eBay, Its Getting Harder

[Canadian Charlie]

I was over on eBay last night trying to get something new for my toolbox and after 43 pages I just couldn't find anything that i need. Wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, ratchets, test equipment I have them. I was looking for the last few sockets that I need but no luck and when I thaught I found something I could use the seller staes that he only ships to the U.S. alone.

I think I might have some luck on a set of 3/8" drive semi deep impact sockets from the UK, I'm just waiting on a shipping quote



Anyone else get stuck on what to buy?

[wilbilt]

Anyone else get stuck on what to buy?

Never...you're slipping, man...:lol_hitti







My problem is not having the cash to buy stuff. I'm still running out of storage space, though. I got rid of my big tool boxes because I thought I wouldn't need them any more. Now I need a bigger box...and a garage to put it in.

[PAToyota]

This may sound strange, but I've never just browsed categories on eBay... Possibly because it would be entirely too easy to find things to spend money on... :D

I've always saved searches for things that I'm looking for and waited to buy what I needed at a price I felt was decent. Sort of falls into the treasure hunt category for me that way...

At any given time I usually have a dozen to two dozen saved searches. Some for specific items and other more general searches such as one for my motorcycle just to see what turns up.

So, how many people browse categories regularly and how many search for specific items? Just curious.

[eschoendorff]

I have cut down on my tool buying lately - mostly because I already have what I need (so far) and also because I have been concentrating on other things. That being said, if there is a tool taht I need, i can usually justify buying it from our local Snap On guy, simply because I haven't been buying much lately.

I got more or less fed up with ebay a long time ago....

[PAToyota]

I suppose the other thing that keeps me going back to eBay is that the things I buy aren't often stuff that you can just pick up off a shelf someplace. I managed to find some pieces awhile back to rebuild the old Delta scrollsaw I inherited from my grandfather. Another purchase was a diesel timing meter. There were some specific Kent Moore tools I got recently. And a pneumatic floor nailer was another recent purchase - less than a quarter the price of new because it had issues but had it working with less than a day's work. Things like that.

[Danglerb]

Unless you "go deep" with a loose multi keyword "or" type search, then you miss stuff that may have a misspelled word, or be in the wrong category. When I am hardcore looking for something I set up the search "loose" all categories, but sort by most recently listed so its easy to stop once I start to see listings I looked at the day before.

If you don't need any more normal tools, buy an old Porsche and start looking for the special tools for it. ;)

[71Datsun510Wagon]

...... and when I thought I found something I could use the seller states that he only ships to the U.S. alone.....

Greetings from a fellow Canuck!

Just ask the seller if he is willing to ship to Canada (or your location in Europe).

98% of the time most sellers are willing to mail to Canada. I also mention that I have a PayPal account to complete the transaction quickly (may help if the seller knows he'll get paid quickly).

I do ask for a shipping quote so there are no big surprises.

[wilbilt]

Greetings from a fellow Canuck!

Just ask the seller if he is willing to ship to Canada (or your location in Europe).

98% of the time most sellers are willing to mail to Canada. I also mention that I have a PayPal account to complete the transaction quickly (may help if the seller knows he'll get paid quickly).

I do ask for a shipping quote so there are no big surprises.

No offense, but I will no longer ship to Canada. Every single time I have shipped an item there, it turned out to be a hassle.

The buyers invariably wanted me to lie about the contents or undervalue them on the customs form, and then complained about the long shipping times. I have sent items to Europe and Asia without any issues.

[dxdexter]

No offense, but I will no longer ship to Canada. Every single time I have shipped an item there, it turned out to be a hassle.

The buyers invariably wanted me to lie about the contents or undervalue them on the customs form, and then complained about the long shipping times. I have sent items to Europe and Asia without any issues.

I usually get items from the USA in around two weeks , but have waited up to a month. I certainly expect those times and am not surprised by them since this "higher security" BS at the border. Some Canadians may feel that since we are so close things should be faster and Asians and Europeans feel the opposite since they are a great distance away.

I would not give up on selling to Canada, just as I continue to sell to the US. Just explain that it can take up to a month and will not be marked as a gift. I put this right in my ads.

I can't tell you have many Americans have emailed me complaining about shipping time. I remind them about the border and customs and things have always worked out.

[poncho62]

Charlie...........How come we dont see you on HR.com any more?

[Canadian Charlie]

Charlie...........How come we dont see you on HR.com any more?


I check in from time to time, the tool forum there isn't as great as it is here but HR.com have the best tech support that I have found on the web so far.


"No offense, but I will no longer ship to Canada. Every single time I have shipped an item there, it turned out to be a hassle.

The buyers invariably wanted me to lie about the contents or undervalue them on the customs form, and then complained about the long shipping times. I have sent items to Europe and Asia without any issues."

I have bought alot of items from the States and sometimes if the seller agrees he will declare the value for a lesser amount, I never ask them to declare it as a gift. But knocking off a few bucks helps me pay a lesser duty when it arrives

[v8garage]

Unless you "go deep" with a loose multi keyword "or" type search, then you miss stuff that may have a misspelled word, or be in the wrong category. When I am hardcore looking for something I set up the search "loose" all categories, but sort by most recently listed so its easy to stop once I start to see listings I looked at the day before.

If you don't need any more normal tools, buy an old Porsche and start looking for the special tools for it. ;)

You are sure right about the mispelled words. When looking for vises you will find just about as many listed as "vices". Also find Plomb tools listed as Plvmb and Plumb. That is just 2 recent examples that I can think of. Sometimes the mispelled auctions go cheaper because buyers aren't finding them in their search.

[bmwpower]

You are sure right about the mispelled words. When looking for vises you will find just about as many listed as "vices". Also find Plomb tools listed as Plvmb and Plumb. That is just 2 recent examples that I can think of. Sometimes the mispelled auctions go cheaper because buyers aren't finding them in their search.

Isnt' eBay starting to use a spelling correction routine on their search engine?

[MAD]

There are still deals on e-bay if you really search. Today I received a package with the following tools:

12" Adjustable wrench (Stanley)
12" Channellock brand pump pliers
8" Channellock brand diagonal cutters
SK 42475 1/2" drive ratchet
Proto 1/2" drive 15/16" socket
Proto 1/2" drive 5/8" socket
12" Proto 1/2" drive extension
Proto 1/2 " dr. 5/8" hex bit (allen) impact socket
Proto 1/2 " dr. 9/16" hex bit (allen) impact socket
Proto 1/2 " dr. 7/16" hex bit (allen)socket
Proto 1/2 " dr. 1/2" hex bit (allen)socket
Armstrong 1/2 " dr. 9/16" hex bit (allen)socket
Armstrong 1/2 " dr. 1/2" hex bit (allen)socket
(2) Allen 1/2 " dr. 1/4" hex bit (allen)sockets
(2) Allen 1/2 " dr. 5/16"" hex bit (allen)sockets
(2) Allen 1/2 " dr. 7/16" hex bit (allen)sockets
Allen 1/2 " dr. 9/16" hex bit (allen)socket

All in good shape. All made in USA except the Adjustable wrench. And all for the $1.99 opening bid plus $11.00 shipping.

Yes- I know I suck.:)

[bmwpower]

There are still deals on e-bay if you really search. Today I received a package with the following tools:

12" Adjustable wrench (Stanley)
12" Channellock brand pump pliers
8" Channellock brand diaganal cutters
SK 42475 1/2" drive ratchet
Proto 1/2" drive 15/16" socket
Proto 1/2" drive 5/8" socket
12" Proto 1/2" drive extension
Proto 1/2 " dr. 5/8" hex bit (allen) impact socket
Proto 1/2 " dr. 9/16" hex bit (allen) impact socket
Proto 1/2 " dr. 7/16" hex bit (allen)socket
Proto 1/2 " dr. 1/2" hex bit (allen)socket
Armstrong 1/2 " dr. 9/16" hex bit (allen)socket
Armstrong 1/2 " dr. 1/2" hex bit (allen)socket
(2) Allen 1/2 " dr. 1/4" hex bit (allen)sockets
(2) Allen 1/2 " dr. 5/16"" hex bit (allen)sockets
(2) Allen 1/2 " dr. 7/16" hex bit (allen)sockets
Allen 1/2 " dr. 9/16" hex bit (allen)socket

All in good shape. All made in USA except the Adjustable wrench. And all for the $1.99 opening bid plus $11.00 shipping.

Yes- I know I suck.:)

Link? Or are they all separate auctions??

[ColdDuckTime]

There are still deals on e-bay if you really search. Today I received a package with the following tools:

...

All in good shape. All made in USA except the Adjustable wrench. And all for the $1.99 opening bid plus $11.00 shipping.

Yes- I know I suck.:)


Dude, you must have some real staying power. Even with fairly complex search strings, my eyes glaze over after about the zillionth set of 'Security Bits' or 'Cheap Ass Tools from China for craftsman that snap on to your wallet'. How on earth do those people make any money?

[ColdDuckTime]

You are sure right about the mispelled words. When looking for vises you will find just about as many listed as "vices". .


Well, there's your modern educational system at work. Just wait until we have a generation of reporters and authors who use 'U' instead of 'You'.

[MAD]

Link? Or are they all separate auctions??

All one auction. All for two bucks. the description was poor and the shipping was high. I contacted the seller and asked for cheaper shipping. The high shipping kept everyone else away. There-now the whole world knows my secret method.

Happy Hunting.
MAD

Just wanted to add: that is not my carpet in the picture:)

[Danglerb]

The ebay spelling thing in searches does the opposite of what you want, it changes your keyword to the most common usage, and what you want is to FIND listings with misspellings. When you get no hits the part that show what you would have gotten with various search terms removed is kinda handy.

MAD how did you find the auction, keyword or visual ID of tools?

Good tip on email for better shipping, lots of people mess up details like that and half the time never bother to correct the ad. OTOH I have emailed a seller asking questions about an item, only to see the ad revised and corrected so the bid ended up MUCH higher.

When you set up a search, tweak it around a bit, and get it really good, save it to your favorites. Three things greatly improve searches:
OR=> (ratchet, driver) finds anything with either term and you can have more than two terms,
Wildcard=> bolt* finds anything that starts with "bolt",
NOT=> -security skips any listing with the word "security".

[v8garage]

Isnt' eBay starting to use a spelling correction routine on their search engine?

I don't know, but evertime I put "Plomb" in it asked me if I really meant "Plum".
However it still shows the Plomb items. Also in the case of "vise" vs. "vice" the words aren't really mispelled just used in the wrong context so a spell corrector wouln't pick up on that.

[bmwpower]

....

Just wanted to add: that is not my carpet in the picture:)

Good lord that's some crazy looking carpet!

[PAToyota]

You are sure right about the mispelled words. When looking for vises you will find just about as many listed as "vices". Also find Plomb tools listed as Plvmb and Plumb.

Yep, always have to laugh at the newspaper classifieds because they seem to always mis-spell "winch" in the advertisements...

"GMC 4x4 with 8000 lb wench..."

Good Lord man! Bad enough you have one but I wouldn't be admitting it to the world!

:lol_hitti :spit: