Ebay anyone?

thor666

thor666

New member
I've just concluded my first ebay transaction off a seller in America.

it's a second hand washburn mg-74 loaded with SD invader, hot rails and Screaming Demon. (yea it's kinda big for a first buy.)

paypal sux somewhat so i ended up paying 17SGD against my choice. anyway the guitar was very cheap by standards - 177.50USD, shipping at 60USD and insurance at 4.00USD. So total comes to 415SGD.

anyone else wants to share their ebay experience? particularly with musical instruments and equipment? :)
 
am eyeing sum stuff from there
mainly mesa V-1 n hopefully a PRS standard hehehehe but havent pulled the trigger yet
 
whoa big stuff there... probably u won't want to be as cheapo as me and use USPS then... no tracking for USPS.
 
Oops... sorry. Too excited over the cheap shipping rates... Missed your 2nd post.
:oops:

I see, it's USPS. Usually shipping a guitar from the states (via freight companies) costs about $180 or so...
 
yep. my friend was complaining that he loses his items via USPS just now... however he's into stamps and stuff... small parcel goods. so yea i guess it's easier to lose small items.

if my guitar got lost though i wouldn't be too worried as it's insured.. as long as no guitar $ back can liao :wink:
 
gamble

buying from ebay is just like a gamble,
the items might reach you or may not.

it still depends on the postage service.
some of the items I bid and won did not arrive
and some took 2 months to arrive.

by the time it arrive with all the handling,
all the knobs on the module are dropped
out of its placings.

better to use airmail than surface mail.

my advice is to buy small items not more than US$300
and use shipping cost more than US$50, less than that
normally is surface mail by boat and it takes at least 8 weeks
to arrive.
 
yep... somehow i do feel safer with airmail rather than surface... shortens the time to close the transaction as well.
 
eBay - Gamble purchase?

eBay - Gamble purchase?

oh yeah, definitely. Airmail is safer and faster.

the module I talking about reached me a few days ago;
the shipping charged was only US$26 and the overall cost
with the module itself is about SG$290. It's 35% cost of what
SweeLee is retailing. so in fact it was a gamble!!!

I very glad that it reached me. When I didn't receive the item
after 6 weeks, I email the seller and surprisingly he reply me
that he sent it out. When I got the item, I replied to the seller
that it reached me.

Some tips on bidding and buying on eBay:
(these are in fact tips from eBay but I used them
even before reading these tips in eBay - it's all common sense)
1) Ask questions about postage and cost
2) Ask about the specs and features of the item, see if seller can answer
them even if you know the item specs and features - testing game !??
3) Read seller past feedback - up to yourself to judge
4) Get to know seller by corresponding, see if this guy is trustworthy

Payment - PayPal and BidPay
After some transactions with the US and Europe,
I realised US may be a bit skeptical whereas Europeans seem
more trustworthy. But doesn't mean Americans are all untrustworthy.
However, due to the GBP (pound) exchange rate,
it's more expensive to buy from UK for the shipping.

Most of my transactions are paid via PayPal which so far is pretty safe.
There are sellers who demand int'l payment by only BidPay because
they claim PayPal doesn't honour the seller. I believe this is the system
flaw where buyer can demand a refund when they claim item is not receive.
This answers the mystery behind all the funny emails I receive from aboard
asking to buy items from my class. ads requesting to pay through a client
of his with all sorts of funny scenario.

Anyway, my claim is buying from eBay is still a gamble !!!
 
I agree it's always a gamble buying stuff you can't see/touch/test...be it ebay or online stores. But I guess there's always some form of excitment/satisfaction derived from there as well *lol*

So far I've order effects pedals, pickups, guitar parts, and 2 guitars from ebay/online store and I realised it all boils down to 3 things:

1) Communication - really vital. Like what's previously mentioned, email the seller for all the details, get quotes for shipping, method, freight companies, time taken, form of payment accepted, etc. Then maintain communication. Email him and ask for confirmation whenever you make the payment (whether he receives it or not), email and ask him when he ships it out, get tracking number, email him again when you receive the item, etc

2) Shipping - Choose carefully the mode of shipping...unless the seller really overcharges the shipping by a huge margin, it's good to pay for reliable shipping services (unless you wanna take the risk). USPS is quite alright although not top notched. I've got item that didn't arrive in months and we thought it was lost, so the seller re-sent it again...then the previous item resurfaced...now I've got 2 pedalcases for the price of one cos the seller blur lah, sent by surface mail for the earlier item *LOL*)

Also, do check up the USPS website or the freight companies' site to double check the rates just to make sure the seller doesn't overcharge.

3) Luck - okay..this one only divine powers can help you liao *lol* Cos sometimes, items do get lost, take extended time to reach, end up in bad condition after shipping, or item ended up not to your liking, etc. But points 1 and 2 done right, it'll minimise on the overall disappointment :)

The internet is a great place to get stuff not available here and it's an interesting experience to do online shopping too. heh. You'd encounter all sorts of interesting people and the way they work. Oh, the anticipation of waiting for your items to arrive is damn shiok siah! *LOL*

Okay, I'm getting out of point :lol:
 
..

if possible, ask the seller to dismantle the neck from the body to shave off a huge amount from the volumetric weight. I've shipped a bass from USA via USPS for about USD$75 as compared to more than twice for FedEx or UPS. of course, i've forgone the hardcase... but that's fine by me.
 
Ordered Native Instruments' Reaktor Session from a seller at a very good price - the seller had high postive ratings. That was almost 2 years ago - and I still have yet to receive it. Got an email from another buyer asking whether I received it - because he hadn't receive it either. Complained to Ebay - nothing done. No refund. That was the first and last time I got something off Ebay.
 
Korg Wavestation SR

Korg Wavestation SR:
My first overseas eBay purchase from Bali, Indonesia.
The seller runs a music production company and has a website,
so I trusted him. The item reached within a week with an airmail postage
charge of US$48. It came bundle with a Opcode4 MIDI interface
which is useless for me as it can only runs on a Mac - too bad *sigh*

Other items:
Roland SRJV expansion cards
Yamaha MCD64, 32 RAM cards
Owner's manual - too lazy to print from pdf file?!
Sound Editor/Librarian software - somehow good...
Obscure music CDs - casing sure to crack after miles of airmail handling!
Music mags - shipping more expensive than the mags, paper weighs heavy.
a good place to get past historical isuues.

Good luck to ALL for your online gambling purchase,
I'm still waiting for some items to arrive !!! Hopefully not lost...

Life is a series of hello and goodbyes...
Billy Joel - Say goodbye to Hollywood
 
Dunt Worry Thor. It will reach here safely.

I dun't really have that much ebay experiences.I've so far bought CDS for the past 4 months from ebay. 3 times altogether.Everyting went ok and smooth. My first cd was kreator's enemy of god.The cd was sealed but the jewel case cracked badly inside the seal. Not much of a suprise i guess. The bubble bag didnt came much of a use.

I'm getting an ibanez RG220 now from ebay also.Really nervous, i hope it reaches here safe.My shipping costs is 70 dollars via airmail taking 4-10 days said the seller. :D
 
ah nice... haha we're all waiting...

did u unbolt ur neck? for shipping savings and safety reasons i decided to ask the seller to unbolt the guitar.
 
no offense ... i wanted to get a stingray badly from ebay but after i read Ed roman's anti ebay posts ... i was put off

and beware. alot of ebay guitar posters are highly dubious ... once i saw a fradulent fender.

i mean.. OK u got a fender neck there... but everything else on the bass wasnt a fender. the particular model was the fender bullet bass ... highly dubious ..
 
That's why you must know your stuff well... do research, research and more research Info's everywhere...plenty of resources online :p And when in doubt, ask lots of questions and ask the seller to send you more pics.
 
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