ebay

[Anglin]

does anybody on here use ebay to purchase fishing equipment/tackle? how reliable is it?

[Deuceu72]

I do..............There is a gentleman named Russ who has an online store on ebay with loads of quality tackle, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, jigs,crankbaits, etc...........He is VERY reliable..........Here is a link for you.......

[Deuceu72]

Sorry, the link doesnt work.............but I do buy from Ebay and have had no problems........

[Raul]

I purchase a lot of japanese stuff through e-bay. As long as you deal with respectable and reputable dealers with high positive feedback record you are fine, if you see a couple of negative feedbacks don 't be intimidated, check why those negative feedbacks were given.

[Grey Wolf]

I've bought a few rods and reels on e-bay and had no problems at all.Just check out their rating before you bid on any item.

[Vyron]

What Raul said

[Siebert Outdoors]

I've sold more then bought but like Raul said check out who you are dealing with before you buy

[Matt Jungblut]

i have bought loads and loads of stuff

got ripped off 1 time for $202 dollars [but ebay is paying $162 of it back]

bought a terrimantor spinner bait for $5 when i got it

it was a 99 cent spinnerbait from walmart

i think i have about 70 things bought from ebay

[volpster31]

i bought a bunch of stuff off ebay & highly recommend it....

i got my shimano symetre for $65 & a diawa viento for $130  both brand new in box.

you cant beat deals like that from ebay

JUST BUY FROM A TRUSTED SELLER & CHECK ALL THERE FEEDBACK....DONT BUY ANYTHING FROM SOMEONE WITH A 12 FEEDBACK SCORE

[Alpster]

I have also bought a ton of stuff form the ebay site. Like others have said, be aware of who you are dealing with. Check feedback. I only deal with sellers with 25 or more positive.

Ronnie

[cart7t]

I buy and sell alot.

Selling, I've only had a couple problems with customers trying to rip me off.

Buying, I've only had one incident where the merchandise wasn't what was described.  

Check their feedback.  Anyone having multiple bad responses in the course of several months is someone to be wary of.

[5bass]

I'm like cart,buy and sell all the time. If you watch eBay enough you can find some smokin' deals. Back in November I bought a Kistler Helium LTA 7'6" flippin stick,"used" but the handle wasnt even dirty for $112. Guy had fished with it for about 4 hours.

Biggest problem I have with eBay is shill bidding.....you can tell who's doing it and when you report it to eBay,they dont care....the higher the bid goes,the more money they make.

[fish-fighting-illini]

 Great topic I've kind of wanted to start a similar post but hadn't got around to it. I had never bought anything from E-bay until recently.

 I bought a used Shimano Symetre for $35 recently. It is not quite the modern version but is in excellent shape and seems like very good quality to me.

Just yesterday I bout a Pflueger President new in box 6735 for $30 + $8 ship and they retail for $59 at BPS. So it was a decent deal.

I would caution (from my limited experience) not to get caught up in the whole bidding thing. I've seen people bid $54 + $9 ship for a reel that sells localy for $59. Why someone would be buying sight unseen from E-bay that way is beyond me. Why not support your local people or a known reputable BPS or Cabelas or your local tackle store?  

Of course a Bass resource.com seller via E-bay is another matter without them I assume we wouldn't have this great site!

just my .02c

[Live.2.Fish]

I have bought all types of items on ebay and I only got hosed once.  It was for $80.  The product did not work when I got it (electronics).  The seller would not work with me in returning it and I wasn't about to pay for shipping (again) back to him.  I paid for it with my visa and I just called the number on my card, I told them what had happened and they took it off my bill right away, no questions asked.  Excellent customer service.  I won't buy anything online unless its on a visa.  So I feel pretty good when I buy stuff online knowing the credit card companies have my back.

[Redlinerobert]

I buy a ton of stuff on Ebay as well.  I've had a couple issues though, but now with fishing tackle.

[Siebert Outdoors]

It was mentioned above but yes check your shipping charges and read the whole sellers add. The main thing is to deal with the good ones with great feed back.

Another thing on selling an item all ways and I mean always ship the stuff delivery conformation and insured.  Who cares if you lose a buck or two more when you could get ripped off in a scam.  Keep all your paper work available and organized.  SHould a problem occur you have all the documentation to say no it was delivered to you on this date here is the shipping co. information of delivery.

[Brad_Coovert]

eBay is a great place to shop. I've been a member, buyer and seller there since 1998.

Just check the feedback and make sure you know about all shipping charges, etc before you buy.

Do not be shy about using the "ask a seller a question" feature.

Brad

[justfishin]

I have bought tons of stuff on eBay. I like antiques and have purchased some nice stuff for a lot less than I would have at other auctions. I  have only had one problem ever with a sellers item and she handled the problem for me. I only deal with a seller if they are 98% and above in their rating and still look at some of their feedbacks to see how they handled specific problems. I have 5 or 6 fishing equipment sellers saved on my favorites. I will not buy a rod unless I have had my hands on it but, for reels as well as other stuff it is a great place to get some deals. Always remember to include the shipping price in your figured bid. Some of the SH can make a seemingly good deal for an item not worth it. Also, sign up for Paypal and be sure to not open any mail sent to your personal mailbox as they have been having problems with phishing emails.

[westsweeper4]

I have had two major complaints with ebay.... One is that some of the sellers on there charge way way way too much for shipping. I saw a All Star Platinum for $124 buy it now price. However the shipping was $26. I have shipped many a rod and you can easily ship a rod for $15 in a PVC tube via Priority mail. Second, as I think this was mentioned before is the amount of shill bidding going on. Ill let you in on a secret. I go to college and live in a dorm room with someone. I have personally seen him talk to another person in our dorm to get the price of his product raised aka shill bidding. I sent ebay an email about this and gave both of their info and the auctions they "cheated" on and ebay did nothing as they still do it today.

My advice is be very careful in what you bid and be wary of possible scams.... This is sad that you have to approach ebay with caution but that is what this world is coming to.... Everyone wants a quick buck!

[cart7t]

I have had two major complaints with ebay.... One is that some of the sellers on there charge way way way too much for shipping. I saw a All Star Platinum for $124 buy it now price. However the shipping was $26. I have shipped many a rod and you can easily ship a rod for $15 in a PVC tube via Priority mail. Second, as I think this was mentioned before is the amount of shill bidding going on. Ill let you in on a secret. I go to college and live in a dorm room with someone. I have personally seen him talk to another person in our dorm to get the price of his product raised aka shill bidding. I sent ebay an email about this and gave both of their info and the auctions they "cheated" on and ebay did nothing as they still do it today.

My advice is be very careful in what you bid and be wary of possible scams.... This is sad that you have to approach ebay with caution but that is what this world is coming to.... Everyone wants a quick buck!

You must be aware of the shipping charges and consider that into the overall price of an item.  I've seen  people bid up an item that with shipping included, cost more than they could buy locally new.  If a set shipping price isn't listed or a shipping calculator isn't there and there's no mention of it in the description, ASK THE SELLER!   As you stated, some guys charge way more than they have to for shipping. Usually it's listed in an items description.

As for rods. I can ship a 6ft rod just about anywhere for around $12-14. It's the rods that are 6'6" that throw the shipment into a different rate amount.  I ship rods in heavy cardboard tubes, about 4 inches in diameter so I can sell 2 rods at once, and I normally pay around $17.50 - 19.50, with delivery confirmation to most places in the US.

One other thing.

I shy away from anything with a picture(s) that are too blurry or shot in near darkness to where I can't really tell what I'm getting.  If the seller took so little effort to produce a decent picture I doubt the item is in the kind of shape he's describing it.  

[fish-fighting-illini]

IMPORTANT Update.

Rec'd my reel - Pflueger 6735 that was described as "new in box".

1) I rec'd a reel that had quite a bit of dirt under the top lip of the spool. It looks to me like everything had been cleaned but they forgot that part. Kind of tells me it might be used but not the crime of the century.

2) It also had fishing line on it. Who puts fishing line on a reel and doesn't use it? So it is obviously used.

3) the reel has big cuts near the bail but on the frame beside the bail like someone had used this reel extensively and misused it. The cuts fit the line perfectly.

I had checked first and the seller had tons of positive feeback and only a few very old negatives.  I e-mail them right away and got a bunch of "we test operation casting buttons" etc blah blah blah and complained that I implied that they might have deliberately mislead. They never addressed a single one of my facts. I've e-mailed tham again but they have not answered and have started the Paypal complaint process. We'll see where it ends up.

[cart7t]

IMPORTANT Update.

Rec'd my reel - Pflueger 6735 that was described as "new in box".

1) I rec'd a reel that had quite a bit of dirt under the top lip of the spool. It looks to me like everything had been cleaned but they forgot that part. Kind of tells me it might be used but not the crime of the century.

2) It also had fishing line on it. Who puts fishing line on a reel and doesn't use it? So it is obviously used.

3) the reel has big cuts near the bail but on the frame beside the bail like someone had used this reel extensively and misused it. The cuts fit the line perfectly.

I had checked first and the seller had tons of positive feeback and only a few very old negatives.  I e-mail them right away and got a bunch of "we test operation casting buttons" etc blah blah blah and complained that I implied that they might have deliberately mislead. They never addressed a single one of my facts. I've e-mailed tham again but they have not answered and have started the Paypal complaint process. We'll see where it ends up.

Anything described as NIB should be exactly that.  Any sign of usage and especially, line put on the reel is not NIB.

You have a legitimate gripe.  You will also win in the Paypal dispute process.  They lean very heavily in favor of the buyer.  Sometimes too much.

[Pa Angler]

I have bought and sold on Ebay. A good place to sell stuff you have no use for anymore. Give it a try but check the Seller's feedback reponses that will tell how reliable the seller is or isn't.

Chow

[jdw174]

I"ve bought and sold on EBay and never had a problem.  When I buy I tend to lean towards "Power Sellers" with a high positive feedback.  I also lean towards the "Buy It Now" items rather than the ones that require bidding.  If I bid I will bid the maximum I'm willing to pay for an item and not one dime more.  I've been beaten more than once by someone who bid more than I could buy it locally for.

[fish-fighting-illini]

JDW  I did almost as you described. I bought from seller with 99.7% feedback and no neg for long long time. Sells a lot of items and I bought it "buy it now". I'm not sure if the seller was a crook or just very stupid. I do know that it had damage, also looked used and had line on a supposedly "NIB reel".

also note: the picture advertised with the reel had no line on it but my reel showed up with line on it! hmmmm?

I ended up sending back and getting full refund and refund of shipping.

The seller goes by the name of     hot_n_sweet ( I think it is a guy though lol ) I would stay clear of this seller.