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Is playing ebay really a bad thing?


RCbutcher

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Ive found out the best way to get the best prices is to spend more than you wanted to. Then sell the surplus afterwards and the item you wanted cost peanuts. 

 

My experience too is the seller is happy for the higher bids and if the buyer is fair others get cheap items too. 

 

Example. 

 

I wanted a km baja everywhere i looked they was

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You do worry too much about things buddy, like when you were selling that Baja, saying what you'd paid etc lol.

I've done the exact same thing for all sorts and over the years, it does save you a good few quid, or you get a really good stock up of bits.

Example, I bought a pair of Bajas (with every intention of keeping) one for me, one for Dad, came with loads of spares, hop ups blah blah blah, I gave

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Thats all I do on ebay, with gold that is, I buy items on a buy it now! sort it out when it comes clean it Weigh it and put a good clean description and good pictures on and put it back on on bids, and it always makes a profit with out fail, and covers your fees, sure its the same with everything, but its what you know I suppose, if you no your rc's it'll be the same im sure,

I sell gold and ebays a side line if its quite. :)

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I haven't been doing it but today brought a listing for afew parts so will be relisting alot of it. But if it all goes well im going to start looking out for others. So i thought ide hear opinions on it. 

 

Theres lots of ebay sellers who must do well out of it. Then there's places like dollarhobbies and jrc and a wave of others. 

 

I love dollarhobbies but i do wish we had a uk version so the shipping would be less and no fees.

 

Any fg owner knows simon on ebay hes a god send to most fg owners who need parts. 

 

I wouldnt want to make a buisness of it tho but if i go ahead i would like to earn some rc money. Like i started the led kits on here to fund my nitro fuel. 

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I don't see a problem with it at all. This hobby can be expensive enough as it is.

 

In fact I'd describe it either as a service or a bit of sport.

 

A service in splitting more expensive lots where the seller can't be bothered to do it themselves...

 

or 

 

a sport when you take a chance on that poorly photographed lot that the seller clearly couldn't be bothered to list properly.

 

I bought a race buggy recently purely to get my hands on a really decent engine. The  load of tyres is a bonus...and will end up with someone on here (you now who you are - once I remove digit and take pictures) getting a load of decent quality race tyres for a good price.  The seller either didn't want or didn't have the time to split the lot. I have chosen to.

 

My favourites are "the ones that got away" (maybe there should be a thread?!). Those take a chance ebay lots that you don't really need... but there might be something good in them. Like an RC version of "Storage Hunters" or whatever its called. By taking a chance and splitting lots like that you bring parts that would otherwise be lost back into circulation.

 

My two recently, that I kicked myself for not bidding higher:

 

This one:  Really and I mean really bad photos... but that looks to me like a Team Associated SC8 with full cage and decent shell. Plus a second nitro 1/8th scale . That lot went for

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Thats what im thinking now mate. I was set to buy a new lrp28 engine but while looking an rtr losi 8t with lrp32 was in the results so i did some sums and if i sell the stuff i dont want i could keep the engine really cheap. 

 

It makes the gamble on used engines more bearable lol. The ebay seller got an extra

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I don't mind my time ect lol ill do it for the cheap parts and reuse packaging if i can. Im glad to see all replys so far support it tho. Lets wait and see how the first try goes.

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A word of warning though I occasionally buy an rc for cheap because the seller couldn't be bothered to clean it or photograph them properly I think to myself I could clean it up make sure it works good and sell it on but once I have I end up wanting to keep them and so the collection just keeps growing lol

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I don't mind my time ect lol ill do it for the cheap parts and reuse packaging if i can. Im glad to see all replys so far support it tho. Lets wait and see how the first try goes.

 

 

and might be old fashioned but all you are proving are the old adages like "it takes money to make money"... you have to have the

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A word of warning though I occasionally buy an rc for cheap because the seller couldn't be bothered to clean it or photograph them properly I think to myself I could clean it up make sure it works good and sell it on but once I have I end up wanting to keep them and so the collection just keeps growing lol

 

 

oh that really really is part of the danger.

I have just boxed up ten sets, yes ten, of buggy wheels and tyres. I still have more than that left. But I'm looking at them thinking "but should I keep that one, or that set" etc.

 

some recent ones I've not posted on here as it's almost embaressing. S-Workz s350 BK1 is the latest :) lovely car. still sat in its box.

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i was in a hurry yesterday.

 

i don't think what you are doing is wrong, although it does mean needing more money to begin with to make it work what not many people can do.

 

 

 

 

there are other ways of playing ebay, a mate of mine is a great user in exploiting the fall backs of the postage and ebay rules, after year ago he was telling me about a camera he bought from ebay, it arrived on time but sent 1st class so didn't need to be signed for.

 

he waited a week before telling the seller it never arrived, they sent him another camera, again it arrived 1st class but no signature required so he waited again and said it hadn't arrived, they sent a 3rd camera (each costing

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i was in a hurry yesterday.

i don't think what you are doing is wrong, although it does mean needing more money to begin with to make it work what not many people can do.

there are other ways of playing ebay, a mate of mine is a great user in exploiting the fall backs of the postage and ebay rules, after year ago he was telling me about a camera he bought from ebay, it arrived on time but sent 1st class so didn't need to be signed for.

he waited a week before telling the seller it never arrived, they sent him another camera, again it arrived 1st class but no signature required so he waited again and said it hadn't arrived, they sent a 3rd camera (each costing

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Not exactly playing ebay thats more fraud

 

my point was that there are 2 different sides.

 

the one i posted takes advantage of people who don't pick the best postage option and exploits the holes in ebay's rules and practices, as well as the postal system's, when i read about someone getting played, this is the type of thing that comes to mind, hence my first post on the thread.

 

the other side is more playing the trading game, in that you get something and manage to break it up, selling what you don't need to get money back, in this everyone wins, original seller gets some money and avoids hassle, you get the part you want at a decent cost (assuming to play the game well), the people that buy the parts you don't want get a good deal, everyone wins.

 

there is a third set to this that no one seems to have mentioned and one that seems to split opinions as well, the one where someone profits and only profits, as 2 examples, you find a dirty, rough looking rc, buy it cheap and all you needed to do is strip and clean, 3 or 4 hours later you got a shiny clean rc that looks like it been looked after and you sell it to make a bit of extra cash, or you buy a job lot of parts and take the time to sell the parts on their own and make a profit that way.

 

this is often considered to be taking advantage of the original owner as the extra money could have been theirs.

 

personally i have no problem with this, in fact i've done it myself several times, i see it as a win win, i get a bit of cash in my pocket and the seller gets rid of something that they either have no interest in (cleaning a dirty car), or just don't want the hassle (selling parts on their own).

 

if they do come back and have an issue with well i have no sympathy, it something they could have done themselves, but they didn't, i did and got the benefits, happens in business all the time.

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i was in a hurry yesterday.

i don't think what you are doing is wrong, although it does mean needing more money to begin with to make it work what not many people can do.

there are other ways of playing ebay, a mate of mine is a great user in exploiting the fall backs of the postage and ebay rules, after year ago he was telling me about a camera he bought from ebay, it arrived on time but sent 1st class so didn't need to be signed for.

he waited a week before telling the seller it never arrived, they sent him another camera, again it arrived 1st class but no signature required so he waited again and said it hadn't arrived, they sent a 3rd camera (each costing

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No thats theft plain and simple. Obtaining property by deception. (The camera con )

I hope nasty painful things happen to him

Got to agree with you here. I detest this kind of thing.

My lad recently broke a part on his ecx circuit with would cost

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i was in a hurry yesterday.

 

i don't think what you are doing is wrong, although it does mean needing more money to begin with to make it work what not many people can do.

 

 

 

 

there are other ways of playing ebay, a mate of mine is a great user in exploiting the fall backs of the postage and ebay rules, after year ago he was telling me about a camera he bought from ebay, it arrived on time but sent 1st class so didn't need to be signed for.

 

he waited a week before telling the seller it never arrived, they sent him another camera, again it arrived 1st class but no signature required so he waited again and said it hadn't arrived, they sent a 3rd camera (each costing

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a few years back a friend of mine made money from ebay without spending as penny. he would search items on ebay, (nowt in particular) and hunt down those ads which were cheap, badly advertised, etc etc on buy it now. he would then make his own listing with the help of google images and some google research then offer his own price wether it be biy it now or auction. he would then buy the listing he originally found and get the seller to send it to whoever won his 'item'. pretty dam cheeky but not actually breaking any rules or laws. made a killing. on one i think he made around 700 quid for ten minutes work on his pc. not too shabby!

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