Should people buy used regulators off ebay?

[DRsharky]

I've bought some my dive equipment including regulators on eBay, and don't see any problems doing that. Sometimes people buy equipment and stop diving for different reason and need to sell it. So why not to buy it?
I always test before diving same as parkhorse and service the equipment if needed by myself.

 

[TSandM]

I bought my doubles regs on e-bay, although I bought them from someone who was not a complete stranger (someone I'd never met, but I knew who he was). Even with the cost of taking them in for service (and as it turned out, it was a good thing I did) they were cheaper than buying them new.

 

[Creed]

No, you shouldn't. Especially vintage double hose regulators or any of the Conshelf series. Seriously, don't bid on those. YOU WILL DIE, LIFE SUPPORT EQUIPMENT, REGS ARE MAGIC AND IMPOSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND, SUPPORT YOUR LDS, BLAH BLAH BLAH. I'll add more to the list when some more gear that I want comes up and I get outbid again. Damned snipers. Come to think of it, stay away from vintage knives, too.
As an aside, ALL of my regulators are ebay specials, and with very few exceptions, I've rebuilt them, and would be happy to dive with any of them.

 

[D_B]

I've allways wanted a match to my Mk18/G250HP and looked on ebay quite often, usually a G250 alone goes for more than I was willing to pay .. finally scored on an exact match, never dived, brand new in the box one from a SP rep, at an incredable price! ... I used a sniper program .. please dont hurt me ;-)

 

[crazycons]

I bought my regulator on ebay. It was a great bargain and works perfectly! No problem with this thing at all!

 

[Web Monkey]

I think the title says it all, Should people buy used regulators off ebay? What are your thoughts on the matter?

I bought a 40 year old SCUBAPro Mk1 for $50 and it works great. I also bought a Dive-Rite MLS1 for $100-something and the charger almost burned my house down.

Some stuff is great, some stuff is junk and some sellers are scam artists.

Terry

 

[ozziworld]

Used equipment, whether on ebay or a garage sale is okay as long as you know what you are buying. I have learned over the years and would advise that motorcycles, scuba gear, firearms, etc. can be prurchased used without much risk. Most of these kinds of gear ends up for sale because they were hardly used. People who use their gear usually don't sell them. They are either hardly used or totally worn out. which makes it easy to spot the good deals.

Motorcycles are the best since they are often sold by guys who are getting married and the wife to be does not like the idea of becoming a 'widow' or some nonsense like that.

Anyway, used stuff is often sold in 'hardly used' condition. If a good deal comes up, snap it up.

 

[Nemrod]

I have sold over the last few years a very large sum on ebay. I have also purchased quie a bit (but not nearly what I sold). I sold and bought some scuba gear but also many other unrelated items. In the hundreds of ebay transactions I have had amounting to many, many thousands of dollars I have been scammed on exactly 350 dollars. That is hardly nothing when compared to the number of sales and money that flowed in and out.

Most people are actually honest, the buyer should always educate themselves and ask the seller questions. Look for people with high feed back and a long history. Thanks to the incident where myself and a few friends were scammed there has been a change in feedback rules in that buyers who give an honest negative can no longer recieve retalitory negative--this is a huge improvement because now when you see a sellers feedback it reflects a much more honest picture. In any case, ebay is what you make of it and it can be a very good way to buy and sell.

N

 

[Isaac-1]

There are a lot of interesting thoghts coming out in these messages, and I must admit the poll results themselves are a bit more pro-ebay than I expected. I started this poll yesterday after winning an ebay auction for what appears to be a very good condition Scubapro Mk 10/ D-300, I am guessing vintage about 1988, but last serviced sometime in the last 10 years or so. The seller knows nothing about the history, claims it was from a shed being cleaned out. It is a real mix and match though, early '80s vintage scubapro console (blue/white), Mk 10 with flat screw, but big drain holes (therefore the 1988 guess, I have a Mk 10 bought new in 1987 that is flat screw, small hole, and know they went to round plastic head screw around 1989), the more recent service guess is based on the the Air II hose, it has the newer smoother styled knurling on the disconnect that came out in the late 90's. Who knows it may turn out to be a paperweight, I will not know until it gets here and I take it apart, but for $58 it was worth the risk.

Ike

 

[scubafanatic]

......most of my regs are either new-in-box or very-low-mileage regs from E-bay (although my last 2 regs , Apeks XTX 200's, were purchased retail from local dive shops) and I've always had good luck with my E-bay reg purchases....they've always come in the condition as advertised. The key is having the discipline to set your own price and stick to it and not get suckered into a pride-driven bidding war. Typically, for a reg in very good to new condition, I'll limit myself to 1/3 to 1/2 of the new/retail price. I might go higher if it's a reg in such demand on the used market that I know it's unrealistic to ever find it at 1/3 to 1/2 price.
...remember, an E-bay reg has no warranty/will likely at least need an annual service/inspection.

Karl