Ebay buy, Advice needed? (I'm an idiot)
 

Hey Folks.

This is kind of a rant but I need your guys/gals input. Really bummed out.

Well another Ebay problem.

(Please feel free to Throw stones, Should have bought from someone here or my LBS)

I just bought a "New bike" off of ebay, pics looked great seller pretty much answered all the questions for me. So I won the bidding and paid up for the bike. Pretty much my dream bike, cost me close to 4k. So I've been giddy as all hell for the past week. Well I get the bike yesterday took it out of the box and like the idiot I am (I know the golden rule, you should ride the bike and a see it in person before buying :no: ) I'm really disappointed. The Bike Isn't "New" as described, its definitely used.

Some deeper scratches/minor gouges to the chain stay, in the carbon, opposite the chain-stay where the chain is. Scratches/Scuffs to the Driveside Crank. Bar is gouged/scratched. Brake area on the wheelset is scuffed up.

What does one do in a situation like this? This is a bike store which is also a dealer of the brand. Am I being overly picky? If they advertised that this was a Demo Bike and it would have some scuffs or scratches I would have been totally cool with that. But I would have taken that into consideration before bidding. I think that maybe because the description said "New" thats what I thought it was going to be. And these faults weren't in the description or in the pictures anywhere.

I've never had a problem with sellers on ebay, and Frankly I'm not a type of guy who nitpicks this type of stuff. I'm just feeling really down about the entire thing after taking it out of the box, and just kind of feel let down and crappy.

I guess this is kind of a rant, but I'm not an expert in this area. Being that I'm kind of angry/disappointed/down, my wife firmly believes that I should reach out to Paceline because is generally a Pragmatic place.

And Im being emotional.
Thanks in advance.

Well, that sucks. If it was a demo bike, it should have been listed as New Other. You basically have two choices:

1) Negotiate with the seller for a refund of what you think the damage is worth.
2) Return it for a full refund. You may have to file a claim with eBay.

Make sure the damage wasn't caused in shipping.
Reach out to the seller.
If not satisfied file a claim.
Take lots of pictures of the wounds and the packing box. Don't throw the packing material away.
Pour large bourbon. Enjoy the holiday.

Socks pal, shovel pal basically covered your two only realistic options.
Get past it, not your fault, move on.

i buy lots of things on ebay, and generally, the condition is never as good as the seller claims. i'm generally OK with that after studying pictures of the items i buy.

the thing is though, that i buy stuff at a huge bargain on ebay, so i'm OK with rolling the dice and taking what comes, some of the bad with the good.

now, its a whole different story i'f i were to pay close to $4k for something advertised as new. that's not chump change and new is new.

you already said you feel bad about the purchase, take pictures of everything and return it for a full refund. that's simply too much $$ in my book to play around with accepting less than you were promised.

you have a lot of leverage, people are paranoid about getting a bad 1 star review and if you file a claim with paypal it is a pain in the ass for the seller and you will most likely win, heck even if they take it back with no fuss the return shipping and re-listing will cost them a few hundred bucks.

I would just document it well and negotiate a partial refund.

Also, how much cheaper than normal is this 4k you paid? like angry said, if it is a 10k bike for 4k maybe it is still a good deal and "deals to good to be true" normally are, a 5K bike for 4K is a different story.

If the photos didn't highlight any of the issues, that's a problem.

If you didn't ask about scratches/scuffs/etc, that's a problem. If you did, and they weren't straight with you, that's also a problem.

What everyone else said, time to get in touch and discuss a partial refund.

You are not being an idiot at all. Someone is trying to pull a fast one on ya, don't let them.

additionally, i would say that if it was a bike shop selling, they should be held to a higher standard of accountability when it comes to disclosure and packing than your average cyclist.

You aren't being an idiot. Sellers are occasionally shady, and you just have to call them on it. It will cost a bit of your time, but it's not the end of the world and will almost certainly be resolved in your favor if the item was listed as "New".

Contact the seller and tell them that the bike was not as advertised and that you want to return it. I wouldn't even bother negotiating to make it even. It will just complicate things and probably be a waste of your time. Plus, at least for me, I would always look at the bike with some amount of disappointment. If they give you any trouble in returning (and they should pay for the return shipping), open a claim with eBay. The fortunate thing is that they labeled the bike as "New" so there isn't much grey area and it should get resolved with a few photos showing that it was obviously used.

Good luck.

You're right. Thats whats really bugging me. This is the Dogma F8 that I posted earlier, and Decided to go with your Guy's help. The Frame alone at my LBS has on sale for 6K, without the Dura-ace 9000 and Mavic Ksyrium SLE wheels..at my LBS this would cost at least around 8K. So its basically half off at least. And I can actually Get the warranty from Pinarello for 3 years. (talked to Pinarello because it was never registered, and it was sold as "New")

Thats killing me, because its a TON of bike for the money but I feel like the stigma of the bumps and bruises on it really kinda will be attached to it for a while and every-time I ride it I'll think about it.

I keep my bikes for at least 5 years and REALLY take care of them. Im a nazi when it comes to taking care of things that take care of me. I really love my bikes. The Pinarello I'm replacing with this one is actually cleaner than the "New" one I just got. HA! Even though the "New" one is still really nice...I feel like I'm starting off with less of a bike, condition wise, then the one I'm replacing.

You Guys are always a voice of reason, with pragmatism and empathy only earned by being a cyclist . Thanks for all the input and rational thinking. I was so bummed out I actually went to sleep early last night and then couldn't sleep because of it. Came downstairs super early, groggy & crappy feeling ,to make Eggs and Coffee for my wife to cheer me up.... (I'm being a middle aged manopause infected male and it sucks. :mad: )

I just filed with Ebay, to see if Something can be rectified from either the Seller or ebay. Either way, This sucks but maybe something positive comes out of it.

But you guys are right:
1)Either they refund me, Send back the bike and put it behind me.
2)They do a partial refund and I put the money back into Paceline and buy Parts from you guys for the bike and just put it behind me. The "Cycle of life."

I'll keep you guys posted, and maybe this can help another Male Patterned Baldness, near middle-aged male with 1st world problems in the future. :banana:

Bah. Sorry to hear about this situation and your crappy sleep. Please let us know how it turns out. If the guy has decent feedback, I'm confident it will turn out ok. If it's his first sale...well, good luck sir.

Buyers can be as well (no implication to the OP at all). Especially for collectibles. They use eBay for a shopping service knowing full well that eBay will side with them on a dispute and the seller will pay for return shipping. I've had it happen to me several times, even with good pictures and truthful disclosures.

I'd contact the seller...express your disappointment...and see what they offer. Is there a certain price you'd be happy at? See if you can get there. If not, return it. If you're selling a bike on eBay, you HAVE to be conservative with descriptions.

I would not accept any offer that included you paying shipping for a bike they didn't describe accurately.

Seems like you did the right thing - you can't put a price on peace-of-mind when it comes to riding something with very small margins for error. And for that reason, I won't be buying used carbon for a road bike anytime soon, unless I know its full providence - there are sellers here I'd trust, but eBay? Not so much...

eBay is pretty buyer-side biased, so things should turn out fine for you - though it way take a week or so to work through the process.

Side note: I know what you mean on the lack of sleep thing - I've been mentally chewing the last 18 hours on an unfortunate purchase that really isn't a big deal in the grand scheme (it'll be easy enough to turn around), but has me grumpy at myself for not doing more due-diligence on what I needed in the first place - not my first rodeo there, but I thought I'd learned not to make that mistake and obviously didn't - and that has me a little chagrined - I guess there's always next time :confused: