About two years ago I was eyeing some nr low-flange hubs on ebay. The seller advertised them as NOS, with no shop wear whatsoever. I checked with him to get further information on the hubs, but then decided not to bid. The sellers got no bids and then offered them to me for what seemed like a steal: 89 plus shipping. I jumped, sending my money.
Four *months* and several emails later he finally sent me the hubs. One looked new but had significant shop wear. The other had been laced and used on the road. I wrote him requesting that he take the hubs back and he gave me the one finger salute.
The bottom line is that if you don't know the seller at all -- even thru a great forum like cr -- then it pays to make sure the deal isn't too good to be true, cause sometimes it ends up worse than you could have imagined.
Jon
Jon Cowden Ithaca, NY
>
> Aside from the ethics debate on this apparent action by the seller since the
> transaction is outside of Ebay, you are not protected by Ebay anti-fraud
> protections. What happens if the seller takes the money and doesn't ship or
> runs off with the money? You could have no recourse going back to Ebay for
> help since it is an outside transaction.
>
> Good luck, I think I would pass...
>
> Steve Neago
> "Slip Slidin Away in Cincinnati, OH"
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Roy H. Drinkwater" <roydrink@mac.com>
> To: "classic list" <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Monday, December 17, 2001 11:26 AM
> Subject: Re: [CR]eBay Machinations
>
>
> > Well, checking ebay rules, it doesn't say that the seller
> > can't contact bidders about the particular auction, like for giving
> > information & answering questions. However under the User Agreement:
> >
> > >5.5 Manipulation. Neither you, bidders nor sellers may manipulate
> > >the price of any item nor may you interfere with other user's
> > >listings or auctions.
> > >
> >
> > I don't know if a seller asking bidders to pay more is
> > unethical or manipulative, but it's pretty pathetic. If he asked you
> > to purchase something else, that's spamming and against the rules.
> >
> > Roy "pedantic" Drinkwater
> > Lititz "rain - 40's", PA
> >
> >
> > p.s. are there pictures in the original listing, or are these
> > additional pictures?
> >
> > Chris asked:
> >
> > >I received the following (somwhat edited to protect the guilty) from the
> > >seller of an item for which I was not the high bidder. Isn't this
> unethical,
> > >as well as a no-no per eBay?
> > >
> > > > Hello,
> > >>
> > >> Although the reserve has been met, I hate to sell these unique brakes
> for
> > >> $61.
> > >> Attached are photos of the actual set for sale.
> > >>
> > >> Thanks for bidding.