So I was thinking that it might be helpful to have a thread where we can post buyer/seller bewares, and also compliments on who to buy/sell from. I love ebay, but I am more than happy to block anybody who has given someone undeserving grief. I don't have the time in my life to deal with it. So save your friends at FGSS some grief and post your bad experiences here.

Also recommendations on who to purchase from would be great to. It'd be nice to have a FGSS Ebay Favorites list here as well.

Mike & I have just dealt with someone incredibly difficult who wanted their money back on a NOS wheel, so we refunded it and then he told us he was riding it and couldn't believe that we wanted him to send it back! Then told us he wasn't riding it and if we sent a courier he'd pay for it. But he didn't do that either. He was incredibly difficult and we went back and forth forever. The wheel cost £10 and there was nothing friggin' wrong with it. He couldn't understand that NOS and saying something was MINT and NOS were different. We sold 8 of these rims and received no other complaints.

We certainly will be blocking him from any further sales.

His name on Ebay is Ruperteh.

what is the difference between New Old Stock and MInt then?

my understanding is that they are the same - NOS should be perfect, never used. certainly this is how it works in other areas of trading, eg : watches.

I've always understood NOS to mean found at the back of a warehouse, i.e. new, but with storage damage....
Mint means never even seen the light of day out of a packet.

well, i think that's wrong. there should be no damage, storage or otherwise! NOS is saying, found at the back of a warehouse, yes, but not damaged! NEW OLD STOCK - ie;, while it is old stock, it is still in new condition.

the more i think about it, the more it seems there is no grey area here. if i bought something NOS, i would expect it to be perfect.

Things can acquire marks by being in storage for 20 years be that in a warehouse, store room of a shop, my bedroom... Still new, never used, old and stock. In other areas of trading I'm familiar with it's expected that things 'vintage' can have marks on them, those that are prestine 'mint' are considered the exception and demand a higher price/collector's status.

This particular rim had one rub mark from being stored with other rims. When I received the rim back from this guy it mostly wiped off with my finger. Sold the rim the same day I got it back and the person who bought it couldn't believe somebody would complain about the small dark gray mark on a darker gray/black rim.

Which btw was on the braking surface area of the rim...

Yep me too !!! NOS when I sell or buy means absolutely mint

If not mint, a clearer description highlighting any variance from mint should be made....
i.e. 85% ........... small amount of rubbing to rim edge due to storage etc ... accompanied by a picture.

Ebay is very much a buyers market now

^ that was a much better descrption of what I was trying to say.

NOS is exactly as stated. New, Old, Stock. If in doubt, ask for more pics. You can't expect and 20+ year item to remain in pristinne condition.

I saw the rim - it was NOStastic!
seriously - I've gotten new rims from CRC in worse condiditon... tiny scratches / flecks.

I agree.

A NOS frame might still have rust spots inside the threads on the BB and around the seat post... not because it wasn't New, Old, Stock, but simply because warehouses and stock rooms tend to get damp over winter.

It's unrealistic to expect items that have been in storage to be absolutely pristine. They aren't pieces of art and were never put into environment controlled storage, usually just a store room in the back of a shop.

Ahhh ha
but ..... they do and it is always best to make sure there is no confusion as to what the buyer thinks he is getting compared to your perception of what he should expect.

i agree, a slight mark, attributable to storage is of course fine. the key point i think it is that it should never have been used.

if it has been used, it is not NOS. report to ebay.

Noss :)

Ebay is *not* a buyers market at the moment, unless you have more disposable income than you know what to do with. Prices have inflated a lot over the last couple of years and there's very heavy interest in any decent bike or frame that comes up. NOS used to be cheap - now you can pay more for a 20-year old frame than a new off-the-peg bike.

Yes NOS means new old stock BUT it can have what they call "shop wear" or "storage wear"


Bad eBayers: swijland


He sells a lot of Colnago frames, and a while ago i bought a 650c carbon wheel from him.

The guy sent the wheel wrapped using two pieces of cardboard, glued using duck tape.

Packaging was very, very poor, specially if you consider if was a £150 wheel and came from another country.

seller in germany- uses 2 nicks : santo-panto or lillifee

often sells roadbikestuff , parts, frames with parts on, description is poor, articels are often in a bad condition------

dude, ebay is awesome, definitely buyers market. there are more sellers than ever, meaning more numpties who can't list for peanuts. as with everything, you have to do your homework. the key is to be patient.

+1

I've won so much cool stuff, last one i can remember was a italian carbon seatpost for £20 - brand new!



And as a seller, i had quite a few items which ended for 7p - can remember of a 3T quill stem which ended for 7p, and a track chainring which ended for 7p as well! :(

I've been looking for a decent track frame for about a year - all the ones big enough for me get bid up to approaching brand new prices. Except one, which I missed, and am kicking myself for.

Try Jos, he has some nice frames for about £250-300 depending on the condition

I gonna be putting a frame on the forum later today for £200, it's a size large Brian Rourke

you're not doing your homework. i've bought several large track frames for below £200, inc a £52 62cm langster, which was acutally a 57cm

campagnolosr:

they sell some lovely things.

but they clearly pick up complete bikes, i.e colnago master, then part out every single piece on it, thus destroying the original provenance. i understand the need to make money, but taking apart classic builds is a shame. in my opinion.


http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZcampagnolosr

O-ops, actually, i do exactly the same thing! ;)

I know that guy in person, his name is Matt, really nice chap! I think he does a real nice job finding all that nice Campag gear...



But there is a few reasons why taking the parts apart instead of selling a complete bike is better.

First, of course, is more profitable.

Second, shipping a complete bike is a real pain, and insanely expensive!

Operative word is 'decent'. I have a functioning bike and have no particular desire to replace it with a tin can with gothic lettering on the side.

I'm also looking for something with proper track geometry for use down (wait for it...) the track. Which counts out a lot of the fixed-for-the-road frames that are being churned out these days. And a lo-pro would kill my back.

I'm not denying there's stuff out there if you just want to build up a bike, but if you want something specific then prices tend to get very high, very quickly.

you're right, i know. i've bought off him before as well. i'm just bitter because i know the pantographed stuff is going to go for silly money.

the stuff they have is amazing.

there is a big difference between you being a very picky bastard and suppposedly nothing on ebay for good money!!! ;)

Hah! A few years ago you used to be able to pick some really nice frames up for next to nothing, but I was broke then and could only afford what I'm riding now.

But yeah, if you're willing to pay you can get stuff... Bring on the apocalypse, I'm hoping I'll be able to get a decent frame sooner rather than later.

was it the pink one from the kent jumble? i was tempted to by it but it was a bit big for me

Ha, Me too!

it was a good price, did you by anything?