Used Gear from e bay

[Hillmorton Scubie]

Would you buy any used gear off e bay, if so what ? if not why ?.

 

[almitywife]

yes - ive sold stuff and bought stuff

the usual rules apply, check their feedback and look at the buying/selling history

have they sold dive gear in the past - whats the history of the dive gear, do they have a clue what they are selling

is the gear serviced? will they accept returns if it doesnt pass service

when selling gear in the past (i havent sold dive gear for a while) ive always had regs serviced and provided reports - i would never sell anything i wouldnt dive in myself but not everyone believes in karma like i do

almitychild, the most precious thing i can think of, dives in a bc i bought off ebay but i had it serviced before she even saw it

cheers and goodluck

 

[Ed Palma]

Definitely. Both of my regs are from eBay. 2 of my BCDs are too. Its just a matter of learning to choose and to read the fine print. Additionally, I only get gear that I know I can get parts for. Finally, I set a cap (and this is very important!) on how much I am absolutely willing to spend - taking all things into consideration.
both of the times i bought a regulator, I was able to get them for around 80-90 dollars shipped. these were sets that included the first, seconds, octo, gauges.

 

[jiveturkey]

It depends on the equipment for me. With regulators you need to weigh in the future costs of service and parts. You may save money by buying a used reg but the lifetime warranties offered by some companies that give you free parts for life will not transfer to a second owner. Whether or not it's worth it depends on the final cost of your ebay purchase. Because of parts alone, it makes sense for me to buy new regs. If you can service your own regs or if the costs of labour and parts is cheap where you live it may be cost effective to buy used.

 

[Aelvin]

yes, my buddy bought most of his dive gear online .... read feedback, read fine print and ask what is the return policy.

 

[ScubaThor]

I would concur with the responses above. Bought my current regulator on eBay...and made sure to have it professionally serviced before ever even using it.

 

[Hoyden]

You can get really good buys or really bad buys on ebay. Read the descriptions carefully and know what something is worth. Be especially careful when buying regulators. If a reg has been poorly maintained or flooded, there can be permanent damage to the reg or you may need to replace expensive parts. You may also be giving up "free parts for life" on some brands of regulators (Scuba Pro, Zeagle, Mares, Dive Rite,etc) which may cover the cost difference between new adnd used in one or two service cycles. You also want to be sure that local service is available and have the reg at least bench tested (if not fully serviced) before using it unless you can independantly verify that it was serviced right before you bought it. You need to calculate that cost into the purchase price. I am a regulator tech and still have ended up with a few bad reg buys even though I don't pay for anything but parts.

Some things are hard to go wrong on like fins, bags, etc. as long as you know what they are worth.

JMO,

Jackie

 

[jsado]

yes - ive sold stuff and bought stuff

the usual rules apply, check their feedback and look at the buying/selling history

have they sold dive gear in the past - whats the history of the dive gear, do they have a clue what they are selling

is the gear serviced? will they accept returns if it doesnt pass service

when selling gear in the past (i havent sold dive gear for a while) ive always had regs serviced and provided reports - i would never sell anything i wouldnt dive in myself but not everyone believes in karma like i do

almitychild, the most precious thing i can think of, dives in a bc i bought off ebay but i had it serviced before she even saw it

cheers and goodluck

EXCELLENT ADVICE!

 

[Homunculus]

buying new diving gear on eBay is no different in my mind than buying it anywhere else assuming you use common sense (see almitywife's post). when buying used gear, ask a lot of questions. just to add, look at pictures and ask for more if necessary. sometimes you can judge the seller and the item by the quality of a picture they included. if they are selling a used regulator and just included one crappy picture, maybe they are trying to hide smth that can be revealed from a close-up picture.

 

[Lead_carrier]

Would you buy any used gear off e bay, if so what ? if not why ?.

From a shop employee and service tech end. Don't bring your ebay gear in and try to bs me and tell me it's under warranty or you got it from a friend. You're going to slip up and mention ebay before long.. lol.. Don't expect me to check, test, adjust it for free or give you a discount on parts because you got 2 air fills here 3 years ago. Sorry, that doesn't qualify you as a regular.

That being said. If you're comfortable with it. Go for it. Like all the advice that has been thrown out before, ask a lot of questions and get the gear serviced by someone you trust BEFORE you dive with it. No offense to almitywife but I don't know her or her service tech, so as a stranger, I'd still have it gone over and I would expect no less from her if she got gear from me. I figure better safe than sorry.