Bought bike off ebay, has following issues.

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Comments

  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,310
    It looks in good, maybe not "very good" conditions to me. You might be a bit picky...

    Does the headset have play? I have had the same bearings for 3 years, they are worn, rusty and grindy, but no play and no problem when steering, so not an issue... remember these are load bearing, not rotating bearings, so who cares if they are worn... The seatpost probably has insertion marks, big deal... chips on the frame are unavoidable, sometimes even in brand new frames, get over it. If the rims are worn to the point of needing replacement, that is an issue and maybe you can settle it... a used pair in good conditions of the same are probably worth 100 quid
    left the forum March 2023
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    I'd email the the previous owner (the name is on a decal on the top-tube / seat tube junction.) Google their name and county you bought from. I doubt, by the ebay description, the bike is being sold by the owner. Look at the things they normally sell on ebay, noting bike related, they are a ticket tout. Might be stolen.
    MHO, it's more important to research the seller than the bike before buying off ebay.
    OTOH, never had any problem buying off the classifieds on here.
  • Semantik
    Semantik Posts: 537
    Two golden rules for buying a used bike on Ebay.

    1. Never buy a bike you have not seen in the flesh first. So don't buy a bike too far way that you can't travel to view.

    2. Know your seller and make an assessment via some email contact first. If you send them an intelligent sounding message asking reasonable questions about the bike and get an evasive or unintelligent reply you know you are dealing with someone unreliable or worse. So walk away. there are thousands of bikes out there.

    I have just been corresponding with a female seller who posted a description of her bike that clearly didn't match the actual bike in her photos. A bit of research showed she had just copied and pasted the description of the bike including all its components from another listing of a similar bike being sold in the USA. Except none of the components were the same as those on her bike. I pointed this out to her but she wasn't interested and didn't see the problem. She also had a completely unrealistic idea about how much her bike was worth. Not surprisingly her bike did not get a single bid.

    So many idiots on Ebay. You just have to learn to spot them.
  • mugensi
    mugensi Posts: 559
    There is no mention about wheels or tyres in the ad, did you ask how many miles on the wheels or what condition/age the tyres were, before buying? The bike certainly looks in good condition and while there may be some minor marks and scratches, so long as there are no gouges in the carbon or visible cracks, then minor marks and scrathes are to be expected on a used bike.

    The headset may simply need cleaned and re-greased and the seat post could have been marked from a saddle bag or from being clamped in a bike work stand (which is where they recommend you clamp carbon framed bikes)

    To be honest, I dont think you have much of a case and unless you specifically asked for more details then its unreasonable to expect the seller to list absolutely every little mark or blemish on the bike in his ad, you as the buyer should have asked first when forking out £1500 for an item. Unfortunately for the seller, eBay/PayPal stack the odds in favour of buyers and your complaint (if you make one) will be listened to and the seller will possibly have to refund you some money (if thats the agreement you's come to) but the price you paid for the bike reflects the age/quality of the bike but PayPal will go on what you say and not the actual value/cost of the bike.
  • onyourright
    onyourright Posts: 509
    MugenSi wrote:
    its unreasonable to expect the seller to list absolutely every little mark or blemish on the bike in his ad
    Why’s it unreasonable? It’s a £1500 item. I see nothing unreasonable about the seller listing all flaws however minor. It would take 15 minutes to do. However, almost no sellers do this, because they are incompetent or dishonest or both. And since buyers are thick too, they’ll pay less for an item with listed flaws than one with an inadequate description, even though the one with the bad description is bound to have at least as many flaws.

    It’s not unreasonable to expect the seller to describe the item properly. It’s just wildly optimistic.

    The take-home point is that eBay works best for dishonest sellers and unfussy or technically ignorant buyers.

    Listen to the noise of components in distress on any group ride. That’s the sort of bikes being sold on eBay, described as very good condition and bought by people who don’t know that bicycles should be practically silent at all times.
  • apreading
    apreading Posts: 4,535
    It’s not unreasonable to expect the seller to describe the item properly. It’s just wildly optimistic.

    Its not unreasonable or wildly optimistic - its the rules...

    The claim is not that the bike wasnt worth the money, just that it wasnt as described. Whether or not its worth the money is irrelevant.

    If the OP has not exaggerated the problems then needing both wheels and tyres replaced on receipt alone means its not in 'very good condition' If the chips and scrapes are as significant as the OP suggests then some reference to them or at least the worst of them should have been included and/or pictures where they would be visible (even if not obvious).

    The way the OP talks though - either they know a bit about bikes in which case should have known better, or they have been told by LBS that these things need replacing in which case the LBS might be trying to earn some money and misleading the OP, or they dont really know these things need replacing after all and they may not be as bad as implied.
  • fenix
    fenix Posts: 5,437
    Semantik wrote:
    Two golden rules for buying a used bike on Ebay.

    1. Never buy a bike you have not seen in the flesh first. So don't buy a bike too far way that you can't travel to view.

    2. Know your seller and make an assessment via some email contact first. If you send them an intelligent sounding message asking reasonable questions about the bike and get an evasive or unintelligent reply you know you are dealing with someone unreliable or worse. So walk away. there are thousands of bikes out there.

    I have just been corresponding with a female seller who posted a description of her bike that clearly didn't match the actual bike in her photos. A bit of research showed she had just copied and pasted the description of the bike including all its components from another listing of a similar bike being sold in the USA. Except none of the components were the same as those on her bike. I pointed this out to her but she wasn't interested and didn't see the problem. She also had a completely unrealistic idea about how much her bike was worth. Not surprisingly her bike did not get a single bid.

    So many idiots on Ebay. You just have to learn to spot them.

    Or it was a stolen bike....

    Personally I'd never buy a bike off Ebay unless I get to see it in person.

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