EBAY: Lessons Learned and How Not to Get Burned

[numbersix]

@rmbittner:

A couple of other thoughts: If a pipe/tin has a "Buy It Now" option, and the price is reasonable to you, buy it. As soon as a single bid is placed on an item, the "Buy It Now" option disappears.

Good tips.
And I agree about sniping. I can understand sellers not liking it, but for anyone with a moderate amt of experience on ebay, sniping is the only way to win an auction at a decent price. It has become part of the bidding process.
samcoffeeman:

I purchased a Randy Wiley pipe from peaceangel12000...but also was a blatant liar. Stay away from that one.

I've seen that name before. I would also advise being wary of ShinyPipes. I caught them photoshopping out fills. They're tricky and not to be fully trusted IMO, but I did get my money back and I now know to ignore all of their listings.
I've been blatantly lied to by a few top-rated sellers, but in each case I rec'd my money back and as long as I receive my money back (even if I have to pay return shipping) - I will be happy to continue using ebay.
If one is patient, Ebay offers an opportunity to get pipes (etc) that I would not otherwise be able to afford.

 

[ssjones]

I just bought a Rogers Sheffield English pipe tool from ebay seller fnuch. Good communication, its hard to mis-represent a tool. It gets delivered today.

I got burned recently on a pipe trade, I'll do a separate thread on that lesson learned.

 

[rmbittner]

I would also advise being wary of ShinyPipes. I caught them photoshopping out fills.

That's shameful enough on its own. But then, when you look at a ShinyPipes eBay listing, you see the "company" banner proclaiming, "No Shady Pictures!"
Geez...
Bob

 

[foggymountain]

Six: I have many years of selling and buying on Ebay. Now I am winding down my camera store, internet only, for retirement. It used to do a very large volume on ebay and off. I have sold numerous pipes in the store as well. Here are some tips about ebay. Anything not as described is returnable whether it says no returns or not. It is a good idea to send several emails to a prospective seller. If you get a delayed response or a nasty or evasive answer do not buy from that person. If the rating is less than 98% favorable watch out. Pay by Paypal only. There are a lot of sleazos on ebay, but also many serious, honest, professional sellers.

 

[foggymountain]

Six: I have many years of selling and buying on Ebay. Now I am winding down my camera store, internet only, for retirement. It used to do a very large volume on ebay and off. I have sold numerous pipes in the store as well. Here are some tips about ebay. Anything not as described is returnable whether it says no returns or not. It is a good idea to send several emails to a prospective seller. If you get a delayed response or a nasty or evasive answer do not buy from that person. If the rating is less than 98% favorable watch out. Pay by Paypal only. There are a lot of sleazos on ebay, but also many serious, honest, professional sellers.

 

[pitchfork]

I would also advise being wary of ShinyPipes. I caught them photoshopping out fills. They're tricky and not to be fully trusted IMO, but I did get my money back and I now know to ignore all of their listings.

You mean like this one?

I mean, it's possible that fill is really, really dense. And thus, it warps space-time like some kind of black hole, thereby rendering the area around it, um fuzzy. Or it's Photoshopped.

 

[ssjones]

That is a pretty damning photo.

 

[rmbittner]

Add to that the fact that that's a really bad retouching job!

 

[sparroa]

Yeah that is actually a horrific abuse of Photoshop. They need to learn how to use the program...

 

[numbersix]

I missed this update about shinypipes - wow that is some bad photoshop work.
The fills she photoshopped on my pipe was actually well done - so much so that I took pics of the pipe in various angles just to see if I could snap it in a way that would hide the fills - and not surprisingly, the fills were impossible to hide without photoshop.
FWIW: I use photoshop for a living and have used it for 30 years, so I know how it's done.
So by all means, avoid shinypipes like the plague.

 

[mustanggt]

I bought a few pipes from shineypipes and they are all fine smokers. I think you can be sure it will be a decent pipe for the money. I believe I have graduated from buying pipes like most of the ones she offers to better quality pipes. I don't care for the fact she photo shopped that one but she's worth taking a chance on alot of the cheaper ones. Buyer beware is the mantra.

 

[yadan]

"If the seller says something like, "I don't know anything about pipes, but..." proceed very carefully."
True, true. But often enough the seller doesn't admit to that. So yet another question that should be posed to the seller is whether he/she has attempted to take the pipe to pieces and reassemble it. (This is absolutely critical when dealing with metal pipes, which are my great pursuit.) Additionally, the seller should let you know if the airway is clear or obstructed. I recently purchased a pipe that was fine in every respect except for the blocked airway. This caused me a hell of a lot of work, although I did get compensated for it.
I fully agree that sniping is the best way to bid, and that a sniping service provides the most successful way of doing it. I've won my last six auctions that way.

One extra word of advice: If you are really intent on winning with a snipe, you should follow the action up till the end. Why? Because if during the last minute you see the bidding approaching your max, and can still afford to increase it, you'll still have enough time to do that.