Sneaky Business Sellers on eBay

davidtirrell

Recently on eBay a bike (private sale) was sold for £500 (buy-it-now).

The exact same bike was being sold at auction by a business seller a few days later.

I was curious as to what answers the seller would give me regarding the history of the bike.

He told me it was bought brand new, used to commute x number of times per week and that it had been replaced with a different brand bike. :evil: TOTAL LIES :evil:

The bike sold for about £950

I understand business is business, but I just wanted to hear some people's view on this story.

sturmey

He has given an untruthful history about the bike but hasn't really done anything wrong I would say.
If he'd said the bike was in perfect workng order and it wasn't or that it had a Dura Ace groupset and it was Sora then that would be different- I would say he has just been crafty.

Mothyman

selling a used bike as new sounds illegal to me.
if you're certain its the same bike then inform ebay maybe

the poor lad who paid 950 might find wear and tear evidence in the near future

sturmey

selling a used bike as new sounds illegal to me

Read the OP's post again and properly this time.

The guy selling it didn't say the bike was new. The OP clearly explains the bike had been used a few times.

skinson

So, I buy a car of some bloke for £1000. Next day stick it in the local paper for £1500 and sell it. Err, I thought that was the basics of good business? Good luck to him, and as always....caveat emptor!
dave

bobtbuilder

So, I buy a car of some bloke for £1000. Next day stick it in the local paper for £1500 and sell it. Err, I thought that was the basics of good business? Good luck to him, and as always....caveat emptor!
dave

+1 for this.

I've bought things on Ebay that I considered undervalued and then sold them again. I wouldn't feel the need to lie about their history though.

No-one forces people to bid.

nottscobb

I wouldn't say he's done anything wrong. If your wording is exact to his reply he hasn't actually lied either. It was bought new (maybe not by him) and used to commute a few times (again, perhaps not by him) and then replaced.

Just out of interest though, how can you be certain it is the same bike and not one similar?

inseine

He told me it was bought brand new

Surely everything is bought brand new at some point? You just assumed he ment by him.

andy_wrx

There's an option in eBay to copy another listing.

So if you want to sell something, rather than getting your own pictures, writing your own blurb, you can simply copy someone else's.

I can see why you would do this
- you have a look in the completed listsings for someone who's recently sold the thing you're trying to sell, just to see what sort of price you can expect
- you find a listing which is exactly what you're selling and is brilliantly written, far better than you could write
- so you copy it as a template for yours, with maybe minor tweeks
(alternatively, you might just be a lazy b*st*rd and just copy it cos it's quicker !)

So this second listing might not be the same bike as the first one, might just be a copied listing.

Pross

Sounds like the original seller undervalued his bike on buy it now or he just wanted rid of it. That's his problem, if he'd gone down the auction route himself he may have got more.

davidtirrell

nottscobb wrote:

I wouldn't say he's done anything wrong. If your wording is exact to his reply he hasn't actually lied either. It was bought new (maybe not by him) and used to commute a few times (again, perhaps not by him) and then replaced.

Just out of interest though, how can you be certain it is the same bike and not one similar?

Here's abit of clarification on the story.

My original enquiry
"Hello, how long have you owned the bike? Was it purchased / second hand? What have you used it for? Regards"

Reply
Hi, bought in 2005 so only 4 years old. Used to commute 10 miles about 2 - 3 times a week until about a year ago when I bought a XXXXXX XXXX (Bike Name & Model).

The private seller left feedback to the business seller who bought it. It's the exact same bike. You're absolutely right, it's at the bidder digression whether he wants to bid the £950 for the bike

By the way, the bike was a Trek 5200, ultegra components, bontrager race x lite wheels and a 2004 model, nude carbon. Maybe some of you might have seen it?

And the business seller just filled loads of words in the title so more people could find the listing easier.

bing gordon

you accepted the £500 when you probaly knew it was worth more , why did you do this?.whenever i put anything on ebay i always get mail saying " do you have a buy it now" or " do you have a price in mind ?".
i can only compare it with a car boot when your going to sell and get there in the early hours.soon as you park up there's flash lights start glwoing through your back window as dealers try to buy only to sell ltr for double.
the guy tried his luck with a low offer , you accepted so you cant really blame him if a day or two later he gets double for it.
i think you've learned a big lessen this time , let it ride and you normally get near what your after.

a_n_t

bing gordon wrote:

you accepted the £500 when you probaly knew it was worth more , why did you do this.

the OP didn't sell the bike

skinson

Bing. I don''t think the OP actually sold this bike mate!
Dave

davidtirrell

bing gordon wrote:

you accepted the £500 when you probaly knew it was worth more , why did you do this?.whenever i put anything on ebay i always get mail saying " do you have a buy it now" or " do you have a price in mind ?".
i can only compare it with a car boot when your going to sell and get there in the early hours.soon as you park up there's flash lights start glwoing through your back window as dealers try to buy only to sell ltr for double.
the guy tried his luck with a low offer , you accepted so you cant really blame him if a day or two later he gets double for it.
i think you've learned a big lessen this time , let it ride and you normally get near what your after.

I didn't sell it, wasn't my bike

andy_wrx

No, I think Bing is right.

I've had a look on eBay and found what I think are the two listings.

I can't see how anyone would have seen that the second one was the same bike as the first unless they were the seller of the first one, then noticed that the buyer was reselling it

(my it's-a-copied-listing theory above was wrong, it's a totally different listing, totally different photos, etc - the buyer of the first is shown as 'bidder 1' so you wouldn't know they were the seller on the second unless you linked the two through feedback entries)

Sorry David, I can see how you might be aggrieved, he relisted 4 days after he bought it, sold it for £451 more than he paid you for it.

But as others have said, that is the way business works - you asked a buy-it-now price and if he paid you no problems, then you can't complain : you undersold yourself with your buy-it-now price, I'm afraid (although I think he was also very lucky with his sale, I wouldn't have paid as much for it as his buyer did).

top_bhoy

haha...posts are like buses, you wait all night for one and then 2 come along together :P

Andy...David has already stated he wasn't the seller but I guess you were already composing yours as his was being sent!!!

stevechambers34

far more annoying are people who bid and buy a complete bike from you then enthuse about it and tell you what they are going to do restore it, only for you to see it parted out a few weeks later...a little underhand I think especially when it is completely original!

Wappygixer

Would you rather the seller said "I bought it cheap a few days ago and now want to make a killing on it" or would you rather they tell you what you want to hear?
I've bought loads from Ebay cheaply and sold it for more a few days later.