Buying from ebay

[mtbDobby]

Hi All,

 

So I am looking at changing my groupset on my bike. I have done some shopping around, the prices here are basically ridiculous! On ebay they are effectively half the price. Has anyone bought of ebay, I have done some purchases from chain reaction cycles (ebay is cheaper than CRC), is there any difference or any pitfalls I need to be aware of?

[TheJ]

Bought from eBay plenty times. If the seller has a good rating, and a fair amount of sales, you are pretty sorted.

[dirtypot]

VAT, shipping charges and other mysterious duties.  Add these all up and see if the prices here are still super ridiculous.  

[shaper]

Plenty buy off ebay, just make sure the seller will ship to RSA.  Don't forget to add 16% to the price to cover for VAT and handling fee.

 

Ebay has a consumer protection plan so is safe to buy. 

 

Items generally arrive SAPO so expect to wait for customs, clearance and delivery

[Bizkit031]

Bought from eBay plenty times. If the seller has a good rating, and a fair amount of sales, you are pretty sorted.

Prices are not cheaper they are a much of a muchness and if you have issues with it then the locals are not so keen to help you.

[AlanD]

If you going to buy something I would like to buy a small seatpost shim (6$) if you willing to add to your cart and we could sort payment out.

[mtbDobby]

thanks guys - so I get the extra cost for etc but if you compare this http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Shimano-XT-M8000-Dyna-Sys11-2x11-Speed-8pcs-Group-Set-22S-/272224206685 to anything you can source local? Surely this is a big saving? please poi t in the right direction if I have the wrong end of the stick here?

[Eon du Plessis]

thanks guys - so I get the extra cost for etc but if you compare this http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Shimano-XT-M8000-Dyna-Sys11-2x11-Speed-8pcs-Group-Set-22S-/272224206685 to anything you can source local? Surely this is a big saving? please poi t in the right direction if I have the wrong end of the stick here?

I spent 7k on 1x11. Throw a brake kit in at 2.6k cwc during last sale. Going 2x on front would add what? Another 1.5k?

Ai then you're at around 11 or 12k for full XT. You're not landing that set for much less than that and then you don't have local support.

[mtbDobby]

I spent 7k on 1x11. Throw a brake kit in at 2.6k cwc during last sale. Going 2x on front would add what? Another 1.5k?

Ai then you're at around 11 or 12k for full XT. You're not landing that set for much less than that and then you don't have local support.

The link I have above is for everything - 2x11 including brakeset- the best I have found is 12k local

[BaGearA]

How do i make sure they wil ship to south africa??

[popcorn_skollie]

The link I have above is for everything - 2x11 including brakeset- the best I have found is 12k local

 

With some generous math the groupset could land here at a total cost just short of 12k.

Shipping. VAT. Handling Fees. If you factor in time and concerns about our local post office it doesn't seem like a purchase I'll make in a heart beat. 

[Eon du Plessis]

The link I have above is for everything - 2x11 including brakeset- the best I have found is 12k local

It's near as makes no difference 9k on eBay. Do they ship for free to SA? Even if they do, you still need to pay 14% VAT on 110% of the value, which brings it to R10.4k. That's without PayPal taking their cut or conversion rates (I don't know who you bank with).

Let's say you can't beat the R12k locally. That's R1.6k in savings - something like 13% if my mental arithmetic isn't off - which I don't personally feel is worth the schlep.

If you throw courier fees in, it'll get here a lot faster than otherwise, but it'll whipe out most of the savings.

[Raggieride]

How do i make sure they wil ship to south africa??

The listing will state where the seller ships to.

When buying expensive stuff, take the express shipping option, normal mail sucks, or rather customs in SA sucks when it comes to handling ordinary mail parcels.

I am still waiting for packages sent as long ago as last year March. Will probably never get them.

Be sure not to miss (as I have) the deadline for filing a claim on ebay or Paypal if you don't receive the package, or you won't get your money back.

[The expat cyclist]

For heavens sake, don't buy anything from an online store...EVER.

 

Jokes aside, Buying from e-bay in my experience, well that depends on how the parcel is shipped...

 

I ordered a red lefty hub on e-bay. It took 12 weeks to get my hands on it. Not e-bay's fault but that SAPO...Iesh.

 

I was able to track the parcel up until it entered our country - that took 3 days. The SAPO was on full strike at the time...Not that one would have noticed.

 

Eventually, someone did answer the phone and gave me a tracking number. I went to the post office to go fetch, they could not find it. Took 45min. I nearly crapped myself.

[CdT85]

Bought plenty of electronics, paintball gear and bike spares from ebay. Usually just have to send a proof of purchase stating the value of the items to customs and then pay my tax etc when I collect at the post office. I usually give preference to the free intl shipping ads 

 

found that if I keep my orders under 200/250 (usually for my arduinos) I don`t pay tax, I just receive it in my mailbox 4 weeks later.

 

I however never received a few small items, and rated the supplier that I never received it and 2 out of the 4 time it happened, they supplied me with the components again.

 

Been doing the ebay thing over 2 years now, and only lost 4 parcels (probably mostly due to SAPO), 2 of which the sellers replaced free of charge. Keep an eye on the rating of the seller before you buy though

[CdT85]

How do i make sure they wil ship to south africa??

 

The usually state that they ship internationally. The will say see exclusions with a link to say where they do not ship too.