Has anyone had a "good" experience buying from one of our beloved "notorious ebayers"? The only reason I ask is because I've been searching for some Glow Frogskins, and the cheapest I've seen them is from Amermsclcockstain. He prices them at only twice the MSRP, while others are $300 or more. I'm very tempted to get them, just because the last pair I saw at MSRP was gone before I could get my hands on them. I know that if I wait, these will probably be gone, too.

You're not looking hard enough if he's your only alternative. He's never the cheapest. A quick search shows me one with a BIN of $169.99 and another for $150.00. A big savings from what he's offering.

Using the Completed auctions feature on Ebay is a great tool to compare prices that items go for.

Not to sound like your mother, but "you could do so much better." "Oh, dear. You'll just regret it and hate yourself in the morning."

keep checking Craig's list. I scored some a while back for $25!!! Yeah, $25...

I did two transactions with the most despised ebay oakley people, but that was before I was a member of this site.

My purchase from bmcaps went ok. I bought a pair of TiO2 xmetal XX's from him, that were actually priced really competitively. When I got them, I found out why. The orbital screw was stripped. I complained to him, and he refunded me the cost of shipping+repairs to Oakley, with a little bit extra.

My purchase from amermuwhatever went well when I finally won the auction. I had bid on the same item earlier, and was outbid at the very last second. Of course, about a week later it was back up for auction. (It was a serial number juliet titanium frame, so it's easy to see it's the same item) I had to pay a little bit more than I would have had I just won the original auction, but it was only about $20 more if I recall. (Yes, I complained to ebay about it, no, they didn't do anything.)

I won't be purchasing anything from them again. Unless something seriously changes with their auctions.

Mike

I wouldn't buy from them just because they piss me off... I sometimes like at a item and get excited click on it... and i see the seller and it is enough for me to just close. I think it is just a pride thing though so if you see something you really want and you think the price is right I guess no-one should talk you out of it because there is a chance that you will regret it.

look at a item... sorry about the typo.

I think I still have access to the glow in the darks. Let me know.

I have sold to both of them only to see them list what I sold them for double the next week. It sucks because they have some good stuff, but they are way to over priced. Their excuse is that it's good for the hobby because it makes the prices go up. But they really don't. If you look at other auctions you can see that no one is paying the prices they are asking. Wait, look and be patient. They will come up again at a reasonible price, or one of your fellow O'ers will help.

As others mention, it's still available by several different means. There's no need to bow down to the scalpers. Like I said, they're never the cheapest; that's not their MO. Nobody likes getting ripped off, and ripped off is the only thing you'd get with them. Buying from scalpers only ensures you'll be paying even more for your next desired item.

well, as much complaining that gets done, I still find it funny that we don't have them blocked. It happened again yesterday where a member sold to caps...Oh well I guess, sell at whatever cost. If anyone needs to know how to "ACTUALLY BLOCK" a person, just ask. Funny I have had them blocked for a long time after the first episode that I learned from, and somehow, they have never been able to buy from me since...

I wonder what would happen if I created a fake eBay account, and bought everything they had for a huge amount. You think eBay would actually let them get away with not paying the sellers fees on all the items?


~Yukio

no, they would try to sell outside ebay, or do the usual: "put a bid on my item(s), and I will end to you directly and adjust the invoice" which is also how they avoid fees. They make offers to people to do that all the time, especially when buying items.

Yup...another Finito went to Bmcaps....no need to complain if peeps aren't going to block them.

I am bmcaps, and I am ameritmustbetangy, and I challenge you all to an eBay selloff! Right after I create several dozen other accounts to use for bidding on my own items...

Seriously though, I saw this in an auction and it made me laugh:

....Style is TiTANIUM everything. You will not find these listed for sale anywhere. As long as your not American Mustang, these can be yours.

The lens color is an amber base with the Titanium Iridium Coating.

Absolutely beautiful and No scratches....

the guy that listed that is a straight up world class A$$HOLE!! Not because he took a shot at Douchestain, but because he does sell sh!t. I bought the pink splatter M Frames and he ships them in the smallest box which was smaller than the glasses, so the lens got crushed and stressed!!! I questioned him and he blamed me calling it a fake lens I showed him pix of. Total idiot to take vintage stuff, cram them in a box that isn't large enough, and destroy them...

Rant on..

This topic is a minefield. I agree selling to scalpers should be avoided if at all possible but if there's really no other option (i.e. you've tried all other means or have just not been able to get your price etc.) then I say OK, sell to them. Fact is you wouldn't be selling the item to begin with if you didn't really need the $$$, either for new Oakley's or some other expense, so given the alternative of just holding on to it and not being able to meet the expense or new purchase (this could even result in missing out on a grail piece for example) I would definitely consider selling to someone like caps, not at a discount but if he's willing to pay my price, then yes.

Now everything is all good and well until the point the scalper re-lists the item they just bought from you, with a huge markup. In fact even then there's technically been no harm IMO. Things get ugly the moment some unsuspecting buyer decides to pay the ridiculous price and buy that item. Right up until that point, I don't see any real harm done. The scalper has paid you a "fair"(by your reckoning as the seller) price for the item and has then taken the "risk" of listing it in the "hope" of making a big profit. Now unless(or until) someone actually buys the item and "gives" him that profit, he's technically still in the red.

So bottom line, DO NOT BUY FROM SCALPERS NO MATTER WHAT and do your best to make sure people you know don't either. That's the only real way to prevent (or at least reduce) the harm they do. It would be nice not to ever have to sell to a scalper but in reality, sometimes we just don't have the luxury of making that choice (since we need the ca$h). When it comes to buying an item however, I think that choice is much easier to make and it's (usually) just a matter of patience and some good luck to find the piece for a more reasonable price and from a more reputable seller. That's just my opinion.

It would be nice if everyone on the OR could band together and choke off the supply of desirable Oakley's to these scalpers, thereby shutting them down but in reality they're still gonna get plenty of stuff from other sources outside our control. What we can do as a group is to make sure nobody we know actively helps them "make those profits" by buying their overpriced items. Educating people both on the Review and outside it is what we do best, so I think that should be the priority, as well as helping fellow members to find the items they want, so that they don't have to resort to buying from scalpers.. ever.

Rant off.