Overpaying for 2nd-hand gear on eBay!

[Joe_L]

Just read another post about annoying buyers on eBay and I would like moan about another aspect of eBay... And that is buyers paying near-to-new or more-than-new prices for current-model non-rare second-hand gear and robbing me of the chance to grab a bargain!

 

If I'm looking to buy, for example, an effects pedal, the first thing I do is look up it's new price (including postage and availability) and then figure out what would be a reasonable price to pay for a used one. If a new pedal is £200 online, I won't pay more than £140 for a used one. A used pedal may well have been mistreated, smoked, dropped, soaked, or otherwise abused so the £60 I save over the new one comes with a real trade-off: a risk, a compromise of longevity, a lack of warranty.

 

However, I regularly see used pedals, guitars etc being bought on eBay for the full new price! People will pay the same for a used item than they would for an identical but new instance!!! It literally makes no sense!

 

If you could spend just a little bit more, avoid any risk and get a brand new, boxed , guaranteed one, why wouldn't you?

 

(I'm a hypocrite because a couple of years ago I sold two rather ordinary, current model, freely available Boss guitar pedals for more than they could have been bought for, including postage, online - and probably received quicker!)

 

Thoughts?

[T-Bay]

People don’t always do their research. I have sold a few bits over the years that have gone for more than new price. It’s crazy but the buyers seemed happy. But I have also sold stuff where it’s gone for a fraction of what I expected. You can just never tell.

[tauzero]

It's often due to a bidding war. Two people both fancy the same thing, one puts in a bid, the other beats it, and then the frenzy starts where neither of them will allow the other to win it. The sense of competition outweighs rational thought.

[fretmeister]

It's their money, they can spend it however they want.

[Joe_L]

2 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

It's their money, they can spend it however they want.

Yes. They can.

[Lozz196]

10 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

It's their money, they can spend it however they want.

 

6 minutes ago, Joe_L said:

Yes. They can.

Yep, many years ago I sold a Marshall 1936 2x12 cab on the bay and two bidders went up against each other to my benefit as it bizarrely went for more than what they were sold for new.

[warwickhunt]

I had to put some of my parent's stuff through a local auction so I decided to watch what sort of prices stuff went for (most of these auctions can now be watched/bid online).  I was frankly amazed to see 'tat'/junk going for daft prices.  I realise that you could argue that there could well be hidden treasure among it... there wasn't, it was JUNK.  To add to that I watched countless individual items go through which I was familiar with the prices (mountain bikes, hi-fi gear etc) and it was staggering!  Rusted junk bikes (catalogue/Halfords cheapies) with missing parts were selling for way more than you could test ride and buy on the Marketplace and this wasn't during the height of Covid when you couldn't find a bike for sale anywhere.  

 

As has been said, bidding fever kicks in and some folk must just bid on stuff because it seems a bargain... it isn't when you add the buyers premium of approx 30% on top of the hammer price.  

[Dankology]

I truly feel your pain.

 

I don't mind other people paying a "stupid tax" because they haven't done their homework but it does sting when they cost me a bargain.

 

Similar but different: years ago I was bidding on a soundcard - in the final day of the auction a new bidder bid me up to my maximum then spotted that the seller had an identical item for sale and nabbed it for the opening price. This was long enough ago that you saw the full ID of every bidder and winner so I don't think I was shilled. 

 

I take an almost forensic approach to buying higher value items on Ebay and it narks me to an unreasonable degree when someone blunders in and skews the whole thing.

 

I do miss the days when Ebay searches didn't account for misspellings too.

[Burns-bass]

To add to this list, I hate it when private sellers attempt to charge shop prices fr gear when they have none of the overheads and offer none of the securities (the option to pay with a credit card, 3 month guarantee etc.)

[Maude]

2 hours ago, T-Bay said:

People don’t always do their research. I have sold a few bits over the years that have gone for more than new price. It’s crazy but the buyers seemed happy. But I have also sold stuff where it’s gone for a fraction of what I expected. You can just never tell.

This totally. 

Back when I had a VW Transporter (T4), passenger door pockets would regularly sell on ebay for around £60-£70. Most T4s came with a double passenger front seat and no door pocket. The more expensive Caravelles and such came with a single passenger front captains seat and a door pocket (in general). 

People would swap their double seat for a single captains chair and then pay aforementioned price for the "ultra rare, hens teeth door pocket" on ebay. 

If you rang the dealers they were about £20. 

 

[Ricky 4000]

I was once told that some of the over-paying on fleabay is due to scrotes doing their money laundering!? 😗

[tauzero]

9 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

I was once told that some of the over-paying on fleabay is due to scrotes doing their money laundering!? 😗

 

You don't want to believe everything that Noam Chomsky says.

[Grahambythesea]

It’s an auction and whether it is on line or a live one people get carried away with bidding so sometimes overpay.

[Beedster]

All of the above plus the fact that while you might check the RRP with an online retailer, these days there’s a good chance that they don’t have it in stock. There’s been a huge impact of the economic situation on the used market, in some places invigorating it, in others killing it completely. It’ll no doubt revert in time.
 

Personally I buy used whenever possible because I prefer dealing with people to dealing with businesses/organisations. Ebay protect the buyer very well, while the retail sector doesn’t always do so, despite its legal obligations. This week I bought a very expensive unit (new) only to find it has a fault. The hassle involved in sending it back along with the implicit suggestion from the business that I’m being difficult/unreasonable is frankly at a level that makes me think it would be easier to keep it and fix it. 

[Paul S]

Stuff has a value to me beyond which I am not prepared to go.  If it is worth more to either the seller or another buyer then I resign myself to not having it and move on to something else. Life is too short to get in a lather about it. 

[Chaddy]

Depends really - Sellers will look at what others have it listed for and then match. - Try buying a Macbook Pro 2019/2020 model  for a respectfully 400 quid. No chance. 

However, a 2 second search means you can get it for less else where. I wont mention the fees that they rip your eyes out for. - Isn't worth it unless its 99p specials. 

 

I will however refuse to use shop.com, hosted by shopify. That is fraud central, you can pay for an item and unless they send it can close down their "shop". 

Going through fraud atm. Just a right P.I.T.A . At least Ebay if you have an issue can square it away to a point. 

[Elfrasho]

I once paid 9 quid for a very bog standard single A string thinking I'd just bought a full set. Easily done. I massively over paid.

[Dan Dare]

On 18/12/2022 at 02:19, Grahambythesea said:

It’s an auction and whether it is on line or a live one people get carried away with bidding so sometimes overpay.

 

Usually when they return from the pub, I suspect.

 

[fleabag]

On 17/12/2022 at 12:26, Joe_L said:

Yes. They can.

 

 possibly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by fleabag

[Saul Panzer]

I'll generally get new stuff if it's easily available but ultimately if I want something and have the funds then I just buy it.

I don't strictly buy into the "overpaying" philosophy, something is worth what someone is willing to pay.

The amount I'm prepared to spend on rotting wood chips and beetles that only live a few months would be stupid money for most people but I consider them bargain prices.

[bass_dinger]

13 hours ago, Saul Panzer said:

..... rotting wood chips and beetles that only live a few months ...."

I am very curious to learn about this! I am thinking Stag Beetle larvae - am I right?

 

And to stay on topic, I once watched two identical lego kits, from the same seller.  One started at £45 and attracted one bid of £45.

The other started at a penny, and the by the time it reached 10p, already had three bidders hungry for that bargain.  It reached about £47.  Auction frenzy trumped common sense. 

 

Let's not forget that many bass chatters are expert consumers  - we know what a set of Rotosound Swing 66 strings cost, and whether they are preferable to a set of Warwick Red Labels. We know that a MiJ P bass is preferable to a MiM. We even know what the acronyms mean! We know that a Harley Benton guitar is cheaper from Thomann than ebay.  Years of research (and reading basschat.co.uk) has got us to that point.  However, many ebay customers are not willing to spend time researching  - instead, they spend money getting the item quickly. 

 

 

 

 

[Saul Panzer]

4 hours ago, bass_dinger said:

I am very curious to learn about this! I am thinking Stag Beetle larvae - am I right?

Among others yeah, I had 2 lines of Dorcus titanus breeding, tried to breed out specific color lines for some Mecynorhina flower beetles, a selection of sun beetles, Darklings, tried to breed some local Rove beetles, even managed to buy a pair of Allotopus golden stag beetles but couldn't breed them (could've brought a nice mid range bass for the cost of that pair alone).

[Barking Spiders]

On 17/12/2022 at 12:09, Joe_L said:

Just read another post about annoying buyers on eBay and I would like moan about another aspect of eBay... And that is buyers paying near-to-new or more-than-new prices for current-model non-rare second-hand gear and robbing me of the chance to grab a bargain!

 

If I'm looking to buy, for example, an effects pedal, the first thing I do is look up it's new price (including postage and availability) and then figure out what would be a reasonable price to pay for a used one. If a new pedal is £200 online, I won't pay more than £140 for a used one. A used pedal may well have been mistreated, smoked, dropped, soaked, or otherwise abused so the £60 I save over the new one comes with a real trade-off: a risk, a compromise of longevity, a lack of warranty.

 

However, I regularly see used pedals, guitars etc being bought on eBay for the full new price! People will pay the same for a used item than they would for an identical but new instance!!! It literally makes no sense!

 

If you could spend just a little bit more, avoid any risk and get a brand new, boxed , guaranteed one, why wouldn't you?

 

(I'm a hypocrite because a couple of years ago I sold two rather ordinary, current model, freely available Boss guitar pedals for more than they could have been bought for, including postage, online - and probably received quicker!)

 

Thoughts?

All sounds good to me as someone who's sold several guitars on EBay😁 for not far off what I paid new for 'em

[ASW]

On 17/12/2022 at 12:09, Joe_L said:

Just read another post about annoying buyers on eBay and I would like moan about another aspect of eBay... And that is buyers paying near-to-new or more-than-new prices for current-model non-rare second-hand gear and robbing me of the chance to grab a bargain!

 

If I'm looking to buy, for example, an effects pedal, the first thing I do is look up it's new price (including postage and availability) and then figure out what would be a reasonable price to pay for a used one. If a new pedal is £200 online, I won't pay more than £140 for a used one. A used pedal may well have been mistreated, smoked, dropped, soaked, or otherwise abused so the £60 I save over the new one comes with a real trade-off: a risk, a compromise of longevity, a lack of warranty.

 

However, I regularly see used pedals, guitars etc being bought on eBay for the full new price! People will pay the same for a used item than they would for an identical but new instance!!! It literally makes no sense!

 

If you could spend just a little bit more, avoid any risk and get a brand new, boxed , guaranteed one, why wouldn't you?

 

(I'm a hypocrite because a couple of years ago I sold two rather ordinary, current model, freely available Boss guitar pedals for more than they could have been bought for, including postage, online - and probably received quicker!)

 

Thoughts?

I don't list gear for nearly new prices, but sometimes it will be closer to new than to the 70% you're willing to pay.

 

Lots of factors come into play, such as stock levels of new items (i.e. If out of stock everywhere then my item may be the only option for someone), market rate for the item used (which may be higher than new for vintage gear), demand (these are interconnected), condition and last but not least, how much I want or need to sell something.

 

If I'm not in a hurry for the money or don't need the space, then I'm happy for it to sit on ebay for as long as it takes until somebody wants it more than I do for a price that we're both happy with.

[itsmedunc]

Some folk automatically presume eBay etc are cheap. It used to be but no more. Cash converters is the same. They sell used pedals for more than the new price too.