Ebay sellers

[240ZGL]

Sorry about this but I'm just feed up with these Bozo's selling on Ebay. I bought a coil bracket off Ebay that was replated, not too long ago. Turns out it's not for a 240Z. It's much larger and can not be used. If you say it fits a 240Z, then make damm sure it does. Not all 280 stuff will swap over and vice-versa. Sure you have this very rare part you want to sell, like a steering wheel or a valve cover. Hey, it's not rare. Rare would be a new in the box set of tail lights, or a set of 432 magnesium rims. Rare would be FIA brakes, not a headlight bucket or a set of Monroe strut inserts. I bought a new in the box Cannon manifold for triples, the guy never mentioned the casting was so bad it's junk. The runners on 1 and 2 are so miss matched it will not work. He got top dollar and sent out trash. I know you can leave a bad comment about these idiots but then you get one back, even if you pay them within a minute or two at the end of the auction. It's bad enough that guys are spending hard earned dollars on over price parts for a car that does not have the value to back it up. You can buy a nice Z for a 3 to 5 thou and spend 3 times that for a few parts. Sure if the car was bringing 20 to 30 grand the price of some of the stuff out the would be worth it, but when you have to spend 10 grand on a car that might be worth 3, then you want your 10 grand worth of parts. I know we all do this because we love these cars but jezz it's just nuts finding good parts and good people to deal with. All I'm saying is if your going to list on places like Ebay the make sure your selling what you clain you have. Sorry about the rant. :mad:

[Brando Rambo]

DAmn man Sounds like ur having a lot of fun on ebay ROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFL

[BRE-240Z]

I feel your pain. I'm getting to where I won't buy anything on eBay unless there are good photos, great seller feedback, and a willingness to answer questions on the seller side. If someone sends me a half-assed answer, full of misspellings and/or misinformation, I'm just going to pass.

[psdenno]

I agree with the previous comment - ask for pictures and more info and if the seller is proud of the item, you should get an appropriate response. I buy & sell on ebay and have had a "burn" or two, but generally you can tell whom to stay away from by the listing, how long the seller has been on ebay, and any responses to questions. The ebay ratings are not always a good indicator. Sorry about the bad buy. It's a nice day in SoCal, take a long walk on the beach. You'll feel better.

[WingZr0]

Photos photos photos are right!

Theres an old saying I have that goes, " 90% of the price is PhotoDucket ".

a.k.a Photobucket, and the Duckets equal cash

So if you take plenty of photos, you'll get THAT CASH

I never had a problem getting top ducket by having lots of good pics,

honest knowledgable descriptions and being nice with the answers.

~Z~

[Arne]

I beg to differ. My experiences lead me to believe that as a seller, I can be TOO honest and up front. While I do want to protect my 100% positive feedback, typically, items I sell on eBay go for less than the prevailing prices. I guess I just tell too much, as I frequently hear back from buyers that the item was much better than they expected. I prefer to describe items in the manner that I would want to see if I were buying them. Perhaps it make them sound worse than they really are, and inhibits bidding.

On the other side of the coin, the large number of flakes bidding on eBay really irritate me. I'm sorry, if you are online enough to place three bids and win in the final 30 seconds, but then can't be bothered to contact me or reply to my messages for several days afterwards, that's just inexcusable in my mind. Don't make excuses, if you're not ready to pay, don't bid.

Frankly, I've just about given up on eBay entirely - both buying and selling. I have much pleasanter results in placing a fair price on my Z parts and advertising them in the classifieds here. Maybe I don't get as much for my parts as I might have on eBay, but the aggravation factor is much lower, I get to communicate with other Z people, and help good people complete their projects or keep their car on the road. Much more pleasant this way.

[Walter Moore]

I gave up on Ebay long ago.

The only way that I would buy something on Ebay now is if it absolutely was not available anywhere else. Otherwise I guarantee that you will pay too much for whatever it is that you buy. Either it will be a good part, but way overpriced, or it will be a "deal" on a substandard and or worn out piece of junk.

Either way, why bother?

[zed2]

I am using ebay to meet many Datsun enthusiasts and many have been very friendly. Unfortunately, there is always a bad apple in the bunch, but you just have to "vet" the people you do business with. The honest sellers and buyers rarely make the headlines but they are out there, so don't get too discouraged.

Keith

[Oiluj]

As many of you know, I recently had an expensive bad experience with an eBay purchase. However, with exception of that one purchase, I've found eBay to be a good place for many items. I limit my bidding up to about %80 of store retail, Maximum). If it goes for more than that, I figure I may as well go to a store.

Regarding the purchase above, I'm currently in dispute-mode with Pay Pal, though I don't expect to win. I don't get satisfaction through Pay Pal, I'll just re-sell the items for less and move on. My take on it is "You win some, you lose some..." Even with this one bad experience, over the last 10 years, I'm still way ahead moneywise.

On the other side of the table, when I sell things on eBay, I am VERY careful to fully disclose item condition and take good pics. That way there is no issue. In fact, I'm in the process of selling some left-over MGA parts at about 50-80% value. I get some cash back, an MG owner gets what they want and the stuff doesn't end-up in a land-fill.

[zed2]

Oiluj,

I do not want to hijack this tread, so please let me know if I am off subject.

How do you make a determination of "80% of store retail" when the parts are no longer available from Nissan or any other established retailer? Doesn't the nature of the auction environment establish the retail price? Once the higher bidder has won the auction, doesn't the non-winning bids establish the remaining market value?

I am just getting stated in the ebay community as a seller of NOS Datsun parts and I am having difficulty establishing a comparable retail price for the items. Even when I list parts on the forums and craiglist, potential buyers want to know my lowest acceptable purchase price. How can/should this be determined?

I am trying to understand how to retail with integrity.

Keith

[Stickerman]

I post all of my items on Ebay starting at $5 no reserve. I figure that is the easiest way to see what market value is. Some sell for lees than I expected, some sell for more. You can tell me all day long that a part is worth $500, but if no one is a buyer at that price.......

[geezer]

There is no need to apologize for a rant about Ebay. We have all felt the need at one time or another. Until Ebay evolves into an entity that holds sellers financially acountable for gross misrepresentation of items we will continue to be disapointed occasionally, with no recourse. For me so far, it has all balanced out, meaning I have been outright ripped off and recieved nothing, recieved items not as described or wrong for the application, or items recieved were not in the condition touted. On the other hand I have got some fantastic deals, found things I consider rare and couldn't find anywhere else and have used the contacts I have made with some sellers pay off at a later date, just by letting them know what I am looking for. Not perfect, but still the best game in town for me. I consider this a Z challenged area and for me to find parts means driving several hours one way with no garantee what I'll find when I get there. So, if I can't find something online from a dealer, that pretty much leaves Ebay. It's been years since I have sold on Ebay but had no problems doing so. I described the items as best I could with pics showing any flaws, if any and never had a complaint from a buyer. As far as Z parts go, it is a lot more costly for us guys that are having parts shipped from the USA. The increased cost of shipping, brokerage fees and taxes can price most items right off the scale. A typical item costing $100.00 can end up costing twice that by the time I recieve it here! Starting to sound like another rant?