A short rant about E-Bay sellers of Motorcycle Parts

[ThomWV]

Please indulge me for a moment while I rant and rave about two clowns who have recently been sellers on E-Bay.

In another post I've started walking through the painting process for my wife's bike. The plan we set out on for the bike has us buying a full set of tins for it, painting them, and then installing the newly painted parts and setting the originals aside in their like-new condition.

Two of the parts I need to get are the rear fender and a new seat. Because we opted to buy the larger of two tanks that might be used on the bike we also had to change to the slightly shorter seat that matches it.

Enter the first Yahoo seller on E-Bay. The seat I am looking for is hard to find. Back when my wife's bike was made the the larger tanks were uncommon. They were standard fare on one sub-model of Sportster and dealer-installed options on others but still uncommon. So before I've bid on seats I've sent E-mails to the sellers asking which tank their seat was made to fit. In two separate E-Mails Ms. Yahoo assured me that the seat she was selling was for the bike with 'the big tank'. The thing was also advertised as 'like new' having been used only for the ride from the dealer to home and immediately removed to be replaced by some custom fare. Well on arrival both proved to be untrue. The seat is for the small tank and shows clear signs of wear. I was just plain pissed off almost from the moment I opened the box. What in hell is wrong with people? Did she not suspect that I'd notice it was the wrong one or that it was well skuffed up? Needless to say I've already initiated actions to get a full refund but I'm still annoyed as hell.

Next Yahoo: I got a fender too. Fenders are a little more tricky than seats because there are multiple models available and they are easily confused. I bought one that I'm pretty sure is the right one but if its not the reason is certainly not the seller's fault, he provided what information he had as well as additional pictures to help me decide if I thought it might be the right one. So I bought the thing and have been waiting ever since. Even though I bought (immediate payment at auction end via Pay Pal) the fender the week before last it didn't surprise me that it didn't arrive tuesday. There was, after all, a holiday in there and that slows delivery considerably. However when it didn't arrive by friday, a week and a half after the sale, I became concerned. Oh, its coming from Dayton, Ohio - I could drive there in 3 hours. Because the listing said that a tracking number would be provided and I hadn't got one yet I sent the guy an E-mail and asked him where it was. This morning I got a reply. The clown hasn't even mailed it yet. Nearly two damed weeks after the sale and payment and he tells me that its in the box and ready to go but he just hasn't got around to sending it yet.

What in hell is wrong with people?

End of rant.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. I've had better luck

I bought a few used items for the BMW and they showed up fast and in "as described" condition. Even an item from Australia showed up within a week.

Neither of those two should be selling, if they can't describe an item's condition, or ship it quick.

Wrong size seat is a real screw-up, hopefully you have no trouble getting your money back. Maybe you can find a right-sized seat in lousy condition - a candidate for a Tempur-pedic and leather re-upholstering.

However, if "fender guy" still has the fender, it might be a good reason for a road trip. 3 hrs there, 3 back, a meal in a restaurant, might be a nice day. When you get it, you have a lot of work to do to prep it like the other pieces.

[ThomWV]

2. Actually most of my luck has been very good

I've got a feedback in the mid 400's on E-Bay and most of that is as a buyer. I've only run into jerks a couple of times and the really good ones far overshadowed the clowns. I've got lots of things very quickly and often in much better condition that I expected. As a personal matter I always make payment immediately at the end of an auction I have won. By immediately I mean within 5 minutes or less usually but always by early AM the next day at the latest. As a seller I take paid for items to the post office either the day payment has been made or, once again, early AM the next day. I E-mail the seller to let them know when it was sent and how too so they can judge when to expect it. I consider those things to be common courtesy. Also, and I know there are people who absolutely hate Pay Pal, but making the payment that way lets me use their resolution process for grossly misrepresented items. It may help.

This does delay the paint a bit though. I've got everything else ready to go but I wanted to make sure that each part got exactly the same treatment as each other part. That means painting them from the same batches of paint. Its a matter of getting consistent colors from one piece to the next. I mixed up enough of the black paint to take care of all the parts and stored away enough to do the parts I don't have about 3 times once I get them. The fender has already been sanded in someone else's aborted paint job. That was fine with me because as you say, I've still got lots of prep work to do on it. I think its best to treat them all like they were bent and rusted, just start from scratch and make sure all the substrate is either rock solid or gone and of course dead flat and smooth. God never made a block too long to sand with.