Instruments on ebay

Zapper · 14-01-2005 4:51pm #1

I'm in the market for a new guitar and am pretty tempted by some of the second hand deals on ebay.

Trouble is, i'm not too sure if it's too risky buying without playing.

Anyone heard any horror stories or had and positive experiences buying on ebay?

jonnybadd · 14-01-2005 4:54pm

Friend of mine bought an ESP explorer with no bother, only problem when it arrived the delivery man just left it on his doorstep cause he wasnt in. But he had a possitive ebay experiance

Doctor J · 14-01-2005 4:57pm

I think you'll find a load of positive and negative experiences. It really depends on the integrity of the seller. Personally, I think there is just too much of a gamble with ebay, there isn't really any comeback. If you buy second hand from a dealer, you do have a little bit of comeback if everything isn't as it seems. The Fender forums are constantly full of ebay auctions with guitars which aren't as they seem but which would fool an inexperienced buyer. There are a lot of chancers out there and ebay has given them the medium to reach a global market. You just have to do your homework, invest a bit of time into finding dealers with good reputations and take it from there.

What are you thinking of getting?

Have a look at http://www.chrisguitars.com/ and http://www.gbase.com/gbase.asp for second hand sellers, you'll get an idea of the price you should be paying for particular models.

Also, feel free to post here if you're thinking of something and you want a second opinion.

irlirishkev · 14-01-2005 5:00pm

I wouldn't have a problem buying a guitar from ebay. Recently I very nearly did. Only reason I didn't, is because the seller didn't get back to me in time to let me know if he was willing to ship internationally or not.

I have friends who've bought instruments from Ebay with no problem. As previously mentioned, just check the sellers feedback, and make sure you know what you're getting, and how it'll be shipped etc..

Also, there's a lot of shops selling on Ebay now aswell, so you should be safe enough with them.

Kevin.

Zapper · 14-01-2005 5:09pm

I was looking at this.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33049&item=3774175665&rd=1

I've had positive experiences with pacificas in the past, the only thing that really concerns me is that the chap's replaced a pickup and
he's obviously not the first owner of the guitar.

Of course, it depends on how much the guitar is actually going to sell for too. £250 is a good price now but i can get first hand for around £500 anyways, so it may be better not to gamble.

Any help would be great cheers

Doctor J · 14-01-2005 5:11pm

Looks good to me.

SirLemonhead · 14-01-2005 6:53pm

I got a guitar on ebay, no problems.

Though as everyone says, it depends on the seller. I was most worried about it getting destroyed by the Irish post system to be honest

Mongo · 15-01-2005 1:04am

I also got my bass from Ebay no prob.ONE THING make sure seller has lots of good feedback

It wasn't me! · 15-01-2005 1:17am

And over a long period of time as well. Some risks are well worth it though. Dabhoys's PRS for instance cost him 900 squids, and I think that was after VAT and Customs had been paid.

/Drool

Waltons · 15-01-2005 1:23am

Got new hihats off ebay. Perfect.
Like everyone says though, check all feedback

daram · 16-01-2005 2:02am

looks like a nice guitar.

i recently bought a ludwig snare on ebay and got a great deal. couldnt be happier. and im probably gonna buy a danelectro when i have enough money.

Baggio · 16-01-2005 11:59am

Agree with the rest of the gang here: I bought 3 Wuhan china's of different sizes from Ebay, all from the same chap,,,all were perfect, welll packaged and lesss than half the price here!!!!..One easy way to check the sellers reputation even without checking the feedback is to look at how many icons/symbols are beside his name. When they have a variety of thesse thats when they are a great seller and well worth dealing with.

ciao' amigos....Baggio...............

dabhoys · 16-01-2005 4:40pm

ebay is great but be warned to do research and homework. Take your time searching. Any guitar I bought I always asked the seller to send me a few more bigger pics so I could see up close what the guitar was like. Plus feedback is vitally important. I've been using ebay for a very long time so I'm used to knowing what to do. But there is some assholes out to rip ya off. I've never been ripped off. But also the doc is right about chris's guitars and that. There also excellent places to buy guitars from...

Instruments on ebay

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