8hn8n1f 7

Agreed man.

I haven't bought a knife from ebay in many years.
It's a lot of things for me;

Too many fakes.
Everything is 'buy it now' at less than reasonable prices.
The fun of auction style bidding is all but gone.
There is no way to access who you are buying from other than picture(s) and usually a less then stellar description. That's not good enough for me anymore.


There is always PP to deal with the BS, but they don't pay for your time and headaches...
 
I've done ok on eBay by following a few of my own rules. If I have any doubts (and more often I do) I write the seller. If they don't reply or I get an unsatisfactory answer...I move on. Always check their feed back and other items the have for sale.

I've got some of my best buys by making an offer when an offer was not an option for a buy now.

I use a proxy bidding service on things I really want.

However---BF is where I mostly buy and sell.

Mike
 
I've also been fortunate. I've bought several knives off eBay over the years, most recently a Benchmade 890 Torrent, and I've yet to be burned. Just lucky, I guess. Then again, I always practice proper eBay hygiene by checking feedback and other items for sale. Can't be too careful. :)
 
My buddy Stan used to operate a Home based toy store from EBay. And he lovingly called the website Thiefbay. Because so many people on either side of the fence, seem to be on the take. Claims of never delivered and they wanted refunds. Even though tracking showed it made it to state. Which was no longer his problem. Or the acrillic case was scuffed/cracked, so the protected & undamaged graded Star Wars figure was over priced. He did manage to keep his rating 96% or better with more than 400 sales. Buyer & seller always beware.
 
I have had many good experiences and deals off eBay. Knives and tons of other things. As long as you use some common sense it is a pretty secure system - with PayPal.
 
I have had no problems as a buyer on ebay. Got some really great deals on knives that you hardly ever see here (Seki SOGs). You just got to do all the normal things to protect yourself. Also, buying anything not new from a dealer is a risk. No matter what the listing says, if it is not from the factory or dealer it is not new. That is just a simple fact. Buyers are by far the more protected party on ebay so even if you do foul up and get a stinker it can be easily taken care of.

Just like buying anything used over the internet, knives on ebay are a risk. You can only mitigate that risk so much. If you can't deal with the risk you shouldn't be buying used stuff on the internet.
 
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Back when I purchased a lot of knives I used eBay many times. When I did my dodilaganc, check the seller feedback, ask questions, etc I have better than average success on eBay. If it was someone that sold many knives and mostly just knives I never seem to have a problem. But when a seller is selling a knife and knives are not their primary inventory, then beware.
 
I buy plenty of knives on Ebay. New knives, never bought a used knife there. I buy from sellers that have 10,20,50000+ feedbacks. Never had a problem.
 
I have never had problems with any eBay knife purchases. I have bought some crazy rare stuff from motivated sellers, and there are quite a few reputable dealers on there as well. Feedback scores should tell you everything you need to know.

eBay is like the bad part of any given town - unsavory and perhaps unsafe at times, but also home to a lot of cool hangouts.
 
Ebay is an awesome place to buy knives if you restrict your purchases to sellers with thousands of good feedbacks and a >99.8% rating. These vendors operate on high volume with low margins, which translates to rock bottom prices that beat virtually everyone else on the interweb or in brick and mortar stores. So if you buy from good sellers, you get good results. Same holds true on Bladeforums.
 
eBay is just like a forum in most ways. You'll usually be fine as long as you're careful of who you deal with.
I've only had one major problem with a seller on there, and that's like .05% of my transactions.
 
I'm in the camp of having almost exclusively excellent experiences on eBay. My advice is to buy the seller, not the item - a good seller with a proven track record will either get it right the first time, or will make it right if something is off.

I usually only purchase new knives off of eBay, as well. I don't ever trust buying a used knife unless I know the seller personally.

eBay is like buying in the real world. There are plenty of spots where you would never purchase a knife, even though you know they sell them. eBay is the same way. It really is very easy to keep yourself safe and have good experiences there.
 
Only had good experiences on e-Bay. If the pictures are poor or the seller has limited feedback I stay away. No excuse for out of focus pics.
 
endgamer said:
you got a auto on ebay.
Click to expand...

endgamer- I'll buy you a nice cold microbrewery beer (one of those big grande ones;), if you'd kindly post a link, please!!! :thumbup:

Ebay, has been very, very good to me! If you're a smart person, I don't think you have very much to worry about, buying on eBay (especially with their buyer protection policy). :thumbup:
 
I have also had really good luck buying knives on eBay (knock on wood). I do enjoy the fact that eBay's buyers' protections are strong. I also do my research and purchase only from sellers who have a feedback rating of 99.8% or better. Anything less and it's not worth my time.

Like some others here, I don't buy used knives. The one occasion I did, the knife came not as described (big shock), but I was able to rescue it. So, I ended up not returning it, and left the seller neutral feedback, which he didn't appreciate. He sent me an email trying to ream me out, so I sent him several pics (my camera is apparently much better than his) showing him where his description had been flat out BS. I then showed him the knife after I'd cleaned it thoroughly, sharpened it up and restored the edge and told him that the way the knife had cleaned up was the ONLY reason I wasn't reporting him to eBay as being a fraudulent seller, and demanded that he start paying better attention to his stuff. Then, put him on my block list.

The knife in question was a TOPS BOB. When it arrived, the handle was dirty and stained and the edge was tarnished and scratched. The worst offense? The knife was dull. I was livid, but decided to give it some TLC and see how it responded. As I was pleased with how well it cleaned and sharpened up, and it really is a great knife, I kept it. Still have it, in fact.
 
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