eBay fishfinder "Head Only" auction scams?

[taxmancommeth]

I understand you theory but since I consider myself a e-bay professional (my cousin & I have done over $50,000 part time on e-bay) here is my other theory.

We buy items in auction lots. Basically an entire palet full of stuff, sometimes full pieces, some only have a half of it (just the head of a depth finder), other items are full and work just fine, but most items have something that is part good and part bad.

So they try to sell what is good and try to get their money back. JMOP

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GET-ER-DONE

[musky hunter]

I had a rear end collision this summer, took the transducer right off. I may well be selling a "head only" fish finder, but this is one of the few legit reasons I can think of.

[Borch]

You need to be careful not matter what. If fact I was looking at a Graph/gps unit on ebay today myself. The seller didn't state whether it was new or not. In fact he didn't state what was included. Just the usualy spec info form the manufacturers site.

So I emailed him to check on whther it was a new or used unit. Just to be safe I also asked if it included the transducer and GPS receiver.

The answer came back that it wqs a new unit and that it only included what was pictured(just the head unit).

It was priced $120 less than I could buy a brand new unit for with all goodies including a mapping cd kit. Guess I won't be buying his stuff.

[Guest]

Borch,
That would be almost about right retail-wise, but yea, you could do better.

[Born2Fish-Forced2Work]

I currently own a Lowrance x67c depth/fishfinder which btw I just plain love. From last season to this fishing season I'll be dangged if I could not find the head unit in my garage. I always take it off of my boat when I am trailering and put it in my truck for security reasons. While desperately searching for it I thought about buying a head unit that was compatible with the x67c mount, cables and transducer off of eBay. But not the color unit I had but any Eagle or Lowrance grey-scale unit that was compatible with my hardware. I had just missed out on a cuda 168 auction and shortly thereafter found where my x67c was hiding from me. Then it occurred to me...

Why do people just sell a depthfinder head on eBay? Cuz...

...maybe they stoled it off a guys boat in a gas station or docked at a resort somewhere?????

One head-only auction I saw later even went so far as to say "bought at a sheriff's auction".

So here is my poll question:

eBay depthfinder auctions for only the head: legitimate or not legimate????

No scientific methodologies apply. Just measuring gut reactions here. Even now I think I might like a spare grey-scale head to keep handy if my color unit dies on a fishing trip I happened to spend big bucks on to make happen.

[This message has been edited by Born2Fish-Forced2Work (edited 08-23-2004).]

[This message has been edited by Born2Fish-Forced2Work (edited 08-23-2004).]

[Jim W]

I recently just sold ...."the head" for an extra unit I got when purchasing my boat.
Nothing scamming about that?

Imagine there are many scenarios, always good to be sure before buying anything on line.

Jim W

[Guest]

I guess for one I would check the seller's rating. If they are in good standing with a fair number sales, I would not hesitate.

Another thing you could do is email the seller and ask for the serial number. If they refuse to give it or do not respond, then I would back away. If they do give it, call Lowrance customer service and do a check on the number. They will be able to instantly tell you if that is the correct unit, and if it is stolen, if the person who had it turned in their warranty info, they may have informed Lowrance of the theft and they might have that on file.

Lowrance does sell just the heads for many models, so that may be the case as well.

Good luck.

[John Mickish]

I've wondered that myself. I think that some are legit but I'd bet a paycheck that not all are. Easier than a pawn shop.

Can someone explain to me how there get to be so many Abu Garcia Ambassadeur reels on there listed as "new, unfished without box" I will admit I have bought a few and they are fine. Just wondering where they come from.

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It still beats workin'

[Valv]

Feedback rating of seller and questions asked before sale are the best methods for Ebay.
As you know I have a business doing this and many times I get incomplete items. I have 2 or 3 nice sonars "head only" here, which I cannot test. If I sell them on Ebay it doesn't make me a thief.

But I can understand the skepticism, just use common sense when purchasing anything.

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Val Vignati

www.kvesurplus.com
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by Valv (edited 08-26-2004).]

[Born2Fish-Forced2Work]

Thanks for all the good insight guys. I agree the eBay seller rating is a valid indicator. I know I have passed on auctions where the item for sale seems to good to be true and the seller has zero transactions. So I at this point think 'due diligence' on the buyer's part for a "head only" depthfinder can minimize the chance of buying a unit that was swiped off of some poor guy's boat.

[say_der]

Feedback on ebay can be helpful. It can also be fabricated for a small price.

We used to sell stuff on there - retail items, new in boxes, unused. When a store had a huge clearance sale or going out of business sale, we would buy as much stuff as we could and then sell it on ebay. Every thing we sold was 100% legit - we have receipts to prove it and were willing to provide copies for wary customers. We made a decent amount of money doing it, but it is very time consuming and if you don't time things correctly, it is possible to lose on some of the auctions. Things seem to sell in phases on ebay, one week one thing will be popular, then the next week ebay is flooded with them, then the next week you can't get bids on those auctions because everyone who wanted that item already has it.

Part of the reason there are so many Abu's on ebay is because the factory uses ebay as an additional store front - especially for old models still in the warehouse. Sometimes people can buy a case or pallet of those reels or whatever from a place like Fisherman's Factory Outlet. Then they also use ebay as a store front.

Carpe' Diem (sp?).

[taxmancommeth]

Valv & say_der -

Shoot me yoru e-mail. Have a few questions for you. scott (@) zoomn . com

Might be able to trade some e-bay secrets