eBay reels..

[LEWITH]

How can guys on eBay sell brand new name brand reels at 25-40% discount off what tacklewarehouse or cabelas would sell? Example being a Daiwa tatula I can get from TW for 150 but on eBay I can find the same feel for 95?

 

thanks for the insight!

[Kidflex]

I don't know and really don't care how or why. I just enjoy the savings! 

[deaknh03]

They often have no overhead, no lease, no advertising, no employees..etc. the margins brick and mortar stores charge are neccessary to keep the business afloat. 

[rippin-lips]

Those places mark up the reel x percentage over the wholesale price. The people on eBay are selling them for just a bit over cost. A lot less profit per reel but if they sell 200 it makes up for it. 

[LEWITH]

Makes sense was just curious if they could be selling fakes but I bought one and it had everything and it looked legit. 

[wdp]

I've always been skeptical of buying reels on eBay. I got burned once on a Shimano Curado 200E, supposedly brand new in box. It did look brand new, and had everything in the box. But that reel had something wrong with it & it never cast correctly. Got same exact reel from bass pro & it casts like a bullet. 

[LEWITH]

11 minutes ago, wdp said:

I've always been skeptical of buying reels on eBay. I got burned once on a Shimano Curado 200E, supposedly brand new in box. It did look brand new, and had everything in the box. But that reel had something wrong with it & it never cast correctly. Got same exact reel from bass pro & it casts like a bullet. 

Yeah I know a few people who have bought eBay reels and they have all been good that's how I found out about getting them off there. You might have gotten a lemon maybe it wasn't done on purpose 

[wdp]

8 minutes ago, LEWITH said:

Yeah I know a few people who have bought eBay reels and they have all been good that's how I found out about getting them off there. You might have gotten a lemon maybe it wasn't done on purpose 

Could be, but that's the only one I've ever bought on eBay. Been leery ever since. 

[Guest]

I have also heard a lot of bad experiences so I have completely stayed away from them. There are some ppl who sware by eBay getting new reels for a great deal but I just can't do it. I don't trust em.

[Angry John]

I have a bunch and get great deals.  Simmons sporting goods has some of the best deals.  They ebay returned items and overstocks.  I got a steez for 275 shipped when the ex came out.

[ksfishinguy]

PayPal protects the buyer and so does eBay. If something's not right you can almost always send it back for a full refund. You might be out shipping costs, but that's pretty minimal compared to paying retail. 

 

That being said, support your locals whenever you can. Ask for a deal. They may not give you eBay's pricing, but for 10-15% more you may help local business stay afloat and add tax dollars to your local economy. You don't see immediate savings but if everyone shopped local when possible we'd have healthier commerce. There's a reason brick and mortar are going under and having much more limited stocks now, and as consumers we're the driving reason. 

[fishnkamp]

Personal preference but I buy from Amazon frequently.  I always deal with the same 3 or 4 vendors there and I get pretty good deals on reels from there.  I know I can trust them because I have dealt with them before and I look at the review and ratings. 

[blckshirt98]

I've gotten a couple of reels on eBay, main thing is to check seller Feedback, and if you have any doubts, don't be shy about emailing the seller and asking questions.

[Sammies77]

4 hours ago, Pilot. said:

I have also heard a lot of bad experiences so I have completely stayed away from them. There are some ppl who sware by eBay getting new reels for a great deal but I just can't do it. I don't trust em.

There is no "them", ebay is just an outlet for businesses and people to sell products. You have a MUCH better chance of getting a returned or screwed up reel from a place like bass pro or cabela's where everyone and thier brother has played with it or possibly even returned it. 

 

 

I've bought more reels on ebay than anywhere else, never had a single problem. I only buy reels from reputable dealers though. I wouldn't buy a reel from someone on ebay who has let's say one reel for sale that's "new in the box". They probably bought it and it had issues so they sell it on ebay. 

[smalljaw67]

A few years back Shimano warned customers that warranties would not cover reels purchased on auction sites. A lot of regular stores run ebay stores as well, but you typically don't see the dramatic discount you often find and there is a reason. If you ever saw FFO, fisherman's factory outlet, you'll notice they sell both new and "refurbished" reels and rods and a lot of discontinued models at big savings, well a similar thing happens on ebay. A lot of manufacturers won't bother selling "refurbished" reels back to the public, instead they sell them to warehouse vendors who sell them on ebay at huge discounts, it doesn't mean the reels are bad but you are getting factory seconds, blemished reels or refurbished reels most of the time and if you don't believe me consider this. Brands like Shimano and Daiwa, off the top of my head, have what is called 'MAP" pricing, they do it so one dealer can't undercut another dealer to keep the playing field level, undercut and you won't get anymore product, simple, so how do the sellers on ebay get away with it?? They sell refurbished reels and because they buy factory direct "blind lots" meaning they don't pick and choose but just by a pallet of tackle as a "lot" they can get away with not having to say they are selling a refurbished reel. I asked a few people about the legality of that but I was told from multiple sources that the steep discount is basically telling you that you are buying a factory second or blemish, or discontinued item and because these vendors buy like they do and are not authorized dealers, they are allowed to charge whatever they want but it has to be at least 30% off in order for them to say the price is low enough that the buyer knows the reel is not a first rate. Those serial numbers are recorded and if you need warranty service, well you may find that certain brands won't honor the warranty, I know this first hand as it happened to my regular fishing partner. Now that doesn't mean private sellers who won reels or got gifts or came about the reel for cheap and wants to sell for cash, this is usually stores that run an ebay store that regularly sell all kinds of tackle and at huge savings, you are getting a good deal and nothing wrong with the reels but they were found to have problems and then repaired and sold off at auction. How do I know this you may ask, well my buddy's father-in-law has a stand at a flea market and he gets invites from warehouses that have product to sell, and they bid on lots that are set up as assorted tackle items, the items were purchased from the factory by the warehouse and that is what happens to returned product, when a reel goes back to the factory it gets repaired and then sold to a warehouse which sells on an auction site or it sells to small flea market vendors and that is how the price is so low.

[deaknh03]

I can tell you as a brick and mortar owner, MAP pricing is almost always not enforced. The only time it is enforced is if the offender is a big seller, but a bunch of one off guys on ebay? Shimano doesn't have the time to chase the little guys.

[LEWITH]

My buddy who pretty much only buys reels off ebay now has had way better luck from ebay dealers than cabelas/BPS.  He said he has had more lemons come from cabelas/bps than ebay over the years.  He is strictly talking new reels not used reels from ebay.

[smalljaw67]

6 hours ago, LEWITH said:

My buddy who pretty much only buys reels off ebay now has had way better luck from ebay dealers than cabelas/BPS.  He said he has had more lemons come from cabelas/bps than ebay over the years.  He is strictly talking new reels not used reels from ebay.

 

If you get a bad reel from BPS or Cabela's you take it back and get store credit or exchange, if you get a bad one on ebay you will have issues. As I've said in my previous post, my buddy got a bad reel from ebay, it was not the sellers fault but he told him to send it in for warranty work. Guess what? The warranty didn't apply because the serial number was removed from their system because the reel was found to have a defect or was returned, that was all that he was told and they did offer to fix it at a lower cost but he still had to pay for it along with the shipping and then it ended up costing him about the same as if he bought it at retail. I'd have no problem with buying a good reel for cheap on ebay but I understand that most of the time when buying from a store there that I'm getting a discontinued model, or one that was refurbished or blemished.

[npl_texas]

13 hours ago, blckshirt98 said:

I've gotten a couple of reels on eBay, main thing is to check seller Feedback, and if you have any doubts, don't be shy about emailing the seller and asking questions.

This is all you need to do

[Darren.]

Bought reels off eBay as well. No problems with any.

I always look for sellers with ratings of 99.7% or higher

and have never had issues. And then, as mentioned,

PayPal has some assurances with purchase protection.

[Sammies77]

8 hours ago, smalljaw67 said:

A few years back Shimano warned customers that warranties would not cover reels purchased on auction sites. A lot of regular stores run ebay stores as well, but you typically don't see the dramatic discount you often find and there is a reason. If you ever saw FFO, fisherman's factory outlet, you'll notice they sell both new and "refurbished" reels and rods and a lot of discontinued models at big savings, well a similar thing happens on ebay. A lot of manufacturers won't bother selling "refurbished" reels back to the public, instead they sell them to warehouse vendors who sell them on ebay at huge discounts, it doesn't mean the reels are bad but you are getting factory seconds, blemished reels or refurbished reels most of the time and if you don't believe me consider this. Brands like Shimano and Daiwa, off the top of my head, have what is called 'MAP" pricing, they do it so one dealer can't undercut another dealer to keep the playing field level, undercut and you won't get anymore product, simple, so how do the sellers on ebay get away with it?? They sell refurbished reels and because they buy factory direct "blind lots" meaning they don't pick and choose but just by a pallet of tackle as a "lot" they can get away with not having to say they are selling a refurbished reel. I asked a few people about the legality of that but I was told from multiple sources that the steep discount is basically telling you that you are buying a factory second or blemish, or discontinued item and because these vendors buy like they do and are not authorized dealers, they are allowed to charge whatever they want but it has to be at least 30% off in order for them to say the price is low enough that the buyer knows the reel is not a first rate. Those serial numbers are recorded and if you need warranty service, well you may find that certain brands won't honor the warranty, I know this first hand as it happened to my regular fishing partner. Now that doesn't mean private sellers who won reels or got gifts or came about the reel for cheap and wants to sell for cash, this is usually stores that run an ebay store that regularly sell all kinds of tackle and at huge savings, you are getting a good deal and nothing wrong with the reels but they were found to have problems and then repaired and sold off at auction. How do I know this you may ask, well my buddy's father-in-law has a stand at a flea market and he gets invites from warehouses that have product to sell, and they bid on lots that are set up as assorted tackle items, the items were purchased from the factory by the warehouse and that is what happens to returned product, when a reel goes back to the factory it gets repaired and then sold to a warehouse which sells on an auction site or it sells to small flea market vendors and that is how the price is so low.

This is total nonsense. 

16 minutes ago, smalljaw67 said:

 

If you get a bad reel from BPS or Cabela's you take it back and get store credit or exchange, if you get a bad one on ebay you will have issues. As I've said in my previous post, my buddy got a bad reel from ebay, it was not the sellers fault but he told him to send it in for warranty work. Guess what? The warranty didn't apply because the serial number was removed from their system because the reel was found to have a defect or was returned, that was all that he was told and they did offer to fix it at a lower cost but he still had to pay for it along with the shipping and then it ended up costing him about the same as if he bought it at retail. I'd have no problem with buying a good reel for cheap on ebay but I understand that most of the time when buying from a store there that I'm getting a discontinued model, or one that was refurbished or blemished.

What serial numbers are you talking about? All your buddy had to do was get a refund through ebay, it's simple. 

[deaknh03]

24 minutes ago, smalljaw67 said:

 

If you get a bad reel from BPS or Cabela's you take it back and get store credit or exchange, if you get a bad one on ebay you will have issues. As I've said in my previous post, my buddy got a bad reel from ebay, it was not the sellers fault but he told him to send it in for warranty work. Guess what? The warranty didn't apply because the serial number was removed from their system because the reel was found to have a defect or was returned, that was all that he was told and they did offer to fix it at a lower cost but he still had to pay for it along with the shipping and then it ended up costing him about the same as if he bought it at retail. I'd have no problem with buying a good reel for cheap on ebay but I understand that most of the time when buying from a store there that I'm getting a discontinued model, or one that was refurbished or blemished.

If you get a bad reel from ebay, you put it back in the box and return it, postage paid by the seller. Ive done it with many items from ebay.

[J Francho]

I've bought and sold many items, much more expensive than reels, through eBay using PayPal as a payment method.  Only once did I have an issue.  The seller did not ship the item in a timely matter.  It took her a month, and a reversal of funds through PayPal arbitration, as well as a lock on her PayPal account to get the item.  Once I got the item, I indicated to PayPal and eBay arbitration I was satisfied, and that was that.

 

When it comes to buying an item, ask the seller specific questions - is it warrantied, will the box be sealed, was it refurbished, etc.  If they don't answer to your satisfaction, don't buy/bid.  Don't pay with "gift" or by other insecure means.  Simple as that.

[Brett's_daddy]

I know that I can get a NIB Daiwa Tatula CT 100HS off eBay right now for $89.95 with free shipping and that's coming from American Fishing Legacy whom I've dealt with before and have a very good reputation!

[LEWITH]

39 minutes ago, smalljaw67 said:

 

If you get a bad reel from BPS or Cabela's you take it back and get store credit or exchange, if you get a bad one on ebay you will have issues. As I've said in my previous post, my buddy got a bad reel from ebay, it was not the sellers fault but he told him to send it in for warranty work. Guess what? The warranty didn't apply because the serial number was removed from their system because the reel was found to have a defect or was returned, that was all that he was told and they did offer to fix it at a lower cost but he still had to pay for it along with the shipping and then it ended up costing him about the same as if he bought it at retail. I'd have no problem with buying a good reel for cheap on ebay but I understand that most of the time when buying from a store there that I'm getting a discontinued model, or one that was refurbished or blemished.

 

There are no individual serial numbers for reels..