Pilot Gear on eBay

[Evo]

OK, a bit off-topic for Private Flying, but has anybody ever got a bargain from eBay's Aviation items - or is it just good for the seller?

I'm new to eBay, and I've been watching for the past week or so. It seems that the few useful bits of kit tend to shoot up in price to silly money in the last few hours before the auction closes. I've just seen one item go for more than Transair's new price once you added postage, another go for 50% more than the same thing on The Hangar - and the one thing i've bid for (a headset) ended up more than £100 more than what I reckon a reasonable second-hand price would be*. It looks like people get caught up in the chase and forget about what they're paying. Great if you're selling, of course, and i'm going to put some 'bargains' up for sale ;) but is it worth watching as a buyer? Of course, if you really want a broken 707 VOR then I guess it is great too, but... :)

*i'm not bitter, honest :)

[High Wing Drifter]

I know, it is quite bizzare! I have noticed computer equipment selling from more than on dabs.com do too!

[Flyin'Dutch']

Make sure you know exactly what you are bidding on.

I have had some good bargains but burnt my fingers once too!

FD

[PA38]

Got a good as new Garmin Pilot 111 for £250 off ebay :ok:

[QNH 1013]

Its all rather interesting.

I paid a small price (£3 I think) on e-bay for a CHT gauge which turned out not to work. Never mind I thought, I didn't pay much, but after a while I realised that the vendor hadn't bothered to cash my cheque either.

So the whole exercise seems to have been pointless.

A rather puzzled QNH 1013.

[dublinpilot]

I bought a gps receiver for my pocket pc (hand held computer) for 100 euro, incl p&p. Works a dream.

[Keef]

I've bought all sorts of stuff off eBay, and been happy with the bargains I've got. But you absolutely need to know the value of what you're bidding on, and not get silly.

I've also seen things go for more than the new price (and reserve prices set at or above the new price) - particularly for computer equipment where the price has fallen recently.

I got an Airlite headset last week for £10 (not bad).

Last week I was bidding on a 2 inch dia 38mm f/l eyepiece for my telescope - second hand "going price" is about £50. It was a ten day auction; half an hour before it ended, my £37 bid was winning. In the last three minutes, three snipers bumped it up to £64. Daft.

I wondered if one was the seller trying to up his margin! My max bid was what I was prepared to pay for it (and no more).

[jethrobee]

You do have to be careful, its a case of knowing what you want and what the value is before starting to bid.

I got a decent set of David Clark H10-60's just over a year ago at about £115. Which were as new, and less than half what I would have paid at popular pilot shops.

On the computer kit front, I was recently watching some bluetooth GPS receivers sell for more than you can buy them new.

You also have to be careful of getting stung for import duty when goods are sent from overseas, I have had a couple of friends caught out by this when buying computers that are shipped directly from "our warehouse in singapore".

Jeth

[Kingy]

I'm confident I can top anyone's Ebay experience!

*drum roll* I bought this (http://www.qccuk.com/pfa/G-BDWE.htm) freshly permited 40H TT, fully servicable single seat aircraft for.... wait for it ... £1550!! :D

I tank yow

Kingy

[You want it when?]

I've recently sold a kneeboard and if I can ever find my headset then I will give it a try. Some people do get carried away bidding - as a seller I love it, as a buyer I always have my top price and stick to it.

[Whirlybird]

I've bought and sold loads of stuff on Ebay. However, you rarely get bargains in the aviation section - though you certainly did, kingy; it's nice! But over the summer it suddenly became a buyers' market; I think everyone must have been on holiday. I reckon from now up to Christmas will be good for sellers, judging by the way prices have been going recently.

Yes, you've guessed it; I'm as much of an Ebay addict as I am a PPRuNe addict! :eek:

[paulo]

The bid curve is usually exponential - for a potential bargain, or something in demand, all the action is in the last few minutes.

Why? Cos if you're a serious bidder, leaving it late reduces the chances of your opposition managing to counter bid. ;)

eBay is fab (although the UI is a slapdash atrocity). I've just picked up some Concorde memorobilia. Super duper. :ok:

[Fujiflyer]

Agree with all the comments posted so far. Particularly good for sellers. As said previously if buying you really need to be sensible about it - you can get some worthwhile stuff though. Definately place bids as close to end as possible, preferably using a fast internet connection.

The aviation section is quite disapointing though.

But try this link though: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2954564189&category=324

:E