FOR NEW RIDERS - DON'T BUY ON EBAY

SoOR · Since 10 Mar 2007 56 Posts Ashland, OR

Maybe this has been mentioned on here before but just thought i would give a heads up to new riders that are probably looking in here to buy gear for the 1st time. Usually the best way is buying locally from a shop so you buy the appropriate gear but if you decide to buy used don't buy on ebay unless you really know the gear you are buying as the i've seen plenty of gear on there where the description deosnt match the picture(ie- 2006 SS fuel description but the pictures were of a 2002 fuel) and the prices on here are usually really good vs. ebay and people here won't try to sell you garbage.......I mean i just saw on ebay someone paid $348 for a 2002 SS Drake board(That is NOT a deal if you didn't know )

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230280500291&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=013

jeremy · Since 18 Aug 2006 32 Posts Hood River, Oregon

I have bought and sold a lot of kiting gear (boards, bars, kites, lines) on Ebay since 2002. I have not run into any problems. The items were mostly as described, shipped OK, and decently priced. I am not sure why you are so down on Ebay sellers, they are mostly regular kiters like exist on this forum.

The only generalization that I would consider fair is local versus online buying. When buying locally (like from this site) you can inspect the goods before paying, whereas buying online (ebay, ikitesurf, craiglist) and having the goods shipped means you have to rely 100% on the sellers description. Ebay has a feedback mechanism to help with determining how honest a seller is in their description, NWKite doesn't.

And this whole thread that you have to have modern gear to learn on is bogus; old 2002 gear worked fine for me and a ton of other kiters. As long as your bar has a quick release safety on the loop/leash and you have access to good instruction, there is nothing wrong with the older gear other than it doesn't perform as well as the newer gear. Actually, the older gear will probably give you a better respect for the power of the kite than the new kites do, and that's the best thing to learn. I'm tired of seeing kiters riding the new kites doing stupid things, it's just a matter of time before they get hurt.

pdxmonkeyboy · Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:30 am

not going to touch the old new debate, it has been played out too much. I have also bought AND sold tons of stuff on e-bay and have never been burned. Ask questions of the seller and try to contact them by phone if possible. If your dumb enough to pay $300 for a terrbile board, that is not the sellers fault. I typically prefer to sell things on e-bay unless I am feeling lazy. You are selling to a much larger market which can drive up your return. Just be fair and honest when creating your listings. It will pay dividends when you finally sell it.

I have that same DAMN board and just sawed the ends off to make a slider board. Crying or Very sad

seems like I pissed away $300 bucks Sad

SoOR · Since 10 Mar 2007 56 Posts Ashland, OR

anyways, I was just trying to mention my 2cents as i never mentioned new vs old kites or said only buy new(in fact i still like riding old c-kites)....i was just saying to NEW RIDERS that they shouldn't just jump to ebay thinking that is where the deals are because they aren't usually and I have found the prices on here and ikitesurf.com much better than ebay and i've seen lots of kiteboarding product on ebay that isn't accurate description and even different pictures from the description. yes, i understand ebay(i used to be a power seller) and seller feedback and I personally sell on ebay because people pay more but i accurately describe my product and condition,etc......i never said don't buy an old board but i did want to point out that someone WAY overpaid for that board and if you tried to ask that price on here then you would probably get a few smartass remarks about asking that price because there is self policing among fellow local kiters here saying when something is great price,etc..... vs. ebay

i'm not saying that you can't find good product on ebay but i think NEW RIDERS that haven't researched gear well and just goto ebay and buy a kite that says "great starter package" can get burned

anyways it was jsut my 2 cents. i just have never seen a mention on the classifieds here that mentioned it so you can delete this thread if you like

blowhard · Since 26 Dec 2005 1172 Posts Florence Oregon Windward

BUYER BEWARE
I've never had problems with E bay either
except when I fuk it up