Does anyone else think ebay is getting expensive!?

marin1997

I am looking to buy a starter road bike and I know people recommend a decent secondhand model from one of the big makers. However, I've noticed that prices for bikes which were "only" £500ish new seem to hit £300 plus for bikes that have been well used. This is making me think I'd be better off with a Triban 3 or Carrera? Am I just being impatient or are the bargains thinning out?

wombar

Ebay has been getting properly rubbish recently. There seems to be a lot of morons who are willing to bid up prices to less than 10% difference of buying brand new. For me, that difference really isn't worth messing around on ebay.

For example, I've been looking for a new saddle recently and thought I'd try a Charge Spoon. One went this afternoon for £21 delivered. Quite what these people are thinking I don't know, because you can get a brand new one from Wiggle for £20. If I'm buying second hand, I'm generally looking to pay no more than 60% of a brand new price (if that).

Personally, I'd trawl the web and see if you can't pick up a bargain brand new somewhere. There are some good deals popping up, and as the season comes to a close, you might find some real gems in clearance sales.

The classifieds on here are good as well to be fair.

Gizmodo

I've been looking for a new saddle recently and thought I'd try a Charge Spoon. One went this afternoon for £21 delivered. Quite what these people are thinking I don't know, because you can get a brand new one from Wiggle for £20.

I found exactly the same! Even Amazon couldn't beet wiggle, especially with their Extra 10% the other day. Can't wait to try it out.

pauldavid

Ebay hasn't changed but you do need to hunt out the bargains.

I've just picked up a pair of cycling shoes that are new in the box and have never had cleats fitted never mind been ridden in.

I paid roughly 45% of the price wanted by my LBS for the same shoe.

I was buying the shoes anyway whether it was from my LBS/internet shop/ebay but ut's always worth trying ebay cos not everything goes for a fortune.

good luck with your search

marin1997

Thanks for the quick replies....I thought I wasn't being unreasonable in hoping to pick something up for £200 to £300 but a lot of bikes don't seem to depreciate in the Ebay world!

Thebigbee

pauldavid wrote:

Ebay hasn't changed but you do need to hunt out the bargains.

/quote]

I have to completely disagree. I used to sell between 10 - 20 items a week on Ebay a couple of years ago and made a profit on everything. I didn't make a fortune but it kept me in beer tokens or my Paypal account topped up so I could buy something I wanted or needed without worrying about it.

Nowadays I probably list an item every few months. It just isn't worth it with the Ebay fees, Paypal fees, listing fees and then the P&P charges.

I was also after a new saddle recently and very nearly bought that Charge based on the price and reviews. I checked Ebay expecting to be able to pick up a saddle for less than the £21 that Wiggle wanted.

I couldn't find ANYTHING on there! Jeez - Aldi and Lidl do saddles with a 3 year guarantee for under a tenner I think - nothing like that on there. They all seemed to be no names from China so would have had to wait X amount of time to get it.

I ended up getting this from CRC http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=49778

I paid £13.99 as CRC credited my account with a fiver out of goodwill because an order I placed they weren't able to fulfill.

I know for a fact that Play and Amazon are not as generous and Tesco...

They couldn't fulfill an order recently. Have been told that I will have to wait "up to 12 days" for my account to be credited!

Brilliant, the countries biggest company has zero CS! Guess where I will never be shopping online ever again? Twats!!

fludey

Have to agree it isn't what it used to be when selling, once eBay take their cut followed by paypal you don't get much return which is probably why the bargains are not so cheap anymore due to the costs of selling. This is why a lot of over seas sellers put huge postage costs on to get round some of the eBay charges. eBay is a great idea but same as most success stories greed takes over!

carl_p

There is no reason to think why bikes should deteriorate at an alarming rate. A cared for and well maintained bike will last for years, and the bits that do need replacing such as chains and cassettes etc will hardly break the bank. Some of the specs on older bikes, e.g. Giants are better than you get on new ones, especially with regards to groupsets.

Supply and demand also. The increased popularity of cycling means there is keen demand for entry level bikes. You may find better bargains on top end bikes but arguably at greater risk.

pigsail

There are still bargains to be had - in the last couple of weeks I've had a 6 month old Ribble time trial frame with carbon forks and head-set for £91. I also got a Specialized Stumpjumper with new wheels for £135. You've just got to keep your eyes open.

Good luck with your search

Speedmenace

you need to spend alot of time on ebay until you find a good deal, most bikes sell for a good price but every now and again you can get a steal...

ascurrell

I've been looking on ebay for cycling gear about 3 years and the amount of listings have doubled. Originally there were just under 100,000 now its 200,000.

There are good deals to be had but you have to trawl through the listings more.
Also you must remember times are hard so if someone is selling a 1 or 2 year old bike that they have looked after of course they don't want to give it away.
Unfortunately in this day and age everything seems to be getting dearer.

Keep looking and you will find something, alternatively next years models are on the horizon so new old stock bargains will be about soon.

lol headwind

pauldavid wrote:

I've just picked up a pair of cycling shoes that are new in the box and have never had cleats fitted never mind been ridden in.

I paid roughly 45% of the price wanted by my LBS for the same shoe.

I've seen some good deals on ebay for shoes, I think the nature of the variety of sizes means you can still get a decent bargain on these as not so many people can impulse buy a certain pair of shoes.

StillGoing

It's only expensive if you're prepared to pay the inflated price. Know what the item is worth and stick to your guns and in that way it isn't expensive. If some other schmuck is prepared to pay over the odds then more fool them.

Pickled Pig

Not compared to my LBS! I bought a 2nd hand Allez earlier this year from my LBS - my mate got the same age bike in same condition with higher spec off eBay for 20% less.

I agree ebay is too expensive for sellers now- I notice a lot more people now want to complete outside of ebay and avoid the 4% Paypal ripoff.

brettjmcc

eBay is actually taking less of a cut than many auction houses, so it actually not that bad a value, it just people forget IMO. They also have top limits, so if you sell anything over £400, your final value fee actually stops at £40. I think people forget to factor this in.

Pickled Pig wrote:

I notice a lot more people now want to complete outside of ebay and avoid the 4% Paypal ripoff.

Its actually still free to receive money if its in the Paypal account already. They only charge a fee if the money is taken froma debit or credit card. The piece that annoys me is that they updated the rules to stop you adding that 3.4%+20p to the bill. There should be an option to allow the buyer to pay that fee, similar to the option they provide in Gift. I mean if you pay for a holiday or flight a lot these days, the purchaser gets charged the cost, not the seller :evil:

white91

People pay good money to get a bargain! I saw a used Lezyne track pump make £47, I paid £48 brand new from Merlin Cycles!

My Planet X was ok, I agreed a BIN price of £725 for a 3 mile old Planet X Pro Carbon with SRAM Red, it came with £100 pedals too! This avoided fees too.

hulla the hulla

marin1997 wrote:

Thanks for the quick replies....I thought I wasn't being unreasonable in hoping to pick something up for £200 to £300 but a lot of bikes don't seem to depreciate in the Ebay world!

The thing is, a large part of Ebay is effectively now just a market place for traders. Quite often the prices they are asking can be bettered online from other retailers. I find it amusing that there is a perception that you will always pick up a bargain on Ebay. It's fair to say that sometimes there are deals to be had but often the reverse is true and you can end up paying more which begs the question, do the traders know and are trying it on or are they just illinformed or unaware of the market ?

2nd hand stuff is slightly different though but I still have a feeling that people want more for their stuff than is realistic, same question, trying it on or unaware of the real value ?

I suppose the benefit of the auction environment is that people will pay what they are willing / need to to get what they want so the agreed amount will naturally settle at the "right price".

marin1997

Just as I was about to give up and take my £300.00 to Decathlon or Halfords I spotted a Dave Hinde L'etape Sport on Ebay. Now I know Mr Hinde gets very mixed opinions on his service but there's nothing wrong with the bike I bought for £200! Tiagra throughout, carbon fork, R500 wheels and barely used.....very happy!!

nochekmate

I have bought some excellent bikes off ebay in the last 2-3 years (some of which I have resold to fund my cycling hobby).

I tend to look for Buy It Now prices rather than involve myself in bidding but the bikes below are some of the 'bargains' that I have come across and were all very good prices IMO. All prices for complete bikes.

Pinarello Treviso (steel) £100 Buy It Now
Specialized Roubaix, Shimano 105 etc. £480 BIN
Bianchi Nirone £99 BIN
Isaac Pascal carbon, Shimano 105 £400 BIN (for a colleague)
Raleigh Avanti Team, SRAM Red, Mavic Equipe £920 (groupset now on best bike) - Bid
Kinesis Racelight Campag Veloce, Fulcrum 5 £460 (my winter bike)
Colnago C40 Dura-Ace 9 speed groupset & wheels £720 won on bid - now Campag Chorus/Shamals and C40 prices now significantly higher.

It's becoming tougher to spot a bargain but they do occasionally crop up.

APIII

I think the low end, or entry level stuff does go for good prices. I've sold a well used bike for 60% of new price before to my surprise. It does seem to drop off though as you get towards the high end. I saw a fully loaded Time RXR go for about 40% of new price a while back. I guess it's a more risky purchase at that end of the market.

I never quite get the argument against ebay being unfair, greedy, etc. Take your tat to any auction house and they will charge you 15% commision at least, and for what size market? a few hundred? If you're a seller, I think it's great. If you're a buyer, you need patience, as some bidders do seem unaware of value for whatever reason and push the price up to silly levels. I've sold quite a few things for above new price before and I have no idea why :?