Buy in haste.

[Derek Gibson]

This was brought home to me recently during a conversation with a couple of guys who described to me purchases from ebay not living up to expectations. It seems that the prices of said items determined the purchase, if those items were of smaller expense. Is this a widespread occurance?

Speaking personally, I rarely if ever buy anything unless I've seen and handled it. Lures in particular can be a minefield in my experience, hooks and split rings can be found substandard and often cheap tack. Another one is obscure Braid amongst many others.

I understand for some there may be a need to save pennies, but are they really.

 

[mikench]

I have commented before about the silly prices some people will pay for tackle sight unseen! I have bought three rods of the bay and have been lucky in getting just what i wanted at a very good price. One Tricast rod i got to see beforehand.

I have also paid high but fair prices for a few rods and reels but they were what i really wanted and i remain happy with what i bought!

If you know what you want, are prepared to wait and make a sensible but low offer ,one can pick up a bargain!!! The process can be fun too Derek!!

 

[steve2]

I buy most of my lures off ebay. I have bought some rubbish lures but this mainly because there are one or two lures in the offer that I want. I never bid craze prices.
One thing to be careful of is that there are a lot of fake lures out there. I bought some copies of chub creek pikies, that seller no longer sell lures.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

I typically spend far too much on my fishing tackle, so I tend to also spend a lot of timeresearching and checking on my intended purchases before parting with my hard-earned cash . . . . I also want to handle the product first and not “buy blind”

I think that a good few years ago that e-bay was a decent market place, but has become more like a dumping ground these days for poorer quality kit, plus the added fact that I prefer to spend a little more and support my local tackle shop.

 

[john step]

I think its the smaller items where the danger lies. The sort of bulk buys of swivels comes to mind. I made that error a couple of years ago and found the metal clips were so brittle they snapped under finger pressure. Another was cheap Arlesey Bombs that had weak swivels which snapped on casting.

 

[TrickyD]

I prefer to spend a little more and support my local tackle shop.

The more people doing this , the better. Many shops will try & match or get close to online prices & as mentioned its nice to try before you buy. I have had to travel 30 + miles just to find a tackle shop , & then they don't hold much stock as it's dead money & several places I've been to are on trading estates & they get broken into frequently, so I end up buying online just to get what I need, bit of a catch 22 situation.

 

[tigger]

The good thing about ebay is that your protected and if an item arrives damaged, not as described etc you simply send it back. In these cases the seller is responsible for the return postage costs also and if they won't send you a pre paid sticker or refuse to accept the item back then you only need contact ebay who will send you a pre paid sticker. As soon as the item comes up as delivered ebay re imburse your money in full. Ok it is annoying having to re wrap items and take them to the post office etc but if you buy the item from a shop you'd still need to return it so it's not that bad.....is it?

 

[thecrow]

I have had very few problems with stuff off e bay, even stuff from China, yes you have to wait a while for delivery but so long as its ordered in good time I don't find that a bind.

Swivels, beads and recently some hooklength storage boxes that have eva foam reels in it were a fraction of the price wanted by UK sellers, I have spoken to others that have purchased bigger stuff like reels and buzzers that have been ok and a lot cheaper than stuff sold in the UK some of which is possibly made in the same placesw as the UK stuff.

 

[john step]

The good thing about ebay is that your protected and if an item arrives damaged, not as described etc you simply send it back. In these cases the seller is responsible for the return postage costs also and if they won't send you a pre paid sticker or refuse to accept the item back then you only need contact ebay who will send you a pre paid sticker. As soon as the item comes up as delivered ebay re imburse your money in full. Ok it is annoying having to re wrap items and take them to the post office etc but if you buy the item from a shop you'd still need to return it so it's not that bad.....is it?

Thanks tigger. I didn't know that.

 

[tigger]

Thanks tigger. I didn't know that.

Glad it might help you out in future John.
I once made the mistake of taking an item to the post office and paying over the cou ter to send it back, don't do that because unless the seller is a real decent sort they don't need to give it you back and that was what happened on that occassion. If the seller won't give you a pre paid sticker inform ebay and they will send you one to print out.

 

[markcw]

The more people doing this , the better. Many shops will try & match or get close to online prices & as mentioned its nice to try before you buy. I have had to travel 30 + miles just to find a tackle shop , & then they don't hold much stock as it's dead money & several places I've been to are on trading estates & they get broken into frequently, so I end up buying online just to get what I need, bit of a catch 22 situation.

I am lucky where I live, I have 2 good shops in Town, and 3 within 20 minutes away, If I want to go and have a look at tackle shops say 20+ miles away I will phone them first to see if they have the item I may want in stock to save a wasted journey, A few months ago I went to check out a couple of waters 30 minutes from me and came across a tackle shop around the corner from one of the waters, It had same brand tackle my local shops have but some different items they did not stock, I came out of there a few quid lighter, So now if I am looking for new waters to fish, I will always google to see if any shops in that area.

 

[dann]

I try and buy from my local tackle shop when I pop in for bait but I find it really hard. They just don't have the choice and cant complete on price, I am not talking a few pence difference but more than double.

Pellets and ground bait are half the price from somewhere like go-outdoors and lures from several online retailers are half the price of my local shop. If I can wait a couple of weeks for delivery then ebay lures from China will get me 5 or 6 lures for the price of a single one in my local shop.

Like I said, I do try and buy from him and I know why the prices are higher as he has the shop and overheads but I also have a finite amount of money so try and get as much as I can for it.

 

[O.C.F.Disorder]

Had very few probs. I had a bunch of ondex spinners arrive broken recently and the seller refunded me and sent me new ones! He bubble wrapped them this time.

 

[Specihunter]

The only issue I've had on ebay was some batteries, that never appeared. I bought them as they claimed to be in the UK. Yet when I complained they hadn't turned up. The response was poor english and address was from china not the uk. But thankfully I got a refund.

 

[fishcatcher60]

I dread to think how many parcels are actually lost.
I sold a reel through ebay and that was "lost".
Unless you pay the extra for tracking and signed for (which the buyer usually will not pay) there is no way you have any idea where your parcel is even with a proof of postage.
To some extent you are relying on the honesty of the buyer.

 

[108831]

Something that I had let me down twice fishcatcher,the last time I sold a fox baitrunner,the guy told me that two things on the reel didn't work,well it worked perfectly before I sent it,I had to give him a full refund and am totally certain he had a naff reel that he sent me back,therefore getting a good reel for nothing....I won't sell anything of value that is mechanical again on fleabay,no chance.

 

[fishcatcher60]

I don't blame you whitty it sounds like he ripped you off.
I was really angry when the reel i sold didn't turn up but after much chasing about nobody knew where it was.
I had given the fella the refund straight away but i lost out on about 1/2 off the price because i didn't pay the extra postage.
I claimed off the post office but it took about 6 weeks to sort out.
A lesson learned.
I also had an experience the other way around, i bought a new rod from a tackle shop on ebay and they sent the wrong rod.
To cut a long story short
After much toing and froing they finally collected the rod and i got a refund.
Although it was a straightforward case it took more than 8 weeks to sort out.
It does knock your confidence though at times.

 

[wetthrough]

I won't sell anything of value that is mechanical again on fleabay,no chance.

Good heads up there whitty. If you do sell something like that it might be worth uniquely marking it in some way.