Buying and selling lotus parts on eBay… bad/good experiences

[holywood3645]

Having been burn a couple of times. (Recently on a lotus sump) I thought this may be a good place to have a section that identifies the crooks and the genuine sellers.
Maybe a new section that may keep some of us safe.
Thoughts.

[Classic-BSC]

Well in Theory it sounds like a good idea.

Unfortunately in the real World, it is Fraught with difficulties.

Disgruntled Buyers who might unreasonably blame a good
Seller without good cause and

Litigation aimed at the Forum Owner(s) or posters
from Victim Sellers or Buyers who disagree.

To name but Two.

The World shouldn't be like that, but unfortunately it often is.


Ian

[nomad]

E-Bay used to have a system like that that worked quite well. The positive or negative feedback system. They seem to have scrapped that as having any meaning and went to a system of foreign judges that always resolve a difference on the side of an E-Bay store.

Used to use it a lot but have gotten burned on every transaction I have done in recent history. Nearly impossible to give a crook bad feedback now days and the resolution system is a joke.

Kurt

[Andy8421]

Kurt,

I joined eBay in '04 and my eBay feedback is over 600, so given not every transaction gives feedback, I guess I must be approaching 8 or 900 transactions. I am generally a buyer, but have made a few sales, some of which have been reasonable value (£1000+).

I have had very few problems (3, if I recall correctly), all of which have been resolved to my satisfaction.

I note you are US based, but I have bought from US eBay sellers with no issues. I do my homework, check sellers feedback, what sort of items they have been selling, and quite often contact a seller prior to purchase (unless it is a commercial company using eBay as a shop window). If a seller has a history of (say) selling used Lotus parts, has good feedback and answers a question knowledgably, I feel reasonably comfortable proceeding.

One area in the UK fraught with scams on eBay is plant machinery. I was in the market for a JCB digger to landscape my garden. It did take a while to find a real machine and a real seller on eBay, but I was able eventually to pick up a bargain.

Andy.

[661]

Kurt,

I joined eBay in '04 and my eBay feedback is over 600, so given not every transaction gives feedback, I guess I must be approaching 8 or 900 transactions. I am generally a buyer, but have made a few sales, some of which have been reasonable value (£1000+).

I have had very few problems (3, if I recall correctly), all of which have been resolved to my satisfaction.

I note you are US based, but I have bought from US eBay sellers with no issues. I do my homework, check sellers feedback, what sort of items they have been selling, and quite often contact a seller prior to purchase (unless it is a commercial company using eBay as a shop window). If a seller has a history of (say) selling used Lotus parts, has good feedback and answers a question knowledgably, I feel reasonably comfortable proceeding.

One area in the UK fraught with scams on eBay is plant machinery. I was in the market for a JCB digger to landscape my garden. It did take a while to find a real machine and a real seller on eBay, but I was able eventually to pick up a bargain.

Andy.

^^^^ This is my experience too ( apart from the JCB)
I think some sellers genuinely don't know what they have and , say, advertise an interior light for a S2 Elan and, clearly to those in the know, it's the wrong type.
You just need to know what you are looking for and check their feedback.
The only problems I've ever had were universally around the purchase of classic Mini stuff. Full of bandits.

[elangtv2000]

I've been burned a number of times as a buyer, and not just car parts. Most happened in the earlier days of the site so the resolution system was weighted way in favor of the seller. It was almost impossible to get a refund or be able to return something. I'm still stuck with some of the junk from those days.

But having also been a seller (with an eBay Store and now 1,685 positive FB) of lots of NOS and replacement parts for British cars including Lotus, as well as Alfa Romeo and others, I've been burned by a few buyers who claimed (lied) what they received was not what I advertised. The threats were to refund a good portion of the money or get negative feedback. As a seller, the only way you could give negative feedback was if the buyer didn't pay.

To be clear, I've always been scrupulous about my descriptions and posted a lot of detailed photos because I don't want to take advantage of anyone, get negative feedback, or have a reputation that spills out into other parts of my personal and business life (parts selling was a sideline). I sold a NOS brake master for a Porsche with the explicit text that it needed new seals, but the buyer claimed he installed it and crashed his car. I ended up refunding every dime to calm him down, and reminded him he was at fault for not rebuilding it. I made an honest mistake and shipped the wrong clutch cover plate for an Alfa and the buyer, instead of letting me know, went onto the Alfa forum and badmouthed me in a very vocal thread. I assured the guy I didn't do it on purpose, and that I really, really, didn't have the correct one in my stock anymore and would (and did) refund every dime.

As a result of how tilted in favor of the buyer the resolution and feedback system became, I stopped selling on eBay about 5-6 years ago and just try to sell my parts on C/L. It's just not worth the tension, frustration and cost to be a seller anymore - or the liability.

There aren't a lot of parts listed on eBay in the U.S. for Lotus Elans anymore it seems. I've got a bunch that would be nice to have out in circulation but am dreading ever having to go back to that platform.