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Tips for expensive item sales from Internet acquaintences.


WIN6

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So, I'm actually looking to purchase another electric skateboard, but it's online. 

 

Basically, I'm looking for general tips for making a transaction smooth when you're dealing with expensive items and can't meet face to face. 

 

Sorry if I picked the wrong sub forum... and, thanks ahead of time for the replies. 

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 I had no issue buying/selling on VFR forums, but only deal with "established" members. So not with a post count of 1.

 

YMMV

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I've had great treatment and honesty from VFRD members, but I don't know of any selling an electric skateboard right now ;)

 

Still more than happy with the front end purchase though :D

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No problems with someone hitting buy it now before you do? Or is there a different way to make it work out for an agreed price?  I do like the additional protection offered by some sites.  PayPal seems to have good buyer protection, with the exception of the exemption of 'motorized vehicles.'  I'm hoping I don't have to find out details about what's considered a motorized vehicle.

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What the fugg is an electric skateboard?

This is a motorcycle forum.

If "skateboard" is an accurate description and electric ones really exist I don't see how they could be considered a vehicle (no registration, roadworthy, etc, on skateboards).

EBay postings can be set up specifically for one particular user. So no-one can buy it now before you do. EBay will cover you if there's anything dishonest about the sale/item. PayPal will too, they work together.

Is this a joke?


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100% not a joke ;) An electric skateboard is a pretty much exactly what it sounds like, skateboard with a motor and batteries. Speeds and ranges seem to vary from 15-40mph and 7-25miles on a charge.

 

Evolve makes my current favorite boards, but I can't bring myself to pay for one of their newest ones right now.  But, other people can, and they're selling the previous boards *shrug*

 

I'm definitely aware this is a motorcycle forum, I've been here for years. It also happens to have a lot of helpful, intelligent people who've dealt with purchasing stuff that could be risky if someone were shady.

Speaking of which, thank you for the ebay tip. That's exactly the kind of thing I was wondering about :D

 

For more electric shenanegins, this guys blog can be a pretty fun read too (also not VFRs though, questionably motorcycle related):

https://electricbike-blog.com/

 

 

 

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My personal experience with ebay buyer protection is that it is for the most part worthless.  If you are on ebay long enough, eventually you'll run in to an unscrupulous seller.  It's a sad fact but a reality.  Basically what ebay will do is have you open a "case".  You make your statement then the seller gets a rebuttal and it goes back and forth.   I never got anywhere with it,  though I understand some people do.  As stated above regarding working with only established members, the same goes for ebay.  I've altered my rules for using it over the years.  The seller must have a good number of transactions - preferably at least in the hundreds, and absolutely zero negative feedback.  Yes, there are unreasonable buyers that cannot be made happy, but I no longer take chances on sellers with any tarnish on their reputation.  I also limit my buying on ebay to small dollar items that I figure I can simply write off as a loss if it goes sour.  It's happened to me twice since 2001, so all in all still an overwhelmingly good experience - I've found things on ebay I could have found no where else.   I'm just more careful than I used to be. 

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It's important to note that, despite your personal experience, eBay is generally biased in favour of buyers.  I've only been screwed on eBay as a buyer when I failed to follow the specific steps required by the Buyer Protection plan (because I missed/misunderstood a message sent to me by eBay).  Sellers often claim to be the victims of scammy buyers who are protected by eBay's/PayPal's rules at their expense.  As I never sell anything, I am quite comfortable using eBay (as a buyer), but it is important to not miss a deadline.

 

Ciao,

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10 hours ago, Cogswell said:

My personal experience with ebay buyer protection is that it is for the most part worthless. 

 

+1

 

I only had one mishap that caused me to open a case and it never got anywhere. The seller just ignored it and that was that. 

 

Anything below 98% positive feedback borders on dodgy in my book. Make that 99+% if the seller is a pro with hundreds of transactions. 

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I have only had one bad purchase experience on VFRD (I know this is off topic from the op).  I purchased a set of 25th anniversary plastics listed as in good shape, arrived at the sellers home at dusk, paid for them and packed them away in my luggage for the return flight home.  Upon arriving home we found in the light of day that the fairing had been repainted and fitted with new factory decals.  The paint was good quality but the blue was shade off.

 

Caveat emptor.  We used them as track fairings and eventually hacked one up trying to get more air flow to the Torocharger bike.

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After two or three items years ago, I'll never sell on eBay again. The buyer can come up with any crap they want and the seller is held accountable. Last was a guitar, only played a few times, and the buyer claimed it wasn't as described because there were tiny scratches, but his camera couldn't pick them up. I was pretty much forced into a partial refund.

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On 1/7/2017 at 3:24 PM, RC36Rider said:

 

+1

 

I only had one mishap that caused me to open a case and it never got anywhere. The seller just ignored it and that was that. 

 

Anything below 98% positive feedback borders on dodgy in my book. Make that 99+% if the seller is a pro with hundreds of transactions. 

 

And?  If the seller doesn't respond, it's usually an automatic refund for the buyer--if the buyer follows the procedure and asks eBay/PayPal to step in within the specific timeframe.  I've heard many horror stories about eBay, but these days it's generally the sellers who get screwed, not the buyers...

 

Ciao,

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11 hours ago, JZH said:

And?  If the seller doesn't respond, it's usually an automatic refund for the buyer

 

Really ? TBH it was 4 years ago and the only vivid memory is the frustration at not getting anywhere. I'm a bit hazy on the specifics.

 

It's not impossible that I just gave up because I felt that the whole charade amounted to "drowning the fish" as we say in French. 

 

They kept coming back to me with, IMO, irrelevant steps with a deadline I had to meet while the seller simply did not respond. :pissed: 

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They are strict on the deadlines.  I went round and round with eBay Customer Service once because I missed one of their messages (not sent via email, but via My Messages) and missed a deadline.  I did not win that one...

 

Ciao,

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