Buying on retrobike...your personal rules?

[Tootyred]

Some recent / historic events have made me think about buying on the retrobike forum and other platforms.

Im a pretty trusting person, I give everyone one chance and im glad to say people do the same when buying from me. Ive got to say Retrobike is a fantastically friendly place.

I also feel the feedback system is a fantastic tool and worth its weight in gold plated latinum, but whilst I feel pretty secure dealing with long standing members on retrobike, I do still employ some personal rules when buying.

These rules include taking the option to pay the 5% extra to cover paypal fees to protect me, if the person has limited / no feedback, is new to the forum or more importantly, the amount of money is such that I would not be happy to loose it. I know that level of money is going to differ person, but mine is £40. Ive never been embarrassed to say "im adding 5% and going through the protection", and frankly if the seller is legit.....why would they worry either!

I think its also important to remember, that whilst I like to think this is quite a "tight" comunity, especially amongst the regular contributors, your NOT buying from an online shop.....so all bets are off regarding "rights"....... but thats why PayPal protection is there !

Finally, personal situations of sellers can change in the blink of an eye. A tragic accident, family problems or financial issues, can all change your point of focus or ability to complete sales. Having had one of " those phone calls " where your life suddenly changes within 4 seconds, a few years back, I guarantee you I wouldn't have even thought twice about posting your parts!

So, whats your personal perspective on this?

Do you have rules you stick to?

And, any advice or good practice you want to share to make online purchases with individuals on retrobike and other sites safer?

 

[mk one]

Common sense! And if valuable, make the effort and meet in person!

 

[Mod-Master]

I’ve bought a few bits from here, much more reliable imho than eBay.

As @mk one has just said then if it’s valuable then meet in person.

I do feel confident buying stuff on this site and I don’t even go through PayPal protection because the main reason for not receiving parcels is them getting lost, so if you go through the extra pennies to insure a parcel then you can get the money back.

The people here are wonderful guys, and sellers like @scant and @Tomato are reputable sellers and you can trust them completely(unless it’s part of their long term scheme…)

Rules for me is to stay cautious but I’ve bought many things from here and I’m confident. But the more it goes right, the higher the chance of it going wrong…

 

[Tootyred]

I would also say that when im the seller, i also ensure my parcels are insured to the value of the contents!

 

[benjabbi]

Whether buying or selling I'll stick to a) don't be a c**t, b) if it looks too good to be true it probably is, c) keep in contact every step of the way. I've never had any problems thankfully, I'd like to think most of us are in this for the same reasons but, yeah, common sense and trust your gut!

 

[Imlach]

On retrobike I don't really worry too much as I think there's a mutual respect within these enthusiast circles, so we put in the effort to make sure things are described correctly and packaged well, because that's what we would expect from others. On ebay, where most people are either deluded or bike flippers, I always feel like I'm taking a risk.

As mentioned above, communication is one of the most important things. If a seller isn't willing to take time out of their day to answer your questions, then that is a big no no for me. And if sellers do communicate, but I sense that they'd rather I didn't ask any questions, then that's off putting as well. I find that the ones reluctant to communicate are often the ones that don't have a clue what they're selling, or they know it's in a rotten condition and just want to flip it.

Other than that I do of course take precautions. I check ratings of users on marketplaces. On RB, I'll usually check their post history if they don't have a feedback thread. If someone seems very eager to sell something, I tread carefully.

 

[Markybeau]

Some recent / historic events have made me think about buying on the retrobike forum and other platforms.

Im a pretty trusting person, I give everyone one chance and im glad to say people do the same when buying from me. Ive got to say Retrobike is a fantastically friendly place.

I also feel the feedback system is a fantastic tool and worth its weight in gold plated latinum, but whilst I feel pretty secure dealing with long standing members on retrobike, I do still employ some personal rules when buying.

These rules include taking the option to pay the 5% extra to cover paypal fees to protect me, if the person has limited / no feedback, is new to the forum or more importantly, the amount of money is such that I would not be happy to loose it. I know that level of money is going to differ person, but mine is £40. Ive never been embarrassed to say "im adding 5% and going through the protection", and frankly if the seller is legit.....why would they worry either!

I think its also important to remember, that whilst I like to think this is quite a "tight" comunity, especially amongst the regular contributors, your NOT buying from an online shop.....so all bets are off regarding "rights"....... but thats why PayPal protection is there !

Finally, personal situations of sellers can change in the blink of an eye. A tragic accident, family problems or financial issues, can all change your point of focus or ability to complete sales. Having had one of " those phone calls " where your life suddenly changes within 4 seconds, a few years back, I guarantee you I wouldn't have even thought twice about posting your parts!

So, whats your personal perspective on this?

Do you have rules you stick to?

And, any advice or good practice you want to share to make online purchases with individuals on retrobike and other sites safer?

I agree with pretty much all of the above.

There are very few people I trust on here completely. Some people I've dealt with are outstanding: decent, generous and honest - qualities I respect, and that are self-evident.

I don't place value in other people's opinions unless they are members I have had the above experience with.

Everyone else I approach from the caveat emptor point of view.

 

[legrandefromage]

I'm the infamous Bicycle Buggerer of Bournemouth so dont buy from me.

 

[Tsundere]

First and foremost I fully accept that buying on here comes with an inherent risk, there are no guarantees or protections, if something goes wrong then it's ultimately on me, I know the risks, I know there's always the possibility that things won't work out.

I've bought a lot of items on here from many sellers, sold some stuff too and so far I've had no major issues, a couple of times sellers took their sweet time putting the item in the mail, but on those occasions they always pm'd me to apologize and delivery quickly followed. Generally though everything has been great.

 

[jimo746]

I always pay using PayPal and add on the 5% to cover the fees, so if things to go tits up at least I have some recourse to reclaim the money.
I don't take anything for granted, always look carefully at the pics of the item I'm buying, and assume it's probably not quite as nice in real life as it is in the pics, and that shipping will likely take a little longer than an online retailer It's not often that I'm disappointed thankfully.
There are a few long term members on here I've bought from & sold to in the past, so that gives some confidence, but I still apply all the above.

It works both ways too, as a seller I've had a few "issues", from people sending offensive PM's because they missed out on an item by a few minutes, and buyers asking to return items because it "doesn't match the bike/ I no longer need it/ changed my mind"... I'm usually Ok with it, but if you're buying you have to realise buying on Retrobike isn't like Amazon, there's no guarantees, and refunds/returns are subject to the sellers discretion.