Ebay not always cheapest or best

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oz-1

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I needed 7 metres of 6mm bungee chord to replace the rotten existing one on the cockpit cover of my dinghy. On ebay, the nearest length i could buy to do the job was 10 metres at a cost of £9-99p, plus of course having to wait for the item to arrive. I went to our local branch of Western Towing, where i was able to buy the exact length i needed for £5-71 ( that's including vat ). This works out cheaper than ebay metre by metre. In the not too distant past i had the misfortune to buy an item from an ebay advertiser, the item never arrived and i discovered that the seller was in China. I am not implying that all Chinese sellers are like that, but now whenever i can, i deal with U.K. , local firms. I have no links to Western Towing in Newton Abbot but got excellent service from them, with a smile. Best regards to all on the forum. Oz
 
This can certainly be true for smaller items. I was after some threaded bar recently and it was much cheaper on Toolstation than any eBay seller.
 
Sometimes it's not about being the cheapest.
If you value your time it can be well worth £4.28 not to have to drive somewhere.
Also I can order a lot of things from ebay faster than I can walk around a shop.
I needed an M7 bolt last week. Maybe the £1.24 I paid for two wasn't the cheapest, but the job is done soon enough and I'm happy not to go shopping.

Being reasonably adept at searching ebay, I can find 10m of 6mm shock cord in a choice of colours for £7.46 delivered fast and free. Is it really worth taking the time to go somewhere to save £1.75? Even if you walk and no travel costs happen?
It's tough running a bricks and mortar shop now.
 
eBay needs care to check out items ... and one aspect that really annoys is the Global Shipping Program that has replaced many sellers shipping ...... many times I have clicked on an item and found the GSP to be greater than the item by a large margin ..

But recently - I bought 100m of 10mm Braid on Braid that was well priced ... and once it arrived - the quality is A1 excellent. It was courier delivered incl.

Another aspect - you can find an item at good price (I always click the Lowest price + shipping tag) .... then as you scroll on through and find same item at ever increasing prices !!!

I do not usually go for Auction - but have at times and always use a Snipe service to avoid getting into bidding frenzy. That can lead to prices higher than High Street and even cost of car travel getting there !
 
colind3782 said:
To get to one of the larger towns is a 40 mile round trip for me, effectively writing off half a day. While I prefer to support local business if possible, I order most stuff online.
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I live on edge of the town - but over here - the range of goods leaves a lot to be desired. So it ends up as online for most things.

Many people here use Aliexpress ....
 
[B]colind3782[/B] and l[B]w395[/B]

I agree with you 100%.

I live 80 miles from the nearest large shops so whenever I went to Perth I used to drive to Osborne Park/Wangara/Malaga/ Joondalup and Balcatta. Apart from the distance traveled, most of the day had gone.

I buy on eBay now but always buy Australian where I can. I have bought from the UK and USA but a lot of cheap things like brass cabinet hinges I buy from China. (But because of China's bellicose behavior I'm going to give them a miss from now on)
I buy my gear now online and pick it up from my postbox! ?

I drive a Triton cab/chassis which I bought secondhand. I was just looking at the mileage today and realized I have only done 30K miles in the last 5 years.?
 
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I agree, I always look at alternatives if it's for something I need quickly. I will drive 5miles to Screwfix instead of waiting a day or two. Also usually try the local hardware store which is only a mile way but his stock is limited although he will order stuff in if you are prepared to wait. He did get some particular outdoor paint I wanted, initially said he couldn't get it then called week later and said it's arrived ! And it was cheap than online or B&Q.
 
I too had a recent Ebay purchase which came from China. The description clearly stated 'Item Location, London' . It was rubbish when it arrived ! :mad:
 
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Refueler said:
eBay needs care to check out items ... and one aspect that really annoys is the Global Shipping Program that has replaced many sellers shipping ...... many times I have clicked on an item and found the GSP to be greater than the item by a large margin ..
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When my father died I sold off stuff from his house - pushing 500 lots in the end - and GSP was great from my point of view as it meant I only had to worry about UK postage, which in turn meant that I could include it in the price for UK buyers and let overseas ones deal with eBay for the extra costs. About twenty lots went that way, I think.

I have just bought two new Lenovo trackpoint keyboards. A hundred quid each on eBay, seventy quid each from Amazon (sixty for the US version) ... and fifty quid each bought direct from Lenovo.
 
I've just sold a Hewlett Packard Signal Generator and an ancient (pre-war?) AVO Admiralty pattern valve tester. (As in the thermionic type!) They're both going via the GSP and good luck to the purchasers! One weighs 22 Kg and is going to Italy and the other weighs 12 kg and is going to the USA. Both customers evidently extremely happy with their purchases... and they made very good money.

I've had one or two bad experiences (except with the experience of trying to argue with eBay management which is a waste of time!). One example is that I once ordered some electronics from a company in S America and it never arrived. I lost about £30 which was annoying.

Some of the things I've bought from China have been excellent quality. You often get what you pay for and being of Chinese origin doesn't automatically mean it's going to be rubbish.
 
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On new ebay items that's more than a few quid I will always search Google too as it's often possible to find a uk retailer with good prices.
Some items seems impossible to find anywhere other than ebay or amazon.
 
Bought some G4 LED bulbs off eBay in December, 4 warm white, 4 cool white. Already two of the cool white ones have failed. Checked in the local supermarket - it's still cheaper to buy 4 more off eBay than to buy 2 Philips ones in the local supermarket. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
Rappey said:
On new ebay items that's more than a few quid I will always search Google too as it's often possible to find a uk retailer with good prices.
Some items seems impossible to find anywhere other than ebay or amazon.
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Also worth checking eBay in different countries (e.g. ebay.de). Prices are often the same in euro or pounds, including delivery. German companies usually quote the same price for delivery anywhere in the UK. British companies often put on a huge excess for places like Argyll.

I also look for clues regarding seller's own web-site and the item is often cheaper when purchased directly. I have sometimes discovered that a particular seller is actually a fairly local business and use them even if slightly more expensive.

It really doesn't take much time to run through Google (via StartPage.com obviously), Amazon and eBay initially. Follow up with points I mentioned above to get a decent price and usually simple to assess quality and service.
 
lw395 said:
Sometimes it's not about being the cheapest.
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+1 and also to add that if I have been well served by a particular supplier I will stick with them. E.g. my personal first choice for chandlery is Marinescene because their service and fast delivery has been excellent and their prices reasonable. I do a quick check on the competition but don't worry about a few quid difference.

No one has mentioned the seller rating on eBay. I avoid placing an order on those with ratings below 99.5% if there is a choice for the same article whatever the price. If there is no choice and the supplier rating is below 99% I look elsewhere.

And then, of course, there is Trago Mills for the lucky few

Cheers
Bob
 
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