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Buying a Bike On eBay

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  • August 6, 2026 at 4:41 pm #1703571
    Tom_77

    I’ll try not to rant too much, but I’m trying to buy a folding bike on eBay and it’s not going too well.

    A couple of years ago I bought a folding bike on eBay, everything went smoothly and I collected it from the seller. So now I’m looking for another folding bike for my wife, so I’ve been back on eBay, but this time it’s been very frustrating.

    I won an auction for an as new Fiat 500 folding bike (me neither), a real bargain for £70 . 15 minutes after the auction ended the seller cancelled on me, pretty pissed off about that.

    So I go back on eBay and bid on a few more bikes and on Sunday I won an action for a Tern C7 – £105, which I’m fairly happy with. I pay eBay, then I message the seller asking when can I collect it (auction is collection only, as with most bikes). No response, so I messaged again this morning (Thursday), still no response. So I suspect I’m not going to end up with this bike either. I’m sure I’ll get my money back from eBay eventually, but at the moment I’m stuck in limbo as I can’t really bid on anything else.

    Anyway, wondering what other people’s experience of eBay has been lately. I don’t use it much, has it gone down the pan in the last couple of years? Should I be looking elsewhere – e.g. Facebook Marketplace, Nextdoor, Vinted?

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  • August 7, 2026 at 3:05 pm #1703929
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    Tom_77

    The first seller’s feedback was 73 positive, 1 negative (2 now that I’ve had my say). The 2nd seller’s feedback is 36 positive and 0 negative.

    On a more optimistic note, I’d been looking at a Raleigh Evo 7sp with a Buy It Now price of £78 and this morning I was offered it for £63. I paid for that, messaged the seller who promptly responded and I’m due to pick it up this evening.

    Maybe items that are Buy It Now are a safer bet.

    August 7, 2026 at 7:21 am #1703675
    1
    Bungle_52

    Unfortunately it’s happening more and more in my experience. It used to be “lost in the post” or “it was stolen while on auction” or “discovered a fault and had to relist” but now sellers just don’t bother responding at all if they don’t get the price they are looking for and ebay just refunds the buyer with seemingly no consequences for the seller.

    Very disappointing.

    My only advice is to only bid on items from sellers with 100% feedback and a long history of ebay membership. Always read the feedback carefully and always give feedback as a buyer.

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