THE EBAY ADVICE THREAD

[ns3476]

Just wondering if anyone had opinions of buying stuff off eBay (mainly cymbals). Has anyone had any bad experiences with it? Has anyone found some really great deals that were totally worth the money?

What other websites would you guys suggest to buy used drum stuff off of?

[radiofriendlyunitshifter]

i've yet to buy anything off of ebay, but i've recently sold all of my a customs without a hitch.

i'm pretty pleased with my ebay experience as a seller.

check out craigslist (http://geo.craigslist.org/iso/us/mi)as well

[Bad Drummer]

I would not recommend buying cymbals off of ebay. You really should hear your cymbals before you buy them, and test them, because each one has their own individual sound. Besides that it seems fine. Craigslist gives you the added benefit of hearing and looking in person before you buy though.

[ns3476]

Yeah i was thinking the same thing, if you have heard it in the store and really liked it then there should be no problem buying the same cymbal if its in good condition that is, for a good price.

[mikei]

I have bought and sold thousands of dollars worth of gear on eBay.

As long as you buy through the auction with someone with great feedback, you shouldn't have any trouble.

I do almost all of my buying off of eBay and save quite a bit of money.

[ns3476]

Yeah I'm looking at some really nice stuff on there as of right now, i see some really good deals with people that have gotten great feedback.

[mikei]

I have bought and sold thousands of dollars worth of gear on eBay.

As long as you buy through the auction with someone with great feedback, you shouldn't have any trouble.

I do almost all of my buying off of eBay and save quite a bit of money.

[harryconway]

People are willing to buy cymbals from on line music stores, and from hearing soundbytes off the internet. Or whole drumsets, sight unseen. eBay is no problem. I've bought 8 drums off eBay, 5 pedals, 3 cymbal stands, 1 snare stand, 1 cymbal. All without a hitch. Sold 2 complete drum sets, 17 orphan drums, 1 pedal and all's gone well except when UPS breaks stuff (twice-and insurance covered that). Just make sure the seller has no negative feedbacks, or can explain why he has and basically trust your gut.

[NUTHA JASON]

one word...

RESEARCH

the seller first
- have they sold a lot? more than ten for me as a rule.
- feedback? not 100%? then go and find the most recent complaints and see if this is someone you want to give money to.
- have they been around? when did they join? yesterday? no chance. last year? much better.
- paypal only for me.

the product
- copy the name or product code and google it. read the reviews and the forums. put it in an image search and check that the picture matches up
- as a rule i do not buy anything unless there is a picture and it is clearly an amateur photo of the actual product and not some studio pic from the company website of a brand new product.
- know the product. cymbals... some companies are famous for consistency of sound (particularly in certain of the ranges). i would not buy low end cymbals off ebay but zildjian sabian and paiste - particularly if you have a good knowledge of their ranges, construction and purpose - can all be purchased with adequate confidence.

as a further note on online cymbals...
trying a cymbal out in the store is good but NOT the final word. when i first hear a new cymbal, because it is new, the sound can come across as alien and therefore perhaps not good to my mind...when in fact it is excellent. we tend to match up to what we know and so by trusting our gut too much we can end up with a lot of vanilla above our kit. also cymbals don't sound their best in isolation. add a kick and put a cymbal in the context of your band's music and what might sound too bright or what might seen to have too much decay in the music store can actually be perfect.
i personally listen to a lot of music and if i hear, particularly in a live recording or situation, a cymbal sound that excites me, i will research the drummer until i know what cymbal i was hearing and then buy it. check out the paiste website for this kind of thing as a start point.

trial and error.
over the years i have often bought something on ebay, given it a go on my kit for a few months and decided it was not for me. i then clean it, repackage it and sell it. more often than not i get my money back and have sometimes even turned in a profit. so ebay turns out to be the best instrument rental place i know ...lol. this is much better than tapping a cymbal in a cold music store and trying to remember what your other crash sounds like and whether this one will fit in etc.

j

[teejcombos]

i'm hopefully about to win a 14" a custom fast crash (brand new) which i'll use as a big splash. i sell my old cymbals on ebay, occasionally you get people who bid and then are like 'wah wah wah i bid too much' etc etc, and people who want discounts for buying more than one cymbal. it's really annoying considering they're already getting the cymbal at a dirt cheap price, even if it is second hand...
as for buying, personally i'll only look at new items, i don't do used. some people tend to bend the truth on the true condition of the cymbal. however, sometimes you do get really good sellers (like me, HA!) who describe the cymbal exactly how it is, be it dented, scratched, stickmarked, keyholed etc. regardless of this notion, i don't do used, unless i can by some odd chance go and inspect/test the cymbal.
also, as already noted, check the seller's history, and if you're selling, the buyer's. some kid (assumedly a kid with money but no way of getting it to me) is holding up the sale of my planet z ride and sabian solar china. it's quite annoying.

[gr82bagn]

NJ does a great job of breaking the eBay process down when it comes to buying cymbals, stick with that process and you should have no problems buying on eBay. I purchased my entire kit and cymbals on eBay and for the most part I went through 11 different sellars to complete my kit and had no problems.

[GRUNTERSDAD]

Always make sure of what you are buying of course. I saw an ad for a K Zildjian megabell Z ride 22". Well I of course was confused. The price was 150. which I thought was prety good for a K ride that big, but emailed the seller and asked how could it be a K and a Z and he emailed back and said it was a Z and changed his posting.

[drumbandit]

i love ebay and iv got a good few deals, i got an oriental china trash 18" for $150 which was around £78 (england) which was good and i got free shipping :-) .cymbalcellar.coms is great as well.

[ns3476]

Thanks for all the inputs on advice everyone.

What would be some of the main questions to ask the seller when buying something?

[Sirwill]

I have bought many Drum Kits and sold kits on e-Bay. I have made about 1000 transactions on e-Bay and I have only had two bad transactions for a loss of about $50.00 I truly can't say enough about e-bay. I have saved Thousands of dollars. I have even bought Motorcycle's from the site. The rule of thumb is do your home work and know your prices before bidding.

[NUTHA JASON]

it is not essential to ask the seller anything unless you have a real query. their answer won't prove much about them anyway.

j

[ns3476]

Thanks for all the info Jason, so that i don't get ripped off if i decide to buy something off eBay.

[stillgroovin]

I purchased all my Paiste's off E-Bay and never had a problem. I used the Paiste website for their cymbal sound checks and everything I bought was right on the money and just what I expected.

[fourstringdrums]

I've bought about 50% of the cymbals I've ever used off Ebay and never had a problem. I just made sure to do my research as far as sound was concerned, either listening to sound samples or playing in person, if I could find the cymbal. It's not the ideal situation, but it's sometimes the only option you have if stores near you don't have much stock. Just make sure you ask questions about the cymbal in regards to condition if it's not clearly stated, pay attention to pictures, and be wary of any lacking details or picture angles that don't show everything.

I've also bought 2 drumsets over Ebay, both of which turned out great. My most recent set had a few more scratches on the bass drum hoops than I expected, but he did mention them.

I play bass also, and I've bought I don't even know how many basses off Ebay, all of which turned out fine. To me, that is more of a risk than buying drum stuff, because there was always the chance that the frets were uneven, that the neck was twisted, wouldn't adjust relief properly etc..

[harryconway]

Thanks for all the inputs on advice everyone.

What would be some of the main questions to ask the seller when buying something?
If the seller has done his job right, you really should have no questions. A drum is a drum. A pedal is a pedal. Most every auction I run, I post 2 photo's of said item. If you do have a question, ask. It's that simple. If it's a question that needed asking and others might be asking the same question, I post that question on the auction and I post my answer. Sure, some items are more complicated than others. Don't feel you need to ask questions, but don't be shy if you have one either.

[Fluffy The Evil]

im a big paiste fan and right now im planing on buy some more cymbals. but because paiste is pretty expensive i was think of using ebay, is this a good idea?

[Drumms]

Yes, it's a good idea. I made some great deals on ebay.
I think that most of us here have bought or sold stuff at least once on ebay.

[tamagroove9]

I purchased my latest kit, a Tama Starclassic Performer off e-bay. It is a 4 piece 2006 model with new Starcast mounting system. It came in perfect condition with only some stick marks on the heads. Saved about $600 compared to lowest prices I saw in music stores. Seller had other kits and didn't want this one afterall. There are definitely good deals out there if you know prices and of course make sure seller has excellent history.

[crlujan]

I bought my first kit off eBay. A Gretsch Catalina Elite for $260. And sold it about 8 months later on eBay. I got one of my rides, my hi-hats, my snare and all of my hardware off eBay. As far as cymbals go... try to get the weight, then go to www.cymbalsonly.com for an approximate sound file. That's what I did.

[Velimor]

Most of my drum stuff has come from ebay- ride, hats, 2 crashes,2 splashes, mini-china, bass pedal, and a few pieces of hardware. I've never had any problems buying or selling through ebay.

As long as you do your research and buy from sellers with good feedback, you should be fine.

[WYdrummer09]

When trying to find good deals, try spelling your favorite companies names diffrent ways, because people are stupid and they put like cymbols or Sabion, and i mean if nobody types that ot doesn't come up, and you can get some pretty awesome deals that way.

[fourstringdrums]

I've bought many used cymbals off of Ebay with great success. I've also bought a few drums off of Ebay although those were sold as new. I didn't necessarily make a killing, but I was able to find what I was looking for without having to call around and find out if it was in stock. Both my new shell pack and snare drum are coming from Ebay this week. I just try and be smart about it. I check the user's feedback, and see what they have as a seller. If they have NO seller feedback, I usually stay away and if they have any negatives, I take into account how many more are actually positives and what the complaint actually is. If any auction is vague I try and ask questions and I try and get a feel about if the person knows what they're talking about. I don't want to buy from someone who would sell a kit with bad bearing edges only because they don't know that that can be an issue.

[ZildjianMan1023]

i was going to by really nice k's from this guy on ebay turns out he had the same auction with the same picture for like 6 kinda of different cymbals.. the guy was from singapore so i quickly turned away fromt that. no not because hes from singapore but because mostly it was a scam and i didnt want to waste my money. even if the k's were like 50 bucks a cymbal

[fourstringdrums]

i was going to by really nice k's from this guy on ebay turns out he had the same auction with the same picture for like 6 kinda of different cymbals.. the guy was from singapore so i quickly turned away fromt that. no not because hes from singapore but because mostly it was a scam and i didnt want to waste my money. even if the k's were like 50 bucks a cymbal

As a general rule I stay away from any out of the country auction, just to be safe. Especially if it's Africa or Asia mainly because alot of scams originate from both places.

[ZildjianMan1023]

As a general rule I stay away from any out of the country auction, just to be safe. Especially if it's Africa or Asia mainly because alot of scams originate from both places.

i know man my dad gets the ones with mr t all the time its HI larious

[darknessdude16]

The Way I look at eBay is that if you do everything right then you cant go wrong. But buying is different, if you bid and are succesful pay them and then its all upto the seller, if you dont recieve anything i.e its all a scam then there is alot that eBay can do to help you get your money back. This has happened to me and they were very helpful. But the best thing you can do is checkout peoples feedback and see that they have sold or bought recently and thats the best advice. I usually buy from eBay shops rather than individual sellers but you can trust both x

[DestinationDrumming]

Especially if it's Africa or Asia mainly because alot of scams originate from both places.

Yeah me too!

I have bought a few bits from over the pond, Europe and Ireland. Just picked up a drum dial that cost £42 delivered from the USA. The cheapest I could find one in the UK was £65. I used a shop called Sigler Music from Fort Smith in Arkansas. Really quick delivery, great price and great communication.

My main reason for buying from Ebay is the price but I do try to buy some things locally otherwise all my local drum and music shops will disappear.

[fourstringdrums]

Yeah me too!

I have bought a few bits from over the pond, Europe and Ireland. Just picked up a drum dial that cost £42 delivered from the USA. The cheapest I could find one in the UK was £65. I used a shop called Sigler Music from Fort Smith in Arkansas. Really quick delivery, great price and great communication.

My main reason for buying from Ebay is the price but I do try to buy some things locally otherwise all my local drum and music shops will disappear.

I'd love to support local shops but it's hard when my local shops don't carry anything I'm looking for. If I was looking for Ludwig Accents, Yamaha DP's (which I wish I was a beginner again so I could get one..killer sets), Remo heads only, limited Vic Firth models, and Zildjian ZBT's, I'd be all over them :) That's why I do all my shopping online because they have what I want.