Any Tips for Buying From eBay?

[trevm999]

I just received the first computer I have purchased via eBay. I purchased to fix up and it arrived as described. It was an as is purchased and so they did not guarantee there that it was without any other issues. This has been a good experience, but I was nervous because the person selling might be knowledgable enough to know there are more issues and so they were not interested in fixing it themselves. This one came with the hard drive wiped, and many just don't come with hard drives at all. This made me nervous because the people are knowledgable enough to remove hard drives (and sometimes ram) but they claim they did not try fixing it themselves. However, I have concluded that most of the places selling, sell enough stuff that they are not interested in fixing it, but want to turn something into cash as fast as possible.

Even though I know believe that to be the case, does anyone have any tips for avoiding auctions that might be someone trying to sell something they know has a bad system board, or something like that?

Sorry if the above is hard to read. I feel like I am having a hard time articulating myself tonight.

 

[Markverhyden]

I don't do a whole lot of buying on e-Bay for many of the concerns you mention. But this is what I look at.

First and for most the sellers ratings. I always look at the numbers and review the negative ratings. Especially the consistency of the complaints. I did some time in retail and I learned to filter out whiners/frauds from the legitimate complaints.

The products being sold is also important. The buyer selling the same type stuff on a regular basis is important. I'm just not comfortable with someone who is a "junk dealer". Meaning that they sell what ever they come across.

Comparing prices to other sources as well as general market knowledge is important.

My big purchases are as follows:

3 - Dell Latitude D610's several years ago.

1 - Dell R710 server several months ago.

2 - Dell Latitude D630's a few weeks ago to replace the 610's.

The only problem I had was the D630 buyer had differing information about HD size. But I did not care. As with the 610's I had larger drives I was going to install anyways so it was a moot point. I don't look for fixer uppers.

I have also been looking at sailboats for some time. Have not bought one yet. But using the criteria I mentioned above every boat I ended up looking at was properly represented.

 

[16k_zx81]

I just received the first computer I have purchased via eBay. I purchased to fix up and it arrived as described. It was an as is purchased and so they did not guarantee there that it was without any other issues. This has been a good experience, but I was nervous because the person selling might be knowledgable enough to know there are more issues and so they were not interested in fixing it themselves. This one came with the hard drive wiped, and many just don't come with hard drives at all. This made me nervous because the people are knowledgable enough to remove hard drives (and sometimes ram) but they claim they did not try fixing it themselves. However, I have concluded that most of the places selling, sell enough stuff that they are not interested in fixing it, but want to turn something into cash as fast as possible.

Even though I know believe that to be the case, does anyone have any tips for avoiding auctions that might be someone trying to sell something they know has a bad system board, or something like that?

Sorry if the above is hard to read. I feel like I am having a hard time articulating myself tonight.

1. Sellers feedback score. Check this first. Make sure its really high and lots of sales

2. Make sure you read the description thoroughly. Onus is on you to know what you are buying.

3. Dont give feedback until you have had a chance to fully test the product and there is little chance of needing a refund or replacemmnt

4. Use paypal wherever possible as it offers buyer protection on ebay purchses

 

[gikstar]

You didn't mention if you are looking at laptops or desktops...

I buy laptops for their parts, when I need specific things.
The desktops, well I usually stick with good used guaranteed items and usually purchase core 2 duo 3.0Ghz or 3.16Ghz units with Windows 7 Pro from reputable sellers that I can sell to our business clients at a good profit and give them a warranty. If I can sell say 4 units to the same company with a 2 year warranty then I purchase an extra one and put their name on it and set it in the rack so we can switch it out the same day if anything goes wrong.

I do most of my used computer part purchasing from Craigslist as I have 3 good size counties to purchase from (LA, Ventura and Santa Barbara).
A few weeks ago I purchased 7 19" monitors for $15 each, tonight I purchased 10 good Sata hard drives (150Gb Raptors to 750Gb Seagates) for $50, and a few months ago I picked up a Dell Precision T7400 with dual quadcore xeons for $75.
Finding good buys help me offset that which I give away free to the non-profits that I support.

 

[peachypc]

The above tips are all good, and should be observed.
My favorite quote to avoid is: Boots to BIOS (with picture) - no further testing done..(RIGHT!) - Paypal,as mentioned , is a MUST.
I have purchased over 1000 items form eBay with a VERY HIGH success rate. If you do receive something bad, most will even pay return shipping even thought the "fine print" states otherwise. You will be out a little time.
Ebay is just about a necessity when working on older systems.
In 12 years I have had to file maybe 3 or 4 complaints are were dealt with satisfactorily.
Jump i and get your feet wet.

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

Even though I know believe that to be the case, does anyone have any tips for avoiding auctions that might be someone trying to sell something they know has a bad system board, or something like that?

I don't buy from ebay. What I have done for fixer uppers is bought locally on Craigslist. Where I'm at there is a large University with people looking for an outlet to sell their Macs. Most folks think their Macs are worth entirely more than they actually are. But with a little persistence you can find a good deal if you know what to look for with knowledge of a particular manufacturer. My last two personal shop/home laptops were high end 15-inch Macbook Pros, still under Applecare which I've gotten for half price or less. Then once I've gotten the machines into "warranty condition", I've been able to utilize the remaining Applecare to get whatever I need for the machines.

But the point is, stay local if possible. Anybody with any credibility will be fine with meeting in person. All have liked the fact that I'm part of an established business that they can walk into to do any transactions (even though I don't purchase these pieces as part of the business). That has given me the ability to access the sellers in person. Also, i every case I've had access to the machines/serial numbers before buying them and even take 5-10 minutes turning on the machines and removing the bottom cover to check for abuse.

 

[trevm999]

Unfortunately I'm to far away from a city now to buy local. I am mostly just looking at Macbooks. I've chosen one type to focus on, so hopefully I will get some parts I can use even if I get a bad one. Most I see are coming from the states, so shipping charges add a fair bit on. I guess I'll find out soon enough if it's worth it.

 

[kisk]

For buying "AS-IS" laptops on eBay, take note that most of your bidding competition is going to buyers just like you. Either they want to buy it to fix up and sell, or to part out and sell -- and there are a LOT of folks doing it which means a lot of the time the price is driven up to where profit might not be worth the $$ spent in terms of diagnosing/labor time + parts.

Like a previous poster replied, I've found that buying broken items locally will get you max profitability. You can almost always underball what a system is really worth and 9/10th of the time the local seller is still happy because its worthless to them.