Anyone ever buy components on ebay?

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sawyer
Posts: 4485
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:45 pm
Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

ultimobici wrote:It's quite simple.

Bike manufacturer orders 5000 groupsets, uses 3000 for production & sells remainder on. That deal would be set up in advance of the delivery of parts, so the surplus goods barely stop before being passed on.

Recipient of the 2000 groups pays below regular wholesale for the groups, so can sell for a big discount off retail without taking a big hit on their profit.

Looks like a winning formula all round, everyone's happy. They're making money & you get a deal. Until you need the warranty.............

Then you're stuffed, because the ebay guy can't service the warranty, because the buck stops with him. Sram, Campag, Shimano won't deal with him because they know that they sold those parts to the manufacturer, who sold them on the quiet. No chain of supply, no warranty trail.


Warranty is the last refuge of the RRP retailer.

I jest of course, but there is more than a grain of truth in that.

It's easy to overestimate the value of a warranty on most items - I often see this with people expecting a bigger than reasonable discount because an item is being sold secondhand. Ignoring completely the facts of how often they actually claim on warranties.

Why take my word for it when a whole industry of selling warranties on top of products has grown up precisely because people rarely claim on them.

Almost every product I've ever bought has worked flawlessly for a year. And I'd be quids in big time if I could have had 10% off the price I paid and no warranties on anything.

It's not worthless ... but many people way overvalue it.
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Stiff, Light, Aero - Pick Three!! :thumbup:

sawyer
Posts: 4485
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:45 pm
Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

c50jim wrote:I buy lots of things on eBay and sell some too. I've also bought a lot of stuff from the UK web stores (Ribble currently seems cheapest but I've also used Wiggle and Probikekit). How much warranty do you have with bike parts? I've ridden about 200,000 km in the last 15 years and I can count the problems that could be claimed as warranty on one hand. Most problems I've heard about are with shifters, maybe rear derailleurs a bit. Since Ribble's prices are about half retail here, I can pay for a lot of new replacement parts if things break. On the other hand, I feel bad about not buying from my LBS so make sure I buy lots there too and send my friends and acquaintances to them as well.



Exactly. It's human nature of overvalue peace of mind when parting with cash.

Used correctly (which is a condition of warranties) stuff doesn't go wrong that often ...
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Stiff, Light, Aero - Pick Three!! :thumbup:

by Weenie


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stella-azzurra
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Location: New York

by stella-azzurra

Companies would not offer warranty if they thought they would lose money on it. Business 101.
I never took drugs to improve my performance at any time. I will be willing to stick my finger into a polygraph test if anyone with big media pull wants to take issue. If you buy a signed poster now it will not be tarnished later. --Graeme Obree

sawyer
Posts: 4485
Joined: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:45 pm
Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

stella-azzurra wrote:Companies would not offer warranty if they thought they would lose money on it. Business 101.


Indeed, and companies would not push extended warranties unless there was something about consumer behaviour that was responsive to the "what if it breaks?" fear and willing to allay that fear with a hugely overpriced warranty (vs the risk, averaged out over multiple products)
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Stiff, Light, Aero - Pick Three!! :thumbup:

kode54
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Joined: Tue May 23, 2006 9:39 pm

by kode54

i also buy quite a bit from eBay...although i get the best bang for the buck here in the classifieds. i always check weightweenies first before going onto eBay. most of the parts i buy, i am not in a rush to get, so i put saved searches in and see the auctions in email every day.
- Factor Ostro VAM Disc
- Factor LS Disc
- Specialized Aethos Disc
- Sturdy Ti Allroad Disc
- Guru Praemio R Disc

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stella-azzurra
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Location: New York

by stella-azzurra

Now the good side of some warranties.
Aside from getting a warranty you would really need to understand the terms and conditions of how item is warranted.
Yes there are companies that will replace the item even under regular usage and offer lifetime warranty.
For instance my leaf rakes wooden handle broke after 10 years of regular usage.
The company offered a replacement. All I had to do is send them a picture of their rake with a close up of they company logo and the rakes damage. It felt like a ransom note :lol:
A new rake came in after 2 weeks. Although the rake was not the same exact rake it was an equivalent but a lot cheaper made than the old rake.
Of course they did not need to do any of that but they will bank on low customer turn out and as a plus side they have my loyalty to the brand and reference for future customers.
Same thing happened on a garden spreader. Send in a piece of the item in the mail and they refunded me the cost of the item via check in the mail. This is after years of it being in the garage.
No matter how you look at it it's a win win for them in these few cases.
None of these items had warranties at additional cost.
I never took drugs to improve my performance at any time. I will be willing to stick my finger into a polygraph test if anyone with big media pull wants to take issue. If you buy a signed poster now it will not be tarnished later. --Graeme Obree

bolinas2
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Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2012 3:04 am

by bolinas2

Here's an example of what I've seen on ebay- this group is priced around $800 below retail.
Anyone have any experience with this seller? Contacted them about warranty and they said everything comes in original retail packaging with all manufacturers warranties.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... TQ:US:1123

bolinas2
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Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2012 3:04 am

by bolinas2

And I guess this thread wouldn't be complete without mentioning competitivecyclist.com and their mind boggling lifetime, no questions asked returns policy. That's definitely one way of encouraging people to pay full retail- talk about peace of mind. I wonder how far people take advantage of that though...

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