What’s the deal with buying tackle on eBay from Japanese seller?

[Phatbass54]

Why are these dealers using the same exact photo of the product across 3 different sellers, then when you ask why they’re using those same photos, they get offended and block you it doesn’t make sense. You’re just trying to verify what condition the product is in.

[Glenn]

eBay is sketch at best.  I stay away from it.

[A-Jay]

I buy baits all the time and have purchased one reel.

Never had a problem. 

A-Jay

[Bass Rutten]

Lots of those "duplicate" listings are actually third party sellers or brokers. As long as the seller has lots of transactions and positive feedback(99%+) there's nothing sketch about it, also ebay is known for siding heavily with buyers should something be off with the product.

[RRocket]

13 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I buy baits all the time and have purchased one reel.

Never had a problem. 

A-Jay

Same. Never an issue. And I've bought stuff from Japanese sellers.

[MediumMouthBass]

If the seller has a high rating buy with complete confidence, and even if they dont. Ebay always sides with the buyer, even if they purposely ruin the item they purchased. - Ebay seller.....

 

Check the profile and see how many items sold, and if they do have bad reviews read them. Sometimes its a good review but the person didnt put the right rating.

 

Ive gotten some unreal deals on lures and reels there, but remember the new reels and rods there are not sold by an authorized dealer. Most companies (Daiwa for one) will consider it a used product and give you 0 warranty or support. Another thing to think about is this when buying used reels, i bought a few new and used ones that were listed "great reel no issues" only to find the drag didnt work, and the other came with the wrong spool tension knob that wouldnt work. Most guys are resellers and as long as the thing brings in line they call it good. But again Ebay/Paypal always side with the buyer, and most sellers are more than helpful if an issue arises. The guy who sold me my second reel refunded half the price when i only asked for enough to cover the tension knob.

[Texas Flood]

Got all my JDM reels from eBay and haven’t had any issues. Like others have said, check the sellers account and make sure they’re legit. 

[J._Bricker]

I’ve had good experiences buying from eBay. There have been items I’ve looked at that in the description there was a topic line stating “have one like this to sell” and you can use the original listing and pictures as the basis to sell your widget. Another issue which could create problems is if a vendor is selling multiple items using the same photo(s). In this case I guess the only way to get clarity is the contact the seller/vendor and ask for pictures of the item you are interested in. 

[GRiver]

I use eBay all the time, no problems. I have asked before about the photos. They said “sorry I’m lazy easier to copy pics that take my own”

So I just check their feedback and go from there. 

[MediumMouthBass]

To add, OP i was just on Ebay looking for a Daiwa T3, 3 different JDM sellers had the same pictures of an old beat up reel. And no descriptions.

 

Usually sellers might use one or a few stock photos (usually from the manufacturers website) but these sellers have about 10 pictures all of the same beat up poor condition reel. This is very odd for Ebay.

[FishTank]

11 minutes ago, MediumMouthBass said:

To add, OP i was just on Ebay looking for a Daiwa T3, 3 different JDM sellers had the same pictures of an old beat up reel. And no descriptions.

 

Usually sellers might use one or a few stock photos (usually from the manufacturers website) but these sellers have about 10 pictures all of the same beat up poor condition reel. This is very odd for Ebay.

 

I have seen this too. I think this happens when a seller doesn't sell an item in the time they are given and are told to sell it at a lower price. Instead of relisting it under the same auction or buy it now, they open up a new one at a higher price under a different seller.