Flymos and Ebay

[Paul Mc Cann]

I've finally given up on the petrol engined Flymo which has seen good=20 service for nearly 12 years. It keeps shedding the exhaust/manifold and=20 assosciated mounting bolts.

Having decided to get a new one I checked ebay. Lo and behold there was=20 one up there but it has just beem 'snapped-up' for =A3255 plus =A315=20 postage.

Given that a quick google offers myriads of people selling them new at=20 =A3299 inclusive of delivery why would anyone pay =A3270 for a used one in= =20 indeterminate condition, (the picture used was out of the catalogue not=20 the actual machine), from somone who only registered with ebay a few=20 days ago and has no seller history, and who wouldn't offer any further=20 info on its age/condition ?

Am I missing something here ?

Paul Mc Cann

[tinklemagoo]

[Huge]

I won't pay more than about 75% of the new price for anything on ebay, less if it's used.

Needless to say, I rarely get to buy anything...

[Graham Wilson]

I went to a conventional auction many years ago.

In the auction there was a batch of 10 counter-top pay phones. These are the type of pay phones that you might find sitting on the counter-top in a bar or restaurant.

I thought it strange that there were 10 phones in one job lot in the auction.

Two people attending at the auction got into a massive bidding war and one of them ended up paying a fortune for the pay phones - over £2,000.

Had they asked the auctioneers before the start of the auction about the history of the lots, then they would have discovered that the phones had been put into the auction because they only took old coins and could not be converted to take modern currency.

Graham

[04]

I go along with the oft expressed opinion that Ebay is a good place for sellers - not for buyers.

[Colin Wilson]

[dave]

Seen the same thing with old computers, people go nuts at auctions and pay through the nose for junk.

Dave

[Christian McArdle]

I've had more success buying than selling. It probably depends what you are trying to shift/buy.

Christian.

[Ric]

It really depends on how stupid you are when it comes to bidding. If you put in your absolute maximum to start with and don't get tempted to up it when you are outbid then you will not end up paying over the odds for things.

[Christian McArdle]

I generally snipe in the last ten seconds. It avoids bidding wars and is explicitly acceptable according to eBay's T&Cs. You also can't be tempted to increase your bid having previously calculated your acceptable price.

Christian.

[Scott Mills]

I disagree. I have had equal sucess both buying and selling. It is the closest thing we have to a true market for secondhand goods. ie lots of supply and demand and so things should (note should) shift at a fair price. If you are stupid enough to get caught up in a bidding war, or give it a title no one will search for then that is your fault.

Scott

[Graham Wilson]

Ebay is like a car boot sale - some very good bargains and some real s**te.

Graham

[Paul Mc Cann]

I've had success at both buying and selling on Ebay.

A tip for buying is to search on items available to the U.K., not just based in the U.K. I picked up some photo accessories from a gentleman in Germany at a sensible price. The same items were fetching ludicrous prices on the strictly U.K. items but there wasn't the same competition on the continental stuff.

And Esnipe works a treat too.

Paul Mc Cann

[Toby]

Yesterday's auction at York Livestock Centre had over 200 mowers. The rotary ones that made fair money were all metal decked, the plastic decked such as Flymos were 'fernuthin' as the auctioneer kept saying.

An example: Clean GWO Flymo L470 19" 2-stroke £15 (£300 new) One sold on eBay for £205 +20 a week ago from a new seller. I'm tempted to become an eBayer if it's like this next month, or plant a lawn.

[Stuart]

Thats what to do-buy at £15 from the auction at York,then sell on Ebay . Nice little earner .:-) Stuart

[The Natural Philosopher]

you are not wrong there actually.

Its a business that a few people actually do make a living at.