good deals for his racing bicycle, but apparently one should avoid buying anything electronic b/c electronic components can conceal too many hidden, latent problems that the seller does not even genuinely know about (or does and is only too happy to keep the problems concealed).

[Malcolm]

eBay pretty much sets the going price for things like speakers. It is likely to bring you a better price than selling it locally. There is also Audiogon, although you will have a much smaller market. If you do sell on-line, make your terms clear: who pays for shipping, acceptable forms of payment, "as is" if appropriate, etc. And provide the potential buyer with as much information about the item as possible. Signing up for PayPal so you can accept credit cards may bring you a higher price. But I prefer some form of cash equivalent. My favorite is a Postal Money Order. I can just take it down to my local post office and get cash for it before shipping. Western Union Bid Pay is nearly as good, it is very hard to fake. Cash is good, too. Just check for counterfeits before shipping. On some items, if you are willing to ship overseas, you can get a significantly higher price. I sold a number of items to folks if Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea for more than they would go for here and most of them paid in cash. The only problems I have had selling was lazy buyers, folks who just didn't think completing the transaction in a timely manner was important. But this is only a minor problem. You can always file a non-paying bidder report after a reasonable amount of time and sell to the next highest bidder or relist. I did I have one buyer who was called out of the country on short notice because of a serious illness in the family, it took months, but we did complete the transaction.

I have both bought and sold many items on eBay. Never had a serious problem although some transactions have taken a while to complete. I bought four pairs of Heresys there. They were all exactly as advertised. Only problem I had with them was a crossover network that came loose in shipping. No damage other than a capacitor I was going to replace anyway. Probably no way that could have been prevented short of filling the cabinet with expanding foam.

FWIW I only bid on speakers with enough pictures to verify what it is I am bidding on and give an idea of condition. I ask questions of the seller when I need to. I pay attention to his actual feedback, not just his rating. I pay for big items with a credit card so I can have the issuer do a charge back if something goes wrong.

[Daddy Dee]

Ebay is O.k. I've used it alot, but haven't done much business there lately.

[garymd]

Of my 20 or so ebay transactions (not very many), only 2 were dissappointing. I received a damaged cd player but got my money back with no hassle. The other was an lp that was more scratched than was advertised but I only paid $3 plus shipping ($7 total). I still left positive feedback but emailed the seller before hand to let him know. He then sent me a bonus lp to make up for it.

I bought my scott 299b from ebay ($300) and it was much better than I could have ever anticipated. I also bought my Thorens TT ($113) from ebay. In both cases I insisted that I speak with the seller before bidding.

Also LOOK at the feedback. Just because someone has 100% positive feedback and 2,000 transactions doesn't mean they have experience selling audio gear. They may have sold recipes or wing nuts which are hard to screw up.

[jerohm]

ASSUME ~10% of the sale price CAN EASILY go to pay eBay and PayPal fees if you accept credit card payments. EBay works, but unless you are selling something really out of the ordinary, bidding wars seldom happen, and you will get market value (LESS fees). I agree that I would attempt other methods first, but none will get the audience of eBay.

Good Luck

[98_1LE]

I have bought several Klipsch off of eBay with no problems so far.

I recently sold a pair of RS-35 off of this board. I would try here first.

[greg928gts]

An important key to successfully using ebay is to use common sense. When buying, look at the auction description and photos real closely. If the seller didn't take the time to properly describe the item, or photograph it well, then I'd pass.

Another key is communication. There is just no substitute for having an email conversation with the seller prior to bidding.

I agree, I would try selling things here first. If you decide to sell on ebay, try selling something small and insignificant first, before selling the Klipsch. Get the feel for the system and how it works, then list the bigger items. Those who take the time to understand the system and use it well, will have the most success through ebay. Be clear and concise in your descriptions and don't oversell. Good photographs are a must.

If you follow these guidelines, you will get high market value for your items.

Greg

[R6Elmo]

I buy and sell a lot on ebay. After 200 transactions, i've had only 3 go sour.

As a buyer, you have to be careful and look at the persons feedback and their past sales. There are scams out there where people will steal others feedback, or they build their feedback by buying things that cost only 2 cents.

As for selling speakers, you can sell them on ebay, but shipping such large items could be a pain.

Danny

[Q-Man]

I'm hooked on ebay.

That's were I find 95% of the drivers, horns, networks, and such for the tweaks and mods that I try.

Not to mention some of my stock piled replacement parts for the Heritage speakers.

What's great about it is that after I try a driver and find out that I don't like it, or doesn't fit my usage I can resell it on ebay for what I payed for it. Try to do that with a new item. It takes the great expense out of experimenting.

If it's a high dollar item, just talk to the seller first and get a feel for him. Just last night I won some Klipsch stuff from a guy that I found out used to work for Klipsch. He started telling me some stories about Paul. I have 60 items to my name now, about 55 buys and 5 sells.