Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Scopes on EBAY ??

I want a 6.5x20x40 30mmtube long range. Please will someone work the voodoo on ebay and get one to me for next to nothing??? LOL

Fact is- I am scared of ebay. Afraid of getting ripped off.

Anybody out there buying scopes off of ebay? Was it hard?

I'd like something like 6x20x40 mildot and I,m afraid of ebay too.

I've bought all of my Leupy 2.5X8 scopes on ebay, 5 or 6, I'd have to go count, as well as a 4X or two. I've only had one scope that wasn't as described - he called it "LNIB" but it had a faint ring mark, but I got it for a good price so wasn't too unhappy.

It's like any other open market or gun show. You need to know the going rates, decide what you want to pay or how much you want the item, and quit if someone wants it more.

Avoid the descriptions that are too brief or incomplete pictures, not that they might very well be a great deal but it's one way to avoid "surprises". See if they offer a return. I try to avoid the "sold as is" items.

Check the seller's feedback. If there are too many negative reviews, don't bid. I've never used it but I think ebay has some kind of buyer's protection if the seller totally rips you off, accepts payment and does not send the goods. Paypal supposedly has protections to it but I like good old postal money orders. If the seller tries to rip you off you can sic the Feds on him.

Go ahead and dip your toe in the water. Like all new experiences, a little scary at first but once you get the hang of it, ebay is really a very good marketplace for all kinds of stuff. If someone outbids you, oh well, sure as shootin' there'll be another good deal coming up soon.

The main thing I look at the sellers feedback. If it's less than about 95% (depending on the number of transactions) I walk away. Just use some common sense and you should be all right.

Don't worry about being ripped off on Ebay, worry about getting hooked on good deals. Use paypal to pay for your item and you have the power of your credit card consumer protection behind you....at least a little <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />. Of course the sellers feedback should tell you if the seller has followed through in the past. A guy who has dozens, hunderds or thousands of positive feedbacks will not likely decide to rip the next buyer off. It's really kind of neat that there are this many honest people in the world. I've bought and sold lots of stuff in hundreds of auctions and only been ripped off once. Then ebay sprang for half of my loss. Many times I recouped the amount of that one loss in one good deal versus retail or street. Dive right in and I doubt you'll get hurt but remember not to like it too much. Like anything else it can be addictive <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />.

Jim in Idaho, LSU fan and RickyD are all right. I don;t think you have anything to fear except addiction. I do however believe that really good deals are becoming harder and harder to come by on Ebay. I mostly use it now to find out what the going price is for something I want to buy.

Yes, I have bought scopes off EBay, along with other stuff. Check the feedback. Ask questions--if they respond quickly with a knowledgable answer, then they know what they are doing and will be good to deal with. If they claim not to know anything about a product, then be careful. Use PayPal and/or credit card if possible, because they will back you up if you get ripped off. Look for good pictures and a listing that sounds like it comes from somebody who knows scopes, not just a moron listing for his brother-in-law. The listing should tell you all the normal things you want to know about the scope; otherwise the person may not really be describing it accurately. Pics are worth a thousand words on external appearance.

Second, if it is a Leupold scope, then don't worry about it. Just go for price. If the outside appearance is acceptable to you, that is all that matters. If the inside happened to be blown apart when you got it, so what?! Send it back to Leupold and they will fix it without any questions.

Here is an experience of mine last year. Saw a Leupold 3x used, looked nice, got it for a decent price. I never asked any questions (I probably should have). Upon arrival, the scope had a post and crosshair, not duplex (I didn't mind, but didn't expect it). Looked clear, I was happy (!) looking out the window, got it home and noticed I could hear something. There was a very slight rattle in the scope, but absolutely nothing wrong with the view or anything. Sent it back to Leupold; returned within 2 weeks fixed for me. Wife looked through it and made me put it on her .243. Now they just sold one on EBay last week for twice what I paid last year!!!

Be aware however, that the Leupold EBay market is extremely active, and on a "hot" product like what you are looking for, you won't score an incredible deal anytime in the next decade or so. It is for older, used scopes that one can sometimes find a great deal.

The trick to getting a good buy on highly desirable "hot products" on Ebay is to look "backwards" from newly listed items (Instead of ending soonest). Look only at the "Buy-it-Now" items. Every once in a while you'll catch someone who doesn't know what they have or need the money quick. I bought a great Gibson guitar last week at a bargin price (Talk about hot items!) and have bought several Zeiss, Swarovski and Leupold products using this method. They don't come along to often, so check often. You got some good advice from the other posters, check feedback, use Paypal, make sure there is a picture of the actual item and, if you use the method described above, act quickly. It won't be there long.

All of my Zeiss Conquest scopes have come from ebay. I've never had a problem (knock on wood!) with any of the sellers, and all the scopes matched the descriptions.

Wanted to add that I've only been unhappy with an item once. Purchases a North Face jacket and when it showed up it was an obvious fake. Emailed the seller telling him I wanted to return it and he said no problem. 3 days after I dropped it in the mail he refunded me the cost of the jacket AND shipping both ways. Most of these guys will go to great lengths not to get bad feedback.

I have bought a lot of stuff of EBay, but only one scope. I got a great deal and was very happy with what I got. Everyone else gave good advice, high positive feedback, know the market value, good pictures, use paypal to protect yourself etc. The only other thing I would mention is I, and this is just me, only buy optics over EBay that have very good customer service reputations, ie Leupold, Burris, Zeiss, or Bushnell. Bottom line, if you get a scope that works great for a month and then craps out on you, with these companies you still have a good lifetime warrenty and they will more than likely work with you. Good luck, its addicting.

I live on ebay. Buy and sell all kinds of stuff.

Never bid untill seconds before the auction ends. Stay detached. Set a price thats the max you think its worth and use a sniping service to make the bid. NEVER bid untill seconds before the auction ends. You never want anyone to have a chance to bid again. You NEVER want caught up in a bidding war. Set the price you are willing to pay and use a snipe service to make the bid for ya in the closing seconds.

Never bid more then once for an item. You can search using the advanced search and see what others have sold for in the last 30 days.

I may bid on 10 of the same item every day. Each day 8 sell for 100 bucks or more. One sells for 80 and one for some reason sells for 45 bucks only minutes after another sells for $100. I don't care about the ones I bid low on. I want only the cheap ones that fall through the cracks. And it happens every day.

Check feedback but... check the items the feedback is for. If he is selling a couple big screen TV's cheap with buy it now sales and his feedback is for old tennis shoes and salt and pepper shakers be very very afraid.

And the advice to only use "buy it now" is bogus. You miss out on most the good deals that way. The only auctions I hate are the ones with reserve prices as most serious bidders dodge them. I sell stuff and never use a reserve price. I make the opening bid enough that I would sell it for that price.

email or PM me if you want help on eBay.

Tex

I bought a Zeiss Conquest 3-9 on eBay. Since it was new in box there wasn't a lot of risk there, and it turned out that the seller was a well known online and mail-order dealer that I hadn't come across yet. Still haven't beat their prices and I have bought several scopes directly from them now. My 8x56mm Zeiss binos came off eBay (used)and I couldn't be more pleased. My thought on eBay are that for me, it is a great way to find something that you are having trouble finding, more than a way to save time than money. There are some great deals though. Just for laughs check this out. http://www.geoffellis.com/ebay.html
Model 70 Guy

As earlier posts have stated ebay is a good place to find some good buys. I have bought lots of hunting equipment from treestands...to broadheads...to scopes with great success. Just make sure you read the item description very carefully and check that feedback. If you have any questions, email the seller before the auction ends. I prefer to pay with paypal and buy from sellers who offer paypal buyer protection. You can read about the buyer protection on ebay. I feel this is safer than a Postal Money Order.

DixieFreedom - I haven't bought a scope on ebay (lots of other stuff), but I keep looking. I think what is going on is that there are dealers that run up the prices in order to keep the market up. I think that they would rather add to their inventory at a given price than allow scopes to go for less than a certain amount, so they bid them all up to that point. If someone goes above that, they'll let it go and if it doesn't, they buy it at that price just to keep the market up, realizing that they will be able to recover their price and then some in the long run. Probably getting cynical in my old age, but that's what it looks like happens from this end.

I have bought several burris scopes, only had to send one back to burris and they fixed it as good as new, $350 scope for $175 including shipping back to burris,,,,sounds good to me