Buying bikes/ skis online???

[vanislejc]

hi i have a question..If you are buying a bike or set of skis privately off of the internet what is the best way of going about it??like for example through pink bike or even here/?? what should you do as the buyer and as the seller?? any info would really help me out thanks

[pechelman]

hi i have a question..If you are buying a bike or set of skis privately off of the internet what is the best way of going about it??like for example through pink bike or even here/?? what should you do as the buyer and as the seller?? any info would really help me out thanks

The seller should sell the item and the buyer should buy the item.
Generally when a seller completes his sale, he sends the item to the buyer via some sort of post \ parcel service. Before the seller ships the package, the buyer generally sends payment for the item at an agreed upon amount. Sometimes this payment is in the form of check, money order, or even paypal.

[yesIsaidyes]

vanislejc,
Your anxiety points directly to why the community created in this forum is so important. We breed smartasses (see above - ) but we also take care of each other. I assume you are concerned with not getting ripped off? There's no guarantee that you won't, even here (see lineskier), but generally things work themselves out and on this board you actually do have some recourse if things go wrong. I would suggest buying from people on this board who use it alot (many posts) and who have transacted business before. Most people will talk to you on the phone if you are really nervous but as with life, skiing, and sex, buying used gear on the net involves risk. But you are better off here than most places. (Can't really comment on Pink Bike)

[72Twenty]

I have bought/sold/traded a fair amount of gear here. I have never felt uncomfortable about it. I always open a line of communication witht he other person and we work out the details. I sold a pair of bindings to a fellow maggot and sent them off to him, even though he asked if I could cash the check like 2 weeks later. I didn't once feel like he was going to rip me off; and he had received the bindings and was skiing on them before I even cashed the check. You do have to have a bit of trust to do an online private party transaction, but if you cover your bases you will be fine. Get an email address and a phone number along with the address.

[sfotex]

PayPal is nice (even though it does have it's problems too), esp. if the other party is a verified user...

I also always weight the risk vs. reward when buying stuff from other parties..... $200 bindings for $50....probably worth it, if things go bad, you can recover...... $700 skis for $650....I'll buy 'em from the store...